Fall of the Packs: Blood Ties

Chapter Fourteen

"Mercy, are you sure about this?"

"Of course! Stop worrying, they'll love you."

Aaron sighed heavily. Mercy had talked him into watching her pups for an afternoon and he was admittedly very nervous. He knew that it was silly, they were just pups, but he had basically ignored them for the first four months of their lives and he wasn't sure how they perceived him. He reluctantly followed Mercy over to her bush, hanging back when she called them out.

"Your uncle Aaron is going to watch you today," she barked cheerfully. "So be good, all right? I won't be gone long."

"Yes, Mama," Kuro and Mira replied dutifully. Axle said nothing, staring at the ground.

Aaron bid Mercy goodbye and then turned back to the pups. He shifted his paws awkwardly, unsure of what to say. When he'd first learned that Mercy was expecting, he'd been excited at the thought of getting to play with his nieces and nephews. But after everything that had happened... it just felt strange.

"So... ah, what do you normally do right now?" he finally said.

"We stay under the bush," Kuro answered. "We're not supposed to go outside when Mama isn't here."

"The other big dogs are mean to us," Mira said. "You... you aren't going to be mean to us, are you?"

"What? No, of course not!" Aaron chuckled nervously. "The other dogs are just a little... uh... surprised by you." He hesitated, unsure of how much Mercy had told them about their situation.

"It's because of our father, right?" Axle finally looked up and stared Aaron in the face. His eyes were so icy and pale they were almost white, standing out like two stars in the night of his black-furred face.

Aaron repressed his instinctive desire to look away. "Well... yes. What... what do you know about your father?"

"Not very much," said Mira. "Mama doesn't talk about him very often." She looked up at Aaron hopefully. "Do you know about him?"

"No," Aaron answered plainly after a moment's pause. "I don't. ...Listen, your father's not important. Say, have you thought about whether you want to be hunters or defenders? Or maybe a healer?" He honestly didn't know if they were going to be allowed to attain full-ranks or if they were going to stay omegas, but he desperately wanted to change the subject.

Kuro looked thoughtful. "We heard a little bit about that. I don't know."

"Maybe a defender?" Aaron suggested. "You look like you'll be big and strong when you get older. I'm a defender, and we help protect the pack from other dogs and wildcats and bea--"

He cut himself off from finishing the word. Nice going, Aaron. You just made it awkward again.

Axle stiffened but Kuro and Mira just looked confused. Aaron wondered if they knew the full circumstances of their sister's death. Not wanting to press the issue, he quickly finished, "We keep the pack safe from anything that might be dangerous."

Mira nodded. "I think I want to be a hunter. Mama said she used to be a hunter, but she stopped because she had us. I want to be just like her!"

Aaron smiled, guessing that Mercy had not explained the full scope of her position or why she had it. "That's wonderful. I bet you'll be a great hunter. What about you, Axle?"

He shrugged wordlessly. Aaron felt a pang of pity for the pup. He had already seen so much at such a young age. That had to be hard. "Do you think you'd want to be a hunter, like your sister? I think you'd be good at it."

"Why the sudden interest in us?" Axle's head snapped back up and his words had a bitterness to them that caught Aaron off-guard. "You never cared before."