07-13-2009, 04:40 AM
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| http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_jaws.jpg); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:fixed; padding-top:221px; padding-left:25px; padding-right:25px; padding-bottom:10px;"> The coyote nodded as Jezebel spoke to her. "I was hoping to do that," she said with a grin. The offer Jezebel made pleased Kae, and she nodded eagerly. "I'm sure somebody there will be hungry," the hybrid added, cheerfulness in her tone. Inferni was getting to be a big clan, with fourteen adult members and two children among its ranks. She was quieter as the coyote ate, working on her teeth gently with the pick. It was better for her if she kept them in good shape—they would only last her so long. She nearly snorted aloud as she imagined herself as a toothless old crone. Such a thing was not incredibly far away. Kaena had made much the same promise to herself as a youth. Her mother had started her off well enough, delivering the first of many scars to the grizzled hybrid's body; Delphine was the one to thank for the two slices just above her eyes, inflicted on Kaena and all of her sisters when they were just days old. From the moment her mind could form cognitive thought, young Kae knew her mother was crazy—there was constant babbling, talk of her mother Sibylla and her father Vasilik, and her grandparents, dogs and coyotes both. Talk of god, the devil, hell, heaven, earth—everything. Delphine was almost never silent, filling the quiet space when her children did not mewl for food with her own words, an endless cascade of mostly useless information, things that hadn't made sense until her father made sense of them for her. Even when Andre had saved her, that had been short-lived. Her stepmother Sabryne had been almost indifferent to her, acting as if she did not exist, though she half-heartedly cared for malnourished Kaena and helped Andre nurse her back to health. There was never a kind word for the puppy, and the ashen hybrid had long suspected Saby knew her son was sneaking off at night to rape and torment his half-sister, and did nothing about it. Kae had never been given the opportunity to prove it, however, and when Saby killed Andre for murdering Kairo to protect Kae, she had sealed her fate. Though it had taken her weeks to exact revenge for killing the only ancestral family that had ever been kind to Kaena, she had eventually made good on her threat to kill Saby that night, finding her pregnant with Andre's children in the nearby urban city weeks later. Maybe it was that single sight—her father's children in the belly of the wolf that had killed him—that had set Kaena off completely, that one vision that had driven her completely mad. Surely, she was fucked up before that, but maybe it was that one thing that had completely wrecked her and driven her over the edge. Her thoughts cleared as she finally dug out a particularly irritating piece of gristle from between her teeth and Jezebel began to speak. Her ears turned to the ashen woman as she spoke, though her golden eye studied the shape of the bone, deciding it was good enough to keep as a permanent sort of toothpick. Kaena's mind was somewhat more inventive now; she finally saw the use in manipulating the world with her hands. It was a late effort, however, and she would never be as proficient at tool-making and adapting human ways as the younger generations. "Kaena," she said, sure her reputation would precede her. The mess of Lykoi children had done quite a good job of propagating her name—it would have been more surprising for Jezebel not to have heard of Kaena, unless she was a rather new member. Most everyone else she had encountered thus far knew her by name alone—but then again, most of them had been her relatives. Jezebel and Kaena were not related; the Lykoi matron could see that beyond a doubt. It certainly helped that Gabriel was the Aquila of the clan; certainly if anyone asked about the clan's origins he would mention his mother. A loving thought passed through the grizzled canine's mind. "I agree. Damn pest," she said, darkness creeping into her tone. She didn't want to taint this introduction with thoughts of their last, however, and that was all she said about Skylar, quite happy to leave the subject at that unless Jezebel wished to discuss it further. The hybrid grinned, and patted her belly. "A better lucky catch, and much, much more relaxing," Kae added, laughing her gravely laugh. It was lucky they'd found Skylar when they did—she was just outside the mansion, where they had a few coyotes residing as well as many useful items that would be collectively missed by Inferni. |