Swiftcurrent Creek Men suffer more from imagining too little than too much.

Durnehviir remained silent as Chusi went on to explain, in great detail, what she'd felt through the duration of her heat cycle. She stared at her with a blank expression, briefly torn between allowing herself to be amused or annoyed at the girl's unusual description, and struggled with how to properly respond. Was she acting intentionally thick? Or perhaps she was genuinely none-the-wiser to the workings of her own anatomy. She had been forced to experience growing up as a female without any guidance for the changes she'd experience, for it wasn't in Viinturuth's nature to sit her down for the infamous "birds and bees" chat.

The leader in her, inexperienced as she was, was deeply concerned. If Chusi had conceived an unlawful litter, the decision on what to do with any resulting pups would likely fall to Durnehviir. A large part of her was unwilling to accept any children born to the Creek other than her own, for she was not sure how many their pack could support. Her own litter would be the pack's number one priority, and she intended to keep it that way.

But could she truly sentence innocent babes to their deaths, and live with their blood on her paws?

"Do you remember anything else?" Durnehviir encouraged with forced gentleness, pressing for more details. "Did anybody touch you? Koji?"