Phoenix Maplewood A temper set for tender

Reek was a doting husband indeed. Instead of urging Saena to rise to the light of day and try to act like the alpha female she was, he allowed her to remain wallowing in the den. Not only that, but he joined her. She pressed her face into his dark fur as he settled near her and breathed deeply, trying to ground herself with her mate's presence. She feared the alternative was to float away on a sea of depression born of her lameness and the perpetual cycle of locking herself in the den.

She hadn't realized how hungry she was until Reek murmured and pulled a moose deer forward. "Thank you," she breathed quietly. Moose was almost exotic to her, a meat she had sampled less than a handful of times, and though the leg wasn't really fresh and was smattered with dirt, nibbling at it brought the first hint of euphoria she'd felt in weeks to her breast. She pressed near to the alpha male as she enjoyed the meal, swallowing slowly and gnawing deliberately as though to savour it forever. After all, if she stripped the whole thing, she would not only feel sick from eating so much, but there would be no further distraction in the form of food.