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His howl died instantly and he turned, his heart jumping into his throat. The pups all yapping playfully as they bounded toward their mother like this was some game, he blinked she was alive...the thought seemed to turn him to stone for a moment as his brain processed it and his heart went on turbo. Then he turned and ran to her, careful of the little ones that jumped around her with glee he on the other hand moved to rub his face along hers. He moved into her and when his face went towards her neck his nose and eye were met with sharp pokes and he backed off shaking his crown with an expression of what the heck. But he ignored it, licking at her face next just so over joyed that his mate was alive and not dead like he had thought...but then the question hit him like a ton of bricks landing in his gut. 'Why had the humans kept them alive?'

Hearing the happy yapping of all three of her pups as they climbed on her frame the fae sighed, relief flooding quickly over her. The next thing she felt was her mates gentle touch, him rubbing his face along hers and a light Mmm escaped her. When he left all of a sudden she had whimpered, her orbs flickering open to look up at him but her eyelids were heavy and she felt dead tired. As he came back down to lick at her face her eyes closed, slowly and gently sitting up and rolling onto her belly. Tucking one of her fores under her chest she kept her crown and audits low, whispering quietly. "Kih.." She breathed, needing to hear his voice as their pups continued to pounce on her and nibble her fur.

"I'm here my love. I'm sorry..." he whispered, they were safe yes but the humans had done something to them and he hadn't been able to protect them. Maybe it was the sedative in him and the long exhausting events of the night coupled together but he didn't much feel like his alpha self at the moment. He felt deflated, like he had let his family down even though he knew that he had done everything he could. He laid down next to them, their pups were softly starting to settle down and lay in her fur as they were hit the most with exhaustion from the nights events first. He on the other hand felt like he would never sleep again as his soft affectionate grooming moved to her ears.

"It's ok babe.." The fae breathed lightly, yawning softly as her brute moved to lie beside her. Sighing softly, completely exausted yet wide away at the same time, it was going to be a long..sleepless night. Lieing her crown down ontop of his fores the femme curled her tassle around her pups that were pressed up against her pelt, glad they atleast would get some sleep. Looking up at her Kih she licked his chin softly, whispering to him again. "I love you Kih.."

"I love you." He whispered back, her reassuring words had lifted his spirits lightly and having the feeling she wouldn't be getting any sleep soon either he decided to talk about it more. It wasn't the first time though that humans had turned his world upside down so he was able to recover from it a little more quickly, still it chilled him to the bone the thoughts going through his head as to what they would have done if he hadn't escaped from that cage. "We should move tomorrow, it's just a little earlier then we expected but we can move it close to that field of mice. Would be nice to start showing the little ones how to hunt." he said trying to take his lovers thoughts off the events that kept playing over and over inside his own skull.

After hearing Kih's I love you back to her she moved just slightly, turning to her pups that were all curled up at her side together, sleeping peacefully. Running a gentle tongue along each tiny frame she sighed, a relieved and almost a bit content sigh escaping her. Even her elest daughter hadnt fussed at her Mothers lick like she normally did, obviously dead asleep. Starting to groom her little brute gently she listened to her mates words, turning back to him to reply with a nod. "Yeah I think that's a good idea.." She breathed, looking back toward her little ones and leaning her crown against her mates shoulder. "You think theyll be ok..? With the move and all.. after all this tonight." She spoke, worry lining each word she spoke to him.

He sighs softly, he too worried about how this would effect their young broods behaviors. "It will be up to them and us...taking them some where new will give them the knowledge at least that whatever this was is not something we just ignore but need to respond to, it'll be important for when they have their own pack and..." he didn't even want to talk about when they would no longer be with their pups, the event tonight had almost made that sooner then later so he diverted elsewhere. "...it'll just be what's best. If we can keep them away from the humans, they will recover from this easily...they're just pups but I think they'll be looking to us even more now for how to react." He snorts, "I won't let these humans destroy what we've been building for each other." A soft growl rose in him but he quieted it quickly not wanting the pups to get distressed they needed their rest for the move, his childhood had been destroyed by them but he would not let them invade on his future nor would he allow his children go through what he had. "We'll get through this love, I promise."

Mystery just listened silently to her mate as he spoke, still kinda out of it due to the seditive in her but she nodded every now and then to her Kih. When she heard his growl she had flinched softly, jumpy apparently now from their encounter with the humans but her frame soon relaxed again. Hearing his comforting words after his growl had quickly faded her gaze flickered up to meet his, licking his nose softly before breathing back to him. "I know babe.. Im glad we're all ok right now." The femme spoke quietly, moving to rub her face into her mates neck and yipping softly as it felt like the side of her face got pricked. Flinching back she shook her crown out, stopping when she felt the movement of something turning around her neck. "What the heck.." She whispers, bringing a hind forward carefully and scratching at her neck, careful of her pups at her belly not wanting to wake them. Her claws made a scraping sound as they moved along her neck, at first sounding normal then extremely weird as they slid (c)

across something hard and smooth. Setting her hind back down against the stone she glanced back over at Kih, unlike him able to see in the dark of the cave and her audits flattened slightly as she slowly lowered her nares toward the pale thing around his neck. Sniffing at the thing gently she gave out a low irritated growl, flickering her audits as her gaze shifted up to meet his. The thing smelled heavily of only humans. "Kih..They put something around our necks.."

Kihyah nods faintly, "I know. In this light I can't make out what they are but if I'm guessing right they are collars. I used to have one..." he sighs blinking away the memory, "I can't see very well but with them leaving us with them on I'd say it's a good bet we're not getting out of these until they want us out of them." he informs her before continuing, "The pups don't have any so at least their movements won't be restricted." He sighs laying his head down and closing his eyes, he just wanted it all to go away...why couldn't the humans have left them alone let him live out his days without them and then it dawned on him. What if it was him they were still after? He after all had been the only one to wake up in a cage, he snorts and buries himself in his lover and pups scent before allowing his eyes to close again wanting the calm effect of sleep to take over his senses.

The mistress snorts at her mates words about the collars coming not off until the humans wanted them to and she flattened her audits. "They cant stop me from trying to get it off.." She grumbled, and almost growled as she lowered her crown and brought both fore paws back to place them on either side of the collar. Pushing with her paws and pulling her crown back at the same time as her mate buried himself in her and their pups, she pushed until she almost got the thing over her ears but it was choking her at the same time it was digging into the base of her auds. Whimpering as she started to get lightheaded she shook her crown out to get it off her ears, panting softly as it had been choking her for awhile and she rubbed her audit gently. Plopping her crown down on her mates fores she huffed, her tassel twitching irritably.

His silver orbs open to look up at her, he couldn't tell whether she had succeeded or not but the huff plus the irritating noise her tail was making sounded like she hadn't. "Get it off?" he asked, as his left ear twitched lightly backwards before sliding forward again as one of the pups squirmed from her moms efforts. The eldest girl was slowly waking and his pink ribbon slipped out to lick her crown comforting the little one back down as he listened to her mothers answer. Giving out a soft yawn as the adrenaline started to finally rid itself completely from his body and his thoughts were finally slowing themselves in the comfort of his family.

"No.." Mystery sighed softly, turning to watch as her Kih moved to lick one of his girls as she had squirmed lightly. The faes frame relaxed as her thoughts now turned to their pups and she lied her crown down close to her three little pups, nosing gently into them as she gave out a content sigh. Her gaze flickering up to look at Kih she spoke quietly to him, her tassle stopping its twitching to lie across his own banner. "Hey babe.. Do you think we should name them soon..? Since theyre more aware of everything now.." She whispered, moving slowly to lie on her side again.

He had held back a light laugh as to how deflated she had sounded, it wasn't like he hadn't told her but he just smiled and shrugged it off knowing she probably felt a bit foolish after attempting such a thing. He nods moving on to her next questions without so much as an after thought to what had just happened, "With them howling like that..." he chuckles looking back on it, as sad as it had been it also had been terribly cute if looked upon in a different light. "They definitely are becoming more aware of their instincts and surroundings then I was aware of before. I think tomorrow after the move would be a perfect time to give them their names." He nudges softly into his mate, a smile planted on his face being a wolf emotions were easily left in the past and much easier to move on from. "I think we're going to be just fine." He says with a much more light heartened tone then before, his eyes closing again he lets out a long yawn as he felt more and more the drag of sleep.

Smiling gently as her silver brute yawned heavily beside her she murred lovingly to him, nosing his cheek softly before grazing her wet pink ribbon along it in a sweet little kiss. "New den.. new names.. Tomorrow's going to be a long day for the pups." The fae breathed warmly, scooting her crown back against Kih's and giving out a tired sigh. "But you're right, we'll be fine." She whispered that time, her eyes closed as she murred out a gentle, quiet tune as she tried to lull herself and her mate to sleep. Kissing his cheek again before going still her murrs slowly faded as sleep gradually dragged her under.

When her soft murring lullaby reached his ears he had already been almost asleep, so it jarred him nicely out of it. Her loving kiss to his cheek made him move just slightly so that his body curled in front of hers but facing her and the pups, making a warm and small nest like area between him and her. As he begins to fade off to sleep along with her tunes he allows his tongue to slide out one last time and kiss what seemed like her chin before finally his tired head dragged him into its depths.

ice popped out of her den, crying out of dead fear. she ran towards the other den and sniffed. good, they were all there. she ran back and hid, she had to sleep.

Mystery woke to the soft sounds of her fussy pups, the unpleasant feeling of them latching onto her stomach with their sharp teeth. Squirming lightly the fae shifted her frame for the little ones to make their nursing easier, yiping once at one of them every now and then when they would accidently bite her too hard. It wasnt long before they were gentle with her though and the femme's jades flickered open, the cave dim in the early morning. Yawning she glanced over at her mate, licking the sleeping brutes cheek.

He bolts upright when she licked his cheek, a snarl coming to his lips until he realizes where he was...it was only just a nightmare. He sighs pulling himself up to his pedistals before slumping over to the pool at the back of the den, getting out a drink of water to parch his dry throat before heading back over to his mate and pups. "Ugh...do they have to always wake up so early?" he laughs lightly as he circles back around and licks her cheek affectionately, "I suppose they're excited about the big move."

The small fae flinched slightly as her mate jerked up and awake with a snarl, her audits flickering softly but she knew his snarls werent directed towards her. Watching as he stood to go get a drink she watched her silver brute head off a little ways, a yawn forcing her jaws apart slightly. Her enamels clicking back together as they met she set her crown against the cold stone floor, hearing her Kih coming back and she moved her crown to look at him as he spoke about the pups getting up so early. "Apparently they do." The fae breathed with a soft smile, murring as her brute kissed her cheek. "Yeah, they do seem excited with the way they're nipping me." She chuckled, moving to nip one of the pups hinds playfully.

Kihyah laughs lightly, "I think that's more to do with them being ready to eat meat more then due to their excitement." he noses them away from her stomach and they protest immediately, "HEY." he barks and they immediately stop to look at him. "Be nice to your mother, she's not fresh meat." he grins at them, they yip playfully at him before shoving past his maw back to her so they could have more milk. He turns back to her and with the morning sun now lighting up the cave he could see the nasty black collar they had placed around her neck, it was bulky and had something sticking up out of it like a stick. He moved his maw around the collar and began to gnaw at it, it tasted like crap but she desperately had wanted it off and he wanted it off of her just as well not sure what it could do to her. He mumbles between chewing, "Hold your head and neck as still as possible."