Not The Daddy

[Daithi Dáire]

One, singular yelp carried through the forest. Hitting Daithi square in the chest. A hollow pocket of anxiety and fear setting his legs in motion. High pitched and canine the note itself was unfamiliar, but the voice that sang it was as close to him as kin. Perhaps even more so. Quick paws stroking the ground Daithi barrelled towards the sound. Toe pads shifting over rock and soil to keep his speed steady.

Strong. Forceful. Turning wolf into battering ram. Body colliding heavily with the one that stood growling over Tailwagger. His young form cowered in submission on the ground. Belly up, paws bent at the wrists and neck exposed. Something dark yanked up from Daith’s heart into his throat. Predatory in a way even the man who lived as a wolf was not used to. Not his pup.

Shoulder first he barrelled into the grown wolf. Growling ripping through his muzzle as he plowed the stranger to the ground. Lips raised to show sharp teeth. Body crouching as it moved to pace a line between what he protected and what he protected it from. Ready to pounce into a fight. But the pup did not stay down long. Yipping in fear he darted from one wolf to the other. Stubbing Daithi’s anger by running to the fallen adversary instead of to his hero.

*Mine!* He roared down a thread of many colors. Not sure which might resonate with this… female. His nose twitched at her as he sifted between the poignant scents of wolf and psyche. A female who was not known to him but not unknown either. He recognized the buttery aromas of Uncle’s shop on her fur. And the sweetened flora tones that often clung to Tailwagger. Who begged forgiveness by crawling along the dirty. Tail wagging madly and bright eyes turned up with laid back ears. Daithi scowled, in so much as a wolf could scowl. Sitting on his haunches with his shoulders high so his head could rest low between them. Narrowed eyes on the pup. *What’s all your noise about boy?*

@dergon

[Róis]

She had grown stupid and complacent. Pack life was complicated, but it was safe. Once it had not been so, not for Rois. But here no one intruded. No one asked her to step onto the mating field since she was already raising one strong. The sound of swift feet was familiar now. Even if this stride was not, Rois had grown comfortable enough that she did not immediately raise a shield in alarm.

Busy reminding her son that she had laid out boundaries for a reason. Trees marked carefully so he would know. The invisible line of allowed and not carefully shown to him and the consequences of crossing them explained. It seemed he had forgotten. Rois’ alarms leading her straight to her willful, wondering son. And so she had to remind him that she was his mother, and his caste and Jewel gave him no say above her own.

It was a lesson they had had before. Though it had never been so rudely interrupted. Yelping, Rois tumbled over Tadg’s body. Rolling through the orange and brown leaves before she caught herself. Had he not been there she simply would have rolled over. Submitted and had it over. But Tadg was there. Her son who was small still though he grew every day. And between her and her son was a snarling beast. Leaping to her feet, Rois cut the air with sharp white teeth. Terror made every hair on her body stand straight until she could feel the breeze through her under coat and over her skin.

*No!* Rois roared back. She did not know this male. But Tadg did. Daw! Daw! He cried. Rois ordered him away. He was to flee! They had agreed years ago and talked about it often. He was to run and leave the protecting to Rois. To hide until she could find him when the danger passed. Rois shouldered him. *Away!* But he would no go! Groveling up to the other male until Rois was forced to leap over him to keep between the two.

She felt him wedge himself between her legs and whined. Pack life had made him deaf to his mother!

*Nothing.* Spear to spear and too dark for a mother to listen in. To hear his lie because he was too ashamed to admit he had been bad to Daw. Breaking his mother’s rules and forcing her to leave her work to chastise him. Tadg skidded through the leaves as Rois pushed him back with her hind leg. Moving them both away. *Momma!* But she would not listen. Saw only danger where Tadg knew there was a friend. Called Daw always because is was closest to Dad. Someone had to be his whatever his mother said.

The pack could not he his father. Someone had had to put him in her stomach. Though he was still confused and curious about he had gotten in there and out again.

[Daithi Dáire]

Huffing to calm his breath Daithi stared at Tailwagger. Yellow eyes bright in the winter sunshine. Air cold on his lugs as he took great gulps of it. Cocking an ear forward he sneezed in lue of a scoff. Now that he knew what thread hue was adequate and that the boy would not admit fault, he called out the pup so all involved could hear. * Daithi does not believe you yelped for 'nothing'.* Naughty pup.

Before he could answer again the mother shoved him away. Slower to put together that Daithi was pack. Important pack, when it came to this child. Shared between them because the Prince of their People had decided it should be so. And his sister relished the connection. *You will stop now, Daithi is speaking to his pup.” He told the mother.

Blinking at her slowly. It was not a challenge, though his body leaned in as if it were. He would not be told no. ”This is pack land, Tailwagger. When a pup cries, he is protected. You put a scare in Daithi. Now he hits your mother. She will not let you play with him if she is afraid of him. Is that what you want? He was not exaggerating. The sound of the lone yowl had woken him from a midday nap. Cozy leaf bed abandoned as a streak of fear clawed through his heart. He had heard the screams of pups cut short before. They haunted him, and they had only been cousins.

It was true too that women were fickle. Wolf mothers were a protective and aggressive lot. Daithi would not be denied, but his time with Tailwagger would be much less pleasant if she were shadowing them all of the time. You couldn’t teach a boy about manhood under the judgmental nose of his mother.

[Róis]

Tadg made himself very small, suddenly glad for his mother’s shadow over him. Protecting him from Daw’s displeasure. She flicked an ear toward him, as if she would hear the excuse for the lie he told Daw. His mother did not stand for lying when it did not protect the pack. Tadg knew without being told that there would be extra chores in his future. *Well.* Tadg wheedled. He had to find some way to fix it. To make his mother and Daw friends.

*Your pup?* Rois questioned, bumping Tadg as he wiggled against her. There was a fierce need in her to roll over and show her throat, but the drive to protect her pup was stronger. It made her challenge what she might have let slide before. Pack was family. But Tadg had always been just Rois’, and while she wanted him to have the security and knowledge of a pack, she did not want to share rights to him. Especially with males she’d never met.

*My mother is not afraid of anything!* Tadg interjected before Rois could say anything. She snorted, looking around her shoulder at him, hoping the male would not take her distraction as an invitation to attack. He had showed little aggression since knocking her over and roaring in her face. Though plenty of possessiveness of her son.

*He wandered farther than he is allowed.* Rois explained. She did not add that his lesson was unlikely to have been learned for being so rudely interrupted. But she did lay down her fur and drop her tail. Yipping, Tadg leapt to his feet and raced around them gleefully, knowing exactly what his mother’s resignation looked like. *Who are you?* She asked, ears following Tadg. *I’ve seen you before.* In a dream, Rois thought. A waking dream that had lead her to a place she could not be followed.

Now here he was again, with a name and a claim laid to her son.

[Daithi Dáire]

Head tipping Daithi pivoted his ears towards the mother. Eyes flicking away from Tailwagger only a moment. Just to judge her body for challenge or submission. She was something in between. Afraid but staunch in her protectiveness. *A claimed pup is a protected pup. Lesser women would grovel to put Daithi’s name on their sons. You should be pleased.* He suggested in a helpful tone.

Moira had asked her brother, when they first showed up in proximity of the pack- was the boy for Daithi? And after seeing him what could he say? How could such a rare gem be not his? The seed did not matter. Mother Night saw fit to put the boy side by side with a male that would match him in jewel and caste. It was good. The mother would see this too, given time.

*Everyone has fears. She will be afraid Daithi’s big teeth might find her naughty pup’s nose if you make him growl too much.” He told Tailwagger with a bark of laughter. His own tail giving a playful swish. Yellow eyes slipping the pup a wink. It was sweet that he thought her fearless. His own mother was meek. Defense left to the pack while she suckled babes that would systematically outstrip her either in power, personality, or both. His father was not much to sniff at either. Tailwagger, it seemed, was twice blessed.

Ears rolling back towards the mother his muzzle followed. Nose twitching he nodded at the explanation. Boundaries were important for little ones. He touched her with a probe that lapped at caste and Jewels. It seemed the Summer-sky they spoke along was the depth of her power. That would make boundaries twice as important. Not being able to outmatch her son’s temper should he strike out with it. Scooting closer he pawed at Tailwagger’s nose. *Daithi has a cure for wandering pups.* He did not say what. But his mentors had used it on him, and if it worked on a warlord prince then it would work on a gentler soul.

*Daithi-* Her question tricked him. Who was he? He was Daithi, and that wasn’t how a sentence was structured. Huffing through his nose he tried to shake free from the line of consciousness pressed on him. Tongue heavy as it wet it muzzle. *I’m Daithi Daire. Moira’s brother.* He told her in a different tone of voice. His shoulders hunched and he looked towards the forest he had come from. He wanted to go back. Back and to sleep. *You must be clever if you saw me and I did not see you.* He said in that same voice that was his but not his.

[Róis]

He was arrogant. It was to be expected, so Rois was not surprised. It came in many forms but she had always found it among the dark of Jewel. His was just exceptional. *Then I am pleased.* A warning or introduction first would have been nice, but Rois could not lay all of that blame on the male. Her son had been keeping secrets. Worrisome in and of itself.

Males. Tadg rubbed against her like a cat. And ducked beneath her to avoid Daithi when he came close. Rois rose high on her toes, back arched so he could fit beneath her and flit away. Worry and playfulness all in one bundle of speckled fur. Rois sighed. There would be no end to games now. Or trouble, for all the male promised secrets for making little boys behave. She was suspicious.

*We may discuss your cures later.* She promised. There was discipline and then there was punishment. She had no way to judge which way this warlord prince would swing in his parenting of her pup. Ot made her heart ache. The idea of sharing what had for so long been hers alone. It was petty and foolish, but no less true.

And this male was strange. The way he spoke doubly so. It make her ears lay flat, tail curling between her legs as his tone changed. Richer. Darker. At odds with the tongue that curled over his muzzle. *Or just too small to see.* She tried to soothe. She had heard of him. The name that had taunted her memories falling into place when paired with Moira’s. Rois knew she was to submit. To always submit. She had been told and she had listened. Forgetting only the name.

Daithi. She would not forget again.

*I am Rois. And I will be glad to share a son with you.* The very one which she snapped at. Once again trying to slink beneath her belly, this time to sneak up on Daithi while he looked elsewhere. Tired, perhaps, of mothers and sons. Yelping Tadg dashed away, tail high and waving.

[Daithi Dáire]

Shielding himself beneath is mother Tailwagger gave Daithi a smug grin. Puppy teeth glinting as he slipped away. Woman happy to contort herself to let him put distance between them. She would have been happier, Daithi suspected, to run away completely. Tailwagger stayed, so she stayed. *Very well.* He said of the promise for later talk later. Perhaps she was frightened of what his suggestion would be. Afraid for Tailwagger to hear it, and start thinking of ways around it.

There were none, though. Daithi would have found them as a pup had there been. All his bones ached to wander when he was young. They still did in fact. But in that moment they ached for other things. Shoulders twitching as if he were shaking off flies he tried to balance between the sharp focus of his human mind, and the less emotionally tied wolf. It was impossible, and he had spent too long as one. The balance tipped in the opposite direction now. Her tricky question a catalyst. He did not remember her face or scent. And he did not think size had anything to do with it. He remembered Tailwagger just fine, in boy body or puppy. *I have been known to forget- or overlook- people from time to time. Where did you see me then? Here in the village?*

Had they fucked? Was he really the boy’s father? No. A sniff was all it took to know they were not kin by blood. The arches of thick fur above Daithi’s eyes rose in subtle surprise. He had expected silence, if not an argument. Her easy acceptance pleased him once he was sure it was not said in sarcastic bite. She pleased him. Psyche clean and gently submissive. Rois. He tried to hold the name to his heart and hoped it would stuck. *Rois. Mother of my son. I will try to remember, you must not be afraid to remind me if I forget. My… memory is a strange thing.* He admitted without shame. *You have done well raising him. He is clever and eager to learn. I have not met other Black Widow males of our people. It pleases me*

Daithi laid in the grass. Then stood again. Bristling with a nervous energy. Shift whispering under his skin. *I’m too long in this skin.* He bristled in annoyance at no one. *Is your change slow? I will take you for food, and we can speak of son-raising if it pleases you.* From behind his mother's tail the pup eyed him curiously. They had never walked together as people. Only a boy and his dog or an old wolf with his pup. Without probes he might not even recognize Daithi on the street.

[Róis]

*No. Not here in the village.* Rois tongue rolled over her muzzle as she hedged. She did not like speaking of it, afraid of suspicion. Afraid her welcome would become unwelcome. At the back of her mind was a worry for the truth, or a hint of her whereabouts slipping back out the shield and finding their way to him. Much as she'd never seen him, she had sensed his shadow just behind them for years.

It was a hard fear to shake, even with rational thinking. Twitching shoulders did nothing to reassure her. *It was before I came here, and I do not know the name of the place.* Would it be enough? She was afraid to outright lie, in case he sensed it. So she spoke truth without real answers. Moira knew Rois had come from outside the shield, but she had kept most of her secrets close, what the pack leader had told her brother, Rois did not know.

Tail flat down her legs and ears half pinned to her skull, Rois demonstrated her submission. She did not lie, but she could not tell him the full answer to his question due to honest ignorance and much needed secrecy. He seemed to accept her answer, and was pleased by her easy acceptance of his fatherhood. Rois did not like it in her bones, but she knew when she was beat. Knew too that a male of shared caste and Jewels might be of help to her son.

*Yes Daithi.* She hoped it did not come to that. She had been warned he was strange. Submitting was easy, a central part to Rois' own nature. Unable to roll over and expose her belly only because Tadg was close and in need of minding. That she had to entrust his care to a male with admitted memory problems was terrifying. Maybe she would ask Ephram more about Daithi, he most of the pack in some way. *Thank you. He is a good natured boy, and has made his raising mostly easy.*

Though that changed the bigger he grew. More curious, and worse, more bold. He ventured father now that he had his wolf skin, and his Sapphire made his stupid in fearlessness. Daithi relaxed, laying down into the grass and drawing Tadg near. The boy peeked at him, and was stepped on by his mother as Rois backed up, startled as Daithi rose again, hair on end until he was nearly twice the size he had been.

She crouched low, nearly sitting on Tadg, tail tucked under her belly. Tadg was less worried and more curious. *It is a good change.* She did not want, but Rois gave way, tongue lolling over her muzzle nervously, and then licking at Tadg's face as he edged around her. *We will join you when it is over.* She herded the boy away, into a thicket of tall grass and brambles. Privacy for the change, its agony familiar now.

Tadg took longest. Rois dressed while waiting for him, skirt wiggled into and blouse buttoned. Hard not to pet him while he writhed, but she knew it would upset his concentration and only slow him down. Probes sweeping outward to make sure Daithi did not interrupt either, or sneak up on them. "Done?" Weak nodding that allowed for her to stroke his damp hair and cleanse the air around them.

Rois helped him dress, a small piece of candied fruit dolled out to help settle his stomach. The sugar helped, she thought, taking his hand and leading him back out into the small break in the trees where Daithi waited. Tadg was quick to let go of her hand, boy measuring the man. Rois measured him too, less curious than her son, more unsure. "Prince." A quick curtsy, dark hair swept away from her face, Rois smiled at him gently, palm turned up in welcome.

This was home now. And this temper was now hers to bear as best it needed tending. A thing Rois had always been good at.

"Will I be that tall?" Tadg asked plaintively, making her laugh.