Chapter Text
Neither spoke about the prior night. Both remembered it, but they didn't acknowledge what was so painfully lingering in the heavy air between them.
In only a few weeks, and Laika had seemed to fall for Eli like none other. She spent her days talking to him at the mouth of that cave, nearly forgetting her predicament; and then she spent her nights trying to figure out how to escape this hellhole.
As the days wore on, her belly grew larger. Just a bit of pudge beneath her curved spine; but the swelling of her skin, the puffiness of her teats; it was beginning to become obvious she was pregnant, and with every passing day, her fears grew. She still wasn't sure if Afore or Bellamy were the father, and waiting the full two months— now closer to one month— to find out who was left plenty of time for her mind to wander and worry.
If they were Bellamy's, then certainly that would be better— but it would be painfully obvious by their size. Afore wouldn't have it, and he might even seek out Bellamy to kill him. She was terrified of that, and she was beginning to regret her decision with him.
"What's on your mind?" It was a familiar, soft voice from the mouth of the cave. Yellow, midday light glowed like heaven behind him, outlining his silhouette in a flowy way. "You seem tense."
She hesitated, but ultimately decided to trust him with the truth. Laika padded from where she lay on the cool, but uncomfortable, stone floor and sat down with a sigh beside him. She let the glow of the sunlight coax her shiny, black fur, taking in the day's warmth as best as she could. Behind her was the nothingness of that plain cave she had begun to call home.
"I never wanted to be a mother," she said, but Eli already knew that. "And I especially did not want to mother wolf-hybrid abominations. So I allowed a dog, a little one, my good friend to mate with me so that I may have his puppies instead. And now, I'm not sure whose they'll be."
Eli glanced at her curiously for a moment before responding, "Well, it won't be long until you find out."
"I know," she sighed, "The more interactions I have with those primitive breeds— wolves, coyotes— the more I firmly believe they should all be extinct." There was spite in her voice, a slight snap of her fangs with every sharp, extended syllable.
"I couldn't agree more," Eli said, sighing in his own way. He stared out at the woods, at the light dazzling the green tree tops. "Wolves have never brought anything but trouble, even before they went extinct. There's a reason why dogs killed them off."
"And we'll do it again," Laika said firmly. "But at some point, we have to consider where Afore came from. He's pure wolf; that means there's more wolves out there, still in hiding. A growing army."
"We'll find them, too."
"But the implication is that we might have to take Afore alive to find out."
He shook his head, "If Afore knew where they were, don't you think he would have gone back to find them to join his army? Wouldn't pure wolves be better than Saluki-Wolf hybrids?"
She chewed on that thought, "No, I think you're right. He'd told me he didn't remember much of his past or family. He must have been separated when he was young."
"Or maybe they abandoned him."
Laika sighed wistfully, "Or maybe his parents died, and he really is the very last of his kind." That earned her a bit of a chuckle from Eli, and she offered him a conniving smile in return.
"Right now, if there are other wolves out there," Eli said, "They're still too afraid to show their faces. We'll have to take down Afore before he makes a space that's safe enough for them to come out again."
Laika hadn't thought of that before, but it made sense. The dogs had killed off what they believed to be every last one of the wolves— that certainly would be enough to scatter the last remaining ones into hiding. If there was a population, it was very plausible there weren't many left. And that a pure wolf might even be the product of close inbreeding. She laughed at that thought. Afore certainly seemed like he was inbred.
"Have you ever thought of what's beyond?" Laika suddenly asked.
Eli hesitated, "You mean, the forest and fields?"
She nodded, "Yes. I heard from someone that there were mountains on either side of us. One big valley. I thought, maybe the wolves lived on the other side of the mountains."
"Maybe one day, we'll travel as far as we can go and see. I heard of the mountains, too. And I heard of the ocean on one side, like a concave in the mountains."
"Have you ever been out that far?"
"I've never been anywhere but here. But maybe there are other tribes farther along the edges of Anertha that know more than I do."
Laika sat on that for a long while. Her daydreams slowly began; travelling through tall mountainous peaks, watching the sunset over an ocean. Getting sand stuck in the tufts of her fur as the salt scented wind casted through it. She couldn't imagine it all that well, as she'd only heard of such places through talk and conversations like this one, but for a moment she could almost feel the ocean breeze graze her nose and ears.
"Maybe, if I have pups that don't turn out to be monsters, they'll come with us."
"That's another thing," Eli said, his voice more serious than before. "I've considered this for a while, Laika." She stared at him. Wide, dark brown eyes, shining in the sunlight. Confused, concerned. But something intelligent beneath them. "You can't have your pups here. If they're Afore's, he'll take them away from you and raise them for his army."
"What are you saying? What other choice is there?"
His tone was hushed, but confident, "I think we should find you a hidden den off site. Someplace far where Afore won't find you. You can have the pups there, and I'll help you raise them. Then, we can leave with them. They'll never be under Afore's command. They'll be yours to raise."
She never wanted to raise pups, so at first she wanted to protest; but she knew she couldn't be selfish with this. Assuming she had a full litter of 5 or 6 pups, that was 5 or 6 wolf-hybrids that could take reign alongside Afore. Not to mention any other females he may have gotten bred during the same time frame.
And, as much as Laika hated the idea, she did consider the benefits of having a wolfdog or two on their side.
"Okay," Laika said. "If you can figure this out, then I'm in."
"Whenever Afore takes my post, I'll start searching," Eli promised. Laika stared at the features of his face for a while. He had tall, pricked ears, a masculine snout and soft eyes. It was still too soon, but words couldn't place the feeling she felt then. Unlike the simple infatuation with Bellamy; and it was unlike her confusion with Afore, her constant need to convince herself of his reasons. Eli was here, he was real. What they had was real.
"Okay," she agreed. And then that was that; a plan had been made. Another slow step towards Afore's inevitable downfall— a line of steps that wouldn't end with Laika.