Heron Lake Plateau the heart

Raven slept the sleep of the dead. Alphaship and motherhood -- particularly the broken sleep and the demands that nursing put on her body's resources -- kept her taxed to her limit, most of the time, so when she laid down and closed her eyes, she pulled off a pretty impressive impersonation of roadkill.

So it wasn't any surprise that she slept through most of the puppies' revolt against their poor desperate father. Ironically, when she finally did wake up, it wasn't the noise that roused her so much as it was the sudden quiet. Owen and Phoebe had, for the most part, ceased their fussing, and only Kite was squeaking and whimpering. Raven's eyes popped open and she lifted her head, blearily looking around in the dark. She spotted the harried-looking Quixote and grinned sleepily. "Looks like you've been having fun," she commented with a grin of amusement at her mate's misfortune.