Chapter 7

Everything in the dense forest was speckled by late morning sunlight cast through the broad leaves of the maples. The clean autumn air carried the chirping of chickadees and trees rustling in the lazy breeze. Bryn closed his eyes from time to time, following the lightly worn path to the old meeting place where he'd reconnected with the young does only a couple days before. The further he ventured from the village, the more he shed his fear and anxieties. Back there, he was expected to deny himself and remain contentedly submissive lest he face judgement or exile. But out here, he found he could really accept himself and revel in the tumultuous onset of adulthood, rather than fear it. The further he ventured, the more excited he became to get another chance with K.C., feeling confident enough this time to fully enjoy each other, and maybe get a little personal redemption in the process.

No one out here but us, he fantasized, remembering the womanly swell of her hips, the hang of her succulent breasts, those dark nipples stark against her white fur. There really isn't anything to worry about. I've got the makings of a dominant male, and the girls see that. He thought of last night, their lips so close they exchanged wanting, intoxicated breaths, and imagined what might have--would have--happened had it been just the two of them.

A breeze of cool air on bare skin suddenly brought the buck's awareness to his growing erection. He grinned to himself, giddy in his newfound boldness, and thought more of the tempting young doe as he watched his swelling penis flop side to side. He was eager to make up for that embarrassing retreat the last time he got visibly excited around K.C.

"Bryn!" She shouted abruptly from the clearing ahead, sounding agitated.

"Hey, K.C.! Sorry if you were waiting for--" he began to apologize.

"Bryn, no! Get out of here!"

His heart skipped. Her voice sounded pained. He ran as quickly as he could . . .

And found K.C. kneeling in the grass, arms bound behind her back. Cadogan was standing over her, clenching that short auburn hair, facing Bryn squarely. The doe's eyes couldn't be wider, her mouth hanging open, stifled by fear.

Bryn was frozen.

"So," Cadogan said at last, breaking the silence of the moment. "Your big, dominant male finally comes to claim you. That's what you are, right, Bryn?" While the smaller buck spoke loudly, he couldn't overcome the strongly nasal inflection.

"Please, let her go, Cad. I wasn't going to--"

"Yes, you WERE going to mate her!" he boomed. "Just like you mated Clover!"

Bryn was speechless. How could he know any of this?

"You think I don't have fucking ears? I know what you've been up to. You think you can just mate whoever you want? What'd you do to earn that right?" He tugged at K.C.'s hair, provoking a whimper.

Bryn found his voice, "What'd you do?" He was trembling now, but there was no going back either way; no peaceful resolution awaited them. "You think these girls have any respect for you? They don't!"

The other buck nodded sternly, turning to the doe at his feet. "No, they respect me. Maybe you don't understand, but they have to respect me." With his free hand, Cadogan gave the flaccid pink between his legs a few strokes and, holding it for a moment, the golden dribble quickly became a stream. "But it's okay. Sometimes, they need to be reminded of this."

The stream hit her shoulder, working its way up her neck. "You can't do this!" K.C. screamed in disgust, desperately tuning away as the buck's steamy urine soaked the fur of her cheek a darker shade, pungent with his seasonal masculine odor.

"Cad, stop it!" Bryn barked.

Instead, he pressed his hardening penis against the recoiling doe's neck fur, his hot stream tracing the curves all the way down her body. "You want me to tell the clan leader what you were up to?" He emphasized his father's title, scowling at Bryn as K.C. tried to break free of his grasp.

His heart was racing, his teeth clenched. Bryn took a broad stance and shouted back to the other buck, "That's enough, Cad! I challenge you! If this is what you do with your dominance, then you don't deserve it!" He knocked his sturdy antlers, showing his readiness to spar. The smaller buck stood no chance in a level fight for dominance, as long as the clan leader upheld Bryn's challenge as fair. Even that seemed unlikely, but he saw no other options.

"You don't wanna do that, buddy," Cadogan shook his head and the diminutive antlers atop it. "You know why Evan left?" He snorted loudly, staring down his rival. "I wanted him gone."

Bryn glared at him, incredulous. "You couldn't do that. You don't have the power to just kick him out because . . . because you wanted to!"

"Do you know what he was up to?" Cadogan paused, looking down his muzzle at the other buck. "It wasn't that different from what you're doing. Except, just ask yourself: who's the _one_girl the dominant male can't get away with fucking . . . ?"

Getting no answer in the tense pause, Cad's voice fell serious. "His sister."

Bryn and K.C. shot each other bewildered glances.

"Yes, Bryn, it's no lie. He took a special interest in our lovely, quiet, quite grown-up sister. Maybe Tamara made him feel safe and comfortable. Maybe the sheer taboo of it got him going. Whatever it was, they started . . . 'experimenting'. Well, I found out what was going on, and it was amusing at first, watching them touch each other so hesitantly." He made a mocking stroke of this own dripping manhood. "But as the rut approached, it quickly grew beyond touching. I knew where they liked to hide out, so one night I led the clan leader right to them. Can you imagine how mad he was--how absolutely furious he was--catching his children in the middle of fucking each other?" Cadogan chuckled sadistically. "Evan tried to deny it, explain it away, even as his cock dripped with his sister's pussy juice." He shook his head in mocking disapproval. "The point is, you can't act like the rules don't apply to you, Bryn. They'll always catch up to you."

The buck's heart sank. He was trembling in shock. This is why Tamara said it was her fault; this is why she was so shaken . . . Would Evan really do that? Would Cadogan really get his own brother exiled? It seemed, for status, he would. Through the shock, Bryn knocked his antlers again and growled through clenched teeth, "The rules apply to YOU, TOO!" He grunted. "I don't know if you heard the first time, but I'M CHALLENGING YOU, CAD!"

He shook his head stoically, "No, you're not," and produced a knife from behind his hip. He pushed K.C. away roughly and she yelped, falling to the ground. Sunlight gleamed off the naked steel in his other hand as he approached the would-be challenger. "You go around banging your antlers. They won't do you any good . . . You're too stupid to lead the clan, Bryn."

Taking the opportunity of the moment, Bryn lowered his head and charged, all four points on his young rack hurling powerfully toward Cadogan. His hooves tore through the ground with each stride. His blood was rushing, heart pounding way up in his folded ears. His nostrils flared in loud, heavy breaths. This was the moment to prove he had what it took--to prove he was_worthy_ of dominance.

In the moment before impact, Cadogan lowered his stubby antlers and braced himself. They collided in a sudden CRASH, and he grappled desperately as the larger buck slammed into him, almost thrown backwards by the force of it. Losing his footing, he made a wide slash with the knife.

It made contact.

"Bryn!" K.C. screamed, clenching her bound fists.

The buck flinched with a sharp grunt that echoed through the maples, sending birds scattering from their perches. Cadogan pulled back, off-balance but still on his feet. The point of his knife glinted bright red. Bryn looked over himself, searching for the source of the gut-wrenching sting, and found crimson trickles running down his fur, emerging from a broad line on his flank. He pressed hard against the wound and where it opened he saw it pass all the way through his muscle. Oh no--_He was quaking, eyes huge and horrified. _No, no, shit, please, NO.

Staring him down, Cadogan was also shaken, but quickly threatened with his blade again. "I can't let you go back. You're a risk to the clan now. You had a chance!" He advanced on Bryn again, flashing the bloodied blade ahead of him.

The wounded buck looked at K.C., bound and humiliated. He looked at Cadogan, closing distance quickly. He looked down at his side, blood dripping readily. Bryn was shaking uncontrollably, holding the slice closed as firmly as he could, and began to back away. He wanted to scream, to fight back, he wanted to do the right thing for K.C., for Clover, for everyone . . .

He ran.

Slipping at first, then finding his footing on the leafy forest floor, Bryn bolted as fast as he could manage with his lopsided gait_._ He stopped, struggled for his bearings in the dense forest, spinning all around him, and started again just as a fist-size rock smashed into the tree trunk beside him.

"Get out of here, you coward!" Cadogan screamed out nasally, picking up another rock. "You're a traitor to your clan! If you ever come back here I'll slit your fucking throat!"

Bryn ducked, bolting through the bushes as another rock thudded on the ground behind him. He kept running and running, and eventually the shouting faded in the vast forest.

* * *

Glowing deep gold in the setting sunlight, ripples spread through the sea of tall grass in the wide meadow. Blue jays danced at the forest's edge, taunted each other on one branch, then another. Bryn crouched over himself, clutching his blood-matted flank, breathing hoarsely. He had no more tears to shed. The memory of this place was too painful to dwell on, where he admired the easy beauty of his one and only mate, but the memories came unbidden. Out here, he would at least be safe and alone until he figured out where else to go.

Why did I think I could do it . . .? I was stupid to think I could ever be dominant. Now what's he gonna do to K.C.? To Clover? I should've seen there was nothing I could do. I'd just end up like Evan--oh, Evan . . . He cringed mournfully. Why couldn't I just be happy with my lot. Now I can never go back; if Cad doesn't kill me, the clan leader will. And my dad would be ashamed--they might exile him if they thought he was defending me. What have I got now . . .

The blue jays scattered into the orange sky and Bryn perked his ears to hear the crunch of leaves at the edge of the meadow. He craned his neck to see what it was.

Another deer! His heart was racing again. He saw the figure searching in the shade of the forest, then emerging into the open light. A slimmer figure, no antlers. Thank the stars, it's not Cadogan. He sighed in relief. But, is that . . . ?

"Bryn?" the hopeful voice called out across the meadow, instantly recognizable; it was Clover's.

"Bryn?" she repeated in another direction, stepping out further into the knee-high grass.

He shouted back, "Clover!" He shot his arm up to wave but winced at the pain.

She dashed over without hesitation, laughing in wild relief. "Bryn! It's you--you're okay!" She fell to her knees beside him and the buck noticed she was carrying his canvas messenger bag

"I wouldn't say 'okay' . . . but I'm doing better just seeing you out here." Meager tears welled in his red eyes and he had to force a smile through the sharp, aching pain.

"Lemme see--oh no . . ." she looked over the partially clotted slice in Bryn's flank and swiftly retrieved ointment and bandages from the satchel, as if she came expecting just such a need.

He choked back painful tears as she applied the ointment and set to stitching up the wound. He turned his head away to spare himself the sight. "H--how did you f--find me here?" He struggled to keep his composure.

Between stiches, Clover sighed, "I heard what Cad did to you. K.C. came back to the village in tears; she told me the whole thing. Unbelievable. Really just . . . unbelievable." She shook her head. "Then, I thought you might feel safe out in the deep forest. It's pretty far from the village, and we were just here together. I dunno, I just pictured you somewhere out here." Tying off the loose end of the thread, she bit it shorter, dotting her nose in the dark blood still drying on Bryn's fur. She sat up to look him in the eyes, her ears were folded and gentle. "Bryn, I know why you can't go back. And I decided I'm not going back either. I'm doing this with you."

The young buck felt an immediate pang of guilt and shook his head, stumbling over his words. "N--no. Clover. Y--you don't need to come with me just because we mated. You could say it's anyone's fawn--you could say it's Evan's fawn and no one would know the difference."

She held his trembling hands in hers, calming him to silence. "I can't stay there anymore," she shook her head, looking at Bryn with tired eyes. "I don't know if this makes any sense to you, and maybe it sounds a bit crazy . . . The forest, it's been calling me. It's been, like, tugging at me, drawing me further and further from the village. I was scared to follow it--to leave everyone behind--but knowing you'd be out here . . . knowing you needed my help . . . Bryn, I want to do this with you."

He looked back into her eyes and noticed, in a way he never had, the bright, spring green glimmer of her irises, full of nascent wonder like those of a young fawn. But she spoke with certainty, in that voice he first heard coming home from his long travels, deeper than a fawn's and much stronger.

"There's no way I can trust the clan leader anymore. Or his pathetic disgrace of an heir!" She stuck out her tongue in disgust. "I trust you, Bryn, and I wanna see the world out there. Also . . . I'm not totally sure you knocked me up the first time," she laughed, trying to brighten the mood. "And you know, we just might find Evan out there if we look for him. So . . . whaddaya say?"

Seeing her sitting there in the tall grass, upright and expectant, her delicate fur beautifully golden in the sunset and shimmering in the breeze, Bryn found it impossible to wish for anything more. Maybe he did deserve to make his own happiness, and maybe she was a part of it. Managing a smile, he allowed himself to utter softly, roughly, "Yeah . . . let's do it."

She threw her arms around him, laughing, and they held each other close as the sun set over the rolling meadow.

The End