#🫀🐺torn pelt au

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Ahem~ Dark Werewolf AU anyone? @thewickedweiner, @sugar-soda, @ainsellshadewalker, ye or no?

The idea that werewolves are pack animals ultimately, and won't have healthy mindsets or habits if they don't learn from pack or have one, but Reader's old pack was... well, they weren't very nice to them.

Reader never knew what they did wrong, just that they were lowest of the low, nipped or bitten when they got stuff wrong, had to be reminded of the rules in every lesson, was the butt of the joke for the other pups...

Well, one day a punishment went too far, and Reader decided to sneak away. They've been on theirbown ever since, barely able to hunt, struggling to socialize, and always looking over their shoulder anxiously...

Until their old packmates catch wind of their scent, tracks them, and tries to convince them to come back, that they've missed them, it hasn't been the same without them, so come back-

Yee... it's kinda like if the Fallen Snow AU wasn't strictly Creed or Howlett Reader and was werewolves instead of mutants. So. Ye or no?

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Wolf Reader trying to gently shove the pup(s) out of their cave the next morning with a broom (why do they have a broom? They live in a cave, the floor is MADE of dirt.), they just won't leave!

Reader has made all of these contraptions to assist in life. Something to skin their prey, clean their water, wash their fur. They basically have Dr. Stoned their cave.

The pup(s) won't stop messing with all the cool stuff and follows Reader around while they do chores they haven't automated yet (like checking traps) They keep asking questions but Reader doesn't answer much. They still aren't much of a talker.

Reader is stuck with them for about a week. Then, the night before the full moon, a bunch of very familar, older smells enter the area and Reader hopes one of them steps in their bear trap.

Reader, once the week is up: Okay, out, out, go back to whence you came-

The pup/s: What, why? Aren't you coming with us

Reader: No chance in H*ll, now scram

Something: howls in the distance

The pup/s: start howling too

Reader: Not so loud! Go howl elsewhere!

The pup/s: Why?

Reader: Because you never saw me, you had great luck surviving on your own, I don't exist here, now quick, leave before one of then shows up-!

(Ahaha! Okay, I'm still partial to Kurt being the pup, but if it has to be a New Mutant, I'd say Jubilee or Bobby...)

[honey-minded-hivemind]

As someone who is completely not biased and totally doesn't have favorites (I totally do), it would be interesting to have Hank as Reader's Dad.

They don' have their dad's strength at first, and they ain't much of a fighter. If someone or something trys to attack them, they are getting them down in the quickest, most efficient way possible because they just don't have the strength for it. which a lot of other wolves see as "not sporting" and "no fun".

They are just as smart as him tho, but they don't really talk as much so no one really knows about it. Why shut up Jean's bragging about recieving the "highest grade" of 95% by telling her about their 100% if all its going to get them nipped and smacked? Their interests fall in other types of sciences in comparison of their dad's chemistry and biology.

When they leave, their traps become more efficient and overtime, bigger. They start off eating squirrels and now they are getting deer in cages. It takes a while, but they start being able to take care of themselves.

Then one day they go to check their traps and see a distinct looking wolf swinging upside down from one of their traps....

They snap a photo

Ooooo... good idea! ( @danni1323 , you also get to offer your pick). Sugar, I've got to say, Hank here is a solid dad choice. (Plus come on, he's an underrated guy)

Reader is a smart pup, and a bit on the small side. They're not the strongest or the fastest, but they learn how to take things things quickly; how to set traps; how to learn changing seasons and signs of food and enemies... They don't see a point in showing off their skills or wit, because it doesn't matter to the others. Why push back, when it only ever landed them in trouble before? Best to stay quiet, to tread lightly...

They start suspecting they're related to the resident genius when their fur takes a bluish-gray color; when their eyes glow yellow-orange; when their wits keep them alive, rsther than love or tenderness... They don't want to stay though after they're punished so horribly it scars them, they sew no logical reason to. It's their survival, their life, on the line, and now, it's either them or the others... and this time, Reader chooses themself...

Learning how to hint takes time, and more often than not they have to eat smaller prey. They try to be quick with kills, try to set traps that aren't painful, try so hard to make their den small amd hidden and warm...

And then one day another young puppy stumbles into their den by accident, during a horrible blizzard, and Reader decides to show mercy this one time...

What's one night of company to them?