Blackfeather Woods Inside my home I wait and bleed [m]

Cicero noticed his sister's expression and he wondered if it was joy or sadness she saw first and foremost. Cicero did not think that his mother's love was a thing that needed dividing. She could love them and him equally. Besides, the pups needed a mother's love and warmth right now, and he no longer did. Cicero reached out to touch Potema's nose when Burke went into the den to see his children for the first time. "Mother will need much help," said Cicero, a smile on his face as he showed his rare sympathetical side. If Potema wondered what the arrival of the new pups meant for her, than this was one thing it did. She would be plenty useful, Cicero imagined.

Eyes drifted towards the mouth of the den, but the youth remained in place, not getting up to either leave or draw nearer until given the command to do so by Burke or Meldresi.