🐾🦃Bette🦃🐾

Bette was the firstborn of Thatch's very first litter, and from the outset she was labelled as the favourite by her biological mother. Her twin sister Cayenne on the other hand was not very well favoured by Thatch. Bette's other mother Alina and her sire, Koi, were concerned by Thatch's blatant favouritism between the two girls. In fact it seemed to disturb the whole pack just how outright Thatch was about it. Cayenne was sent to live with another pack the moment she was weaned, and Bette remembers very little about her sister.

As Bette grew, she felt she was destined for greatness. Her training was varied, she studied hunting and herbalism, and the world was her oyster in terms of what role she would take when she was older. Thatch felt she could be destined to be her heir and eventual replacement if she put in the hard work and increased her skills. With adulthood just around the corner and some decent training under her belt, Bette decided to join the Secundus hunting team with Vlad and Shiraz. Perhaps one day she'd even be able to lead her own hunting team. Her mother's praise gave her a big ego, made her cocky.

Then disaster struck. Bette had just turned one, and her mothers proudly saw her off on her first real hunt. When the party returned, Thatch and Alina were horrified by what they saw. Their daughter was being limply carried on the back of Shiraz, her face mangled and drenched in blood. Bette had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, miscalculated her timing by a millisecond, and she'd been kicked in the face by an elk. Her jaw had broken on impact.

Iris the healer did her best to patch the poor girl up, Thatch and Alina devastated and fearful for their daughter's survival. Bette would live, but she would never be able to eat without help anymore. She'd be significantly weakened, and would never be able to be a leader. Her dreams were dashed and her future uncertain.

With the birth of a son, Thatch's favoritism suddenly found a new target. Bette was humbled and heartbroken. Bette saw very little opportunity for herself to contribute to the pack, so she decided to have a litter of pups. Perhaps giving Thatch grandchildren would help sway her favouritism.

During her pregnancy, Bette found herself falling in love with her fellow huntress and saviour Shiraz. Unlike Thatch, Shiraz seemed to shower her with affection and concern after her injury and naturally Bette was drawn to her warmth. The older female had a calming presence and a very positive effect on Bette's mental state. The two became air bonded shortly after Bette's litter was born. Although her litter ultimately moved on to their own homes, Bette and Shiraz did adopt a son, naming him Jade.

After a few years of her brother Mars being gone, news came back to the pack of his untimely death. His parents were absolutely devastated, Thatch especially, who now clung back onto her daughter and only surviving child. Bette felt absolutely awful for being almost happy at the loss now her mother seemed to want to dote on her again. But she was conflicted, as her mother's love seemed to come with strings attached. Shiraz passed a few years before Bette, being older than her wife. Bette's mother eventually had another son, Artemus, but Thatch was already getting on in age when her son was born. Thus it was mostly Bette who raised her surviving brother. She had another litter of her own whilst raising Artemus, and named her daughter Thatch II after her mother. Thatch died a few months later, and the two never really got the closure they needed.

Hilariously adorable art done by Plushieroo (MyPencilDraws on TH)