Do or Die (Jackal Squad Oneshots)

A Hostile Return - Part Two

Later that night, Infinite sat on the couch in the main part of the den, sighing. Not long afterward, he heard the sound of someone's paws hitting the ground, and a slender figure soon appeared in the main room. "Amara. I thought you went to bed." He smiled at the sight of her.

The female then looked around the room before proceeding to remove her shirt from her body, showing off the stripes on her torso. As she dropped her shirt and moved her paws back to their neutral positions, Amara placed her right paw on her hips.

Infinite stood and walked over to her, gently wrapping his paw around her waist.

She leaned into him, placing her paw onto his chest and her muzzle into the crook of his neck. Both her and her breathing seemed a little shaky.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

Usually, she wasn't this clingy. She began to stammer and inched closer. "I-I-I just..."

"Is this about Lusk?"

She instantly began to stammer again and gasped for breath as she tried forming words.

Infinite gripped her a little harder and took one of her paws in his. "Hey, it's okay, it's alright..." He pulled her closer to his body. "You're afraid of him, aren't you? Afraid that he's going to be like your mom..."

Amara nodded, then tears began to leak from her eyes. Her breaths turned spastic. "You... you don't know what she did to me!" She began shaking and tears spilled from her.

Infinite held her to try and contain her shaking. "Hey, Mara, look at me." He waited until she was focused on him, tears still spilling from her eyes. "I'm not saying I have any idea of how horrible your mother was, nor am I trying to." He looked at her, then sighed and squeezed her paw. "C'mon, sit here." Infinite sat back down, pulling her down with him. He let her curl up next to him, allowing her to use his tail as a blanket. Infinite kept a paw on her upper waist, stroking her gently.

Eventually, she calmed and fell asleep. Her body was pressed up against his as she smiled and unconsciously lifted her head from his shoulder to kiss him.

Infinite tenderly kissed her head in return, being careful to not wake her. "Love you too."

A gentle sigh of adoration was heard, but not from either of the young jackals.

Infinite turned his head from his beloved to find the older jackal who was a factor in her earlier panic. "Lusk." The captain said somewhere in between a whisper and speech. "You're still here?" His voice was slightly curious, which confused the elder male.

"I-I thought it was well to- wait, you're not mad?"

"Not really, just surprised. I thought you would've bailed after she had refused to take you."

"Not instantly, we both have similar feelings towards the lady who brought her here. I knew she would take me in a similar fashion and wouldn't welcome me. I was, however, surprised by how long she was able to hold herself."

Infinite glanced down at her, then looked back towards Lusk once stroking her again. "I think she's afraid of you." He mentioned with solemn softness.

"That was something that I did not anticipate, but it makes full sense now that I'm hearing it. What makes you say so?"

"Well, for starters, I know that she tends to be a lot more aggressive to things that she finds threatening, she also ran from you sobbing. Also, I think she just had a bit of a panic attack when I asked her about why she was acting strange. I said your name and she started shaking."

"She thinks I'm going to treat her like her mother did," Lusk responded without a pause.

"Yeah. How'd you- have you been listening in on us?"

"Eh, just a tiny bit. However, I didn't hear too much, haven't been out here too long. Both of us know her mother to a frightening point. I had a child through her, Amara, and that child was abused. How badly, however, I don't know."

Infinite looked back at his sleeping lover, then stroke her again as if he was trying to keep her asleep. "I know. At least some vital things."

"What happened?"

"Well, first of all, Taruna tried everything to kill Amara off before she was born. That didn't work and Mara was an addict until she was about twelve. Since for some reason Taruna was kept from snapping her neck, Mara was viciously beaten until..." Infinite found that he was becoming choked up and he wiped away a small flood of tears.

"Until what?" Lusk was horrifyingly concerned.

Infinite took a deep breath and gulped, looking at Lusk. "You really wanna know what happened?"

"Yes! Maybe if I know, I can show her that I'm not anything like Taruna. Maybe I can get her to warm up to me."

Infinite nodded and took a deep breath, giving him a grave look. "Amara's mother tried to drown her in acid."