Chapter 7: What's Eating Kilyan
#7 of The Mating Season 5
Chapter 7: What's Eating Kilyan
The very next morning, Kilyan went to Keeno's as usual, but he sat around the breakfast fire with his sister and best friend to inform them that rather than leaving for patrol duty that morning, they would be leaving for an appointment with the village council. Kilyan had dared the council's wrath the night before by approaching the hut of the council elder and requesting an audience the next morning. It was almost the ass-crack of dawn when Kilyan did this, so - needless to say - the elder was pissed. But Kilyan's request was approved and he was expected that morning at the large hut of the village council.
Keeno sat in disbelief as Kilyan related the hectic events of the night before, and Zalia was so shocked her spoon fell from her mouth and into her porridge.
"God damn," Keeno said around a mouthful of his own porridge. "Inden caught with Wynn? I never would have seen that coming."
Kilyan's lips tightened. "It took every fiber in my being not to strangle that boy," he said, slamming his fist on his knee. "After all the years of loyalty . . . I trusted Inden, I really did. He was the one young male I would have left alone with my daughter! I mean, I'm not deaf. I knew Inden was there. I heard them arguing and I thought that maybe he had come to lecture Wynn for sleeping around again. Wynn had everyone on edge, it was a rough night, so I was prepared to just let them argue."
Zalia gazed sympathetically at her brother as Kilyan shook his head darkly.
"But then I heard the noises," Kilyan said, glaring at the fire. "Lea tried to stop me, but I got my dagger and ran to Wynn's room. I - I didn't know what I was gonna do. And I suddenly understood how Loryn must've felt that day . . ."
"That day you were caught on top of Lea," finished Zalia for her brother and refilled his bowl.
"Except I wasn't fucking her!" burst Kilyan so heatedly that Keeno and Zalia actually flinched, their ears back flat on their heads.
Kilyan's paws trembled and he clenched them into fists to make them stop. He bowed his head miserably, and Keeno and Zalia exchanged worried glances.
After a pause, Kilyan felt Keeno's paw on his shoulder and felt his body relax from the friendly touch.
"Hey . . . Kil?"
Kilyan looked up to find Keeno's worried gaze fixed on him. But he laughed before he could stop himself. Keeno was still such a kid: he had his spoon dripping with porridge from the corner of his mouth. Some wolves never grew up.
Glad that Kilyan had laughed, Keeno clanked the spoon around in his teeth as he said, "I realize you got a lotta crap on your shoulders, but don't forget . . . you gotta friend to share the load."
They smiled at each other, and Keeno ruffled Kilyan's dark mane.
"Keeno!" laughed Kilyan.
"Oh, get married already," teased Zalia, who was gathering up the empty bowls.
Keeno got to his feet, pulled Zalia up by the paw, and kissed her. "Gonna stay with Lea and Ohana while I'm gone? You know I don't want you here alone, and since we're going all the way to the jungle, there's no telling when I'll get back --"
"I will, I will," Zalia assured her husband. She glared playfully at her brother. "I just wish Kilyan would stop taking you from me!"
Kilyan stretched and rolled his eyes. "That was years ago, Zalia!"
"Anyway," said Zalia, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck, "take care of my big brother. You know he's hopeless without you."
"More like I'm hopeless without him," said Keeno with a laugh, "but I'll do my best. Anything for the wifey."
Zalia laughed, and they kissed, and behind Keeno, Kilyan made a disgusted face so his sister could see.
"Oh, get out of here, both of you!" laughed Zalia, pushing her husband away. "And you had better make sure my husband gets back to me!" she warned her brother and gave Kilyan's tail a good yank.
"Zalia!" Kilyan complained, and he laughed when his sister took up her broom.
They both ran out dodging her playful blows.
"You talk as if the world were split black and white," said Loryn later that morning to Kilyan.
After leaving Zalia's with Keeno for the village council, Kilyan was surprised to find his father of all wolves waiting there with Loryn. Each pair had their respective appointment, then met outside later to talk. They walked in a group of four to the pavilion, a barren place of withering grass in the wee hours of the frosty morning. Kilyan, Keeno, and Kel stood around in deep thought, but Loryn sat on the edge of the picnic table, and after studying Kilyan a moment, he had said into the silence,
"Kilyan, something is eating you - and it's not just your little trip."
Kilyan looked up from his brooding and confessed what he'd told Keeno that morning: that he had caught Inden the night before having sex with Wynn - and in his very home! Kel and Loryn hadn't been able to believe it at first - hell, no one had. Young, serious Prince Inden, always so strictly traditional! To think he had committed such a blatant offense! To do such a thing was like a slap in Kilyan's face. To do such a thing was saying, "I don't care, to hell with everything, I will ravish your daughter in your very home!"
When Kilyan said as much through his teeth, Loryn had answered with the aforementioned reply. He looked at Kilyan fondly, his big arms folded across his chest. "Inden isn't a bad wolf for what he's done, Kilyan. This just proves he has weaknesses like the rest of us. Hell, I'm relieved. I was starting to think he was a god."
Kilyan laughed in spite of himself and pushed his mane back from his eyes. He glanced over at his father and suddenly realized that Kel had been brooding as deeply as he. "Dad?" he said, almost anxiously. "What was your business here today?"
Loryn smiled at the respectful note in Kilyan's voice. Little Kilyan, going on forty and still struggling out of eager love to please his father. Did Kel even know it? Did he even realize he had raised his son to be so formal?
Kel looked up heavily. "Your mother and I received an odd message from Zaldon . . . telling us to never contact him again."
Kilyan almost gasped, and Keeno's head snapped up. The two younger males glanced wearily at each other: Kel and Zaldon were getting too old for this melodrama.
"And we're going to find out what he's hiding," went on Kel. He glanced guiltily at Loryn and said, "I mean your mother and I."
Loryn's dark eyes attempted to look casually at a pretty young female that passed with her mother, but Kilyan knew an argument had probably erupted between the old friends: if Kel was going away with Aliona, Loryn was of course going to demand that he escort them.
"We will escort you, Father," Kilyan said at once. "Keeno and I. I can not allow you to travel alone."
"We can not allow you," added Keeno, and Kel was warmed: Keeno was like another eager son to him.
Kel smiled at the younger males and placed a fond paw on Loryn's shoulder. "Loryn was going to come, but . . . I knew you would want to protect your father and mother, Kilyan."
As Kel turned away, he added, "Inden will also escort us."
Kilyan wanted to protest at once but knew better, so he only bit his lip as Kel fondly gestured for Loryn to come with him. Loryn grinned and scooted off the table with a mischievous light in his eyes, and when the older wolves held paws as they walked down the street, Kilyan suddenly knew . . . his father and mother had no plans of ever coming back.
Kilyan went home to prepare for the morning's journey with a stone in his chest. So much weighing on his heart. Having to see Avi, Wynn's unhappiness -- Inden's betrayal! And his wives were angry with him too. They had spent the better part of the previous night arguing. Ohana was the main and most violent objector to Wynn's departure. Lea had only sat up in bed with her arms folded, watching Kilyan and Ohana bicker as glossy tears poured from her eyes. And to top everything off? His parents were leaving, and they were not coming back.
Kilyan ducked into the gloom of his hut and stood his spear against the wall. Lea and Wynn he knew were not there: Lea had taken Wynn out to the fields that morning so she could say goodbye to her aunt Zalia. But Ohana was there. He could see her packing his things for him. Even in the greatest heights of her anger, she never neglected to take care of Kilyan. She knelt beside the barren fire pit with her mouth in a tight line, her small fingers working in jerks, her sexy back and its deep line stiff with the bitter sting of last night's argument. She picked up the last item to go in Kilyan's traveling pack - his old canteen - and passed the pack to him without a word. Kilyan felt a pang: she didn't even look at him. He didn't take the traveling pack, so she let it drop and marched for the curtain that closed off the hall.
"Ohana --" Kilyan began, but she snapped over him, "Just get out of here."
He followed her up the shadowy hall, loving the way her ass twitched under her tail whenever she walked so fast. He had barely taken a step through the curtain of their bedroom when she whirled upon him, and jabbing a finger under his nose, she screamed a name at him in the shemale tongue. Kilyan blinked at her. So Wynn had been teaching her stepmother nasty names. It made him smile in spite of everything.
"Stop grinning at me and get out of here!" Ohana said, looking almost as pouty as a teenager. She went around jerking all the curtains shut until their bedroom was cast in gloom. Then she went to a woven basket of dirty sheets and took them up on her hip, obviously with the intention of taking them to the spring to wash. She tried to move past Kilyan, but he held out his arm.
"Kilyan," Ohana warned, "my father taught me and taught me well. You use physical means to stop me and you'll be very sorry."
"Ohana!"
Kilyan stared in amazement at his wife: things were very bad if she was threatening him physically! He dropped his arm and just stared at her, and she in turn dropped her basket of laundry. Her face contorted, her paws balled into fists at her sides, and she bowed her head until her silvery mane fell forward to hide her expression.
"Ohana," Kilyan said, taking a step toward his wife. "I've never seen you like this!" He gently lifted her chin, and when her silvery mane fell back, he saw that her lips were trembling, the gray eyes somber.
"Kilyan," she said, looking right into her husband's eyes. "There's a hole in this family. And it's because of Avi."
Kilyan frowned and turned away. "Let's not do this," he said darkly and moved from the room. He walked at a quick pace up the hall and into the main room, where his traveling pack lay still beside the fire pit.
"No, we're going to do this, Kilyan!" Ohana declared, following behind. "Because it's your fault! It's your fault Lea and I are having our hearts ripped out because we're not good enough for that little girl! It's your fault Avi is way the hell in the jungle instead of here where she belongs --"
"Ohana, you're saying these things because you're hurting, not because they're true." Kilyan looked down sympathetically at his wife, his paws limp at his sides. "You think I want Wynn to leave us anymore than you do? You think I want Avi so far from my arms? Ohana, I live with the consequences of my actions everyday. And the truth? I don't regret any of the choices I have made. My only regret is that in the end . . ." He touched Ohana's face and whispered, "I hurt you."
Ohana's lashes fluttered and she swallowed hard. Kilyan smiled warmly at her. She was still so beautiful inside and out: warm and caring and devoted to family. Just like the day he met her.
"You'll come back as quickly as possible," Ohana said. It wasn't a request.
Kilyan nodded, his thumb stroking her cheek as he continued to cup her face.
"And if you bring my daughter back, it will be to stay."
"Ohana, it's not because you and Lea aren't good enough. Don't you see that? I've watched you grow into beautifully strong and wise females over the years - there aren't better mothers in this village! Well . . . except mine."
Ohana laughed, the fiery gray eyes alight with warmth and love. Kilyan gave a half-smile, glad to see the light return to his Ohana. He leaned down and pulled her into a tight hug. He smiled and closed his eyes when her slender arms enfolded him in return.
"I love you, Ohana," Kilyan whispered in her ear.
"I know."
Kilyan laughed and pulled back. They smiled at each other, and Ohana realized Kilyan was memorizing her face, her eyes, her mane and the way it swept over her shoulder, the collarbones flexing at the base of her neck, her breasts and how they swelled under her shawl. He was memorizing her for his fantasies during the journey ahead. She smiled to think of it: Kilyan touching himself under his sleeping furs as the others in the camp slept.
Kilyan blushed when Ohana gave him a knowing smile. "Well, can you blame me?" he said with a laugh. He pushed his paw back through his mane and frowned worriedly at the wall. "I mean, with so much going on . . . I'm gonna want something to help me sleep at night."
Ohana smiled at him sympathetically. "Oh, Kilyan, what's eating you now?"
Pushing his mane back from his eyes again, Kilyan sat on the sitting furs near the fire pit. Ohana sat at his side, peering anxiously into his face.
"It's my parents," Kilyan told her. "Mom and Dad are coming on the journey with us. They're going to the sun village to see Zaldon because he refuses to see them."
"That doesn't sound like Uncle Zaldon! But why are you so worried? Your parents aren't allowed to take a trip?" asked Ohana in confusion.
"Ohana. . . ." Kilyan looked at her. "They're not coming back."
Ohana blinked as if she hadn't heard him right. Kel and Aliona had a good life in the summer village. It didn't make sense to her at all. "But - how do you know?"
"You know how my father is - well --"
Ohana nodded, still peering in earnest at her husband.
"He walked down the street in broad daylight holding Loryn's paw."
Ohana touched a shocked paw to her lips.
"Yeah," went on Kilyan. "He'd only risk doing that if he knew he wasn't coming back."
"But what about Loryn?" Ohana asked in wonder. "Don't tell me he's leaving too!"
Kilyan laughed. "No. Loryn's not going anywhere. And anyway, Loryn does stuff like that in public all the time, and they haven't stoned him yet. If you want my opinion, I think it's because he fucked the chief's daughter once and she has a soft spot for him, so she protects him from the law."
Ohana's eyebrows shot up. "How do you know that?"
"Um --" said Kilyan, embarrassed. "I just - know --"
Ohana rolled her eyes. "I tell you," she said, giving her husband a playful shove, "you males get together and you're worse than a sewing circle."
Kilyan grinned. Ohana was degrading males again: that meant she was happy.
"I ever tell you how cute your grin is?" she said, a flash of mischief in her eyes.
Kilyan stood upright, and she laughed. He knew he should be meeting the others at his father's home, but he didn't protest when Ohana nudged him back with her forehead. He leaned back on his paws with his legs bent and open, watching her tits as they swung behind her shawl, watching her mane fall forward as she licked her lips and leaned toward his erection. He gently pushed her mane back so he could see it all: her mouth as she devoured him, her tits shivering with each long suck, the long sweep of her lashes as she closed her eyes and happily tasted him. He groaned when her lips touched the thick curls at the base of his cock. He was nudging her throat. He felt her mouth convulse as she choked but he did not stop her: Ohana loved being choked by his dick. And he didn't fail her. The wetter she sucked, the stronger her lips pulled, the harder her tongue flexed, the thicker he throbbed, until he knew her lips must surely be sore by now. And yet she did not stop. Kilyan bit his lip and arched his back when her hot, wet sucking became a bit too much. She stroked his thighs, and he knew she was encouraging him to come. It got harder the closer he reached forty, but faced with having to go without Lea and Ohana for an uncertain number of days, Kilyan didn't find it hard to come that morning in the gloom of his hut. He released in Ohana's eager mouth with a grimace and sagged into himself, listening to her swallowing and licking her lips. She kissed his softening cock, his hard belly, his chest, then brushing her little nipples against him, she thrust her tongue in his mouth. Kilyan kissed her back, pulling her close between his hard thighs, squeezing her softness, running his paw over her curves.
"Mmm," Ohana said, pulling her lips away, "you better get going before I wind up keeping you another night."
Kilyan laughed. "Alright. Take care of LiAnh and give Lea my love," he said, rising and gathering his traveling pack. Ohana helped him pull it on - though it wasn't at all necessary - and adjusted it on his back for him. She came around to face him and continued her fussing, and Kilyan looked down on her in amusement. As her quick fingers adjusted him here and there, he thought to himself that there was nothing better in the world than having a female fussing over you.
"Ohana?"
"Hmm?" answered his wife, her brows rushing together as she sought to pull something from Kilyan's fur. She nipped it out with her nails and continued grooming him, even licking her finger to get something off.
"Don't ever change."
Kilyan's voice sounded so helpless and yet so loving that Ohana came to a startled stop and looked up. Her husband was gazing at her with a warmth that went straight to her heart.
"That's an order," Kilyan teased.
Ohana put on a mock frown. "Yes, sir!"
Kilyan pulled Ohana into his arms and their laughter filled the hut as they traded playful kisses.