Sun Mote Copse We are legion

Niamh wasn’t sure why she felt this way- but she’d caught sight of two mallards on the river while she was patrolling and it made her cry. Not just simple, happy tears but ugly, choking sobs. The mallards were a pair, a male and a female, and she imagined that soon they’d have ducklings. But the male never strayed from the female’s side, and something about that upset Niamh, who let the ducks be, as they paddled on the cool, open waters, and continued to trudge along the borders, sniffling and crying as she went.

At the forefront of her mind was her upcoming litter, and the fact that she wouldn’t know which surname to give them. Colt hadn’t proposed to her (again) yet, and she didn’t want to push things so she’d refrained from doing so on multiple occasions when the impulse had struck. But she knew she’d been ready to officially be his mate as soon as she’d joined the pack- but that he hadn’t been. Insecurity- an unfamiliar feeling for the golden female- made her doubt herself, and question how much he wanted her, filling her mind with outlandish thoughts. Would he ever want her to be his official mate again? Was he only sticking with her because he knew how much she wanted kids? And after they were born, would he love them more than her? While she knew that Colt loved her, the change in hormones played the culprit and made her hyper-sensitive and emotional. She walked along slowly, still checking the borders and reinforcing markings, but couldn’t stop the tears that trickled down her cheeks, renewed with each completely ridiculous doubt that came to mind. Her vision blurred, she didn’t notice that Wildfire had begun to catch up and follow her tracks, so she simply kept forging her way ahead, audibly weeping as she went.