Hushed Willows I've got three candidates for the zoo...

Stark had little time to explain, but what he said was enough for the moment. Harlyn felt her heart clench with concern as she watched Stark take off after Amara. It cleared away the moment she heard a whine of protest from the den and her dutiful nature took over. The druid turned towards the whimpering pups and moved to take their mother's place.

They were unhappy and squirming, and the mother wasted no time positioning herself beside them. It felt in a way quite natural, though the moment she had them corralled against her, she began to recognize how strange this was to be nestled in someone else's den beside someone else's infants. They were so young and tiny as hers had once been. She nuzzled them against her belly even though she had no milk to give to them - a fact that she found herself instantly regretting although it was beyond her control.

Harlyn was attempting to calm them when Stark appeared again. She looked up as he approached, noting the distress upon his face. Amara was not in sight. "They're fine for now," Harlyn assured him, "They're just upset to have been roused, I'm sure. What happened? Did she say anything?" She did not know the tawny beauty at all and had heard little of her circumstances before coming to the Keep, so this was as bewildering to her as anything else that might have happened (though she was at least glad that the Amara no! hadn't been said to deter the woman from harming her brood).