Chapter 186: No More Cubs II

"Having pain the first time is NOT the same as having pain that never goes away!" Faelynn fired back, her eyes blazing. "Mine got WORSE, not better! Does that sound normal to you?!"

"The first time hurts because your body is not used to it!" Flora snapped. "After that, it should EASE, not build! I know the difference, you old woof! I have LIVED the difference!"

Aia shrank back, looking between the elder and the other females, while Nooti, the fourth one, reached over to squeeze Aia’s hand as she warily eyed Greymaw.

Greymaw’s face was flushed, but he pressed on with the only argument he had left.

"I understand the concern," he said, and his voice carried a desperate reasonableness. "I truly do. But think about our numbers!"

He spread his arms, gesturing at the gathered wolves.

"We have lost so many! Cubs, adults, entire family lines, gone! If the females stop bearing cubs now, when our population is this fragile, we risk dying out entirely!"

He looked around the clearing, seeking any support he could find.

"Imagine if the females had stopped bearing cubs years ago. How many of the wolves standing here would not exist? How many cubs would never have been born? Look at the ones we have now. We would have perished!"

Several wolves shifted uncomfortably.

The argument had weight.

The pack’s numbers WERE dangerously low, and every wolf in the clearing knew it. Even some of the females hesitated, the survival instinct warring with the pain they had just acknowledged.

Greymaw’s voice hardened with conviction.

"If you had stopped two years ago, we wouldn’t have the female cubs we have now for the future. You were only birthing males for the first 2 years. If you truly care about the future of this pack, you must accept that sacrifices—"

"SACRIFICES?!"

Faelynn was on her feet, one hand bracing her swollen belly, her crimson eyes blazing with a fury that made several wolves take an involuntary step back.

"Are YOU the one making these sacrifices, Greymaw?!"

Her voice shook the clearing.

"Are YOU the one carrying cubs in your belly?! Are YOU the one whose body aches and bleeds and breaks so this pack can have more wolves?!"

Her voice rose higher, cracking with emotion.

"Have YOU ever felt a cub pressing against your spine until you cannot stand straight?! Have you ever nursed until your body had nothing left to give, and then been told it was time to carry another one?!"

The other females were rising now, their voices joining Faelynn’s like a wave that could not be stopped.

Calis was stunned. He had been fuming at Greymaw’s words and had been about to cut him off when the females had jumped in.

But for the old wolf to treat the females with that kind of mindset. He did not see what was wise at all in it. Would there not be more cubs as long as the females were alive to birth them? Birthing them within a short period did not make sense when they could do it at a stretch over the years.

If that was the case, they would still have the same numbers, if not more. Females were not fertile for a short time. They had years, and they were relatively in a safer place now.

The old man’s words were foolish!

What happened to his wise mentor?

"We are not breeding stock!" Aia shouted, her face flushed as she eagerly joined the grumbling females.

"What is so wrong with having a little break?!"

"Do you know what it feels like to be pregnant again before your body has even healed from the last time?!" Flora’s kept ranting, "I have FOUR cubs! This is the fifth! My body has not been my own in YEARS!"

The younger males’ heads kept jerking back and forth between the females and the elders with a terrified look, thankful that the females were not addressing them directly.

"You sit there and talk about numbers," Faelynn continued, "while WE are the ones paying for those numbers with our bodies! Can we not at LEAST take a break?!"

"If you care so much about cubs, YOU carry them!" Aia fired at the males.

The Greymaw took a step back, baffled by that statement.

Several of the elders looked away from the wolf male, not wanting to be caught up in this even though they very much were. A shameful look was on their faces, and many of them suddenly found the sky very interesting.

Even among the hardliners, the wall was fracturing.

Not all of them.

Not Greymaw, who was standing rigid with his jaw locked so tightly the muscles in his face were twitching.

Not Girruk, who was seething behind his father with the particular fury of someone who was angry about something far deeper than breeding schedules.

But the others wavered.

Greymaw opened his mouth one final time. "This... this—"

"Enough of this rubbish, Greymaw."

Calis glared at the elder.

"If only our late females were still alive, and hadn’t been killed off, they would still have lived long enough to birth more cubs before their fertility dwindled like yours has."

Many of the elders flinched at the wording, their mouths dropping in silent outrage, but they wouldn’t dare say anything back.

Greymaw trembled in anger.

Calis stared them down, along with the younger males who shrank back and directed their eyes elsewhere at his sharp gaze.

"I had more faith in your wisdom, but you have yet to actually offer anything to guide this pack forward."

Chills went through every wolf in the clearing. Even the cubs, and most especially the elders.

Greymaw’s eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"Calis." Faelynn stepped towards Calis, alarmed by his words.

He raised his hand, stopping her while he continued addressing the elders.

"Do you remember when we were crossing those infested plains? Every direction you wanted us to follow, and every suggestion you gave me, led to the deaths of some of us each time. I had to do things slightly different after that for us to survive, and it worked. Thinking it over made me feel unsure about your decisions, so I did not.

"But it is strange..." Calis’ voice was softening over time as he spoke, which the wolves still found disturbing. "All of us, cubs, elders, young wolves, were moving through these destroyed lands that we did not know. You elders were just as clueless as the rest of us, so what knowledge are you exactly bringing when it has all clearly failed?"

The elders’ faces had gone grey with shock. Even Greymaw had stopped shaking, and he could not speak.

Calis shook his head. "After meeting the female, I have realised how little I actually know. We know very little."

He had been talking to himself at this point, so he slowly returned his attention to the pack, his voice carrying with quiet authority.

"We have lost so many wolves during our long walk. But we are in one place now. A somewhat stable region. It is not fully safe, but it is safer from everything we have experienced. That means we cannot be doing the same things we used to do."

His eyes swept across the elders.

"They have hardly worked in the first place. So why are you frothing at the mouth over the females having a year or two of rest? Are they going anywhere?"

Nobody answered.

"If you are going to argue against Tera’s solutions, then provide a better one. I will hear no complaints unless you can come up with something better and more effective than the Dow clan leader can. If you are able to do this one simple thing, we will do it your way, and I will personally make sure she does not get involved."

He looked directly at Greymaw, then at each elder in turn.

"But if you cannot offer anything better than what she brings, you can let me know the type of punishment you would like to face. I will not tolerate wolves, elders or not, who tear down solutions they cannot replace."

Exile would be good, but Calis was not sure the rest of the wolves would like it. A few of them were cubs to these elderly males. But aside from their "wisdom", they were useless to the pack. They could no longer hunt or keep guard as keenly as the younger males. And while Calis would personally be saddened by his mentor and other wolves he looked up to leaving, if it would make the pack better, he would take the necessary steps.

The following silence held for five heartbeats.

Ten.

Nobody still said anything.

"Then it is decided."

Calis’ voice was final.

"After the current cubs are born, no female in this pack will carry another cub for a minimum of one full year. The females will rest. They will heal, and continue when they are strong enough to bear more cubs."

He turned to leave, then paused and looked back over his shoulder, casting a sharp glance at the elders.

"Imagine if you had your way, we would all still be without water... Again, if anyone has a problem with this, you can bring it to me personally. But make sure you come with a solution that will work. Think this over. We will return to this conversation later tonight."