Rind.

Kellan mated him twice in the night, after they'd returned to their rooms following Adotre's mating. Something in the air must have gotten into his blood, Gus decided, because he hadn't seen - felt, rather - his wolfe in such a furor since they'd been bonded. After they had both sated themselves to the point of exhaustion, they laid entwined in their dark room on the bed of furs, watching the shadows from the fire in the main space flicker past their door. Gus couldn't fall asleep for a long time, and it took him half the night to figure out why; in this small space, this dark room at the interior of a cave, there was no way for him to see the moon.

~:~

Breakfast was a grand affair. Grand enough that Gus began to get suspicious. Gus and Kellan sat at the table beside Adotre and Iorir, with Adnan, the Mellozsian, and One Eye (as Kellan had begun to call him) closing the space between them. Earlier on, the old, ragged wolfe had shuffled in, still in animal form, taken a chunk of the meat which sat on a thick metal plate on the table, and shuffled out again. No one appeared to miss his company. One Eye and Iorir happily discussed possible paths that Gus and Kellan could take out of the Irion as they spread some kind of jam over thick, hot slices of meat. Kellan, chewing idly on his meal, grunted occasionally to express accord or dissent. Gus tried to listen in, but, as usual, the Layer demanded his attention. After a few vain attempts to hang on to both conversations, Gustin gave up and turned his full attention over to Adotre.
"...and I could barely walk this morning, he mounted me so many times."
Gus cast a scandalized look over to Kellan and the others, but no one seemed to have heard but him. Then Kellan's ear pricked ever so slightly, and the corners of his mouth tilted just a bit. Gus squinted at him scoldingly. Pervert.
"....but it was a good kind of damp, you know?"
Adotre, Gus noticed, seemed to have no concept of appropriate breakfast conversation. He tried to divert the topic to the traders.
"Kellan and I are going to leave a few things to you when we go, to be traded. Can you do that for us?"
Adotre nodded and took a meager sip of whatever the spiced drink the wolves made was.
"Yes! I love to trade. Old Thing used to whine about it, but I'm sooo good." Adotre grinned mischievously at Gus. "I have a particular gift for getting my way." he purred, and Gus couldn't stop the burst of happy laughter which bubbled up from within him. The old Adotre was back - no more of the whining, ear-scratching, constantly nervous Layer that had been with them over the past week. This was the Adotre who had invited himself into Kellan's home, who had eaten all their soup, who had purred and whined his way into their bed. Gus looked over at the Layer. He was preening himself, mild annoyance on his face as he smoothed some of the hair back out of his eyes.
"I DO have a gift." he said, indignantly. "I have wiles."
The exaggerated way the Layer said "wiles" made Gus laugh even more. Kellan pricked his ear again, and Iorir even glanced over, both obviously trying to discern what had been so amusing. Adotre was by now thoroughly irritated, and so as he took another sip of the spiced water, Gus tried to smother his giddiness and focus on the conversation at hand.
"Anyway," the Layer continued as soon as his conversation partner had quieted down, "It's not as if I need very many things - Iorir has an awful lot."
Gus glanced around the main room and had to agree - all around the cave were items of utility and decoration that made the cluttered simplicity of Kellan's sod house seem downright ascetic by comparison.
"Maybe some things for the egg, though." Adotre frowned, his voice a whisper - he spoke more to himself than to Gus. Gus was suddenly reminded, through the fluttering of his stomach every time he had the thought, of his own cub he carried. He swallowed down another bite of the salty porridge he was eating. How far along was he? Gus wondered, then immediately wondered when he had stopped wondering if he was even pregnant at all. Somewhere along the line, the rumor had simply become fact.
Kellan was at his neck all of a sudden, nuzzling back the hair where it grew long and curled away from his nape.
"You will need things for the cub, as well."
Suddenly, the entire room was looking at him. Gus rolled his eyes. Sometimes, it was easy to forget about the whole Prophecy of the Synthesis thing. Other times, not so much. Kellan grazed his teeth along the sensitive skin of Gus' neck, and the human arched into the sensation without thinking. Kellan pulled back in surprise, chuckled, then whispered in his mate's ear.
"Human. I only meant to comfort you. Have I prepared you instead?"
Gus' face flushed, as he became acutely aware of four pairs of ears all cocked towards him. Gus pushed Kellan away.
"Alright. That's enough. I'm fine. The chosen one is fine. You can all go back to your meals."
Iorir and Adotre exchanged amused glances before the latter returned to his porridge; the former, to his conversation. Gus returned to reflecting on how Adotre's bonding seemed to be having a very noticeable effect on the behavior of his own wolfe.

After all the meat had been chewed off the bones, and the jam had been slathered across every possible surface and eaten, and the porridge had run low, the group sat back in their chairs, savoring the silence. Suddenly, Gustin spoke.
"So is this big a breakfast tradition after a bonding, or...?"
Kellan glanced once at Iorir.
"The meal was for us, mate. To send us on our way."
Gus raised his eyebrows.
"Oh. Oh, well, thanks, but you guys really didn't have to do that. I mean, we can't eat you out of house and home while we're here! Every day with a meal like that, we'll run you dry in no time."
There was a silence. Kellan grunted.
"We won't eat like this every day, mate. Today is our last. We leave at first light."

~:~

The dawn was near breaking when the crossed the first water. From the crest of the hill, it had looked glassy in the rising light - a thin vein of ice running red and pink and orange through the hillside, its surface gone gray and stony with the ice of a long Irion winter. Gus flexed his fingers to try to get some of the warmth back in them and kept walking. Kellan had assured him they wouldn't walk the entire time, but here, crossing this great expanse of nothing but white, trackless hills as far as the eye could see, Gus didn't feel so sure.
"Human."
Gus sighed, and his breath crystallized in a little cloud in front of his face.
"I'm here. I'm fine. I'll let you know if I begin to die."
Kellan grunted. This was a pattern they had developed since they'd left the cave; every fifteen minutes or so, Kellan would call him: Human. Then Gus would answer, and Kellan would grunt and keep walking. At first, it had seemed pointless, but eventually, Gus began to realize that it was Kellan's own way of assuring himself that his mate was not harmed.
Gus didn't think he could begin to get harmed, anyway - before he'd left, the Layer and Adnan had weighted him down with so many pendants and good-luck amulets he thought he'd stagger under their weight. This one to ward off sickness, this one to ward off the cold. This one to keep hidden, this one to find a road. Gus wondered why no one had thought yet to invent an amulet to keep toes warm in the unending snow.

They came to the water, crossed it carefully, Kellan always at the head, leading with Gustin behind. The sun was beginning to brighten overhead.

~

"How much farther?"
Kellan grunted.
"Are you tired, mate?" his voice was gentle, but there was a twinge of worry and irritation in it that Gustin read clearly.
"No." he said, quietly. "I'm fine."
Kellan grunted again.

~

They marked twelve miles the first day. At night, Kellan found a good shallow cave and built them a fire. They slept inside, out of the wind, pressed up against the walls with their only possessions. Kellan dozed off and on, but Gus couldn't sleep; with the hillside silent as it was, he felt too frightened, too exposed.

The second day, they marked eight miles. Gus' poor sleeping habits slowed them, and the wind blew harder than it had before.

The third day, they marked fifteen, and Gus and Kellan's spirits lifted.

The fourth day, they marked seven before Gus took ill and Kellan began to worry.

The fifth day, Gus was better. A warm front began to move in. They marked nine miles.

On the sixth day, they made four miles and Kellan caught the scent of a wolfe whom he had met before. They tracked the loner three miles to the south and met him there by a small pond in the midst of a thaw. The three made camp together in a thicket, then sat and ate salted meat around a fire. Kellan traded with the wolfe: furs for fresh milk, and the wolfe told them he had seen the caravan. Eighty miles to the south and still moving. Kellan had frowned then, and Gustin knew he must be calculating in his head how much time they had left.
At night, while the stranger slept, Gus shook his wolfe awake.
"Kellan." no response. "KELLAN." he whispered louder. Still nothing from the wolfe. Frustrated, Gustin exhaled, then kicked his mate under the covers. Kellan growled.
"Good, you're awake. What are we going to do about the caravan?" Kellan didn't answer. Gus frowned. "I mean, what are we going to tell them?"
Kellan half-rolled over and stared at the top of their makeshift tent.
"We tell them nothing. We keep out of their way. We make it to the Fourth Point." then the wolfe rolled back over and proceeded stubbornly into slumber. Gustin exhaled and laid away, rubbing his belly where something seemed to be pinching him, and counting the wolf howls he heard in the night.

~

Two days and twenty-six miles later, they found a cabin. Gus had barely dragged himself and his pack inside before Kellan had a fire lit and snow warming into water. Gus dropped down to the floor in a corner, back pressed up against the wall of the cabin. He put his head down between his knees and breathed slowly.
"Can we - can we stay here a while?"
Kellan looked over at him, then turned back to poking the fire with great concentration.
"Yes."
Gus looked up, uncertain.
"Yes?"
Kellan nodded.
"You need rest."
They spent three days at the cabin. On the fourth morning, Kellan woke him at dawn and they began to move.

Seven miles south, they met a lone trader who had a transport vehicle. The wolfe offered Kellan and Gus passage to the Mount in exchange for ten furs and a pot; this dropped to six when he scented Gus.
"Your mate is with, Wolfe."
Kellan grunted. The trader frowned.
"They're not meant to travel the Irion in this time."
Kellan scowled at him.
"It could not be avoided, Wolfe."
The trader shrugged, but kept a watchful eye on Gustin as he clambered into the cold, uncovered back of the transport. It was only four hours to the Mount, the ghost city capital of the Irion, but the trader hesitated as they drew closer to town.
"Sure you want to stop here, wolfe?"
Kellan cast his eyes out across the gray, dismal skeletons of structure. This had been a contested region; the Louts and Wolfish Empire had fought here. Humans had long since fled.
After the first battles, the snows grew thicker and now no one but the exiles and loners of the Irion wandered it. The roads leading into town were cracked, torn up by abuse in some areas and reclaimed by the earth in others. The sea had encroached as well - parts of the city were flooded in the icy water. Kellan blinked out across the cityscape. In the back of the transport, behind him, Gustin was buried far underneath several piles of stitched furs. He sneezed. The trader looked back over his shoulder.
"This is no place for a mate, Wolfe."
Kellan's brow creased, and he blinked twice more. Gustin peeked out at him from an opening in the blankets, and wondered what could be going through the wolfe's mind. Kellan grunted.
"Fine. Move us along."
The trader hesitated.
"I'm going as far as the Dack line."
"South or north?"
"South."
"We'll go."
The trader hesitated again.
"You'll help me load cargo at the stopping points."
Kellan grunted.
"I'll help. My mate rests."
The trader seemed satisfied with this, and he kicked the noisy engine of the transport into gear, gunning it through the empty, crumbling streets of what was once a fantastic city.

~:~

"What are you doing in here?"
Adotre jumped at Iorir's voice, not having realized that his mate was already aware of his presence. Iorir turned to face him, and Adotre flushed guiltily and shrugged.
"I just wanted to - "
"I didn't tell you to leave the room."
Adotre's stomach sank at the chastisement. His Airu had been displeased; he wanted to cry. Briefly, a shimmer of irritation swept through him - Iorir was clearly abusing his emotional state, getting all commanding just because he knew Adotre would be docile just after he'd dropped an egg. But as quickly as that thought appeared, it was subsumed in an overwhelming desire to please his Airu.
"I'm sorry, Airu, I - "
Iorir cut him off with a gesture.
"No excuses. Back to the bedroom."
Adotre sighed heavily and dragged his feet as he turned to head back down the hallway. A few steps away, he paused.
"I have to go out, Airu."
Iorir rolled his eyes.
"You just went."
Adotre put on his sweetest smile.
"I think it's the egg, Airu. Maybe that means it's taking."
Iorir blinked at him, obviously hesitant to allow the Layer to dodge his rules, but equally unwilling to put him or the egg to any harm.
"You still haven't regenerated?"
the Layer shook his head. Since he'd dropped the egg, the space in his star had remained unoccupied - his body hadn't replaced it yet, which meant that either it had begun to take, or the change in chemistry hadn't yet been noticed by his system. They would have to wait and see. To be safe, Iorir had put him on near-cosntant bed rest, as the healer had told them that the first two weeks of a Layer pregnancy were the most dangerous ones. Adotre, however, had lost interest in being stuck in the bedroom after the second day, and had been systematically testing for loopholes in Iorir's rules. Unfortunately, despite his superficially playful attitude, Iorir was a powerful alpha, and ran an even tighter ship than Kuskellanar had. The rest of the pack was expected to appear at all meals, as well as reporting for duty twice a day - in the morning for general housework and the evening to hunt. Adotre was expected to help with every chore that Iorir had deemed non-strenuous, but was confined to bedrest (or at least the bedroom) for the bulk of his waking hours.

For a week, Adotre had whined and protested at the rules, but Iorir had been firm, and had furthermore decreed that anyone caught aiding or abetting Adotre in shirking his assigned work or rest was subject to expulsion from the pack. None had been willing to take the risk.
And so one evening, Adotre, after helping to wash the day's dishes and stitch furs, had claimed fatigue and gone early to bed. Late in the night, pumped up on boredom, resentment, and a little of the thrill of defiance, had tiptoed his way out of bed in the middle of the night, itching for just a single run through the melting snow. Iorir had caught up to him not even 500 yards from the cave entrance and dragged him back single-handed; by the time Adotre could sit down again, he'd gained a new respect for his mate's authority. The Layer had been on his best behavior ever since.

However, today, he'd seen a new opportunity for a little excitement. The cave was in a tizzy with the supposed arrival of a new wolfe in the area, as well as the fact that Iorir had received a piece of information from one of the fringe loners, telling him that the caravan was crossing into the northern land, and was probably less than a fortnight away. Iorir had agreed that the pack should send a scout on a reconnaissance mission to look into both possibilities, and Adotre had quietly decided in his head that he would be the perfect candidate.

~:~