Families New and Old

Another Day

Blue continued pacing around, panicking at the slightest of sounds, not quite convinced that it was safe.

Beloved still hadn't woken up, and she found herself torn between her terror at that fact and her great joy at the sight of Light still breathing. Her mate had done it, he'd saved their son, together with her surrogate father, who remained nearby.

She wasn't sure what to make of seeing him helping them, having expected him to protect his own family rather than risk his life to help hers. But, he had come out, and that more than anything was the reason he was allowed so close to Beloved's sleeping body. She trusted him, but her nerves were to their limit.

She'd been so scared when the pack had started to trickle down as they ran out of energy, leaving Beloved to continue alone.

Blue had literally dragged herself as far as she could before she realized that she could go no further, so she called for her children to come to her. She wanted to make sure they were all together in case Beloved didn't make it back. He was out of sight for so long, and she feared the worst for him, tortured by the fact that she couldn't help him. By the fact that she could do nothing.

It was the same feeling she had before her sisters had died, and she didn't want to go through that again. Luckily, she didn't need to, he'd made it all the way forward and won.

It was still a wonder to her that he had gone so far, when the entire family had been left behind. He had always been the strongest, but seeing just how strong he was still impressed her to her core. But, his efforts had apparently taken a lot out of him, more than she could ever give.

She wished that he was awake right now, but she knew that he was alive, and protected, so she wasn't driven to madness by it all. She would keep him safe, no matter what. It was what he would have done for her, what he already had done for her, and their family.

So she waited, along with her children, for a duration of time that simply felt too long.

Her old alpha never left, and eventually the whole pack just ended up laying down next to Beloved as they awaited his recovery. Light was the most comfortable with the situation, being in no mood to move at all. His bleeding had finally subsided, and he found himself being in the care of a mother who wanted nothing more than to make sure that her family was okay.

Beloved didn't seem to be in very bad shape, but he had pushed himself beyond his limits and needed rest. Luckily he hadn't been badly injured, but Blue cleaned the blood of the horned predators off of him as if the blood was his.

Judging by the blood all around, and the severed arm, there'd been quite a struggle. He'd chased both of them off, by himself. She was proud, very proud.

But, she couldn't help but feel guilty as she waited, believing that the reason the horned predators had been able to sneak up on them was because she had gotten so distracted by seeing her old alpha again. She should have done better, she knew what was out there.

Her children recognized her distress, and took to nuzzling her at random times to comfort her. None of them blamed her for this, they were just happy to still be alive. This was the first time the children had ever fought one of the similar creatures, and they were left with a mixture of confidence and fear in the aftermath.

Hopefully they'd never have to face things like that again, but if they did, they'd lay waste to whatever tried to end them. They knew that they could now.

o-o-o

Owen had no idea how to react to any of this.

He'd heard the roars of something and known that something was wrong, but he hadn't expected a pair of carnotaurus' to hunt the raptors.