Swiftcurrent Creek your mommas a true beauty, butt makes me weep, i call it a boo-hooty

No one had prepared Wylla for how boring being a new mother was. Maybe it would have been different had there been more than one pup, but there was almost nothing entertaining about What The Fuck. The kid ate, causing her pain. The kid slept, boring her. The kid occasionally made a rare noise, but it was nothing that Wylla found amusing or cute yet. So far, she was struggling to connect with her child and didn't know of any way to improve the situation. She felt a strong drive to keep her safe, but that was all. Nothing she would call love.

Could she ever love another being again? She had loved Ingram more than anything and his death had sundered the part of her that might have been capable of extending it to others. She wished it had been someone else. Even Lycaon; their connection had been tenuous at best what with their long separation. Even her. She would rather have died than be left behind to pick up the broken pieces of herself.

Tiercel was sleeping by her foot, but Wylla was going stir crazy, so she grasped the child by the scruff of the neck, lifted her, and carried her out of their small den, which smelled of mildew after a recent rain storm. The pup was way too young to be outside but Wylla desperately needed to get out, so she settled on the grass, tucked the tiny cub into the space between her armpit and her chest for warmth with a swift lick across her small face, and gazed out into the woods as a cool breeze blew by.