“I swear by the Lokoti Wolf, this has to be the most difficult pregnancy yet, I’ve had to oversee.”

  (Small Fry Chapter 4)

The Medicine Man looked on in alarm, as he kept a protective hand on my shoulder.  Poor Ki, he was probably wishing we were home right now, so he had the back up of the other Lokoti Werewolves.  In fact, so was I.

Declan stood up angrily as he growled out, “But as usual, I hold myself back.  For you B, I continue to hunt animal and not human.  For you B, I’m letting you keep this child.  For you B, I’ll allow this child to live.  So don’t go all ‘dingo ate my baby’ on me!”

With that, he spun on his heel and stalked off down the corridor.  We watched him depart, before Ki collapsed exhausted, beside on the floor.  He too leaned against the wall as he let out a weary sigh.

He admitted, “I swear by the Lokoti Wolf, this has to be the most difficult pregnancy yet, I’ve had to oversee.” 

My heart pounded and I said vacantly, “You’re telling me...?”

“The most difficult pregnancy for the tribe’s most argumentative couple,” he shook his head.

“Thanks a lot!” 

“Aunt B, have you or Uncle Dec, ever considered relationship counselling?” He passed a tired look.  

“Oh sure!”  I scoffed.  “I can imagine our sessions now with the non-Lokoti counsellor.  Yes, Werewolves exist and yes, we’ve been married for nearly three centuries.  However, getting knocked up has affected our relationship.”

“It doesn’t have to be with a non-Lokoti counsellor off tribal lands.”  Ki shrugged.  “You could go to one of those marriage groups the Tribal Elders hold now and again in the Meeting Hall.”

“Oh yeah, I can see Declan now; sitting there, growling under his breath and scaring away the other couples.”  I snickered.

“Sometimes I don’t know what the hell he’s thinking.  His mood swings thanks to his bloodlust-fuelled temper, are volatile enough.  Then you walk into the room and it’s like throwing petrol onto a fire.  Tell me Aunt B, with all of your fighting, how do you usually work things out?”  He wondered.

“Well…” I wondered how to put it politely, “…make-up sex.”

“I see,” his eyebrows rose. “I suppose that would be typical in a marriage with two Werewolves, let alone one with a European Werewolf.”

“He’s usually not this bad,” I tried to apologise. “But this pregnancy has really thrown him.  We were supposed to evolve to the space time continuum, but that’s been put on hold.  Declan’s not only the father of my child, he’s the man I pictured spending eternity with.  So if he’s not up to fatherhood, I’m screwed.”

“Now you do sound like a Lokoti Werewolf,” he smirked, “the biological bonding between Werewolf and mate.”

“Man it sucks!”  I huffed, as I crossed my arms.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he passed a cheeky grin. “Jenny and I are still enjoying the physical side effects.”

“Shut up!”  I gave him a shove.

“Hey, that hurt!  Watch it with your new strength.”  He chuckled, as he rubbed his arm.  “I think I preferred it when you were hyperventilating.”

Then we both took a deep breath, held it and let it out as a loud sigh, as we stared back into the Viewing Room.

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“From 1000 BC to 2363 AD, there’s less than a hundred cases, of both European Werewolf mother and European Werewolf child surviving?”

(Small Fry Chapter 4)

“I just can’t believe it...” Ki looked like he was still in shock, “…I’ve never come across a species that would seem so – so – so programmed, to destroy itself by means of sexual reproduction.  I mean, the mortality rate for both mother and young, it’s astronomical!  I thought the European Werewolf lust was so strong, because it was to ensure its species survival?  But it appears to be another method to kill.”

“OK, give me some statistics here.”  I prepared myself for what was ahead.  “What happened in the cases of Roberta and Marcus, as well as Michelle and Leo?  Were they ever pregnant?  Did they go through labour?  Did children occur?”

“Roberta and Michelle were impregnated dozens of times.  But Marcus and Leo, used the method I wanted to use on you to end the pregnancy each time.”  Declan spoke in a low voice, with his back turned.

“Since 1000 BC, there have been billions of instances of female European Werewolves being impregnated.  But actually going through with the pregnancy, drops to a third.  Or, surviving the pregnancy, it drops to a third again.  Then the infant Werewolf reaching maturity, drops to another third.  So we went to something like less than a hundred times, of both the mother and child surviving procreation.”  Ki prattled off with wide eyes.

“Less than a hundred...?”  I gaped.  “From 1000 BC to 2363 AD, there’s less than a hundred cases, of both European Werewolf mother and European Werewolf child surviving?”

“Correct,” our Medicine Man rubbed his face again, from stress.  “I won’t even tell you what happened to the human mothers, which were impregnated by a male European Werewolf.”

“Dead every time?”  I guessed.

“Correct,” he repeated, whist staring at the floor.

“I thought human women wouldn’t survive the experience of being with a male European Werewolf, anyway.”  I looked on, blankly.

“From what we saw, eighty percent of the time they didn’t.”  His face paled, before he shook his head.  “Amazing…it’s like even European Werewolf sexual organs have the bloodlust.  Instead of reproducing, they kill.”

“So as I always thought, most European Werewolves are created by bite or blood transference, rather than sex.”  I summed up.

“Yes.”  He said stiffly.

“Well, it kinda makes sense.” I tried to put it objectively.  “The different breeds were primarily created from the prey that survived an attack by the First Werewolf.”

“All except Lokoti Werewolves,” he added on.  "We’re the only breed NOT descended from the First Werewolf.  We were created from the biological and spiritual convergence of Lokoti Wolf and human.”

“You never know,” I tried to joke, “the changed prey ended up reproducing with members of the canidae family, which includes wolves.”

Our Medicine Man’s face fell, “That’s not even funny, Aunt B.  Allow me to remind you that a Lokoti Werewolf has NEVER lost a mate in childbirth.”

Declan snarled in displeasure at our conversation, as he turned around and stormed off down the corridor.  I remained in my seat and watched him go, as I sensed he had to walk this off.  Right now, he was feeling angry and embarrassed of his breed’s family history.

I turned back to Ki, “What about the male European Werewolves who impregnated the female; did any remain through the pregnancy?  You said Declan was stronger because of it, what about them?”

“Um, we didn’t really see what happened to the males.”  He mused.  “The presentation was centred on females through the pregnancy or the birth.  Often, they were alone without the father with them.”

“C’mon,” I stood up, “let’s do some more research.”

“Just give me a minute,” he faltered.  “I’m still getting over the last history lesson on the fate of the females.”

“I’ll start on the search parameters and I’ll meet you in the Viewing Room.”  I organized, before I headed that way.

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