Emberwood someone say a hail mary for this house

Sorry for the delay, kids! Life is trying to eat me again

Her daughter gave a cry at being pushed away by her mother. Harlyn barely noticed this as she walked away from the pack, but she was incapable of ignoring the little body that attempted to glue itself to her legs as she moved. Harlyn paused briefly and looked down at the girl, pity overwhelming her. She leaned down and picked Larkspur up by her scruff in a comforting gesture and carried her along as she moved off to speak to her mate. It wasn't that Harlyn necessarily wanted privacy away from her children so that she could speak to Mordecai - she just didn't want the distraction of having to keep an eye on them all. This one, though, would be no trouble to watch. This one wasn't about to allow even a centimeter to separate her from her parents.

Harlyn dropped to her haunches and positioned Larkspur between her from legs, pulling her protectively against her. She soothed the pup for a minute or so by grooming her ears, but then her attention shifted to Mordecai as he approached. She sought his gaze anxiously as he came to her, and wasted no time with her whispers once he was near enough to hear them.

"We need to stop," Harlyn said quietly, urgency still apparent in her hushed tone, "We can't keep putting the kids through this. Even if it's a hole in the ground that we all have to smash into for a few days, we've got to give them a break. We're hurting them." Somewhere she knew that it was illogical to stop. They were not safe out in the open, and it was not because of the locusts that crawled over every inch of the earth. But her heart was weary and her motherly instincts could no longer stand to see her cubs in such distress. Harlyn knew her mate would argue, but she was ready to fight for her point.

Fortunately, a distraction then approached that made her forget all about the conversation at hand. Harlyn's ears shot up at the sound of his call, and she pressed her daughter all the more protectively against her with a silent snarl in the stranger's direction. His words glanced over her ears and settled her fearful panic, but she did not lose the mistrustful gaze she fixed upon him as he offered the little band food and inquired about where they were headed. It was not how she usually reacted to strangers, but their situation was encouraging her more feral reflexes rather than the cool calm she typically retained. Even so, Harlyn said nothing in response to the man. She fell neatly back into her role as second in command now that Mordecai had risen again to first, and so she would let him determine how they would respond to this newcomer.