Chapter 25:They were all ready to head out before the sun even broke through the horizon. With everything that they needed there was nothing else to hold them back from continuing their journey, except for Sayaka and Miyuki who seemed to be late. In the meantime, torches were lit for the lack of light. They didn’t need it, their senses already gave them the ability to see in the dark but it would look suspicious to the humans if they didn’t have them.
“Where are they?” Kumi asked worriedly from her mount. A white mare with a blonde mane, it was the best that Yuka could find for Kumi and her kitsune seemed to have taken a liking to it. Yuka was standing nearby, holding on to the reins to make sure that the horse won’t kick Kumi off.
The shewolf patted her mate’s thigh comfortingly, her gaze went to her mate’s belly. Kumi was starting to show and she couldn’t wait to see what her mate wouldlook like in the following months. “They’ll be here. Just be patient, kitsune.”
“Yuka?”
“What is it?”
“Can I have some fried locusts? I think Dasu made some yesterday.”
“Um…” Yuka suppressed the disgusted look on her face and was about to do as her mate asked just as Miyuki was spotted approaching them on Xena.
Kumi waved at Miyuki but frowned when she didn’t see Sayaka riding with Miyuki. She guided her mount closer to Miyuki with Yuka still making sure that the horse was calm and Sawako quietly following after.
“Where’s Sayaka?” Kumi asked when she was close enough.
“In the doghouse.” The human answered, pointing behind her.
They looked over to where Miyuki was pointing and found Sayaka in her shifted form, skulking behind Xena and a new collar around her neck. Yuka was about to poke fun at her fellow Alpha but a look from Sayaka stopped her, she realized that she’d be in Sayaka’s place if Kumi was mad at her or Sayaka could just maul her right there.
“What happened to Sayaka?” Kumi asked. Her surrogate parent looked so cute in that form and she wanted to pet Sayaka but she didn’t feel like getting off her mount. She’d been contemplating on giving it a name and keeping it even when they return to Sakae.
“She was being mean last night.” Miyuki shifted on her saddle. She and Sayaka didn’t do much with her falling asleep afterwards but before that Sayaka was a little rough with her. So she woke up this morning with bruised hips.
Kumi glanced at Yuka and the shewolf crossed her arms. “Don’t even think about it, kitsune. I’d bend over backwards for you but not wear a collar.”
“Okay, I won’t.” The kitsune lied, her tail was twitching excitedly under her clothes. Yuka will wear a collar at some point whether she liked it or not.
“Anyway, we’re ready to move out.” Yuka stated before helping herself up on Kumi’s mount, seating herself behind her mate. When she was sure that Kumi was comfortable, Yuka took hold of the reins then directed her mount to face her quiet assistant. “Sawako, please pass along that it’s time for us to move.”
The shewolf nodded and left quietly but swiftly.
“Sayaka said earlier that we’ll be able reach Namba’s ancestral home tomorrow afternoon if we hurry.”
Yuka nodded in confirmation. “If we don’t encounter any trouble along the way we’ll be there much faster.”
With her job done, Sawako approached her leader on her own mount. “We’re ready to go at your word, Nakanishi-san.”
“Thank you.” Yuka made her mount turn to face the rest of her army. She’d taken a portion of her forces with her, leaving Jurina’s and Rena’s to protect Sakae. They were personally trained by her and Seira, and each one had sworn their fealty to her. “Everyone get up and haul ass!”
Everyone started to move and they took a moment to watch all the activities. The caravan forming two neat lanes so that they can fit in the jungle’s path, scouts rushing ahead to get the lay of the land, fighters and soldiers staying alert to protect their supplies and their archers scattered around to snipe down any threat that they may spot. Yuka waited for the first line of her soldiers to pass before joining in the line, her personal guards immediately surrounding her and friends.
“How long will Sayaka be stuck with her collar?” Yui asked, she alone on her mount with Paru preferring to walk rather than with ride her.
“It depends if she behaves.” Miyuki said. She looked over her shoulder to check on her shewolf, Sayaka was still following after her but still seemed to be sulking. “If she’s good, she can have that collar off much sooner than I said!”
Sayaka’s ears perked up at what Miyuki said and started to move towards the side of the path. If she can find some of the wild flowers she used to give to Miyuki, maybe the human call her a good shewolf and the collar will be off.
“I personally like her just the way she is.” Paru commented, ignoring the growl heard from the black wolf. “Don’t growl at me. I can keep my hands to myself easily.”
Sayaka couldn’t help but wonder just how much the salty shewolf knew of her and Miyuki’s activities last night, but was unable to communicate in her current form, and simply went back to sniffing out flowers that looked and smelt appealing.
Miyuki smiled, as she watched her mate find means of impressing her. She wasn’t really mad at the wolf, a bit ticked off at how sore she was, but she was simply acting and putting on a show. She truly enjoyed herself a bit too much last night, being dominated and commanded. Just thinking about it caused a small throbbing in between her legs to start again but suppressed it, she was still too sore to do anything else with it.
Trying to distract herself, she drew her surrogate daughter’s attention. “Kumi, have you thought of names for the twins?” She asked excitedly.
The kitsune turned her head, before replying. “Not really. I’d rather wait to be honest. If we gave them super girly names and come out looking like Yuka it would be awkward.”
“What’s wrong with my face?” Yuka asked, a noticeable pout on her face.
“Nothing is wrong with your face. I like your face a lot.” Kumi replied, facing the direction of her mate. “I just wonder what they’ll look like, and I dont want to set a name in stone yet.” The Kitsune hummed, bringing a hand up to stroke the shewolf’s face.
She felt the shewolf’s lips press against her palm. “I’m also afraid that if our pups get your looks, they might start breaking hearts at such a young age.”
“I don’t get why they’ll be breaking hearts as pups. You know we reach our mating stage at a later age, right?”
“You’ll understand someday.”
The kitsune let her hand slide down to Yuka’s thigh, patting the toned muscle idly. Mieko and especially, Seira had told her about Yuka’s ignorance of her own charm and effect on other people. It was adorable because her shewolf was being her humble and dumb self but at the same time it was annoying, she’d more than once heard of stories of shewolves practically throwing themselves at Yuka’s feet.
Sayaka glared up at the happy couple, envy evident in her eyes, as her fellow Alpha could do anything, and not be punished for it. Sighing, she sent doe eyes to her mate, only to be ignored. Tail tucked between her legs, she continued on with walking, hoping the reach their destination sooner and still searching for a gift.
--
After a few hours of travel, Yuka surveyed the status of her troops, and decided to take a break. They covered quite a bit of distance from the village. Motioning Sawako over, she told her to relay the message to everyone, starting from the front. Once everyone was alerted, the two lines broke, as they all went to doing their own thing.
Their current location was a small opening, the sun was just barely noticeable with the dense vegetation everywhere. Some parts were still wet from the morning dew even with how late it was now. “I’m cold.” Kumi whispered, cuddling closer to Yuka.
Hunching over her mate, Yuka maneuvered her tail to wrap around both of them, trying to keep her mate as warm as possible. The sudden climate change was affecting most of them, except the natives and Paru, who was simply used to it. It’s normally colder in Akiba anyway.
Carefully dismounting from Xena, Miyuki went towards the stream where many, like herself, wanted a nice cool drink. She was fully aware that Sayaka was still watching her carefully. Wanting to test the wolf, she started a friendly conversation with a noticeably younger shewolf, who seemed a bit flushed to be talking to her.
Noticing the blush, Sayaka stalked over to them, and placed herself between the two, baring her fangs at the young wolf. Bowing her head, the girl ran off. Turning around, she was met with Miyuki’s back. Her mate simply ignored her actions, and began talking to someone else. Sayaka flattened her ears, and huffed, before dipping her muzzle into the icy water, finally realizing her thirst after the first gulp.
Quenching her thirst, the black wolf left her mate to her own devices, but stayed close enough to watch her. She noticed that half the wolves that did talk to Miyuki would look over at her, before excusing themselves from her. ‘At least they have manners.’ She snorted, before laying her head onto her paws. It’s been a long time since she lazed around in this form, often preferring to be in her two legged form when with her mate.
There were other shewolves in their shifted form also, now that they’ve distanced themselves from humans they had no reason to hide their features. Most of the shewolf she saw had light brown fur or varying shades of it. It seems for Sakae darker shades of like her own and Yuka’s were rare.
Still she’s happy to be back in her own land, the forest is her home and domain. Here she felt much stronger than she was in Sakae, it was something to do with which clan a shewolf was born.
Those from Sakae are blessed with their knowledge in war and speed, Akiba for their ingenuity and creativity, Namba for their strength and resilience, and Hakata… she wasn’t sure what they had except for being cute and their home for being love nests for some shewolves. Honestly, she was worried about those pups being exposed to things they shouldn’t be seeing at such a young age.
Sayaka looked at Miyuki again and found her mate busy playing with Kumi in the water. She let out a heavy sigh and started to paw at her collar. It looked exactly like the old one she threw away, and felt just as annoying, if not twice as annoying. She wanted so badly to throw this mockery in the form of leather away, but she didn’t want to face Miyuki’s wrath twice in one day. This morning was more than enough when she’d woken up with her mate putting the collar on her while explaining her punishment.
She heard someone sit next to her and a quick glance showed her that it was her fellow Alpha. She didn’t react at Yuka’s presence and instead continued to ignore the shewolf, thinking that Yuka might take this as a chance to poke some fun at her.
“I should make fun of you…” Yuka started and Sayaka growled at her in response. “...but I have a feeling that I might end up in a similar situation as you. I saw Kumi looking at your collar while stealing glances at me.”
Sayaka raised her head to look at Yuka, watching the other shewolf rub her neck uncomfortably. “Our mates are… scary.”
Sayaka would have voiced her agreement if she could talk, instead she started to sniff the air, her nose catching something. Yuka did the same and stood after a moment.
“It’s going to rain soon.” Yuka noted. “Can we still continue on our trip even if it rains?”
Sayaka shook her head before going back to pawing at her collar, she knows she can’t remove it but it didn’t mean she can’t fiddle with it.
“We’ll be staying here for the night I guess. Don’t worry, we’ll try to cover more ground tomorrow.” Yuka reassured, walking away from Sayaka and sending a wave over her shoulder. “Good luck with Miyuki and I don’t think there are any flowers nearby.”
Sayaka growled. She’ll get this collar off one way or another.
--
As predicted, it did rain, and it was coming down harshly. Luckily for the group, they set up their tents previously, but for those who wanted to eat, they were on their own for the night, as the heavy rain made it hard to cook large amounts of food.
Being the only one used to the rain in Namba, Sayaka went off to hunt alone, she had a certain taste she was craving that can only be found in her home. She missed the taste of young deer, just before their muscles get too lean. It took a bit longer than planned to find one, but she finally spotted was a mother, and its fawn right under it.
Her stomach urged her to take both of them, the young deerling would die on it’s own anyway. Quieting her breath, she snuck up on the two, she would have to be extremely careful to get both of them. When she saw the mother’s ears twitch, she stopped moving and waited. The wait was a long one, but finally the deer relaxed, and Sayaka used to the opportunity to strike.
She tackled both of them, crushing the deerling’s neck with her foot, killing it before it could even react, while her mouth locked onto the mother’s neck, and with a swift jerk, ending her life as well. Proud of her two kills, Sayaka let go of the mother, and flung the young deer onto her back, securing that it won’t fall, she picked back up the mother, and begun her journey back to camp, looking around to make sure she wouldn't be attacked for her food.
It didn’t take long for her to return, she considered what to do with the smaller deer, as the mother would be enough for her and Miyuki. She opted to give it to Kumi, as Yuka can hunt by herself. Dropping off the younger one, she continued to her tent, by then she was soaking wet with the continuous rain falling from the sky.
Slipping into the tent, she was greeted with a small fire in the center, it was warm, but it would take a while for the shewolf to warm up, as her fur was thoroughly soaked. Dropping the deer, Sayaka stretched, before jumping as a towel landed on her. Looking back, she saw her mate.
“You can shift back, before you catch a cold.” She said, as she took out a knife to prep their dinner for the night.
Nodding, Sayaka returned to her two legged from. She was going to take over, but a sneeze stopped her from opening her mouth. Using the towel, she wiped off as much water as she could, as she sat by the fire. The sound of Miyuki skinning the deer she brought home was soothing. Thoughts of how their life would be when everything was over running through her head. Another sneeze left her, followed by a groan.
“You’re not sick are you?” Miyuki asked, not looking up from her task.
“Sakae changed me. I’m probably just adjusting back. The Sakae wolves are taking it harder though. I dropped off something for Kumi, and I saw that Yuka was in a worse shape, not even able to leave their tent for food.” Sayaka replied, while fingering the collar on her neck.
She didn’t know how long she was allowed to be wearing this or be in her shifted form but Miyuki didn’t say anything about being able to remove the collar, and she didn’t want to push her luck. Maybe with some luck, she would be able to share their bed together, it was getting colder, and her mate liked to be warm at night.
The scent of meat hitting the fire, made her aware of how hungry she was once again. By then, she was a bit drier, but her skin was still cold. She hung the towel on the tent’s support rails. Sending another glance at her mate, Sayaka sighed softly, she wanted to cuddle her mate, it was really cold tonight.
Miyuki stood after making sure the pieces that weren’t being cooked were protected. She can give then to the cooks later to have them preserved. Rinsing her hands off with water provided in their tent, she made her way to her shivering mate, who retreated to their bed for cover. Sayaka looked up at her, but she didn’t say anything as she sat beside her, and lifted the blanket, so she could slide in.
“You know you’re stupid right?” Miyuki broke the silence, a small smile on her face.The shewolf returned the smile, as she wrapped an icy limb around her mate. "Gods! You're so cold." The human shuddered, as her mate got closer to her, desperate for warmth.
“I’m not getting sick if that’s what you're worried about.” Sayaka reassured. “I just need to get used to Namba’s weather again. We’ve spent too much time in Sakae that’s why.”
“Will you and Yuka be okay?” Miyuki asked worriedly.
“We will be in the morning, once the rain passes.”
Miyuki hummed to herself, as she watched the fire crackle, the meat hovering above it starting to turn a slight brown, the tent filled with the scent of the roasting meat. “I missed this.” The human spoke, breaking the silence once again.
Sayaka looked up, her eyes locking with Miyuki’s, motioning for her to go on. “I mean Us, doing nothing but sitting before a fire, waiting on dinner, while cuddling. Though I’m not too fond of the smell of wet dog mixed in with half cooked deer.” She teased at the end.
Sayaka growled lightly, not too fond on being called a ‘wet dog’, and smacked her mate with her tail. “If it wasn’t for me, we’d both be hungry.” She frowned.
“I know,” Miyuki said, before shifting a bit to face the shewolf, and gave her a peck on the cheek. “and I thank you for that.”
Sayaka’s mood shifted from gloomy to beaming with the small kiss, she felt like she was another step closer to being freed the her leather punishment.
--
Fighting off a shiver, the Sakae shewolf tried to focus on her task of preparing the deerling that Sayaka dropped off for her mate. With the harsh rain, came not so friendly winds, which in turn made everything colder than a night in the desert. The shewolf refused Kumi’s offer to help, as she deemed it too cold for her to be out from under the blankets.
Kumi watched her mate struggle, but at least she was near the flames, even with how weak it was. The Kitsune never felt so happy to have her tail back, as it added extra warmth for her, but she knew once the wolf rejoined her, she was going to be cold.
“How much longer?”
“I...I’m not really sure.” Yuka replied, her cooking skills were terrible.
Remembering the small fact, the kitsune came to inspect the nearly charred meat, and removed it. “It’s done.” She said, flicking off the burnt bits with a clean knife. The shewolf watched, as Kumi returned to the warm blankets, before motioning her over. “Come eat over here with me.”
Yuka walked towards her mate, picking up a blanket from their bed along the way. She made herself comfortable next to the kitsune, wrapping her tail around her mate just as Kumi did to Yuka.
“How’s the venison?” The shewolf asked, she hadn’t touched her share yet. She was worried that her mate might not like what she made.
“It’s delicious! Try it!” Kumi praised taking a large bite of her venison, surprising the shewolf that her cooking seemed to fit her mate’s picky palate.
The shewolf took a bite of the venison she had and nearly spat it out. It was horrible and that was the best way she could describe it but she kept it in her mouth. She didn’t want to make her mate think that she was wrong and slowly chewed her food.
“Yuka…” The kitsune called out suddenly, looking thoughtfully at her food. “Venison is deer meat right?”
Yuka nodded, doing her best to swallow the food in her mouth before answering. “That’s right, Sayaka hunted it down for us and I saw a larger one on her back. I think she gave us the fawn and, kept the doe for her and Miyuki.” The shewolf paused. “I hope Dasu is doing her best to keep my troops fed, I don’t want them to go hungry.”
Yuka was waiting for Kumi to respond but instead she heard a sob coming from her mate. She quickly turned to her mate to find out what was wrong and found Kumi still eating her food with tears running down her face.
“Kumi, are you okay?” Yuka asked worriedly and confused. She put her food down and tried to hug her mate but the kitsune slapped her hands away.
“Don’t touch me!” Kumi growled and Yuka was about to retract her tail, doing what her mate was asking her, but Kumi’s hand grasped it, securing it around herself a little roughly. “Move your tail and I will cut you.”
If Yuka was confused earlier, she was more confused now. She wasn’t sure what mood her mate was in, first she seemed happy then she was crying and now she looked she’s about to start a bloodbath.
“Okay.”
Kumi’s mood changed again, faster than when she grasped Yuka’s tail. She was crying now but still ate her food. Yuka wanted to keep eating too but in all honesty, she was too scared to move because of Kumi.
“Sayaka… she just destroyed a happy family.” Kumi lamented. “This fawn could have become the strongest buck but Sayaka ended it and the doe… she would have been a proud mother to this buck.”
When Kumi finished the last of her food, Yuka wordlessly handed her’s to Kumi and the kitsune ate it up happily but somehow she still had tears running down her eyes.
“I’m gonna punish Sayaka for doing this.” Kumi declared and Yuka let out a relieved sigh, maybe she won’t be in trouble at all. “And you!”
The shewolf tensed up, eyeing her mate fearfully. Kumi, on the other hand snuggled closer to the fearful shewolf. “You need to cook more. I like Dasu’s cooking but yours are better.”
“Do you want me to make you breakfast in the morning?”
Kumi smiled adoringly at Yuka. “Yes please.”
“Alright I will.” The shewolf agreed, mentally listing down the recipes that she knew how to make while she lifted her hand to wipe away Kumi’s tears.
“Don’t touch me!”
--
Yui inspected the tent that she and Paru were to share. It was a nice size, bigger than she expected from when she stepped in. The doctor was exhausted, more so without her hourly cups of tea. Paru on the other hand didn’t express any types of exhaustion, she’s just simply laying on their bed, listening to the sound of the water pelting the tent’s exterior.
The doctor figured her mate was a bit ticked off at the sudden decision to go on the trip, but she figured she was doing the wolf a favor. She knew the pain of leaving home, even if Paru didn’t want to admit it, she was a bit home sick.
“It’s pretty cold today.” Yui announced, rubbing her arms, as she sat around the fire she made hours ago. She was purposely sitting away from the wolf, not wanting to face her wrath.
“Mmm.” Paru hummed. “If you’re cold, why are you over there.” She asked, finally shifting her attention to the shivering woman.
Yui grinned sheepishly. “I thought you were mad at me.”
“Oh I am. But that doesn't mean I want you to freeze to death. Come over here.” The salty of the two motioned with her finger. Even if she doesn't show it often, she does care very deeply for her mate, no matter how stupid she acts.
Standing up sharply, she made her way across the tent, to the other source of warmth, which happily involved her mate. Mad or not, she was willing to suffer through it, if it meant she was warm. “Thank you.” Yui muttered, as she got under the blanket.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“But I want to.”
Paru didn’t respond, as she wrapped her tail around her mate’s shivering frame. Yui really was stupid in her opinion. Though she was used to extremely cold climates, this was nothing to her, but her mate wasn’t. Another reason she didn’t want to go to Akiba with her. But it seems like she didn’t have much of a choice.
“Why don’t you want to go home?” Yui finally voiced what was on her mind. She was curious on why the shewolf was against going back.
“Why would I want to? I already have you. A mated shewolf only wants to be with her mate.” The salty wolf sighed, hoping that Yui would drop the conversation. She really didn’t feel like talking about where she came from. Hiding her face in Yui’s neck, she inhaled her scent. It was missing the tea scent that the doctor usually has, but she still enjoyed it.
Wrapping an arm around the wolf, Yui simply let the topic die down. But it wasn’t the last time she was going to bring it up, not by a long shot. She still had a few questions to get off her chest.
“Your heart is beating so fast.” Paru murmured, sleep evident in her voice. It’s been an exhausting day, and the shewolf wasn’t used to traveling. She was glad they had supplies to eat, as she was too lazy to go outside for anything at the moment.
“Its because you’re in my arms.” Yui smiled widely, before kissing Paru’s head. She could feel the shewolf’s tail thump on her lap. At times like these, she was glad to have met the wolf.
“You know, I never got my reward from yesterday.” The doctor shifted a bit, but otherwise kept her grip on the shewolf.
“Yea, but I’m still mad at you, so what’s your point?”
“You’re so mean and I’m okay with that.”
--
As the new day begun, the wolves were packing up early, determined to get more ground traveled today. A lot of them were fatigued with yesterday’s sudden rain, but pushed through it. If their Alpha can do it, why can’t they?
Sneaking out early, Yuka went to meet up with her fellow Alpha. As always, Sayaka wasn’t a morning person, and wasn’t too thrilled with Yuka dragging her out of bed. Following the persistent shewolf, she stifled a yawn. “What do you want?”
“Its about Kumi….something happened last night.”
Hearing her little girl’s name, Sayaka became more alert. “What’s wrong? Is she hurt? Did you hurt her?” The shewolf demanded.
Raising her hands in front of her, Yuka took a step back. “Like I would dream of doing such a thing. She...had this awful mood swing when we were eating the baby deer. She was crying about how you ended it’s life, and potential to be a strong buck. It was horrifying, she wouldn't even let me comfort her, but at the same time I couldn’t retreat from her either.”
The Namba shewolf had a worried look on her face, an upset Kumi was never a good thing. Especially with her being pregnant and the last time that she had been upset, she’d resurrected the dead, hundreds of dead people actually. Kumi’s desperation to bring Sayaka back had done that but with Kumi’s mood swings they wouldn’t know the results.
“So is she… normal now?” Sayaka asked.
“I don’t know. I left before she could wake up.” The shewolf rubbed the back of her neck nervously. “I’m scared.”
“What the hell are you scared for?!”
“You’re not the one bonded to a potentially godlike creature that hold untold powers and one of them just happens to be resurrecting the dead.”
Sayaka wanted to retort and say that the shewolf was overreacting, but she knew in fact that Kumi was indeed very strong as she is, even if she was pregnant. “We’ll just have to play it safe.”.
Yuka nodded slowly. “I have to go back...she wants me to cook her breakfast.”
“Since when can you cook?”
“I cant.”
Sayaka narrowed her eyes at Yuka. “Is this the real reason why you woke me up this early? You do know that I don’t know how to cook either.”
“Well… I uh…”
“You’re hopeless.”
Yuka shook her head. “I’m gonna go make breakfast. Do you want to help me?”
“I’d rather eat Miyuki than your food.”
“You still have that collar around your neck.”
Flashing get teeth, Sayaka turned away. "Suffer alone."
Yuka sighed, she didn’t get any help from Sayaka. In fact, it might have been a mistake to ask her fellow Alpha for help. The only one that could help her now is Dasu, the narcissistic shewolf would be able to prevent her from accidentally blowing up something.
--
Fortunately, nothing had happened when Yuka made breakfast for Kumi. The kitsune loved the breakfast Yuka made, even if it was burnt and tasted weird, according to Yuka but to the kitsune it was the most delicious breakfast that she’d had. So, Kumi asked the shewolf to only cook for her from now on. Yuka immediately agreed, not wanting to upset her mate, the previous night’s mood swing had scared her and she didn’t want to see a much worse episode.
They continued on their journey as soon as they could because the rain from yesterday had put them behind their schedule. The earliest they could reach Namba’s ancestral grounds will be tomorrow morning, if they decided to continue even at night and though Sayaka would have preferred to reach her pack mates as soon as possible, travelling in the forest at night is far too dangerous.
Unlike Sakae’s dessert, Namba’s forest had more creatures in it some as harmless as a mouse and some as dangerous as a troll. During her time as Alpha they had done their best to keep the more dangerous creatures away from their settlements. Their ancestral grounds had remained untouched and was too far from their protection to keep such creatures away.
They pushed on as fast as they could but were cautious for any sign of danger. Akari and Sayaka lead the way for them all, the shorter shewolf still had her collar around her neck and she knew that her clanmate was curious to ask why it was there. But Akari’s respect for hierarchy and Sayaka stopped her from doing so.
However, there was one question that Akari wanted to ask and it concerned her leader’s future plans but she needed to ask it in a way that won’t insult her leader. Sayaka noticed the way Akari would open and close her mouth, trying to say something but stopping herself at the last second.
She waited for Akari to say whatever she wanted but when Akari took too long to speak, she bumped her fist against Akari’s shoulder, knowing that that would annoy the shewolf and catch her attention.
“Stop that!” Akari covered the area that Sayaka bumped with a hand. “I’m not a brute like you and Keicchi!”
“At least I got your attention.”
Akari pouted. “You don’t have to be so violent to do it.”
“You look like you have something in mind.” Sayaka started. “Are you worried about Kei?”
“No… well yes, of course I am!” Akari shook her head. Sayaka always had the tendency to exasperate her, more so when Kei was around. The two of them were unbearable sometimes, preferring to play rather than do their duties, acting like pups rather than the adults that they are supposed to be. Fortunately, Nana was there to keep them in line. She’d do the same too but it would take too much effort. “After this, when we’ve ousted that new Alpha and restored everything to as it was before. What do you plan to do?”
“Return to Namba and be our home’s Alpha.” Sayaka stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“What about Miyuki?”
“She’ll be coming with me of course.” The shewolf answered, a small smile on her face. “We’ve spoken about our plans for the future. She wants to stay with me at Namba and start our own family there.”
Sayaka turned to look at Akari, narrowing her eyes towards her clanmate. “Were you worried that I’ll be leaving with Sakae?”
Akari didn’t answer, instead she looked ahead, squinting her eyes to see as far as she can.
“I’m not only Namba’s Alpha.” Sayaka began. “Not only that my parents are from Namba, I was born there. No matter what happens I will always be loyal to my own home.”
“What if Miyuki doesn’t want to go with you?”
“...We’ve talked a lot about what we planned to do in the future. She doesn’t have anyone else with the humans besides Yui and Paru. Right now, me and Kumi are the one’s she calls family. So, when we get to Namba, I’ll give her a proper one, give her everything she wants and make her happy.”
Akari let out a relieved sigh, her fears of Sayaka abandoning them just for her mate had been alleviated but she should have known by now that Sayaka won’t leave them just like that.
“I wouldn’t be doing all of this to get rid of that usurper. You should know me by now.” Sayaka growled out the last part. She was getting angry now, after realizing that Akari was starting to doubt her loyalty to Namba and it hurt her too. The white tailed shewolf was one of the few individuals she started to open up to after meeting Kei.
“I’m sorry.” Akari apologized. Sayaka was right, she knew the shewolf nearly as much as Kei does and everything Sayaka had done from the moment she’d became Namba’s Alpha everything that she’d done was for the sake of Namba.
“It doesn’t matter. This will be over soon enough.”
The silence that followed afterwards was uncomfortable, Akari dwelling on her guilt for doubting her Alpha and Sayaka simmering in her anger at her clanmate for doubting her. The silence between them was broken when they spotted one of Yuka’s scouts running back to them. Sayaka and Akari halted their mounts, just as Yuka approached them on her own ride with Sawako trailing after her leader and signalling for the rest of their group to halt.
Following after them was Miyuki and Kumi, both of them riding on Xena.
“Why are we stopping?” Miyuki asked Sayaka and the shewolf gestured to the scout that was still catching her breath.
The scout stopped in front of them and Yuka moved closer to the scout, giving the shewolf time to catch her breath.
“Ogiso, report." Yuka ordered.
The shewolf straightened up once she recovered. “Two wolf packs fighting ahead, we didn’t engage but the other scouts are there keeping watch.”
“Were you able to tell any of the packs apart? Rogue? Namba? I need more info.” The wolf asked, looking at her subordinate.
“I’m sorry, I only caught a faint glimpse, before reporting back to you.” The small faced shewolf responded.
Yuka hummed before replying. “Well done, you can fall back into our ranks or check on your mate.”
Saluting, Ogiso retreated into the mass of wolves. Looking over at her fellow Alpha, she could see the worried look on her face. “We’re close and we need to hurry up as well. We’ll take some of my soldiers, it will be faster that way than taking everyone else.”
As soon as Yuka said those words, Sayaka noticed three of Yuka’s personal guards appear behind her, the rest might still be staying with Kumi, and five more shewolves that she didn’t recognize. They were already armed and one of them was carrying Yuka’s prized scimitar.
“We’re coming with you.” Sayaka declared and Akari nodded along, she didn’t like to fight but she can when necessary.
“Alright then.” Yuka took her scimitar from one of her guards, testing the weight in her hands before securing it on her side. She didn’t bother asking if Sayaka or Akari needed weapons, knowing that they prefer hand to hand combat.
“You really need to go?” Kumi asked worriedly, Yuka nudged her mount closer to Kumi who the kitsune just named as Argo.
“I have to.” Yuka nodded. “Stay here with everyone else. We’ll meet up again soon.”
Kumi nodded, trusting in Yuka’s words.
“We promise to be careful.” Sayaka reassured both for Kumi and her mate.
Miyuki smiled slightly at Sayaka. “Come back soon.”
With that they all rode off, some of the shewolves that went along shifted forms before moving away as quickly as they can.
--
Trying to find the location of the skirmish was easy, Yuka as well as her guards were able to spot the signs their scouts left behind. The path was similar to the one that they’d left most of their group behind in, they only have to veer off the path for a little bit, moving in to the tree line and forcing them get off their mounts and go on foot.
A scout quickly greeted them when they were close to the skirmish, growls and whimpers could already be heard from their spot. The two shewolves tried to identify to whom the sounds came from but it was too difficult.
From their spot behind the trees they could see the two packs battling, two were already down and might be bleeding. They weren’t sure from which pack they were from but one of the pack’s were losing and they guessed that both of the wolves were from the losing pack.
“Sayaka, got an idea on what we should do?” Yuka asked her fellow Alpha, since Sayaka would know more what to do now that they’re in her territory.
“Just go in, swords drawn. The one’s from my pack will recognize me immediately.”
“Should’ve have known that you’d suggest that.” Yuka muttered, drawing her weapon just as the others did. “We’ll go in at your signal.”
The signal never came, instead Sayaka just jumped out of their hiding space while letting out a battle cry, Akari sighed as she followed her Alpha. Yuka and her group soon followed, as their shock faded at the shewolf’s sudden action.
There was a pause within the skirmish before one of the wolves, howled and started to move away a little bit while dragging away the two fallen wolves. Yuka thought that the ones that were moving away were the rogue packs but Sayaka and Akari started to attack the one’s that were still surprised from their sudden arrival.
For Sayaka and Akari, it was easy for them to single out which one was not one of theirs. For Yuka’s group they took a moment to identify which was their friend or foe, they didn’t want to accidentally kill one of their soon to be allies.
The pack that had moved away from the fight, didn’t join in the fray. They were too busy checking on their fallen allies and making sure that they weren’t going to die. The fight was short lived, Sayaka’s group had the advantage in numbers, as well as strength. They didn’t kill any of them though, there seemed to be a silent understanding that they shouldn’t kill them until they got the information they need.
Yuka sheathed her sword and wiped the blood off her arm with a cloth that she tore from her robes. One of the shewolves was able to get a scratch on her arm and a quick inspection showed her that it was quite deep.
Surveying the area, she could see a few of the rogue shewolves being tied up to be questioned later. Spotting Sayaka, she noticed that she was massaging her knuckles with a grimace. Seems like the both of them came out with bruises and cuts. and will most likely get an earful from their mates later.
“Akari!”
“Kei!”
The sound of shouting, caused both Alpha to turn to the source, a short black haired shewolf limped her way towards the taller one, who met her halfway. The two embraced, both scolding each other for being stupid, while also muttering other things they couldn't pick up.
Breaking away, Kei looked over at Sayaka, as the shewolf got closer. There was a disbelieving look on Kei’s eyes at first, she wasn’t sure what she was seeing was true. Her bestfriend was back and it seems Sayaka had brought along reinforcements. At the same time she felt relieved that her friend was back, it meant that the chances of them taking back their home was much better than before.
“Sayaka…” She said, before breaking eye contact with her best friend. She had no right to look the wolf in the eyes, not after betraying her. She should've trusted Sayaka more, her leader, her Alpha and most of all her childhood friend. The time they grew up together should have been enough to strengthen the trust between them but the pressure to make a decision at that time when Sayaka was exiled made her forget all about it.
“Can’t even look me in the face, Kei? That’s not like you at all.” Sayaka taunted, before holding her arm out for the shewolf to grip. Surprised at the gesture, Kei returned it. Sayaka frowned at the lack of strength behind the grip, but otherwise remained quiet.
“I’m sorry for not trusting you.” The Beta sighed, lowering her head once again
“It’s in the past. If anything it’s my fault for not catching the rat earlier. Now lift your head.” Sayaka instructed, catching something unfamiliar on Kei’s face.
Slowly the Beta shewolf lifted her head, and as Sayaka predicted, the scar of Kei’s fight with the unknown wolf. The scar was rough, obviously from dirty and untidy claws, and white in color, as if they just finished healing. It ran in three lines diagonally down her face, starting from the left side her forehead and ending just below her right eye, one of them running through Kei’s left eye. Sayaka couldn't help but feel even more guilty at the situation at hand, if only she hadn’t run off that night. All of this could've been avoided.
"Kei..." Sayaka started only to be halted.
"Don't. I already felt enough physical pain, I don't need the emotional pain as well." Kei said, her voice cracking, as she felt her free hand being held by her mate.
Nodding, Sayaka dropped the subject. She wanted to talk about it some more but she didn’t want to push her friend and make Kei uncomfortable. She could see that her friend’s defeat from their enemy had affected her so much, more so when Akari begged for her to yield back then. For Kei, her role as Beta was as important to her as being Alpha is.
"I need you to lead me to the main camp.” Sayaka told Kei before turning to Yuka, she addressed her as well. “We’ll do formalities later, when it’s safer.”
“Understood.” Yuka nodded, hissing as she moved her arm. She’ll need to have it looked at as soon as possible. “You two,” She pointed to a pair of her scouts. “Lead the others here and get a medic, then we’ll continue moving.”
With Yuka busy making sure that the rogue wolves weren’t going to escape and giving out orders, Kei took this chance to ask questions without the Sakae Alpha listening in.
“Is this the help that Akari said that you’ll be getting?” Kei asked, sizing up the other shewolf. She looked familiar and tried to remember where she’d her before.
“There’s more to her than you think and don’t worry she brought along an army.” Sayaka explained. “So much has happened since I left, I’ll tell you all about it when we get to our ancestral home. How are those two? Momo and Maachun?”
They looked back at the two shewolves that had fallen during the fight, they were in their shifted forms and were trying to stand up with the help of the clanmates.
“They’ll be fine. Momoka just thought that playing dead was the best strategy and Mayu’s leg got torn pretty badly, it will take a while for her to be able to shift again.” Kei paused, looking more thoughtful than Sayaka could ever remember. “Since you left everything-”
“Kei.” Sayaka interrupted, resting a hand on her Beta’s shoulder. Her eyes were focused on their group approaching. She could see her mate and Kumi riding ahead of the group. “We’ll talk more about that later.”
When the approaching group was close enough, Sayaka let her hand drop from Kei’s shoulder. She and Yuka approached their group, helping their respective mates down from their mounts.
“How did it go?” Miyuki asked, after giving her shewolf a quick check. She was somewhat satisfied that the worst thing Sayaka got was a sprained wrist.
“We came out with only scratches and bruises. Nothing bad.” Sayaka reassured.
“Doesn’t look like it.” The human commented, gesturing behind Sayaka.
The shewolf turned to see her fellow Alpha with her tail tucked between her legs, her head lowered a bit, as Kumi scolded and fussed over her. Yuka was trapped, as her arm was being bandaged by another shewolf.
“You said you were going to be careful, but here you are, wounded and being bandaged up. Why are you so careless?” Kumi questioned, her tail flicking behind her in irritation. Sayaka had promised that the both of them would be fine, but now her mate was in pain, because both of them were careless. “And you!” The kitsune turned on her heel, facing Sayaka. “You promised that you’d both be fine!”
Seeing the heat turned to her, the Namba shewolf flinched. “Kumi, accidents happen. We aren’t always going to get out of every skirmish unharmed.” Sayaka tried to explain, taking a step back, and hiding behind her mate. “Miyuki, do something.” She pled to the human in a hushed tone.
Kei looked on in confusion. She was confused on why her best friend was scared of this unknown woman, but kept her mouth closed and watched on. She then noticed the mark on the human’s neck, her gaze switching back between Sayaka and the human female. It then dawned on her that this must be the Miyuki that Akari had mentioned, Sayaka’s mate.
She surreptitiously gave the human a good look, her gaze trailing over the girl’s frame and nodded in satisfaction when she was done with her assessment. She seemed happy about Miyuki.
“Kumi, calm down. I’ll make sure to punish Sayaka for lying to us both. I’m sure she doesn't mind keeping her collar on for another day or so. Right?” Miyuki suggested, while looking back at the shewolf, who unwillingly nodded, while touching the leather bound to her neck.
Kumi’s facial expression changed from anger to a smug one, as she turned back to her mate. Grabbing Yuka's front robes, she pulled the shewolf down to her level, before she whispered something into Yuka’s ear, pulling away, she sent a smile towards her surrogate mother. “Thanks for the idea, Miyuki.”
Yuka made a weird sound at the back of throat, but Kumi ignored it. Since she’d seen Sayaka in a collar she’d been wanting to see Yuka with one too and the day before they left the village, she’d taken a chance to roam around the village with a couple of Yuka’s guards following her around.
She didn’t care much about humans, aside from the things Miyuki had told her about but she knew enough to know that there are somethings that only humans sold. Like the collar she brought from the market for Yuka to wear, she was tempted to purchase the chain that went along with it but thought that would be going a little too far. If she combined the collar along with Akiba’s elixir, she was sure that Yuka wouldn’t be able to say no.
Speaking of the elixir, she’ll have to tell Miyuki about it too. Maybe, she could punish Sayaka more that way.
Recovering from her embarrassment, Yuka approached the shewolf Sayaka had been speaking to earlier. She smiled slightly at the shewolf. “Jonishi Kei, I assume?”
“I remember you now! You visited Namba before to trade with us.” Kei stated, finally remembering where she’d seen Yuka but still couldn’t remember her name..
“That’s right. I’d introduce myself but as your Alpha said, it’s not safe here.” Yuka’s smile widened and Kumi narrowed her eyes at her bondmate. “We were heading to your ancestral grounds. Would you be kind enough to lead us there?”
Kei coughed, trying not to let herself be affected from how charming the other shewolf was. Akari or Sayaka should have warned her about this. “Of course. I need to make sure my comrades are alright though.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.” With that Yuka walked towards her own people, giving out more orders to have their new allies taken care of with Kumi following her around, watching her like a hawk.
“Are you going to tell me who she is?” Kei asked Sayaka, she was still trying to remember her name.
“I’ll tell you later.” Sayaka grinned smugly. She’d done so much just to make this happen and she wanted to gloat a little bit.
--
After the encounter in the forest with Kei and the rogue pack, they were able to reach the ancestral grounds without any further trouble. The place was on old crumbling fort, an ancient walled settlement where their ancestors used to live. Later on their ancestors had left it and moved deeper into the forest, leaving the place untouched and uncared for but they made one last act of burying the remains of their ancestors in the settlement.
With the place abandoned for hundreds of years, it had decayed to nothing but a hollow reminder of how they used to live their lives. When Kei’s group had come to reclaim it, bandits have made it as their headquarters and getting rid of them was easy. To the bandits they were a group of harmless women and easy prey, all they had to do was use Akari as bait then all they had to do was ambush the bandits.
The supplies they had gathered from the bandits were enough to keep them going for a little while until they had to resort to hunting in Namba northern grounds. The game in that area were not as rich as it was deeper into Namba’s territory. It wasn’t much but it was enough to get them by day by day.
Kei’s party were out on a hunt when they encountered the rogue pack and rescued by Sayaka’s group. They weren’t able to find any game that day so they were lucky that Sayaka came.
When they took it back from the bandits, they’ve done their best to rebuild it. Focusing on rebuilding their walls and defenses while at the same time they would try to stop the rogue packs from crossing to Akiba’s borders. They weren’t sure why the rogue packs were trying to get in Akiba but rather than letting things get out of hand, Kei would want a potential problem to be stopped before it even began.
The welcome they received at their arrival was more than Sayaka had expected, she’d thought that her clan would be angry at her for taking too long but they were happy that it took her too long to come back.
Between being forced into strong hugs, and being jumped by a few of the younger members, Sayaka felt as if she never even left. The shewolf almost felt like crying at the treatment. Miyuki watched on in awe, as her mate was interacting with her own clanmates, she looked at each and every one of them, as she was going to be seeing them for quite a while starting today.
Quite a few of the new shewolves noticed Miyuki, as she was one of the two humans in the whole camp, but the obvious marking on the base of her neck, and the way she was gazing fondly at their Alpha, was enough of an answer for most of them.
Yuka and Kumi stood on the sidelines, waiting to be introduced. The Sakae shewolf still wearing a smile as some of her new allies looked over at her, and she nodded at them, acknowledging their gaze. Kumi on the other hand hugged herself closer to the shewolf, her upper lip curled into a silent warning to them.
Raising her hand, Yuka began petting her mate’s head, trying to relax her. She didn’t need someone upsetting her mate accidentally, but at the same time, she didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about Kumi’s behavior.
“Calm down.” She whispered into her ear.
“They’re looking at you. I don’t like that.” The kitsune hissed, tightening her hold on Yuka’s arm.
“I promise you, kitsune that there’s nothing they can do that can affect me as much as you do.” Yuka reassured, hoping that’s enough to placate her mate.
Kumi didn’t say anything and instead focused on trying to keep away the shewolves that tried to approach her bondmate. She already knew that Yuka would never be swayed by other shewolves but that didn’t mean that those shewolves would stay away from Yuka.
Having enough of the hugs from her clanmates, Sayaka searched for a place where she could stand and talk to her clan. She had something important to say and, having her clan stop hugging her and giving her some room to breathe would be helpful. She spotted a well conveniently placed nearby, it was covered with wooden slats and she guessed that it had dried up.
She dodged another hug and quickly jumped on the well, stumbling a bit when she heard it creak under her weight. The shewolf cautiously turned to face her clanmates, she looked at them all, looking at them made a swell of pride bubble up in her chest. Seeing the confused expressions of her friends, she quickly put on her leader face, and all of them immediately stopped their chatter, and locked onto Sayaka.
For the Namba natives they knew that their Alpha had something important to say. The look on her face was a telltale sign and many of them noted that her chin looked as sharp as ever.
Assured that she had everyone's attention, she cleared her throat. “First of all… I want to say, I’m sorry.”
Protests could be heard from the crowd but Namba’s Alpha silenced them with a simple look. “I’m sorry because I could have returned sooner and you won’t be suffering like this but that will be over soon enough. We’ll take back our home soon enough! With our new allies…”
Sayaka gestured to Yuka as well as the gathering army at the fortress’s entrance, they’ll try to find a place for them to stay later. “...this nuisance will be driven out from lands and punished for the crimes she’d done to us! I know that you’ve exiled yourselves from our own home but in a few days, we will march back. Stronger than ever, we’ll drive them out of our homes and will be punished severely for what they’ve done. No one messes with Namba!”
The crowd of Namba natives howled and Miyuki watched in rapt attention as Sayaka introduced their allies while delivering a speech to raise her people’s morale. Miyuki had always been curious on what Sayaka would be like amongst her own people.
It was nice to see a different side of her normally grumpy shewolf. The shewolves around her roared around her again then Sayaka jumped off her perch and made her way towards Miyuki.
“How did I do?” Sayaka asked, she really wanted to impress her mate, show Miyuki how she was as an Alpha and wanted the human to be proud of her.
“You did an amazing job.” Miyuki praised, in return her shewolf puffed out her chest proudly and her gaze immediately went below the shewolf’s neck.
Kei approached Sayaka and Miyuki, an astonished look on her face. “How did you manage to make all this happen?” She motioned towards the still approaching group of Sakae wolves. “Wasn’t Sakae divided for the longest time?”
“Yes, but with a little push, and a few fights, they got their shit together.” Sayaka nodded towards Yuka, who caught the gesture and nodded back. Kei was amazed, usually Sayaka wouldn't bother with petty things as diplomacy, she usually sticked to her motherland only.
“You’ll have to tell me everything you did to make that happen.”
“I promise, I will.” Sayaka reassured with a smile on her face while making a mental note to spend time with her clanmates, especially Nana. “We still have to prepare to take back our home and we need time to reacquaint ourselves with our new allies.”
“I’ll make sure that they’re settled comfortably and there should be a place for you and your mate to stay.” Kei replied.
“Miyuki. Please call me Miyuki.” The human smiled charmingly at Kei and the shewolf’s vision blurred for a moment before shaking her head to clear whatever haze that came over her. Kei was confused, as it was the second time today that she felt something come over her, first from the Sakae Alpha, and now from Sayaka’s mate.
“Of course. Call me Kei.” She nodded politely at Miyuki, before looking back at Sayaka. “How about we discuss more of our plan tonight after dinner, luckily another scouting party found some game. We’ve cleared out a room where we think it was used a war room and we can update you on what’s been happening lately. Give you the information that you need.”
“Thank you, Kei and we’ve brought a lot of supplies too, so I think we’ll do just fine for the following days.” Sayaka smiled, it was so easy for them to fall back into their roles as Alpha and Beta, a norm that Sayaka missed a lot. “I’ll formally introduce you and the rest to our new allies by then.”
“I’ll do my rounds in the mean time, feel free to roam and reacquaint yourself.” Kei held out her arm again for another warrior’s handshake. “I know you’ve just arrived but it’s good to have you back.”
“No place like home, huh? Well sort of…”
“I’ll see you two then.” Kei waved at them and walked away with Akari giving them a small nod before following after her mate, offering her assistance to the still wounded shewolf.
The smile on Sayaka’s face dropped slightly when Kei and Akari were far enough.
"Sayaka?" Miyuki called, reaching out to grasp her mate's.
"I'm fine." The shewolf lied. Miyuki looked hurt at being brushed off and Sayaka immediately felt a stab of pain in her heart. They’ve been through so much together already and doing this to her mate would only put a strain on their strengthening bond. “I just… I wanted to show my home but I wanted something better than this. You deserve more than this.”
Miyuki didn’t say anything yet but instead she started to drag them off somewhere they could talk. The shewolves around them parted, seemed to sense that their leader was in a sour mood and easily parted to make a path to lead them somewhere they could talk privately.
She found a derelict garden with a grimy old fountain sitting in the middle of it. She lead them to one of the alcoves, seating themselves on the stone bench under it. They sat quietly for a long time, hands twined together with Miyuki’s head on Sayaka’s shoulder and the shewolf’s tail wrapped around the human’s waist.
“I like it here. It's nice.” Miyuki commented, giving the shewolf a quick glance but Sayaka scoffed at her comment. “It is! It’s serene here, something I’ve never experienced for a long time…. Sayaka, it doesn’t matter to me where we are and as long as you’re with me, I’m happy.”
Sayaka nodded slowly, finally being convinced by her mate. Miyuki was right, their home would be each other from now on. “Now what else is bothering you?”
Sayaka let out an exhausted sigh as she lifted a hand to rub the back of her neck. “It’s Nana… I worry for her.”
“Akari told us what happened.”
“Fortunately, she and Aina aren’t mated but they loved each other a lot and anyone would’ve have mistaken them as mates.” Sensing that her mate might have more questions about Nana, she started to talk about the time she left Hakata with Kei, Nana, Aina, Akari and Maachun.
Nana and Aina always made sure that they were able to eat something every day, if they didn’t have enough they would give their share to them. At that time they all felt the need to go on their walkabout, to find their place in the world and they were all so lucky to have Nana and Aina with them. Though Nana was seen as more of an elder sister by most of them.
“We wouldn’t be here without them.” Sayaka finished. “And now that Aina’s gone. I’m not sure how she’s doing now.”
Miyuki was now slowly running a hand through Sayaka’s hair, they had changed positions while Sayaka told her story and the shewolf was now laying her head on Miyuki’s lap, stretched out on the bench and the leaning back against the alcove.
“You should see her then.” Miyuki suggested. “Maybe you can help her. From what you told me you’re as close to her as you are with Kei. She might need you as her friend.”
“I know but… what do I say to her? I was too young to remember what it feels like to lose my parents and I don’t know what to do.”
“All you have to do is be her friend. Do as she ask…” Miyuki paused. “...just nothing too crazy or risky.”
“We’ll try not to.” Sayaka grinned. “We should ask around where we can stay here. Kei said something about it, but I don’t know where it is.”
“Don’t you want to stay at the Sakae camp?”
“I want to but I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night with Kumi screaming out Yuka’s name.” Sayaka shuddered.
Miyuki giggled, she’d heard it too and it seems Sayaka took a of discomfort in getting familiar with their little girl’s intimate life. She didn’t really care and was actually quite happy that Kumi was enjoying her bonded life.
“You can go see her after we find the place we can stay.”
“I will… later.” Sayaka stood up and helped her mate up. “What will you do while I talk to Nana? I can’t let you just roam around, my pack already understands who you are to me with the mark on your neck but there are a few curious ones that might ask you a lot of questions.”
“What’s wrong with their questions?”
“Nothing wrong but my people can get a bit too nosy for their own good.” The shewolf jibed before taking her mate’s hand in her’s. “We should go. I’d like to lie down for a bit before I go meet Nana.”
--
Ever since they arrived hours ago, Kumi had constantly been on her guard, making sure that no one got too close to her mate. To Yuka it was a bit adorable how Kumi would get jealous quite easily, but it causing so much stress to Kumi and to her as well. It wouldn’t be healthy for their pups for Kumi to stress out so much. They were already heading to a siege in a few days, if Sayaka agrees with her idea.
"Kumi." Yuka called, gaining the kitsune's attention. "Look at me."
Kumi faced the shewolf, her face softening as she looked up at her mate. Yuka's hand rise to cup Kumi's face. "Relax. Please just relax."
"But-"
"I promise that you're stressing over nothing, no one is even paying us any attention right now. Please think about our pups."
Giving into the shewolf's plea, Kumi sighed before relaxing, she allowed herself to lean loosely onto the shewolf.
“I’m sorry.” She muttered lowly, before closing her eyes. Yuka on the other hand simply wrapped her arms around her mate, her hands coming to a rest on Kumi’s small, protruding tummy, and slowly began rubbing it.
The shewolf had developed a habit of placing her hands on Kumi’s belly with every chance she gets. When they were sharing the same mount, Yuka would make sure that Kumi would be sitting in front of her, one hand on her mate’s belly while the other would hold on to the reins. And at night when Kumi would be sleeping, Yuka would scoot down the bed and press her ear against the kitsune’s belly. She would fall asleep listening to three beating hearts.
Kumi exhaled slowly, her breathing slowing down as the combination of being hugged, and having her stomach rubbed relaxed her. The new environment and her territorial instinct on Yuka have been putting her on edge and it exhausted her. So before she knew it, she was asleep, fully relaxed and at ease.
Seeing that Kumi was no longer conscious, she called over Sawako to ask her the status of setting up their tents and food production.
“The last tent was put up moments ago, and food started being made 10 minutes ago.” The quiet shewolf replied, avoiding eye contact with Yuka. “Is there anything else you want done, Nakanishi-san?”
“Nothing I can think of, but I’ll be putting my mate to bed for now. You know where to find me if anything comes up.”
"Understood."
Setting that everything was fine for the moment, Yuka carefully cradled her sleeping mate, before retreating to their tent, a quick nap sounding like a great idea.
--
By mid afternoon, everyone was well fed, and the leaders were meeting in a special tent, guards from both sides patrolling around it. The only one that wasn’t around was Nana, she hadn’t gone to visit her friend and frankly, she was afraid of what she’ll find.
Sayaka tensed over the map that was set up in the middle of the space. It showed all every spot that was attacked, some villages being completely wiped out, with an 'X'.
"Damn it."
"Around the time we started hinting villagers of their attacks, they stopped allowing us to follow them, and even changed routes to another village, one that wasn't ready." Kei explained through clenched teeth. Sayaka and her often shared the same feelings when it came to certain things, manslaughter being on of them. "We weren't able to do much, and getting away from them became the main priority after what they did to Aina.”
"I would of done the same in your shoes, Kei. You did what you could. I’m proud of you, and Aina will get a proper ceremony as well, I promise."
Clearing her throat, Yuka gained the attention of everyone. “This might sound crazy, but hear me out.” Once sure everyone was paying attention, the shewolf spoke again. “An attack, three days from now.”
“You’re fucking right that sounds crazy. You all just got here, and we’re still recovering from this morning’s scrimmage. “ Kei scoffed at the idea, before looking at Sayaka for support, but she didn't see it for the first time.
“Surely by now the ones who got away have reported to their ‘leader’ of our arrival, but they don’t know of our numbers. We could take them by surprise. I like it.” Sayaka finally replied, looking at her fellow Alpha, before looking at Kei. “Those who are not fit to fight will be on guard duty, I would prefer if they stay here, and protect those who cannot fight at all.”
“Should I leave a portion of my own troops here as well? Maybe the snipers can hide in trees and give everyone a sense of what’s going on before reporting back if anything bad happens.” Yuka suggested, she was willing to do anything she could to support Namba their current state.
Saeyaka nodded. "Have you sooner an inventory check add of recent?" She asked both shewolves.
"With the suppress we got from our small skrimage with the mercenaries and the trading of wares, we're actually in the positive with our items." Yuka replied.
"We have very little items, but secured our armor. Herbs and armor is all we brought with us." Kei reported, sounding upset with how little they have, until a hand landed on her shoulder.
The Namba shewolf smiled. "Good. I'm sure we have someone who can check on and repair them from Sakae." Seeing the nod from Yuka, the smile on her face widened. "We're taking back what's ours!"
Topic: Outcast and the Exiled Announcement 12/25 (Read 98762 times)