Redhawk Caldera and a happy new year [birth]

Raven still hadn't fully processed the events of the recent pack meeting. As a medic (in training), it wounded her to stand by and watch someone die. She couldn't have rendered aid regardless, she knew, but as she walked around the edge of the rendezvous site on this frosty morning, she worried at her lower lip.

She wandered in the direction of the Alpha female's den but gave it a wide berth—an action she would later regret. Still, it was with Fox in mind that she hunted just outside the borders, capturing a rabbit after an hour's worth of tracking and chasing. She carried it back uphill and approached the den quietly, her posture submissive.

Dropping the kill, she cleared her throat and called, "Mom? Uh." She paused awkwardly, waiting for a response. Raven felt like she was walking on eggshells around her mother. When no reply came, she began to slowly back away, seeing no reason to disturb Fox and risk rocking the boat.

But then she heard a very telltale whimper and, heart suddenly fluttering, she neared the den's doorway again. "Mom?" she whispered a little breathlessly, excited despite herself. Then her yellow eyes made out the still shape on the floor, six squirming bundles beside it. "Mom? Mom?" Raven's heart jumped into her throat as she crouched beside her dam, her nose touching against Fox's cool temple.

It was much too late to render aid. Raven sank to the floor, paralyzed for several long minutes. Then the snuffling and crying nearby captured her attention. Without really thinking about what she was doing, the Delta shifted to curl opposite her mother's dead body and began tugging each newborn to her own breast.