Only Us

Chapter 5

Mella stormed off in the direction of Mark and Caden's den. "If he loves Redina sooo much, then I'll just make him love me..." She broke out in a full-out sprint, the wind flowing through her short fur.

Caden looked down at Redina and laughed. "S-Say it again!" He wheezed.

Redina snickered and got up and waddled like a dunce. "I'm Mella and I'm gonna steal my sister's mate- 'cause why nooooooot?!" She laughed and fell on her back, wallowing in laughter.

Caden caught his breath. "Ah shit, that's really funny bro." He shook out his fur and looked out the den. "Well, you wanna start heading off?" He looked at Redina.

She nodded in slight response. "Sure. Hey Mark!"

To Redina's response, Mark popped his head out of his nook of the den. "What?" He scoffed.

"We're heading out, you're the male of the den as of right now." Caden flicked his tail tip tentatively. "Alright?"

His younger brother rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Mark squirmed around. "Goodbye."

Redina and Caden nodded as they made both their ways to the mouth of the den. They were interrupted at the sound of Mark's voice.

"And don't do anything dumb!" His mocha-colored fur spiked a little. "Don't do... Y'know what. I don't want a little version of you two runnin' around all over the place!" Yowled Mark.

Redina and Caden just made awkward eye-contact.

"Right..." Caden nodded. "Well bye."

"Bye bye!" Redina sqeaked as she followed Caden out of the den.

Mark saw them turn right of the den and a smile crept across his face. "Finally... No more noises." He gloated as he roamed around the cave. Then suddenly, his eyes caught a figure that kind of looked like Redina, but wasn't. He cocked his head to the side. "What the...?" Mark made his way to the mouth of the den. He squinted his eyes to spot out Mella.

Mella slowed her role. She knew Caden and Redina weren't here, but Mark was. "Hey Mark..." Her tail coiled around Mark's neck.

"Uh... Hi..?" He looked back at her to see the look on her face. Mark felt a little uncomfortable as she stalked closer to him.

Mella smirked. "I've noticed you've been..." She licked her teeth. "Rather lonely..." She grumbled.

His brows furrowed. "Oh? Is that so, genius?" Mark scoffed. His tail swooped the floor of the cave in a sort of frustrated manner.

She smiled and puffed up her chest fur. "Mhm." Mella blushed. "You wanna... Hang out sometime..?" Her tail flicked Mark's chin.

"Uh..." Mark's face flushed a little. "Why not now..?"

Mella shrugged. "No, maybe not now. Redina and Caden gotta be comin' back soon." She smiled sweetly.

Mark laughed nervously. "Right..." He heard leaves rustling, and that could only mean one thing. Redina and Caden were back.

Redina popped out into view, slighty panting. "Whew..." She huffed, her fur messed up. "That was rough..." She looked at Caden, who followed her.

Mella looked smugly at her young sister. "Well, it's good to see you guys again." She smiled.

Caden grumbled. "What do you want?" He growled as he looked down at Redina, who seemed uneasy.

Mark stepped forward. "Hey guys." He smiled. "Hey Redina, I hope you don't mind if Mella stays here for a little while."

Redina scoffed. "Not at all." She growled through tightly gritted teeth.

Mella looked unamused. "Alright."

Later that night, the four wolves sat in pairs. Mella and Mark, and Caden and Redina. There was a slight, uprising tension.

Caden noticed that Redina could simply not stay still, always seeming uncomfortable and most of the time would be re-situating her placement. "Hey hon..." He whispered. "You alright?" Caden asked.

"Mmph, y-yeah, I'm fine." She half-lied. Something was bothering her. Redina looked up at her lover. "Can we talk, alone?" She questioned Caden. She was hiding something, and she decided to tell him. Now.

His eyes widened as he kept a keen eye on Mark and Mella, who were, surprisingly, fast asleep. Caden looked back down at Redina. "Sure." He got up and let Redina lead the way.

When they were in full solitude, out of earshot, she looked up at Caden guiltily. Redina shifted nervously on her paws, and the slight chilly wind whistling through her fur and ears didn't really help her cause.

Caden slowly followed her and sat down quietly. He hoped it wasn't something bad. 'What if she doesn't love me anymore? What if she loves someone else?'

"And no." Redina paused. "I don't love someone else, I only love you." She smiled softly.

Caden sighed in relief. "Thank you." He snickered. "You had me worried there..."

She shifted her weight. "I-I don't know how to tell y-you this..." Redina looked up at Caden with a slightly frightened face.

"Well..?" He asked. "What is it?"

Redina sighed. "Y'know how Mark said that he didn't want a little version of us two runnin' 'round the place?"

Caden, being a little slow, nodded, not really understanding of what she was getting at. "...Right." He retorted.

"Well..." Redina took a deep breath and tried mustering up her courage. A bunch of thoughts sprinted through her head. 'What if he doesn't understand? And if he does, is he ready? Will he ever be ready? What if he doesn't want to hear the news?' And the worst thought that ran through her nervous mindset. 'What if when I tell him, he'll fall out of love? And if he did, would he leave me? Would he tell me his new thoughts and feelings about me?'

Caden, himself, was also very nervous. More thoughts rang loudly in his head. 'Will I like this suprise? What if I don't? What if I do? What is she thinking? What will she say?' He looked down at Redina, a nervous look on his face. "Hold on, let me calm down..." He took in a few deep breaths. "Ok, I'm ready."

Redina slightly shook her head. "I don't think you are, honey." She paused. "I'm pregnant."