Stavanger Bay told you not to worry

as walls crumbled around her, dalia looked forwards to the one light at the end of the tunnel. though she thought it would be best to go with @Dacio, she worried that the travel might be too much stress for her pregnancy. instead, she stayed behind with @Velen at stormrift, thinking that — if anything — she could have her pups here and then go find her brother. but she didn’t find the safety she thought she’d have on the cliffs. no, instead she found herself watching more and more wolves leave every day. caches became empty and dalia became more useless as her pregnancy came closer to term. she relied on her mate for sustenance, something he delivered without question or complaint, but it wasn’t always enough. 

she watched the downfall of the pack, until it felt like it was just her and velen. if @Rannveig was still around, she hadn’t seen much of him… but she knew that with ford missing there were still other priorities. the stress she felt that her newly found family was falling apart weighed heavily upon her — especially with velen worried so deeply about his brother. And without the protection of a full pack and unable to recall fend for herself, dalia was losing weight. she wasn’t starving, but her already petite frame was growing thinner by the day. not that wolves had set due dates, but all this taken in account for… it was no surprise that she went into labor about a week before she was supposed to.

she was at their den, at least, and had access to all her stores. velen was there too — thank god. a few hours of contractions and panting and pacing, and dalia finally gave birth to the first pup. it was a pale thing, a boy, white in color with little splots if grey. he reminded her of portia.  she licked the sac from him furiously, but was mortified to find he didn’t wail or whimper or wiggle like the pups she’d helped her mother birth. in fact, he was entirely still. a sob emitted from the young mother as she realized that none of her cache or knowledge of medicine could change the fate of the still-born pup that she nudged so furiously towards her stomach. she looked to velen, desperate. he’s not moving, she cried, as if her husband could do anything about it, he’s — he’s not… she began to repeat herself in a hushed tone, ears flat to her head as another wave of contractions rushed through her abdomen.