Blackfeather Woods I lose a bit of myself with every selfie

Istoira was uncertain what exact role she upheld in the pups' lives - somewhere between surrogate father, second mother, and nursemaid - but just being near them was enough. 

They did little else but sleep, eat, and mess at this age but the Wound-binder cherised the moments she could stretch upon the floor of the thicket and gather them close about her - watching with adoration as they squirmed and pawed at each other. 

If her focus had seemed oriented around Moonshadow before, she was all but reclusive since the birth of her girl's children. When she wasn't guarding the den she was oft hunting for the young mother or tending the pups while she stretched her legs - Moonshadow had no family or mate, such tasks would have fallen upon another packmate but the Storm-bringer gladly accepted her place at the raven-pelted femme's side. 

She'd been drawn from the keep on one such foray for sustenance, knowing that Moonshadow would need to eat soon. 

The girl once known as Keiedia returned to the whelping den as a soft call escaped for her, ears pricking in surprise at the serendipity of her arrival. 

With a soft chuff, the firewood dipped into the lair - a summer hare clenched between her jaws. 

She dropped it before the dark beauty as a soft rumble escaped her throat, brushing her cheek against the woman's briefly. She still hadn't a clue if Moonshadow guessed the intimate feelings the former slave harbored, or if she returned them in the slightest, but she was reluctant to push and disrupt the tiny family unit she'd found herself within. 

"My lady," she greeted with a gentle smile. Her citrine gaze slid to the gorging children at her teats. "Puppies," she greeted, bending to rub her nose gently against their tiny spines, "I see you've already broken your fast." 

"Some more than others," the girl laughed softly as she stretched upon the ground, tone vaguely chiding as she poked Rowan ever so slightly with her nose. He was a strong and dominant little boy, already quite feisty as was evidenced by the shoves and kicks he aimed at his siblings.