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

One by one, Amara's pups snuggled tightly against her and settled into sleep with contented mewls and steady breaths. And just like that, Harlyn loved them. They weren't hers, but she loved them so desperately that she felt her heart aching as though she missed them when they were right next to her. She wanted them sleeping beside her every night, and playing within the reach of her arms every day. She swallowed hard the lump that had risen quite suddenly and unexpectedly in her throat as she gazed at them. Three little angels, no less perfect than the three she had born of her own blood. And they would never call her "mother".

And here she was, discussing with Stark that their mother didn't seem to want them.

"I have never felt the need to run," Harlyn replied mournfully, still gazing at the little wolves at her side, "But being a mother can be a very stressful, very overwhelming thing. Perhaps it has gotten the best of her." The druid paused, pondering. "But it would be murder at this point for her to abandon her children. I do not believe you would have allowed a murderer amongst us. She will be back."

"I think it clear that she needs support in this, however," Harlyn added after a beat, "We must watch after her. Help her, when we can. Help her children in her stead if she proves herself unable to do so." There was longing in the druid's throat as she said it. She didn't wish for the pups to be without their mother, for that was a hard truth to live with, one she would not wish on anyone. But in a hypothetical future, she saw herself being the one they curled up against at night, and she could not deny the way her heart yearned for it.