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Chapter 20: A lot to Swallow

"Shut up, Roan," Zane said before his brother could speak.

It was another bright spring morning. The group had spent the night before walking the forest, searching earnestly for Enya and Theo. Zaldon, having the best nose, led the group as he followed the faint scents of the two from the summer village and to the northern forest. They had reached the river the night before, but Zaldon and Kel had advised the young wolves that they should cross it during the day: if any calamity should occur, it were better handled in broad daylight. And so, the first thing next morning, Kel and Zaldon led the group across the river. They waded in in a line and made such good progress that by mid-morning, they were ready to set up camp and rest.

As the group progressed through the trees in a line, searching for a nice place to stop for the day, Roan found himself at his brother's side. Yuri was walking ahead of them, just behind Keeno, her smooth tail floating low, her silvery mane glossy in the sunlight. They could both smell her scent, and Roan could tell that the sight of Yuri's high backside switching under her tail was exciting his brother.

"I wasn't going to say anything," lied Roan, lifting his eyebrows.

"Yes, you were," Zane darkly accused. It was the first time they had really spoken to each other since Enya and Theo ran away: Zane had avoided his brother because he felt guilty that his actions had sent Theo from the village. "You were going to tell me what a horny idiot I am, weren't you?"

"Maybe," Roan admitted, glowering at the distant trees. "How could you let Yuri talk you into such a thing!"

"How could I not?" Zane demanded irritably. "Enya would have been stoned had she not gone through with it --"

"And you wanted your chance to get between Yuri's legs. What about Mora and Nyssa? They'd hate you if they ever found out. They'd hate Yuri."

"So they'd join the club. What else is new? Uncle Keeno already smacked me. You're mad at me, Dad's disappointed, and Yuri can't even look at me -- are you happy?"

Roan glanced up at his brother, and realizing in that moment how awful Zane must've been feeling, he muttered to the ground, "No, Zane . . . I'm not happy."

Zane gave a miserable laugh. "Welcome to the club."

They glanced at each other, and Zane knew he was forgiven when Roan gave him the old smile: that sympathizing smile that said he wanted to kiss his brother on the cheek.

"It's just," Zane went on with a miserable sigh, "I've always loved Yuri, I always have! Since the moment I first saw her. Little did I know Enya did too."

Roan nodded grimly as if to say he understood: he had felt the same way about Yuri for a long time.

"And when Yuri asked me to help her save Enya," went on Zane, "I saw my chance to make her my wife -- not only that, but to save Enya from getting stoned. I thought it would take care of things, make things the way they're supposed to be: a male with a female."

Roan suddenly scowled, and Zane winced as his own words echoed back at him.

"That's not what I meant!" Zane said quickly. "But damn, Roan, if you were in danger of being stoned you know damn-well there's no way in hell I'd stand by and let you be with Theo. There's just no way. I'd beat the shit out of you first."

It was Roan's turn to laugh miserably. "I love you too, my brother."

"But you're not in danger of being stoned. Enya is."

"But, Zane, don't you see? It shouldn't be that way!" Roan hissed in earnest. "Females should be allowed to have female lovers, to settle down with other females the way tail chasers do. If things were like that, then stuff like this wouldn't happen in the first place!"

"I guess you're right," Zane said to the ground.

"You know I'm right."

"But what was I supposed to do?" Zane said in frustration. "Say no to Yuri? It was the only way to stop Enya --"

"I know, my brother," Roan said, placing a paw up on Zane's big shoulder to calm him. "I know."

Zane took a deep breath, and when he still looked miserable, Roan added, "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, if Yuri had come to me, I wouldn't have said no either."

They smiled at each other, and as if Yuri had heard, they saw her ears prick forward. She glanced furtively over her shoulder at them, and they saw the round bulge of her cheek flush prettily around the side of her mane before she quickly turned away again. Her buttocks were high and firm as they rode above her shapely calves and thighs, and when she lifted her arm and pushed a strand of silver mane behind her ear, they saw the side of one of her breasts: high and plump and jutting with a sharp nipple.

Roan sighed. "I can see why you couldn't say no, Zane. I can really see."

That morning, sitting in the camp around the small flickering fire, the group had breakfast. Zaldon went into the trees to take a leak and emerged some time later with a spear. It was Theo's.

"Thank god," Keeno said, dragging a relieved paw back through his mane. "We've caught up to them."

"Don't thank god just yet," Zaldon told him, sitting heavily beside Kel. He studied the spear a moment, and after curiously sniffing it, he announced, "The scent is very faint. Theo abandoned his spear some time ago. For who and for what, I can not say. They might have been abducted. They might have fled attackers. But there seems to have been no struggle, and the tracks they left in the underbrush were not the tracks of running wolves."

"In other words," said Keeno after swallowing from a canteen, "we don't know if we should worry or not worry. Until we find Enya and she's here in my arms, I choose worry."

Yuri gazed sadly at her little bowl of oatmeal, and noticing this, Zaldon smoothed down her mane and said gently, "Yuri, why don't you practice your magic? Maybe it could help us find Enya. You have a strong enough bond with her to do that."

Keeno averted his eyes when Zaldon spoke the words, and Zaldon and Kel smiled at him in amusement: Yuri's ability to perform a Sending with Enya was raw proof of their strong bond. But Yuri only continued to stare miserably at her oatmeal.

"I . . . I don't think I can," she said to the ground. "Enya's so mad at me. She might not hear it."

"Try, Yuri!" Roan gently urged, and his large green eyes were earnest and almost desperate. "We know you can do it!"

Remembering that it was her fault Theo had fled with Enya in the first place, Yuri set aside her bowl with a guilty pang. The group watched as she held out her paws palms-up and closed her eyes. Her brows knitted together and she lifted her chin, as if she was silently calling. After only a short pause, a small yellow butterfly took shape, hovering just above her palms. Roan noticed a real yellow butterfly drifting in the trees nearby: Yuri was using this for her Sending.

The yellow butterfly flapping so languidly over Yuri's paws vanished only to be replaced by a blue one. Everyone gasped: Enya had sent a blue butterfly back.

"Blue butterflies!" Kel cried, aghast. "Those are only said to exist --"

"In the legendary Secret Valley," Zaldon finished.

Keeno scoffed. "Oh, come on, Zaldon! That's just a myth."

"Is it?" Zaldon nodded at the blue butterfly still hovering over Yuri's offered palms. Yuri blinked at it and it vanished. Zaldon patted her shoulder and said with proud affection, "Well done."

Yuri smiled shyly under the compliment.

"But what's the Secret Valley?" Roan asked blankly. He and Zane exchanged confused glances.

"It's a story," Keeno told them, taking a bitter bite of bread, "about some hidden valley where wood nymphs lead wolves away and they're never seen again. It's an old story parents used to tell their pups to keep them outta the forest."

"But all stories have some basis of truth," Zaldon said, "and Yuri just proved it."

"Okay, okay," Keeno answered, rolling his eyes. "So let's say Enya and Theo are in this so called 'Secret Valley.' It's supposed to be hidden -- no mortal wolf has ever found it by looking for it. So how the hell do we find it?"

"You just answered your own question," Zaldon said with a little smile. "We don't look."

Keeno dashed his bread to the ground in a sudden rush of frustration, and shooting up from his seat, he stomped off into the trees. Roan and Zane looked as if they wanted to go after him, but Kel told them to let Keeno be.

"He's worried about Enya. We all are," Kel told them. "And hearing that his daughter is some place unreachable is hard to hear."

"But at least we know where Enya is," Zaldon said, "and if she's well enough to answer a Sending, that's a good sign." He stroked Yuri's mane to comfort her, and she managed a weak smile for him.

"So what do we do then?" Roan asked Zaldon with large eyes. "We just . . . stop looking?"

"Yes. But that doesn't mean we stop traveling. We should keep prodding around the forest, never stay in one place too long. Lone wolves don't usually attack large groups, but desperate ones will do anything."

Roan and Zane nodded, their paws tightening on their spears, and Zaldon and Kel exchanged amused glances: they had been much the same way at that age, so ready and eager to show the strength of their warrior skills, to protect their loved ones.

"Grandfather," said Roan worriedly, "what do you think will happen to Theo when we take him back to the summer village?"

Kel stared sympathetically at his grandson. He knew exactly what would happen: if Sade was angry enough, Theo could be stoned. Theo had defied his father and run away when in Sade's eyes he should have considered himself very lucky: Enya was one of the most beautiful young females in the village, was one of the most sought after, and probably would have been the cause of many brawls at her first mating season. Theo could have remained married to Enya and then claimed another female when his first mating season came. This was the dream of most young males in the summer village. The way Sade saw things, Theo should have been very grateful to his father. But of course Theo wasn't. Theo wanted Roan.

Roan waited, his green eyes large and sad, and Kel did not want to answer. He and Zaldon exchanged miserable glances, then Kel took a deep breath and spoke, "It depends on Sade's anger and the anger of the village council, Roan. If Sade is angry enough, he could have the village cast Theo out as a lone wolf. They would burn the mark on his head, and he would be beaten and chased from the village. Or . . . they might stone him."

Roan stared wretchedly at his feet, and sitting across from him, Yuri gazed at him sadly, feeling acutely that Theo's fate was her fault. She caught Zane's eye and the pair of them guiltily averted their gazes.

"But that is not always the case, my grandson," Kel said, reaching over and placing a soothing paw on Roan's shoulder.

Roan looked up, but his eyes were as miserable as before. "But what if it is the case, Grandfather?"

Kel looked down a moment, as if in deep thought. When he looked up again, his green eyes were serious and inquisitive. "How much do you love Theo, Roan? What is it you feel for him?"

Roan blushed to be asked such a question in the presence of so many, but he stammered out an answer, "I -- I have never loved anyone more! The day isn't the same when I don't see his smile . . . and when I lay awake at night, I think about his arms around me . . ." Roan dropped his eyes and blushed a deeper shade at the ground. So his grandfather knew about him too. He wasn't surprised: Kel was just like him -- his own male lover sat at his side!

"And when he's away," added Yuri, and everyone looked at her, "you feel a deep and terrible yearning, and you can't stop thinking of him. All you want is to be at his side, to see his face just once more before you go to sleep -- and your heart is warm and content when you finally do because you know its aching will only stop if he's near."

When Yuri had finished speaking, she had a happy, faraway look in her eyes, but catching everyone staring at her, she dropped her gaze to her bowl of oatmeal. Kel and Zaldon smiled at each other: Yuri had blurted her feelings for Enya.

"Yes," Roan answered her sheepishly. "All of that and more!"

"Then," said Zaldon, "how would you like it if you and Theo came to the sun village to live? I could take Theo there to save him from his fate. And we could make up some lie, we could say we never found him, that we only found Enya. That way, I wouldn't be persecuted for taking Theo away. Later, I could bring you to him, and the two of you could live out your lives together and never have to worry about being punished for it."

"You would do all that for me?" Roan asked in amazement. And he knew just by the looks on the two older wolves' faces that they had spent some time talking this plan through together.

"Yes," said Kel, "we would. We know more than anyone what it's like, not being able to be together. . . .We know."

Roan saw his grandfather squeeze Zaldon's big paw and the aging wolves gazed warmly at each other. His heart leapt: he and Theo could be together! Really be together and share their lives without fear, without having to hide!

"Th-Thank you!" Roan blurted happily and everyone laughed.

"Looks like I won't have to beat the shit outta you after all," Zane said, ruffling his brother's mane. "I'm gonna miss shovin' you around."

"And I'm gonna miss shovin' you back," Roan returned, grinning at his brother.

"Two problems remain," said a grim voice, and everyone looked around to find Keeno standing on the edge of the camp. He was leaning against a tree, his arms folded. "The first problem: finding Enya and Theo alive. The second problem? They're married, Zaldon. You can't just kidnap Theo and keep him somewhere for Roan. The two of them are underage. They still have to brush their teeth when Sade and I tell them to." So saying, Keeno moved toward the low fire and flopped down with a dark expression, not looking at anyone.

Watching their uncle, Roan and Zane suddenly wished their father had come: Keeno would have been in better spirits with Kilyan there.

"What are you saying, Keeno?" Kel said in a low voice. His entire body was tense and still, and Roan and Zane quickly read the signs: their grandfather was beyond indignant -- Kel was pissed. "You would turn in Zaldon for trying to save Theo from a stoning? Zaldon -- who brought you back from the brink of bleeding to death --?"

"It's okay, Kel," Zaldon said uncomfortably, but Kel cut across him, "It's not okay!"

Keeno glowered at the ground when Kel slowly rose to his feet and did not look up as his elder spoke, "I understand that you are worried for your daughter, Keeno. In case you've forgotten, I raised a daughter myself, and there wasn't a moment when I wasn't scared to death for her -- scared of what this shitty world might do to my little girl. But I was never so scared that I put an innocent wolf's life in jeopardy, and a wolf who once saved my life to boot. You disgrace the code of the warrior. I should slap you right now and snatch that feathered talisman from your arm! And to think I trusted you with my daughter! And now you would sacrifice my lover -- and a dear friend of the family! -- for my grandchild? For shame! Enya is not so lost to us yet. And one might think you'd have Theo in mind -- Theo, once a student warrior under you, once a great influence on your nephews!" He waved a paw at Roan and Zane, who were sitting very still now -- not because they were angry but because they were frightened of the explosion threatening to erupt from Keeno's ever tightening lips. They didn't want to see their uncle struck by Kel, which is surely what might happen if Keeno chose to disrespect an elder.

"Anger and fear have blinded you, my son," Kel went on, looking down sternly at Keeno. "You are not seeing reason, you have no control of your emotions but your emotions have control of you. This is not a safe state of mind for a warrior. You will not take watch. I advise you to rest and think on what you have learned these past few days, and tonight when your mind is clear, you will speak with me again."

Kel put an affectionate paw on Keeno's shoulder, and heaving a deep breath, Keeno looked up at him, at this stern and hard-bodied warrior who was slowly falling from his prime, at the commanding green eyes he had known all his life and had once even feared. Those eyes were so hard and yet so affectionate, so concerned. Keeno felt a pang of guilt: Kel was right. In his anger, he had been blinded and had been ready to sacrifice even Zaldon to keep Enya married to Theo and thus safe from a stoning. But Enya wasn't safe. Not anymore. And because of his foolish temper, a temper which he had passed on to his child.

Keeno looked to Zaldon for forgiveness, but the big white wolf had no need to forgive him: he had never gotten angry. And he looked at Keeno now with something between sympathy and understanding.

"Yes, my father," Keeno said respectfully to Kel. "I will rest and . . . tonight we will talk."

Kel nodded and clapped Keeno fondly on the shoulder. Giving everyone an apologetic glance, Keeno climbed under his sleeping furs and turned his back to the group.

"Who will take first watch then, Grandfather?" Zane wanted to know. He gave a great phony yawn, and Zaldon and Kel smiled their amusement.

"We will," Kel said, still smiling. "The two of you get some rest. We'll wake you in about two hours."

"Sweet!" Zane howled and unrolled his sleeping furs. Roan did the same, but before he went to sleep, he paused to say, "Thank you, Grandfather. Thank you, Uncle Zaldon." The two older wolves returned his smile, then he sank into his sleeping furs and turned over.

Zaldon whispered something to Yuri in the tongue of the moon wolves, and smiling to herself, Yuri unrolled her sleeping furs and went to sleep as well.

After the others had been asleep for some time, Kel and Zaldon decided to roll out their sleeping furs too. They laid the blankets together and reclined on them: Zaldon's big arm was around Kel and their legs were happily tangled.

"You know," Zaldon said after some time had passed during their content cuddling, "the way you lectured Keeno like that . . . I think it turned me on."

Kel blushed a little.

"I haven't seen your eyes fire like that for a long time. And the way your whole body tensed when you got angry . . . I've never told you this, but you used to do that when we were young too, and damn if it wasn't the sexiest thing: your hard body all tight with muscles, those muscles flexing in your neck . . . that cute way your fangs always flashed behind your pretty lips. . ." Zaldon sighed, remembering.

Kel stammered, embarrassed, "Well, the way he was going on -- he was getting disrespectful -- talking about not letting you, a grown male, take Theo away to safety! And keeping little Enya in that miserable fucking marriage -- I think Keeno's more frightened for Enya than he is angry at her. But I guess I could understand his fear: all those times I was so frightened for Kilyan! I don't even want to think about it."

"Neither do I," Zaldon added sadly. "I'll never forget the way he looked that time you came to see me at the winter village and again when he came to me at the sun village. That boy must have nine lives -- or his ass must. Both times I healed him, he'd been raped."

"And both times were my fault because I loved you. You see? If wolves were allowed to express themselves freely, shit like this wouldn't happen. I wouldn't have been coming to see you because I would have already had you, and Enya wouldn't have run away because she would've been allowed to have Yuri. And poor Keeno: he's just as much a victim of this shitty system as my granddaughter: he feels he must go to desperate lengths to protect Enya, and that is what he's done. I guess I was lucky: Kilyan likes females. I never had to deal with the fact that my children could be stoned just for being who and what they are. I guess . . . I guess that's a lot for any parent to swallow."

"I'll give you something to swallow," Zaldon whispered playfully in Kel's ear, and he laughed when Kel's cock got stiff almost at once.

"Oh . . . Zaldon!" Kel scolded in a whisper, but Zaldon's big paw swallowed his cock in a slow, gentle massage.

"I haven't had you alone for a long time, Kel," Zaldon whispered, loving Kel's little breathless sighs, the way his brows knit together in his building pleasure. He stroked Kel's cock in long, firm motions, and Kel gasped a little when he felt Zaldon's fingers sink in his anus. Zaldon started fingering Kel's tight little opening even as he was stroking his cock, and he gasped and sighed against Zaldon, his feeble protests fading away until he was whispering for more. He felt Zaldon's great cock nudge the back of his thigh, and rising up on his knees, he knelt over Zaldon and took that huge organ hungrily in his mouth.

Kel sucked eagerly at Zaldon's cock, so eagerly that his spit spilled over the shaft and down Zaldon's balls. He choked a little around the throbbing veins when he felt Zaldon take his cock in his mouth as well. And now here they were sucking each other's hard-ons: Kel was kneeling over Zaldon, his knees spread wide, while Zaldon lay under him, sucking his cock in long, wet, loving strokes that made Kel throb so hard that his cock flinched. They sucked each other hungrily and deeply, their slurping noises rising against the quiet twitter of the birds, and when they both had cried out and come, they cuddled again together under the sleeping furs, holding each other, kissing, and smiling into each other's eyes.

"You know," said Zaldon breathlessly, "I think I'd do just about anything for you. Anything in the world."

"I know," Kel said happily, and Zaldon chuckled.