The Sentinels Time is of the essence

Blue stood outside the den both saddened and joyous as she realized that all too soon her and Lasher's youngest children would be a month old. They were already talking and exploring with watchful eyes. Soon enough they would no longer need her life giving milk, they could eat meat. Soon they would be running along on their own. She didn't quite know how to take it.

She was saddened because it was a big change, but also because she felt as if she missed most of it. Oh she had been present, but it had been so quick. She settled to her haunches and sniffed the air, looking around at frosty ground. It was beautiful the way things glittered and glowed, but it was also strangely cold and there was still the fear of losing the babies as little as they were in the midst of winter.