Bran walked into the kitchen, where the entire pack was still eating. He was no longer Marrok. He had let marrok loose too and he could take wolf's form but also a little big-eared fox. It was funny for him to be that small and cute, too. He had been helping in various zoos when this particular fox was very endangered and it had problems breeding, well he had been visiting females in his seductive fox forms and made quite a few litters. Because of his supernatural, genes, those cubs would be just foxes but genetically diverse and very important to the future of the species.
Bran was more than irritated by this bunch of children who were eating here like nothing bad was happening. Samuel was eating too, but Bran could see from his posture that he wanted to really go and check on Mimi. She had not been a very healthy-looking pregnant female. He coughed so everyone was watching. Damon raised his eyes and furrowed his brows.
He said, "Did you have something to say?"
Bran moved a few steps and said, " Yes and no. You are right now in my eyes, a bunch of fucking machines that are more interested in making new litters than caring for this pack's heart and soul. You're not ready, none of you, and I don't know what's going to happen to this pack, but there's a really strong alpha female out there who gave birth all by herself, over 700 huge cubs in 52 hours while at the same time, three princesses were being operated on and the cubs were being sent away. That alpha female doesn't have an alpha male, not one. There is only one pair in this pack, and it is not an alpha pair because Mariella, you are not an alpha, never have been and never will be."
Bran paused. His voice was plain, but his message was crystal clear. He was not afraid of Damon, not trying to appease him and worship Mariella.
He continued, "Mimi is an alpha. But she was alone when Damon ran out of nerve. Mimi overheard your little conversation, and oh, how I expect you two to go to bed soon and fuck your consciences away. I can say that this girl has been through hell, seven years of hell, and it continues, but she doesn't want to traumatize her pack because she's an alpha female. She's protecting you, and nobody realizes it. That's why, Damon, that's why she won't tell you. She's afraid you'll see her as a victim, a poor thing, and pathetic. No longer a powerful force of nature, untamed, wild, but a weak victim, tortured. "
Damon thought for a while and said, "I screwed up again, but it's been a hell of a whirlwind for me too, and puppyhood on top of it. Mimi is so damn shelled, so timid, and I want to take her to the nest. I have a damn nesting instinct all the time, and I don't want to intrude or scare her away. I know Mimi went through shit. I've seen it, and I'm trying to help. I could help, but when I can't, she won't let me. So, I'll concentrate on helping and caring for those who will let me. "
Bran laughed coldly, looked at Mariella, and said, " You're a little princess, still spoiled, having it all and sitting there so proudly in the wrong place, but that's okay. If you had to go through what Mimi did for one day and experience the emotions, would you be so innocent anymore? Not when you'd be shaking in Damon's arms because you're not up for it. You can't. You're supposed to be the Guardian, Mimi's Guardian, her partner, but you want to be her enemy. You are nothing more than a dick-hungry little princess who got fed up with being a mom after a few litters. That is just what Mimi told me. "
Mariella was silent for a moment and said, "Yes, Princess here, but what can I do? Mimi is in her shell and stays there. She is not the same, that seven years broke her and I do not know how to fix her. I am a creature of lust and sex is good, so why I should not enjoy my life? This order, it doesn't matter, we've just learned to eat like this. "
Samuel said, " Yes, it does. Everyone has noticed, and why the fuck do you think Mimi doesn't eat at the same time as the pack? Because she has no place at this table! She is not well, that long birthing, alone with huge cubs. And none of you idiots even looked at her when she was here, gobbled a bit of food, and slunk away to be a mother. Because she has instinct and now, she has made a den, put a few pheromones here and there to get peace to care for her litter. I am this close to going in there, dragging her to medbay, and doing proper physicals with blood tests because she looked like shit. I am strong enough not to inhale her pheromones just because they give me so a good excuse to fuck. I can resist pretty much any and every pheromone even though I am not a pack leader, superstrong telepath, who is more of a fucking machine who complains when someone who has gone through true trauma for years does not be Mariella and talk to you."
Samuel got up and walked away. One muscle in Damon's jaw moved. Charles's eyes looked piercingly at Mariella. Adam was silent, but his fork was bent.
Bran said, " We're leaving now. We would have helped Mimi with her over 700 puppies, but she won't let us when you, Damon, put them in the magic house anyway, and now she wants to care. I have given her the number of my cell if she needs help, but she is alpha, meaning she won't ask for help, not even when she needs it. You remember how much she suffered the last time you told her not to care for her cubs, don't you?"
Damon said, " Fine, I'll let you know when I need you. I'm not forcing anyone to stay here, but I'm going to have to go and take care of my alpha female, somewhere in between, at least. Let's see if I can examine her. She still has so much trouble with medbay and all the medical stuff."
Mariella thought momentarily and said, " Honey, let's make dinner first, then I'll talk to her. I am a doctor too, so I can at least check her a little bit. If I make any sense, I'll try to explain things. If I can see something, I can try to be her guardian."
They cooked, and Damon concentrated on Mimi's portions. He thought and ruminated, wondering how he could help when he always reacted the wrong way. Mimi always hears what she shouldn't and then again when it's the truth. He did not know about her health and somehow his radar was slow, too. That's because Miss had done something in order to stop his radar from reacting, probably by instinct, caring instinct.
He thought about that moment; he had spoken the truth, and honesty was the policy or something like that, anyway. But then again, if Mimi reacted so strongly, what could he do, it seemed that something had again, gone wrong in their relationship. If there was even a proper relationship.
After a few hours, Mariella said, "I'm going to Mimi's now. Let's see if I can do anything. I will see if I can taste her blood, so you can get an idea of what problems she has."
Damon grunted and said, " I think the lady should eat then. I had made lots of high-nutrition food for her and think twice, darling, before you go. There's an alpha female with her puppies. If she has put scent marks so no one should enter, she might not be so welcoming. She is a strong creature, she might attack even. "
Mariella nodded and left. She walked into the middle floor, and her savior radar told her where Mimi was because she was distressed. Mariela had made her radar very sensitive, so she could gauge Mimi's problems better. Mimi was a powerful creature, a sly one too, and did not like to appear weak, so she hid her weakness, even from her radar, but when Mariella boosted it with white power, it broke through at least partially. She used her white power to neutralize the effect of those pheromones as she approached Mimi's room. Den, the alpha female.
I was just about to leave for food when Mariella came to the door and said, "You have done quite a bit of work to ensure your privacy, I see. But I used my white power to neutralize your pheromones. I am here as your guardian, too. You are not fine, young lady, but come and have a chat, girl to girl. I know you heard the conversation. Bran and Samuel verbally ribbed us effectively, but Damon is what he is. He's impatient and impulsive and he suffers a lot when he can't help you. "
I went to sit on the bed and looked at my puppies, and Mariella was looking at them, too, and sighing.
She said, "You do an entire array of species. I don't. And those hybrid species, you are the only one who pops them out. For that, I am jealous. Well, maybe next week we'll take care of ours, too. My instincts are kicking in. "
I smiled and said, " You've entered a mega carer's nest. I am in a caring mood. I am not a lustful creature, but a female with cubs. When you give birth all by yourself and tend these cubs, you bond with them and instinct will kick in. This is so full of my care and nurture pheromones that they'll get infected. It'll pass."
I went and picked up one cub. She was a hybrid. Clouded leopard and snow leopard. I gave her to Mariella. She stroked at her and marveled at her.
I said to her. " What I went through was so bad, so fucking traumatic, that I created a place for those times. The memories Damon captured were loose pieces, but I still have most of them as a whole. In my secret place. And yes, there are other things I've learned here that I don't share. It's not for sharing, it's my shit, and it can be."
She kissed the little creature's nose and said, "This one is lovely. I might just rob her to myself. She needs wings-off drops. She is trying to grow a pair of wings."
I nodded and said, "She got one set of drops, but as you can see, she is quite strong, so those drops aren't so effective. "
Mariella nodded, she said," Well, Damon can make stronger stuff for her. These are all so lovely. I really feel my instinct to care to rise. What makes you think Damon can't handle your shit? You know he has been through shit himself."
"You know how bad my experiences have been, and I can tell you that these are 300% worse. Do you remember how many times you had to be there to hold his hand, so to speak, when you pulled my memories out of my mind? And this new thing—it takes time to get it under control."
Mariella was silent and said, " Oh, so bad. Well, why don't you let Damon help? He can and is willing to help."
I said, "He sees me as a puzzle. A challenge and when he gets those memories, those experiences, that's it. After that, I'm nothing more than a victim in his eyes. I'm not an invincible, untamed force of nature. I'm not everything that nothing can do. I don't want to be a victim, and this new thing, this will break Damon and drive him to fuck you, I guarantee it. He won't come near me, not in a long time."
Mariella said, " None of us think you're a victim; never have. At least, tell me something. What is this new thing you say that will drive Damon to fuck me? You need to be checked over, Missy, too. That birth took a lot out of you and good medical might be in order, but tell me something."
I sighed and was tired, so I wasn't quite in complete control. I looked at Mariella and said, "Do you have any idea how fucking strong I am? Stronger than Damon, I can tell you that even though he draws strength all this time, the dams are such a fucking wonderful source of strength that, yes, I am strong. I have again my colorful rages born all the time. Thanks to this new stuff. I can show you how strong I am. Then you wonder if you want to hear how bad things have to happen before I get to the terrible shape I was in. Are you, princess, quite ready to experience some real trauma?"
Mariella looked me in the eye and said, "I am. I am a princess, and I want to experience what you experienced, at least one experience. I can take it and then you see Damon has changed and he will help you. You are not supposed to carry shit in your mind. "
I laughed and said, " But you will not tell Damon about this. My shit, my problems. It has been that for decades and I have learned to live with them and they are one thing that makes my rage, and my pathos too. They are my power source, so to speak. Not about what you experienced. You can tell that I showed you, or rather I'll let you experience, but I'm such a strong vampire, still am, that I can compel you so that you can't tell Damon. I am a true Alpha, a vampire too. It is something that Damon had not thought of me ever. He has seen me strong vampire but young, inexperienced, and much weaker than him. But I am powerful."
Mariela nodded and said, "I'm ready. I believe that you are strong, but Damon is, too. Just show me what you want me to experience."
I looked Mariella in the eyes, compelling her, and said, "Seal the room. Don't tell Damon what we're going to do. We're just going to talk. "
Mariella obeyed. I put my cubs to sleep by giving one pheromone that would shield them; I knew there were quite a lot of vampires, and possible telepaths too, but this was something that I did not let them see. I was getting ready to share this with someone, not sure if was it wise but I had my ways to protect her too.