Cedar Sweep fire to gasoline

With Alder's dissapearance, Aspen had little other options than to premote Shalon. She deserved it, of course, and with the realization that she was pregnant came the knowledge that she would need help. Her husband would be back though, he wouldn't just up and leave her. Something must be holding him out there.... Aspen just hoped it wasn't another affair. 
This morning, rising early, she'd decided to take advantage of her more early stages of pregnancy and do a patrol. She could feel the changes: the fur on her belly began to thin below the slight buldging of her abdomen, the stirrings of tiny bodies, and always the fragile fluxation of her emotions.
Stretching from her lonely tunnel, the graceful Queen strode into the pale morning light and started to start near the cedar border. The scent of a stranger made her curious, and perhaps it was the Courts low numbers that spurred her slim paws forward through the cool Autumn air. It wasn't long before she saw another figure, and the mother to be gave a friendly, but wary, chuff of greeting.