Chapter Text
Red eyes glanced through the darkness, from behind the thick bush of leaves, a black body remaining still while a small breeze rustled the leaves. A small rabbit, nibbling on a bunch of wildflowers, was unaware of something watching it through the darkness. Suddenly, a quick blur through the darkness, a whisper of a breeze, and a sudden rustle of the leaves was the only noise heard before the dark mass sprang from its hiding spot and stole away the small prey. The forest was silent except for the odd call of an owl, out on the hunt for its own prey.
Massive paws padded softly on the moss covered forest floor with great bounds, while crimson hues scanned the forest carefully and the huge, black-furred wolf moved like silk through the darkness. The wolf paid the sounds of the forest no mind while it zigzagged between the trees and boulders… it was on a mission and couldn’t stop for anything.
Soon coming upon a small rock mountain covered in thick moss with large trees draping their ropes of vines and heavy branches over the area, the black wolf stopped several metres away, sniffing carefully at the air and bowing its head, observing its surroundings. Its pointed ears twitched ever so slightly with each movement of its head, but there was nothing to be seen, nor heard. The wolf leapt towards a large pine tree with thick branches and quickly slipped underneath, swallowed up into the darkness.
With no hesitation, its nose nudged through a curtain of vines and pushed through to an opening, just big enough for the massive wolf to squeeze inside, until he disappeared within the rock. Walking along the tunnel, the wolf used caution, being wary of any sounds and smells that were not familiar from within the small area. Finding none as it walked along, the wolf quickly rounded a curve and came into a large cave.
Dropping the caught prey from its teeth to the sanded floor, the wolf quickly glanced about the cave and huffed out a noise through its muzzle when its gaze landed on a mound of fur in the far corner. The wolf moved over to the small creature, standing above it for a few moments before pushing its nose into their fur. A whimper was heard and the wolf sat down on its haunches, tilting its head while staring at the mound.
Orange eyes peeked out, blinking slowly and focusing on the wolf. A fox unravelled itself from the mound of furs, four legs stretched out revealing small toes poking out like a star, a high pitched wail of a yawn erupting from the fox’s stretching jaws.
Snorting out a huff, the wolf once more pushed its nose gently into the belly of the smaller creature in greeting. The fox had orange and black fur that mixed together around its body. A black furred face like the wolf, but orange fur began around the ears and slipped around to its back. The colours of a mystical melanistic fox.
Responding with a purr, the fox licked its wolf mate who laid his massive body down, then began cheek rubbing against the fox’s round and swollen stomach in a soothing and caring manner. Purring loudly from the attention received from their mate, the fox shifted slightly feeling the push of the pups nestled within its womb.
The wolf huffed against the ears of the fox, gaining their attention and causing the ears to twitch quickly, and the fox shook its head. The wolf shook his own head backwards and looked at the pile of small game on the floor. The fox peeked over the wolf’s body, before resting its chin on the wolf’s ribs and orange eyes fell upon the pile of kill. Snorting loudly, the fox glanced at the wolf curiously. When the wolf didn’t respond and rolled his eyes, the fox yipped excitedly.
Rolling slowly onto four legs, making sure their pregnant body didn’t become squished, the fox’s body trembled slightly for a moment. The wolf glared at his mate, a silent scold telling the fox not to strain themself too much and gruffed out a noise. The fox just turned their nose away, feigning innocence and started to take steps around the wolf towards the fresh kill that had been brought in.
Rolling up and trotting over to the pile of food, the wolf waited patiently for the fox to waddle closer, each step proving that the wolf’s instincts were right, their mate was pushing themself too hard. The fox panted out slightly before sitting back down, the wolf immediately pushing a rabbit carcass to the fox’s feet. Satisfied, the fox grinned before dipping its muzzle down to rip apart at the flesh.
When the food was finished, the fox made its way to the mound of furs in the corner, settling in to have a nap while the wolf mate stood guard, watching over the other. As the fox slept, red eyes watched the rise and fall of the swollen stomach closely. Tilting his head from side to side, tall black ears perked straight up when the bumps began to move about beneath the fox’s furred stomach. Every so often the wolf would stick his nose gently against the fox’s stomach, waiting until a pup pushed against his nose in response. The wolf would whimper out an excited sound with each movement he felt, being careful not to disturb the snoozing fox. Eventually the wolf settled down next to the fox, placing his head next to the other, finding comfort and fell into sleep.
~~a few weeks later~~
A loud clap of thunder echoed through the air, scaring birds into the skies. Their cries of fear echoed through the den cave walls and jerked the two animals awake. The wolf was up immediately, his ears perked forward, nose pointed towards the opening at the end of the narrow tunnel. When the thundering noises echoed yet again, black fur on the wolf’s back stood up on end, black ears fell flat and a growl began to rumble from the wolf’s chest. The thundering noise wasn’t normal nature sounds and the cries from other forest creatures confirmed it. The booming noise rocked through the airways again and the wolf moved slowly towards the tunnel that led to the outside. A small whimper echoed against the walls and the wolf growled out a whisper of a sound towards his mate, a sound of stay put.
The fox’s ears fell flat while dropping its head to burrow into the nest of furs. The black wolf stepped cautiously and ever so slowly towards the narrow tunnel, while orange eyes were wide and watching the wolf from the darkness.
Standing in the shadows of the small cave, the layers of vines covering the opening still, red eyes peered through the small openings between the leaves and the sunrise beginning to peek through the canopy of trees. The sunlight reflected off the frost on the forest floor, creating a beautiful sight for the autumn morning. The wolf’s nose sniffed at the air, trying to find a scent that did not belong. The deep thundering clap pierced the air again and the wolf flinched suddenly from the noise. More birds fluttered around in a panic and large animals could be heard sprinting away in the distance.
Sounds of something walking through the frosted forest floor, the crunching of sticks and dried leaves, something heavy that wasn’t an animal was coming closer. There was more than one. The wolf lowered his body to the ground and red eyes continued to look through the vines. The wolf didn’t make a noise for fear that whatever was coming may hear.
Walking sounds continued closer to the entrance of the cave, so dangerously close that the wolf sprinted from the opening of the cave. Pushing through the vines and low hanging branches of the massive pines, the wolf intended to lure the dangers away from the den and his mate quickly! His massive paws leapt the wolf body off the ground at full force, creating an air flow beneath massive paws before its head was slammed into the forest floor.
“We got ‘em! Hurry! Give me a hand!” a man’s voice called out through the forest.
The wolf struggled ferociously, snarling, barking and snapping about, trying to get away from the force that held his head down to the ground. The wolf couldn’t lift his head, something was holding it down to the ground and his back legs kicked about helplessly.
“Hurry up, fuck! He’s a big mother fucker! Give me a hand!” the voice called out again.
“Shit man, you're right! He’s fucking huge!” another voice called out.
The wolf desperately kicked, snarled, and barked, trying to get loose to sink his teeth into whatever had dared try to get close to his mate who was tucked away in their den.
“Fucking hurry up with the trank! This fucker is gonna pull my arms off!”
The wolf continued to struggle, large claws digging at the ground, trying to pull his head away from the unknown force that was holding him hostage. The wolf noticed pain around his neck, something was pulling at his neck tightly preventing escape! Red eyes looked about and he saw human men had circled, their voices carried on all around and at least two of them held a long stick that was connected to his neck. The wolf snarled loudly and shook his head, trying to free whatever force was stuck onto its neck but to no avail. A sharp pain struck his back leg and the wolf’s body began to deny him any movement and he lashed out on the ground.
“It’s working! Hold! Hold! We almost got em!” A voice boomed out.
The wolf continued to thrash, but he couldn’t keep it up. His body was being too slow and not responding. The wolf struggled with keeping his body upright, trying to continue to pull his head away to freedom but numbness began to spread throughout him quickly. He tugged and pulled, attempting to move the humans away from the opening of his den, not wanting his expectant mate to be discovered, but it was futile. The numbness had completely taken over his muscles, his body sagged into the forest floor without his consent. His eyes looked towards the hidden opening of his den before he whined out in sorrow.
“That’s it! Let’s get em to the crate! With the size of this fucker, I don’t know how long the tranq will last!”
The wolf could feel his body being manipulated and pushed about. His vision was hazy, and though he couldn’t move, he wasn’t asleep and he could see and hear everything the humans were doing. There were several human men, talking loudly with each other, giving demands and congratulating each other. The wolf tried to look towards the opening of his hidden den as much as he could, but with the numbing drug racing through his body, his eyes were not responding to his demands.
As the men moved the massive black wolf’s body across the forest floor, further away from his den, panic struck the wolf’s heart when his vision caught at least three of the human men getting closer to the veil of tree branches that covered the opening to the den.
“I think it came from over here. You think that beast has a bitch somewhere in here?” One of the men chuckled. “It’s past mating season, so if we find its bitch pregnant, no telling what we could get for its pups,” the human whistled out. “The pelt on this fucker is gonna be worth a mint already, but if we mated it with others to get more pelts, we could probably retire!” The men burst out in laughter and continued looking around the thick pine trees.
The wolf was immediately filled with rage and it burned through his mind. But his body could not move, respond or flinch when the wolf demanded himself to get up and rip apart the humans that dared get close to his den. Agony flowed through the wolf’s mind as he was pulled further away from the opening. He felt his body being lifted and thrown into a crate, flopping about carelessly since the humans didn’t care about being gentle. The wolf’s head fell away from the sight of the giant pine tree, his eyes only seeing wooden walls of a carriage and the bars of metal that were the cage. The wolf wanted to howl out a warning to his mate, or a howl of pain, but still his body wouldn’t respond. The wolf felt pain rip through his mind at the thought of never seeing his mate again when the cage he was trapped in began to move through the forest, further from the men that threatened to get closer to his den.
The men peeked under the heavy branches, lifting them slightly and looking cautiously on what they may find.
“I don’t see anything,” one of the men scoffed.
“Wait, let me check something,” another one said while holding up the heavy pine branches. The man bent low, and shuffled beneath the branches and tilted his head, looking at the wall of vines against the rock. “I wonder,” the man breathed and reached his fingers out to touch the vines.
“Come take a look at this!” The man shouted out to the others. Two more men came under the branches and the first man lifted the vines. “There’s a cave behind these vines,” the man chuckled. “Might be a good payday boys!” The two other men nodded in agreement and the three slowly made their way into the small opening.
Two men continued to stand outside the large pine tree, waiting for the others to come back out. They chatted aimlessly amongst themselves and turned their heads when the other men appeared moments later from under the large branches.
“Well?” One of the men asked.
“Nothing,” the first man breathed out. “There were a bunch of furs in there, bones from whatever that wolf would eat, but it doesn't look like that wolf has a mate.”
“Well shit, that sucks. Maybe we can find the fucker a few bitches to mate with back home, eh? Let’s see what the boss says!” All the men nodded in agreement and started heading in the direction the carriage went, chatting amongst themselves.
Orange eyes watched the humans move away from a thicket of bushes several yards away. The fox was panting heavily, exhausted from moving so quickly and quietly from the safety of the den to a hiding place. Being so heavy with pups made the fox slower than normally, but it was able to still slip away undetected by the humans. Orange eyes watched on, as the wolf was trapped, drugged and thrown into a cage, and even though the fox wanted to attack, save its mate and destroy the humans, its large swollen belly held them back. A pain rippled through its chest having to watch the situation unfold before its eyes.
The fox waited for a long while, ensuring that the humans were long gone before heading back towards the den. The humans knew of the den now, so the fox had to move but was torn between finding a place to be safe with pups or to go after its mate. Feeling the exhaustion taking over and needing to sleep, the fox whined softly while nestling into its nest of furs. Inhaling the rich scent of its kidnapped mate the fox fell into an exhausted slumber.
~~one month since the humans came~~
The fox woke to the sounds of morning birds chirping, signalling the sunrise and orange eyes wearily opened to the shadows of the cave. The fox yawned, stretched its legs, moved slowly to stand and balanced carefully with its large swollen belly. Nuzzling the furs gently, sniffing about, the fox let out a whine of sadness. It had been a few weeks since the wolf had been kidnapped. The fox spent several days trying to figure out the next move, but the swollen stomach and movement of the small pups was a reminder of its delicate condition; there was no way the fox could save its mate at this moment. It was getting too close to the pups being born, thus the fox decided to not try and find another den but to make this one safer and have hiding places nearby, just in case.
Waddling slowly through the narrow passage to the outdoors, the fox sniffed the air constantly, checking for danger and listening attentively. After the humans had discovered the den, the fox was on constant alert but so far the humans had not come back. The pups needed nourishment, and the fox would spend the entire day outside the den, seeking prey since the hunger never seemed to stop. The snow was coming soon, and so would the pups. The fox was able to hunt rabbits, mice and other small prey but it was getting harder each day, gathering as much food as possible, both to eat and to save.
Shaking its head, the fox focused on going outdoors, seeking out the prey needed for the day and checked the area thoroughly. The frost on the forest floor was thick and the fox huffed out a sound of displeasure. A thick frost often meant an early snow, so the fox refocused again on seeking out prey for the day while it wandered throughout the forest.
~~two months since the humans came~~
The howling winds of a blizzard pushed through the forest trees, causing some to bend and bow, others to crack, older ones to fall and not a creature was seen in the storm. The freezing temperatures of the night had brought in the blizzard which brought an abundance of snow that didn’t seem to stop falling, filling the forest quickly.
The heavy pine branches and vines kept the blizzard winds out of the cave but the howling sounds of the wind still breached the den. The fox lay on the furs, panting heavily and whimpering out continuously when the wind’s howl echoed in the small den. Orange and black fur covering a swollen stomach quivered every so often with each contraction, followed by long howling whimpers of discomfort. The fox moved its paws, scratching at the furs at each contraction with clenched teeth, squinting its eyes closed. Each loud shriek of wind that blew through the den smothered the howls of agony as the birthing progressed.
Fear and sadness erupted from the fox as the first pup was brought into the world. The longing to have its wolf mate here, with the fox as their pups arrived, ached so badly in the fox’s heart that it wished for death, not seeing the worth of bringing their pups into this cruel world. But with each contraction, each push, the fox endured, and when it was over, the fox burrowed into the furs and howled in desperation loud and long.
When the blizzard finally calmed almost a day later, allowing the sun to finally breach the sky, the opening to the den was buried. But deep inside, it was warm, safe and the fox slowly cleaned each pup individually and wrapped its furry body around the small pups. There were four, currently all black and the blind, helpless pups nuzzled in close, latching onto a teat and creating a bond. The fox gently licked at the pups, purring softly and when the pups were secure, the fox gave into exhaustion, finally feeling safe enough to sleep.
Here is a commissioned beauty made for me years ago, I am bad at remembering who made this for me - 😔 Perhaps they will come forward and remind me who they are. LOL
