TARYN'S OTHERLAND: Chapter 8
Instead of my eyes tracking Bo’s aggressive movement to the left, however, I was faced, literally, with the growling, fang-baring snarl of a desperate female wolf. Separated by only 2 feet, I was staring face-to-face, eye-to-eye, with the pup’s mother!
I was sympathetic, but I was far more pragmatic. I understood the mother’s wanting her young. But, I knew the young wolf would die of hypothermia, its young body would be no match for warding off its severely dropping core temperature. I had just risked my own life in a desperate reaction, how could I let it die now? I knew I was no match against her physically, but I knew that challenge in the wolf social structure wasn’t always so much physical strength as much as the manner and effect of the challenge. I was a human expert on wildlife and their threatened status in the world had made them a priority in my study and focus. Now, I was thankful.
I raised the edge of the coat further so the mother could see the pup was not harmed. At the same time, I saw Bo and the alpha doing their threatening, fierce dance, both with their ruff in full bloom, teeth bared, and snarls filling the air. I returned my eyes to the mother at the same time I pulled the pup into my side and only a moment before I thrust my upper body forward a foot, my eyes intense, my long, wet hair matted over my face and wet body, my mouth open, my teeth showing, and my throat doing something I never believed it was capable of doing. The mother stopped, hesitated a moment, looked down at the pup protectively inside my arm, the steam visibly rising off both it and me, and looked at me.
At that moment, as if to reinforce the point, Bo leapt between us, putting his body in the way of the mother, forcing her to back away, while holding his aggressive posture against the alpha. There was another pause in the excitement, a still in the challenges and threats, and I held my breath … again. There was no way we should have survived this challenge to a pack. It was stupid in the extreme. I should have released the pup for nature to take its course like it always would have. In the wild, only half the pups born reach maturity simply because of food, predators, or situation exactly like this. That was possibly a reason why the alpha had been willing to leave the pup earlier. Then, when the female had rebelled, he felt it necessary to defend her. Now, he was faced with a problem. He was being openly challenged by this new male, this male with a strange female … and his pack was watching.
As if he sensed an opening, Bo lunged at the alpha, his fangs bared and took hold of the other’s neck. The alpha rolled and took a submissive posture, exposing his under side. In fact, few challenges for supremacy in packs are decided by outright battle victories. The outcome is normally decided before a fatal wound is achieved by either combatant.
Such was the outcome here. Bo had successfully protected me and by extension, the pup. What followed wasn’t expected, however, at least by me.
Bo continued his protective, aggressive stance, continuing his dominance in the situation. I could see the mother’s feet moving anxiously by looking under Bo’s body. I pushed his hip forward, toward the alpha. He looked back at me, confused, but just as I raised the coat to my shoulder to the mother. She looked at me, to the pup, the fire, and back to me. I held the coat up over the pup and reached out my other hand in a gesture. She looked at the pup and me, as if making a decision. She looked at the alpha, maybe former alpha to her, then stepped tentatively toward me. I reached my head out to her, pushing nose toward her in a greeting move common among wolves. Bo fidgeted nearby but trusted me more than instinct at this point in our life together. She looked again at the male, then moved cautiously until her head was under the coat and made the same greeting to the pup, but this time with much more comfort, familiarity, and tenderness. She never again looked back at the male, but settled into licking pup. I lowered the coat to trap more of the heat coming from the small fire and, although nervous, she remained licking the pup.
Normally, challenges within the pack are handled by the two males and not by the pack and I trusted that this would end up the same way. Bo had established his dominance and the issue should be settled. What was going to happen with the mother and pup, I wasn’t sure. I expected her to rise and pull the pup out by the scruff of its neck. Instead, she settled next it, providing her own body heat to that from the fire. There was movement of several feet in the snow and my tension increased again, but the female near me seemed at ease.
I raised the coat edge slowly, prepared to pull it down, if necessary. The heavy hide might actually provide protection if I was wrong and the pack decided to intervene, but Bo didn’t seem to be agitated at all. When I had the coat raised enough to see, I found Bo standing in front of 3 adults and the 2 remaining pups huddled next to the remaining female. All of the adults were the younger ones I had identified as adolescent, but now seeing them as mature, but young. I looked at the mother and back to them. If she was the beta of pack, these were probably also her offspring. Bo was moving to each of the adults and making the greeting with each as I had done with the mother. He lowered his head toward the pups and the first one reached out with a paw and touched him. Bo nuzzled him to the ground, which brought the other one, sensing a playful moment that was normally rare among the adults. I smiled and laughed, which brought attention from the mother. I had seen this behavior from Bo before with young dogs and children. The mother looked at me, perhaps deciding my reaction and behavior was okay, and returned to the pup in our care.
That was when it hit me … were we a pack? These had accepted us as their new pack? They accepted Bo as the alpha and chose him over their previous alpha. And, if Bo was the alpha … that made me the beta, and it explained the mother’s checking my reactions and accepting the strange caring of her pup. Fire is something they would instinctively avoid and would have no conception of usefulness. But, she was allowing it, despite her natural reluctance.
Bo came to stand in front of us and repeated the approach to the mother. The mother surprised me. The others responded in acceptance of Bo, but the mother seemed eager. She stretched her head to him, they touched noses, and she sat next to me and looked to me. I was unsure what she wanted until she stretched out her head to me. I met her with a touch, I then moved a hand to her neck and stroked it. Put a hand to the pup and urged it between her legs. She bent her head, licked the top, and leaned to me for another touch. What occurred to me was that she was accepting me as the dominant female.
Bo nudged me and I knew it was time to leave. It wasn’t going to get any warmer and we had a little trek to get back to the cave. I stood, kicked snow over the fire, put the backpack on, then the bear skin coat, and picked up the pup before following Bo back along the trail we had taken earlier in the day. After about 100 feet, I looked back to find that the 4 adults and 2 pups were indeed following right behind us, traveling in the same single-file that I had noticed earlier of the old pack. As we walked, my mind was buzzing with what all this meant, how this was going to work, what life was going to be like, and how does a 21st century girl suddenly become a wolf-woman in a wolf pack.
When we climbed through the gap into the area outside the cave, the wolves were noticeably nervous about the warmth emanating from inside it. I entered the cave and that again seemed to make it acceptable, especially when the little one I rescued followed me inside. The other two pups weren’t far behind and I led them up onto the raised flat part. The females followed and preened over the pups. The 2 males stayed outside with Bo.
I started going over in my mind what all this was becoming. By nature, the wolf pack social structure was interesting. How was this going to work with a human involved. They didn’t seem to react with a natural fear of me, which might mean that humans weren’t so prevalent in the region that they necessarily feared them. I went to our store of jerky and distributed some to each animal. They sniffed it suspiciously. Bo was used to seeing this as food and it was rich in protein, but it wasn’t a natural form for meat. I was sure they would adapt, however. And they did. It also kept the young ones busy gnawing on the tough strips of dried meat.
Before sitting with the females, I stripped out of my still wet clothes and put on some dry jeans and tee shirt. They watched me and I was confident they were trying to figure out the new situation, too. It maybe wasn’t in the same logical analysis that I tried to employ, but in their own way their eyes showed curiosity about me.
How would this work, especially considering the unique relationship Bo and I had already established?
Wolves reach maturity by 2 years of age and as I looked at the younger adults compared to the 6 or 7 month old pups, I was convinced that they were mature. Maturity in wolves, even in terms of mating, can be realized from 18 months to 2 years. At maturity they can stay or leave the pack to establish their own or join another. It is more common for males to leave and rare for a female with pups to leave. Perhaps because of the dynamics of the situation: the alpha ready to leave the pup; my willingness to risk my life to help the pup; and, Bo’s successful challenge of the alpha. Whatever the exact reasons and motivations, Bo and I went from an intimate life to a complex social structure in a single day.
Within any pack is the dominant male who is the alpha and the dominant female who is the beta, at least referred as such in science. Bo had successfully established himself as the alpha and it appear that the others were willing to accept me as the beta. I wondered how secure that was, though. The social structure of a wolf pack is one of the most fascinating that has ever been observed in science. They have a very strict level of hierarchy that has to be adhered to by all of the members of the pack. This allows the pack to survive as conditions in the environment change. This social structure has a responsibility for all the members of the pack. The youngest has the least responsibility and that can become a motivation for leaving the pack. All wolves in the pack help in the raising of the young, but it is the females and especially the young females who will end up filling a ‘babysitter’ role when the other members go out to hunt. In packs, it is the alpha and beta who eat first before the rest. Bo and I share everything, the riches and spoils, and that part of pack life will be different for these wolves who are now in our life.
It was several nights later that I made a point that Bo and I mate. It was a strange sensation, knowing that the rest of the pack might or was watching us. I needed to establish my place in the pack and not rely on it coming from Bo. When it comes to the actual mating within the pack, only the lead male and female normally do so. That is why it is often hard to get the number of wolves to increase in the wild. Even though a pack may have up to twenty members in it, only two of them are actually taking part in the mating process. It controls the size of the pack so food resources within a territory can be sufficient. It is a natural order of pack life. I guess I was insecure just enough that I wanted it known that I was Bo’s mate and properly seal my position in the pack. It might be possible to send the pack off to establish their own little pack or to rejoin the another one, but there was something about belonging to a larger group that appealed to me in a way that it never had in civilization. Before, as the 21st century girl, I was content to be a loner and independent, to rely on my own wits and resources while also knowing that a larger society was available should I ever need it. Here, there was no fall back security net to rely on, it was only how we managed in the wild. The pack provided more hunting capability, companionship, and security in numbers. There was something very appealing about the pack life. But, I was a human among them, not like them at all. They seemed to accept me, but I knew I needed to take doubts away and firmly establish myself. I felt that mating would be a step in that direction.
That night I don’t think Bo was any more comfortable about it than I was when I rolled over to him. We were curled on mats next to each other as had become our habit. The females and pups were further in the cave while the other two males were curled near the door. Perhaps that was what the pack habits, to protect the females and young. For some reason, my mind wasn’t pulling up that piece of information. But, when I rolled to Bo, stroking his side and down onto his belly, he stretched out, partially rolling onto his back to allow better access. The cave was quiet, or as quiet as it is with 8 wolves of various ages and one human can make it. I stroked him on his belly, reaching further and further down, as I hugged my naked body into him. He was enjoying it, as he always did. When I reached his sheath, I also felt the tip of his cock poking out. I smiled and was pleased that this wasn’t a problem for him, that my familiar actions were still wanted. Why was I so insecure? I had been his steady lover for months … but, now there were females of his own species … and it made me wonder, I had to know my position. It wasn’t like I was necessarily going to run off and sulk; I just needed to know how I would fit into this pack, this social structure. I was alone here; the pack was good for me …
As I stroked his cock tip and sheath, his cock continued to grow. I smeared pre-cum over the emerging cock flesh as it came into my contact. I licked his lips and moved my way down his body. I raised to my knees and stroked down his belly until I could take his cock tip into my mouth. I sucked him further in, tasting his pre-cum, and greedily trying to extract more from his rapidly growing cock. Once again, there was a single candle-bowl lit and I had strategically placed it over our mats. At the time, I wanted it plain and clear to all the others what we were doing. Now, as I knelt next to Bo’s hind quarters, my naked butt sticking up in the air, and my face eagerly working his cock, I felt embarrassed at such a blatant demonstration.
I was far too excited now, though, to turn back. And, Bo certainly was. Maybe, the idea of being watched increased my arousal that much more. When he was completely out, I knelt up and took the moment to peek. It was clear that all the adults were paying attention. This shouldn’t be unusual for them since in the pack, only the alpha and beta do the mating. The others are left ignoring it, but aware of it. This was my life now and the issues of pack life would be resolved.
I turned my full attention to Bo and allowed these other thoughts to leave my mind for the time being. Bo had rolled to face me and licked my knee and thigh. I turned on my hands and knees and presented my ass to him, indicating my desire for mating, and he wasn’t hesitating, despite the new situation. He approached me with licks to my thighs and ass, then walked around me as if to identify me as his before jumping onto my back and probing my ass with his cock. I used my hand as always and he slipped into me easily and cleanly. I loved this feeling of his cock inside me, growing steadily as he pumped his hips at me with increasing frenzy. We have been in this place for nearly half a year already, and this feels like it is the most natural activity in the world. I press back onto him in my desire, just as he is pounding into me. There is no bothering on my part to match his rhythm of thrusts, that would be impossible. He pumps into me at a pace that seems crazy, frantic, and unnatural, but only unnatural for a human. Human perspectives are dissolving more and more into unimportance and the short time in the pack has accelerated that. But, rather than trying to match his thrusts, I press back solidly, holding a rigid position for him to fuck into because that is what this really is. He is fucking me, he is claiming me with this animalistic mating process of canines and I love it, I want it, and I desire it.
I feel his knot forming and pressing against my pussy, seeking to gain access to my pussy so he can consummate our mating with his seed washing my pussy and womb. The mere thought pushes me closer to my orgasm and it is a steady increase as my pussy lips are stretched with each successive effort from the two of us. When the knot enters me as if popping through a too-tight opening, I moan loudly and press back onto him as he presses into me. With each abbreviated thrust of his cock in the constricted space available, I feel his cock and knot increasing in length and size, creating a feeling of being filled and that feeling continues to increase as he swells steadily. I have lost track of time, a minute or much, much longer, I feel his cock jerk inside me. I feel a last swelling of both his cock and knot and I know he is about to cum. I push back against him, feeling him deeper inside me, and then pull away as he tries to pull back for another thrust. The intensity of the two feelings, pressing his tip deeply into me and my pussy being pulled outward, are all it takes and I explode over his cock and knot, drenching them with my fluids, and my pussy walls and lips contracting, spasming around him. I don’t even feel that final jerk of his cock signaling his climax, but I do feel his cum spurting into my pussy, then another, and another. It feels like so much; I can’t help but wonder if he is also stimulated by the others nearby.
As I lay in the dark cave, I am on my side along Bo’s back with an arm lying over his body as his chest slowly rises and falls. My mind just won’t stop. There is so much to consider now that the other wolves have decided to join Bo’s pack. It wasn’t an invitation. He was protecting me, not overtly challenging the alpha for control. The others saw the conflict differently, however. They rejected the other alpha and chose a new alpha. Now we are a pack, like it or not. The issue of the pack was resolved, though. It was decided, assumed, or just understood. They may not have survived alone. The oldest males were just barely adults. They needed to be part of a pack and as I recognized before, the idea of a larger community had a strong appeal to me now that it was here, and now that I had some experience with it.
I doubted myself as the beta in the pack and that had projected onto my thoughts of the others, particularly the mother wolf. She was the former beta of the pack; I was sure of it. My doubts were never reflected from her, however. She was the first to accept me and trust in me. She trusted me with her pup while we were still at the lake. She trusted that my use of fire was a good thing for it. So, I was the beta and I would start acting like it.
I was uncomfortable, though. I can accept Bo as the alpha. I will have to accept that I am the beta. I will do my part in making the pack a cohesively functioning group, depending and giving to each other within the pack. All of that I was accepting as my thoughts and emotions became focused and attuned to our future.
I had a primary concern about the natural order of wolf packs, however. I love mating with Bo. I know Bo loves mating with me. As we were knotted tonight, while still in a glow of euphoria, I couldn’t help extending my thoughts. Pairing in the wolf social structure can be long-term, but not necessarily monogamous. Wolf mating occurs for the exclusive purpose of breeding. The female goes into heat for about 3 weeks in late winter, sometime between February through March. That is the time of breeding within the pack. The normal social order is that only the alpha and beta breed. Even though other females go into heat, they are not mated unless the alpha decides the region can support a much larger population in the pack. The females carry the pups for about 2 months before giving birth in early spring, April through May. Generally, she will have 4 to 6 pups per litter with a high mortality rate before reaching adulthood.
What was my primary concern, then? There were two very related concerns. If Bo and I were to continue mating, and we definitely were, then why not the others. Wolves didn’t only mate when the female was in heat because that was the only time they could. It has been observed both in captivity and the wild that mating can occur at other times. Rather, it is a natural control for the pack that becomes instinctual, part of the DNA, that mating is for breeding and breeding only occurs with a female in heat. My heart nearly skipped beats at the thought of introducing the adults to openly mating within the pack.
The other concern: controlling breeding. How do you introduce the freedom to mate while still controlling breeding? Planned Parenthood does not have a clinic nearby.
The start of heat should still be at least a moon off. I smiled as I curled even closer to Bo and unconsciously rubbed my groin into his back. First things, first. I rubbed my mound into the fur of his back, again. Yes … first things first …
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Continued in Chapter 9
