#danyl says sit and i sit with my tail wagging

[littleplantfreak]

I can see you being a good puppy hybrid mari! Very enthusiastic, sweet, and loyal <3

(Also I think ume would love giving puppy you head scritches!)

this can be us if you're a cat! (tho your rat/mice is winning in ur poll)

I'm taking this to heart you know. Puppy Mari is a thing forever in my head now. Ugh I'd love head scritches from Ume T-T

[blackmanorcastleinthesky]

Tempest is late.

The pack’s already scattered from the meeting place, but it doesn’t matter. She needs this. The blanket of the night sky above her, the magic in the earth beneath her, and the joyous sound of wolfsong in the air around her.

She takes off her shoes. This place, the pack’s territory, is soaked in magic. The feeling of it against her skin is as soothing as it is invigorating. Tonight, she wants nothing more than to lay down in the grass and let it swallow her up, swaddle her up, while she counts the stars overhead.

Tempest drops down to her knees, sinking her fingers into the dirt. She inhales, exhales. Shuts her eyes and reaches out with her magic, letting the pack’s territory act as a conduit to connect her to the rest of the pack. She can always feel them, invisible threads interconnecting their lives in an infinitely complex web, but being here, her hands in the earth, strengthens the bond.

Danyl answers her first, sending warmth over their connection. Witch.

Her lips twitch, and she lets her amusement flavor their mental thread. It fades immediately as the pack’s alpha acknowledges her presence in passing, Luc’s bond with them all cold and clinical even on his good days. And there’s Luc’s mate, Natasha, offering a sharp mental probe before disconnecting. Tempest starts to pull back, to yank her hands out of the dirt and disengage, wholly planning on getting up and slinking back to her car, alone, to wallow in self-pity when Danyl tugs her back to him, warm and reassuring. Her true alpha.

Danyl links with her, mind to mind. He’s running with the pack. His joy is boundless, and it brings into sharp contrast the ache that she carried here with her tonight. Unbidden, unwanted thoughts spear through her, and she flinches, trying to hide them from Danyl, heavy with guilt for being unable to share in his happiness.

His wolf’s mind deals in simpler terms, but he catches enough from her emotional current to realize there’s something wrong. He slows, hesitating, starting to redirect back towards the meeting place.

Hurt? Witch hurt. I’m coming.

Tempest grimaces. No, Danyl. I’m fine. Just needed-

“Tempest?”

She jumps, eyes flashing wide to take in the man kneeling in front of her. “Blaise. Don’t sneak up on a witch like that. You’re lucky I didn’t turn you into a frog.”

Blaise flashes her a quick, easy smile. “You wouldn’t.”

Tempest rolls her eyes, sending Danyl another pulse of reassurance to keep him from coming back to the meeting place. “You think I like you that much?”

She flashes all of her teeth in a smile, hoping he won’t pick up on her mood. But he’s pack, and they’re friends, and he knows her too well at this point. So when he touches her chin, tilting her face up towards his, she knows she’s failed.

“What’s wrong, Tempest?”

She’s late.

She’s late, and she bought five different pregnancy tests and they were all positive.

Apparently she says this out loud, because Blaise’s frown deepens, his dark eyes widening. “What?”

Tempest shuts her eyes against the sight of him. “I’m pregnant. There’s no one else it could be.”

“Tempest,” he says, voice rough, and puts his muscular arms around her, dragging her into his chest. “I’m- are you okay?”

He smells like leaves and dirt and rain. She inhales deeply, letting it calm her racing heart. Against his chest, she can hear his heart beating fast, too. So she pushes a little magic into him, easing his panic, until his breathing matches her own.

Blaise inhales against her hair. “Are you okay?” he asks again, quieter. Calmer.

Tempest shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to feel.”

“Okay.” Blaise shifts, resettling until he’s sitting in the grass, pulling her into his lap. “Okay, love. I’m here. Whatever you decide, I’m here.”

“I know.”

“Something else happen?”

The casual way he says it makes her laugh. It comes out wet and pathetic, tears suddenly on her cheeks. “Goddamn you.”

He chuckles, running his fingers through her hair, soothing. Across their mental connection, she hears Danyl in his wolf form, trying to comfort her. Packpackpack love Witch Witch safe.

“Why are we damning me?” Blaise asks.

“I saw him. With some girl. It’s… I mean, it’s nothing new. And it could have been nothing. I’m just-” Pain spears her heart. Her chest feels raw and open. “I’m a fucking mess, Blaise.”

Blaise hums, saying nothing. Giving her time to pull herself together. Always gentle and unassuming. Giving her space and respecting her boundaries. It should have been so easy to fall in love with him.

Too bad she’s never been one to take the easy way out.

“I think that I want to keep this baby,” she says. Against her, Blaise sighs heavily before his whole body relaxes, pulling her closer. “I think you’d be a great dad, if that’s the role you want to play.”

“Of course.” He presses his nose into her hair. “I know this isn’t ideal.”

That makes her laugh, her shoulders shaking with it. “Blaise, that sums up a lot of things in my life. Thanks for pointing it out.”

He grins, flashing all of his teeth. “You’re welcome.”

Tempest leans back so she can look up at him. “You’re fantastic. You know that, don’t you? I’m an idiot.”

“You aren’t. I don’t think we get to choose who we love, Tempest.” He cups her face and kisses her forehead, surprisingly tender. It makes her eyes burn. “I’m sorry you’re hurting.”

Her lips wobble as she attempts a smile. “I’m just sorry.”

Blaise laughs, softly and not unkindly, and pulls her back into a bone-crushing hug. It grounds her, even as a few more tears leak from her eyes. After a moment of simply holding her, he says, “Am I allowed to be excited about our baby?”

She nails him with a fist against his ribs, which makes him laugh harder and put her at arms’ length. “Of course.”

“Excellent.” He grins.

Wolfsong fills the air as the pack returns to the meeting place. Talis and Danyl are the first ones to bound over, running circles around the two of them, sharing in their joy.

Danyl shoves his nose into her neck, huffing. WitchWitchWitchpackpackpack.

Talis knocks Blaise over, tail wagging. Puppies!

Tempest nearly chokes. “Just one, hopefully, thank you.”

He shows her all of his teeth, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he flops down across Blaise’s lap now, having pushed her out of the way. Tempest shakes her head at him, noticing Luc and Natasha as they pad into the clearing, side-by-side, their mental connection to the rest of the pack firmly closed off.

She clenches her jaw as Natasha breaks away from Luc’s side to come over and rub herself along Blaise’s back, nipping at his shoulder before springing off again. The way Blaise’s expression shutters closed, the way his shoulders curl forward, arms tightening around Talis’ big, heavy body, the way his heart speeds up – it makes Tempest hot with anger, gritting her teeth and crowding in closer to Blaise to act as a barrier between him and Natasha.

Danyl picks up on it, too, shoving in against Blaise’s other side, nosing his ear. Tempest can hear his soft reassurance. Packbrotherlovesafe.

Adrian comes over on his long, coltish legs and presses his muzzle into Blaise’s offered hand. He echoes Danyl’s thoughts. Packpackpack.

Talis joins in. Packbrotherpackbrother.

The rest of the pack slowly but surely crowds in against them, adding to the dog pile, Blaise at the heart of it. His quiet panic is ebbing, but he’s avoiding looking at his brother and his brother’s mate.

Luc and Natasha are on the opposite side of the clearing, watching coolly.

Danyl settles his head on Blaise’s shoulder, leaning heavily into him. With minimal effort, he pushes a more well-formed thought at Blaise, but the whole pack hears it. Everyone but the alpha and his mate, at least.

We are yours. You are ours. We will keep you safe.

Blaise shudders out a harsh breath. Tempest puts her arms around him, hugging him close.

He smiles against her neck as she pushes at him with, packpackpack.

Witch, Blaise pushes back at her.

Danyl’s affection floods their connection, spreading through the entire pack. Tempest thinks that one day soon, everything will be okay.