Keep the Secret||Pretending You’re Just like Them

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    Selene leaned against the doorjamb, letting out a sigh. "Alright, so I wasn't there. Ayalon was. It was about two weeks ago, and there were humans in our home range. They were in an ATV, the kind with a jeep-like frame on the top. Well, Dyani attacked, got her antlers stuck. The humans forcibly rolled the vehicle when she was trying to get out. She has a few deep wounds from it, but since the incident, she's been having violent coughing fits and light to moderate nausea, both usually involving blood when they hit." She paused, offering the woman a moment to take in the information.

    "...A lot of the coughing fits start when she's overused her voice. This one in particular started during a recording. That's part of why we're worried-- we were told she could lose her voice because of it."

    Iris sighs. “I see. It is quite a risk she has to face if she’s not careful. I know you’ve been working hard with the music, but if it keeps happening like this, she will become mute. I’ll still see her of course but I’m going to have to suggest that she doesn’t use her voice at all for a couple of weeks. I’ll give medicine to help as well but she needs to give herself time to heal.”

    Selene let out a sigh, paired with a nod. "It'll be rough on her, but that's for the best. She does need her voice tomorrow, though." She cast a pointed look at Shane, as though asking if he was trying to keep the event secret. "But we can keep her from trying to sing, that's for certain. Hey, it was something.

    "A bit of reading mentioned that the physical trauma caused by the accident could have caused the bloody cough. Is there something that can be done to keep it from getting worse?"

    Iris sighs, glancing at her litter mate as she realized what tomorrow was. Shane was the only one out of the four of them (although Lynette is technically exempt at this time) that hasn’t had a mate and shown her to their parents yet and it is their birthday tomorrow. “Alright, she can speak tomorrow but she has to keep it light. After that, she must rest her voice at all costs. It is going to be tough as you say but it’s better to do that than permanently losing her voice.” When Selene asked the other question, Iris gave her professional opinion on the matter (since this role player is not knowledgeable in the medical field).

    Now, Selene seemed to understand, repeating the treatment process back for confirmation. Like a registration page asking you to confirm your password, but without five or more layers of it.

    "...So all we really need to do is make sure she doesn't talk too much, right? We can do that."

    “Good. If she needs anything, she’ll have to use other methods to communicate her needs. I can check on her in a couple of weeks to see how she’s doing. With luck, it should be healed by then.”

    Selene nodded. "Yeah, let's hope. We'll do our best, though, maybe she'll keep her voice." Maybe... Or maybe it'd change. It'd likely change. "We'll have to let her speak from time to time, though. But not much. Just enough to maybe say hello, if that's alright. And we'll make sure she keeps words to a minimum tomorrow as well."

    The important thing is she can still talk, even if it changes which is better than no voice at all. “Yes, make sure she understands that. If she has to bring something to write on and communicate that way tomorrow, so be it. She is going to be bombarded with questions from Mom after all.”

    Yes, having a different voice was preferable to a lack of voice. Common knowledge, really. "We'll send her with a notepad and three pens, just in case," Selene affirmed. "Unless, of course, she's somehow perfectly fine come morning."

    "True enough," Selene agreed. "The only problem I see with it is communication in the event that it DOES happen. If she ends up in a coughing fit again, and winds up unconscious like she is now..."

    She shook her head. "It's not likely, but still possible that she'd be rejected because of that."

    “Father could try.” Iris hums. “But I know my idiot brother would ignore him anyways and stay with her. Had it been one day too late, then yeah, they would’ve controlled who he ends up with but it’s the opposite in this case. They can’t do much unless she were to pass on.”

    Selene bit back a snort. "Knowing her luck, that would happen. But we won't let her be alone, even tomorrow, so she should be alright, right?" She seemed hopeful. Why? Well, Dyani was essentially an 'alpha' among them. They had to keep her safe, to some extent...

    "Is there anything else she'll need to be careful of tomorrow?"

    “Other than hiding her identity as a elk, which I know she’s fully aware of, it should be fine tomorrow. Do make sure she has an earthly scent to her to hide the truth of what she is before she leaves to meet the parents. Mom will be okay no matter who but I cannot say the same for Father.”

    Selene nodded slowly. "Understood. So, earthy scent, to cover up the natural elk smell, right? ...And if he figures it out, then what?" They couldn't exactly protect her from everything, and no amount of earthy smells would cover up the prey scent that just so happened to be there.

    "I'm sure you don't want her to fight."

    The thought of that spooked the woman, and she was silent, staring the other in the eyes for a long moment.

    "...Most packs will just attack the old alpha to chase him off for the new one, and the former will die on his own, given enough time. Our kind matches the actions of our full-feral cousins, to better blend in among them. Are you saying he would have to go against that ideal in the event that Dyani's true heritage becomes apparent?"

    Iris sighs. “Those are the ways of the traditional and that is dying. It’s clear that Shane will go against the old ideal if Father finds out as he wouldn’t want to leave her... Father did try to corrupt us all to think like him but Mom managed to prevent that.”

    Selene closed her eyes, giving a light nod before stepping closer to Iris. She lowered her voice to keep her words between them. "...There's only one more thing I'm worried about. What will be the result if they have children?" she asked quietly, a hint of something like fear in her voice. "Will they be cast away, revered, followed? Assassinated? Or just ignored? By the general Shifter community, not your father."

    “Depends on the shifter really. We’re now at an age where hybrid children are becoming widely accepted by the younger generation such as you and I. Just this last week I helped deliver a half bolvine and half bear child. As long as both your group and his pack accepts the children they may have, it should be fine.”