Sleep, eat, sleep, eat.  It had been a very well-understood, well-loved pattern, and not one Marianna was keen on breaking immediately.  That was, until, her sleep her been interrupted but a chilly breeze.  The cooler air was startling, and the puppy peeled her eyes open.  Sapphire blue in the soft darkness of the den peered around, blinking slowly at the shapes she recognized only by touch.  There, in the den with her, were the boys who'd followed her from the womb – Kino, and Draven.  Their presence was always around her, whether they were suckling against their mother's belly, or curled up against her warm side, tucked in safely for another rest.

A warmth that was missing, presently, much to the child's dismay.  She didn't quite understand the how and the way of it – only that the space was emptier than it used to be, and the source of comfort and safety was presently missing.  Unrolling herself, the chunky puppy propped herself up on her forelimbs and blinked again, uneasily taking in the den and the strange silence of it.  Another gentle spring breeze rolled through the small opening, kissing her nose with cooler temperatures.  Marianna wailed.

"Hnnnnnnng!" the puppy whined, ears pressed against her small skull.  After a moment, she shuffled closer to both of her brothers, nose pressed to their soft fur as she tried to stuff herself between them.  It was warmer there, she realized, and warmer was the only thing on the puppy's mind.  "Hnnn," she whined again, eyes fluttering.  Why had it woken her up?

Firefly stuck her nose in Minka's den, hoping to find the leader there so she could discuss the fox problem and let Minka know that she was taking care of it.  To Fly's surprise, the leader was not in the den.  But the pups were.  Fly had not yet seen Minka's new litter.  Actually, she had never seen anyone's litter before.  To her, the three pups cuddled together on the floor seemed incomprehensibly tiny.  

Fly marveled at the delicate pups.  One was silvery, a coat similar to Tokino's, and the thought of the Alpha made Fly frown.  She quickly transferred her gaze to the next pup, a very dark one who was larger than the other two.  He was still sleeping peacefully.  Finally, Fly rested her gaze on the only girl, a little russet wolf.  A smile tugged at the black corners of Firefly's mouth as she admired the small russet pup.  This was Minka's second daughter, but Fly wondered if Minka would not favor her because of Noble's absence.  

Fly was just about to pull out of the den and look elsewhere for her Alpha, the woman would not be far from her pups, but then a low muling sound caught her attention.  It was the girl-pup.  Her eyes had opened, revealing bright sapphire orbs, and she was squirming next to her brothers.  Clearly something was wrong and for a moment Fly's heart fluttered like a hummingbird's wings.  Panic set in as all of the worse possibilities came to her over active imagination.  The pup could be sick or maybe she ate something she wasnt supposed to or...or...or  

Fly took a deep breathe trying to calm herself down.  It was probably nothing.  Then again, what if it was something and Fly did nothing to help.  It would be all her fault if something happened to this little pup.  Just like something happened to Noble and she wasn't there to help.  Now she was here but completely helpless.  A low whine resounded from Fly's closed maw.  She inched slightly closer into the den and in a hushed whisper called,"What's the matter little pup?" Her tone was pleading as she tried to figure out what could have the pup muling like she was.  

"Speech"

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With a struggle as forceful as tiny little legs could muster, Marianna continued to squirm between her siblings. It seemed the youngest was unperturbed by her efforts, but the silvery male had a different opinion. While her wriggling and whining caused the middle child to stir, the tawny pup was distracted by sudden motion at the entrance of their den. Her baby blues flickered that way, taking in the large shape suddenly blocking out the only source of light. Curiously, this also halted the cool breeze that had woken the largest of the litter, and the chunky cub gave a soft, pleased noise when she realized her discomfort was at an end.

Or—

So she had thought. A moment later, pain laced through her, the source a needle-sharpness grabbing on her ear. Ari yelped, eyes ringed with white as her first reaction was to pull away from the awful sensation. She'd known nothing but comfort and care until this very moment, and finding her brother latched onto her ear was something she did not enjoy at all. Her cries grew louder, clearly unhappy with her situation as she threw one thick paw at Kino's face.

If she couldn't pull free, maybe she could push him away. She brought her over-large foot down on her brother's snout as she continued to try to squirm away, oblivious to the fact that she was now stepping all over her other brother. "Hrrnnnn," she grumbled, eyes flickering to the large shape at the mouth of the den once. "Mrrrr!"

Any spare time the man had was dedicated to lingering around Minka's natal den, completely and utterly fascinated with the three tiny lives hidden within. He wanted dearly to interact with them, to be a solid part of their every day, but ever since their birth he had been cautious of the unspoken boundaries that separated him from Minka's tiny family. Kova was of great concern to him; he did not wish to be on the heir's bad side, and thus chose to respectfully keep a distance as the youth clearly wished of him. Still, sometimes, he would push a little bit more, testing the water, hoping something would give and he could interact with the swiftly growing cubs.



He orbited the den, guarding it as Minka was presently absent, but without coming too close. He used his senses of smell and hearing to monitor them, as he would hate to have Kova catch him sticking his nose too close. When something on the wind shifted, however, instinct forced him to break free from the  ellipse and swiftly approach the earthen cradle. A woman he did not recognize and who still smelled foreign, with only Minka and Kova's scent on her to mark her as a pack member,  had her head within the den, soft words drifting from her lips. An urgent need to protect the children rose up within him like bile, and silently he directed his strong strides at her fire-red form.



A harsh, muted growl snaked from his throat as he headbutted her shoulder, not with enough force to cause pain but rather to attempt to push her away from the den entrance. Perhaps Minka may have been okay with this, but he could not know that for sure and certainly didn't know a single thing about this woman. Therefor, she would have to explain herself thoroughly before he allowed her to come close to the pups again.

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Some people see the revolution but most only see the girl.  I can lose my hard earned freedom if my fear defines my world.  I declare my independence from the critics and their stones.   I can find my revolution, I can learn to stand alone.
While the adults seemed to be at a stalemate inside, chaos had erupted within the den. Intrusion ignored by all three pups, it was the argument that consumed them. @Draven briefly made an attempt at peace maker, but his attention span was shorter than their tails, and the arrival of @Gent and @Firefly had caught his bright puppy eyes. While the female wailed again, she finally found the relief she was seeking, as @Kino soon too was distracted by the forms arguing in front of the only home the little Laginas had ever known.

Marianna hung back, falling to her round belly as her silverite brother finally released her from his needle grasp. A low, unhappy whine snuck free from her throat as she wiggled sideways, reaching up with one paw to rub at her head. She was too small to reach overlarge ears and she cried again, pain lingering in her extremity despite the fact the source was now waddling away. It was only then the firstborn realized she had been abandoned in the depth of the den – only yestreen was she surrounded by her entire family, the warmth and security their queenly mother provided, tucked in on either side by her chunky brothers.

With another keen of protest, Ari struggled to her feet. Her vocalizations only grew in pitch and fervor as she padded unsteadily after her siblings, blinking puppy blue eyes unhappily at the bright sunshine and blurry figures outside their den. She hardly wanted to leave the source of comfort, but the round cub found the prospect of loneliness even worse. She squalled one more, even more loudly this time, calling for @Minka as she tripped over her own paw. This was awful, and terrible, and all she wanted was the alpha to solve this entire mess.

Firefly looked on with a terrified, helpless expression as the pups began to struggle against each other's tiny bodies.  Was that normal?  Fly had no idea if pups were supposed to wail so much or move so much.  The huntress did not have much time to think about it before a large black form appeared at her side and pushed her out of the den.  She had been so consumed by the pups that she had not even noticed his scent or heard his arrival. She was only made aware of his presence because he pushed her quite firmly out of the way.   

After a harsh winter spent alone, Fly was used to fighting back by now.  Her instinct was to push back, to hold her ground and prepare to fight to defend herself.  But instincts could be overcome by logic and Fly quickly reminded herself that she was part of a pack now and she, unfortunately, was the lowest member.  Mina's scent was clear on the large male's blue black fur and Fly forced her head and tail down into a submissive position as she took several steps away from the den.  

"I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to alarm you.  I used to be apart of Black Thorn Downs and Minka has recently accepted me into Round Stone Crest.  I was looking for her, but when I stuck my head in the den I heard one of the pups wailing and i wanted to make sure they were alright." Fly explained calmly, keeping her eyes on the male's large black paws.  She didn't want to cause any trouble that might put more stress on Minka and the young woman certainly didn't want to make a bad impression in front of her new pack mate.  

Hesitantly, Fly looked up bringing her warm brown eyes up to the large wolf's chest and stopping there, being cautious to avoid any gesture that might be taken as disrespect.  In an unsure voice she asked, "Is that normal?  That...wailing?" Fly didn't have any experience with pups and had no idea what type of behavior was normal at their age so she was afraid of sounding stupid by asking such a question, but she was also concerned about them and didn't know how to make sure they were okay.  Judging by the man's protectiveness of Minka's den Fly guessed that he was a Guardian and Fly hoped that he had more experience with the pups than she did.  Hopefully, he would know what they were wailing about.  

"Speech"

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