Tally

II. Trickle

The darkness awaits at the teeth of corruption, and wolf finds his fate at the paws of destruction.

Akuma's voice ruptured the simplicity of the forest's silence, unfiltered since he knew they were remote enough to be unheard by the rest of the pack. "The autumn tally is tomorrow. You had over a year, and still found a way to screw it up."

"Alpha, please just listen to me," the wolf begged, nauseated by the larger wolf's direct and angry tone. "You made the tally for cases like this specifically; we know he wants to tally out, but if he stays in the tally, nothing's going to change for him. I know you've got high hopes for your daughters, and I can guarantee that one of them is going to pass the tally, quite easily, too."

"That's not my only concern, you know this. I shouldn't have to talk to my beta like she's a pup."

A flash of anger took over the she-wolf's expression as she watched Akuma. "You shouldn't have to talk to your beta like a mate, either!" she bellowed, though shrinking in her stance as she saw the alpha's expression grow colder.

"He's stronger than the rest, Suka," Akuma said after several moments of silence. "We need him to give in to the tally, or it's going to kill him."

"Alpha, the tally won't do anything for him, and he knows it. How are we supposed to convince him otherwise?"

"I have one idea."

*****

"I have one idea," Pine said, watching April. As he'd done several times already, he lifted her chin up. "April, look at me."

April couldn't keep her head from dropping again, facing the dirt. "The tally is tomorrow. If we both tally out, we can't even be together at all." Finally, she looked up at Pine with a nervous and cold expression. "I can't afford to be a loner again..."

"Well, we can't afford to play whatever kind of hell this is, either," Pine said, growing slightly aggravated. "I don't understand what you want. If we tally, there's no way I'm getting through, and there's no way you aren't. Now you're trying to tell me that if we tally out, that's also a bad option?"

"Pine, this isn't easy!" April lashed out. She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. "Alpha has been treating me a lot less like a packmate recently, and he barely recognizes any of my behaviors; it's like he doesn't know me anymore. I was his pride, until I continued to leave him to 'tally' with you."

Pine took slight offense to her comment, and said matter-of-factly, "First off, you were never his pride, you were his tool. Hard to believe, isn't it? He's good at that. Secondly, if the tally was all you cared about, you'd probably be more willing to leave me than give up the pack tally."

He watched her closely for several moments, at first hoping she would come around to see his point (as had happened many times before), but something seemed...different. She developed a guilty expression after several moments of thought, avoiding eye contact with Pine.

"So that's it!?" Pine asked, his tone twisting into an anxious one. "All this, and you're not even considering tallying out?"

"Pine, I can't-"

"Can't what!?" he barked, standing up and taking a step back. "Can't trust me? Can't tally out? Can't leave the pack?" April couldn't reply to any of his questions, already struggling to breathe without hyperventilating. "You would rather leave me, after I've proven my dedication, for the tally, where you'll be praised by strangers?"

April shook her head, standing up and walking up to Pine. Without warning, she gave him a gentle lick on the cheek, before walking away and whispering, "I'm sorry, Pine."