Lost Creek Hollow How can something so small be so frustrating?

She asked further, no doubt wanting to know why he wasn't still with her. He probably would be if things had played out as the two had planned. He would have a wife and four wonderful children. He didn't even have names for them. She seemed so happy when she left, so at peace with how things turned out. But Howl, still one of the living, didn't see it that way.

He hadn't told anyone of Heartha's death. There were those who knew because they had been their two, but he himself had never had to recall it to someone one. He tried to think of a way to say she was gone and that the kids were gone without outright saying they had passed away. It wasn't that he was still in denial, he was long past that. He had accepted it, but that didn't mean it was any easier to stomach.

He thought of her question as a Then what? rather than What happened? It would give him something else to talk about. "I became attached, caring for her in her pregnancy. The pack she was in ended up moving so I helped out with that and eventually became the alpha's second hand..." there was no more filler, and he knew she would be dissatisfied with that answer.

He put his head back on top of hers, not wanting to make eyes contact. He nuzzled his head into her nape before speaking. He wanted it to be quick, there was no need for extensive detail. "She and the pups ended up passing during her labor, and I left the pack."  he said attempting to lack emotion.