The ongoing legacy. Eros had never considered his place in that part of all
that, never thought it would have even fallen on him to start. His father was right that it couldn't be this way every year, but that also brought his thoughts back to Clover and Vayko. He shifted on his paws, starting to realize that this was probably a conversation that could be had for hours. A luxury they didn't have.
A total breeding ban. Why'd that sound so, bad? What if they all pushed against him for it, felt leadership was trying to be too controlling? There were so many ways each and every choice could go, and he couldn't see the future, could only try his best and hope for the same in return, but that was so much easier to recognize than to actually move forward with.
And, of course, there was the bit he'd most been wanting to discuss, now muddied with fresh doubts. Eros took a deep breath, and let out a heavy sigh.
"Okay. I've got a lot of thoughts. Uh."
Peach eyes blinked, mind clearly a whir behind them. That Viorel wouldn't seek out a new mate so quickly was a relief, but that feeling also came with a gouging of guilt.
"First... I wouldn't ever say I wanna ban you from it. I- if something happens and that's what you want, that's always your choice."
He would deal with the fallout of his own feelings, knew deep down that eventually Viorel might
have to move on to find true happiness again. That benefit for his father would be the balm to Eros' sour emotions. But not just because he felt the pack expected it of him, not just mashing together whatever he could to force another half-family to work.
"Also, I guess... I just assumed Ma would get to have more litters, if she wanted."
Eros was on the fence on whether to push this point or not. Maybe Clover didn't even want to breed this year, but, what if she did? It wasn't her fault the accident had happened, and she had never not shown them that she could be trusted. She'd even taken on Sharlee's litter, and Eros didn't feel it was her fault that only Jacynth remained. Yet, they were reaching so many anniversaries marking great losses... he couldn't fault Viorel for wanting to mitigate.
"But for those that break the rules... I don't know entirely, but... Like if we let in some stranger and they dick around, fuck 'em, right? But I don't... We have to learn from Andy."
His gaze dodged toward his father, his nephew not something they had really talked about. He'd given Viorel the news and he had soon after just, walked away. Eros hadn't tried to bring the subject up again, until now.
"I know they made the decision in the first place, to get pregnant knowing the consequences and still not-", he exhaled sharply from his nose, cutting himself off and continuing with the point,
"but that proved they aren't going to make the right choices for their kids they just created, so why would we expect them to do any differently going forward? And I know you gave Kat a chance to stay but the way- I mean like..."
Another breath to calm his nerves. This was turning into rambling, and so he jumped to the end.
"I don't think we should kick out anyone carrying family. I think we need to find a way to expose them to life without a pack as much as possible without risking losing the kids. I want the parents punished for being so selfish, not the pups."
(This post was last modified: Feb 25, 2024, 09:18 PM by Eros.)