@Freja! A bellowing summons that left little room for second guesses or arguments. In his tone rested a very clear and demanding 'now'.

In front of him he had perched @Kamaria. Her scruff wet and more than likely sore as he had not carried her all the way home with any sort of tenderness. The night before had kept him from sleep. Though he had of course not minded it in the moment, exhaustion was quickly catching up to him.

The scent of the girl's mother; her blood, her fight, her sex, all of it still clung heavy upon him. The Darkling didn't give a shit if Freja saw it. Smelled it. If she knew. If it upset her.

She would get over it. Possibly even be thankful. What with this gift he was about to toss down at her feet.

code by scorpixia♡︎ | art by drifter

Freja!

The bellowed summons startled Freja from a nap that she hadn't meant to take in the first place. She startled awake, body jolting and head lifting as she immediately looked for any one of her sons that were likely to have been biting her or trying to escape. She wasn't interested in being their jailer and they needed to explore, but it seemed her children didn't understand moderation and their danger sensors were way off. She had no doubt that at least one of them was in mortal peril right this second and his response would undoubtedly be to chomp harder on whatever unfortunate soul they had found.

But it wasn't her sons who had disrupted her from her sleep this time. Blinking rapidly, she took in the sight of @Cassius ♔ moving towards her den with a dangling cub between his jaws. Sopping wet around her scruff and looking more than a bit sorry for herself - Freja recognised @Kamaria immediately. The sinking feeling in her stomach was all the confirmation she needed. Cassius was as likely to bring home a random cub that was not related to him as he was to chew his own tail off. She swallowed thickly.

Until the other scents hit her nostrils - blood, sex, adrenaline. It clung to him like a bad hangover and Freja wanted to demand where it has come from, who it belonged to. The possessive response reared it's head, jealously blowing hot air down her scruff. And just as quickly, it dissipated. She was just a womb afterall, she shouldn't feel this way about the Dark beast. She was nothing and she never would be. Squashing the sorrow this thought caused, Freja stepped forward as Cassius placed the child on the floor. Cassius - what's going on?

code by scorpixia ♡︎ || art by editjackson

`

Kamaria whimpered as she was carried back, that was until she'd fallen asleep, having been so tired and unable to rest before shed been grabbed from the den, when she was dropped down, she sniffled and looked up at the man she was supposed to call father, and then she looked to a familiar face. Her stomach dropped and she looked at the ground, but she didn't want to be close to this male any longer, so when Freja stepped forward, she scrambled to bury herself in the chest of the woman. Finally she would allow herself to cry, pressing her face into the woman's chest, hot tears soaked her cheeks and the fur around her face as she did so. She wanted her mother, she wanted her sister, this was not what she'd ever thought she'd had to worry about.

Art and code by Shazaki`

When his daughter looks up at him, Cassius chooses to ignore her. His focus instead on @Freja as she fumbles through the underbrush in her haste. The mocking smile he offers is one disguised as fondness. She tried to shove away her questions and jealousy, but they were easy enough to glimpse when he was already looking for them. These mental and emotional games be played with Freja were what kept his interest in her after all. She had love for him, as strained as it might be, and that egocentric part of him absolutely ate it up.

As the girl hurtles herself forward and into the woman's chest, Cassius only raises a brow, that stretching of his lips faltering briefly into a frown.

Cassius - what's going on?

What was going on indeed.

Seems she knows you already. Flat. His gaze narrowing ever so slightly. A familiar storm steadily brewing over distant horizons, yet approaching quickly.

@Kamaria

code by scorpixia♡︎ | art by drifter

@Kamaria did not stick close to her father for long - immediately the girl darted forward and sunk herself into the fur of Freja's chest and the splotched woman naturally curled a comforting arm around the sobbing childs body, pulling her closer. It was heart warming, the trust this girl placed in her. And all at once, it soured on her tongue. She was becoming an expert by now in reading the micro-expressions on Cassius' face - the minute downturn of his lips, the raise of a brow and the narrowed gaze that all said trouble was brewing. Freja took a deep, quiet breath in as the words from him washed over her. Not what she was expecting.

We met in the Grove not long ago. That was all, nothing untoward or nefarious. But he hadn't answered her question and her own gaze narrowed just a fraction. Where are her mother and sister? She asked, heart beat pounding in her throat. Had he killed them? It wasn't a conclusion far out of reach for @Cassius ♔. Why is Kamaria here? Instead of with her family. Her paw remained, curled across the girls body in a passive attempt at comfort - and perhaps to shield her from her fathers wrath, when it hit.

code by scorpixia ♡︎ || art by editjackson

`

The girl flattened her ears, she felt the arm placed around her and she curled into the woman's body into as tight if a ball as she could, her eyes were sealed shut, but her sobbing was beginning to quiet into sniffles and whimpers. She didn't turn to face her father, so she had no idea what his facial expression was saying, she listened to the two adults though. Her mother and sister, the mention made her sniffle, she slightly turned her head, resting her cheek on the chest of @Freja, eyes closed for a moment until she heard her name, then they opened just a bit, glancing to Cassius.

Art and code by Shazaki`