Sawtooth Spire Will I ever be more than I've always been?

Set March 4th, posting a day early just because it works best with my work schedule!

The last days of Wylla's pregnancy were spent in agitated pacing. She'd worn a track in the dirt outside her whelping den and her paw pads were sore and bruised, but she couldn't help it. No position was comfortable. She was restless if she tried to stay still, so walking was the lesser evil, even if it took its toll on her body in other ways. She knew, unlike the last time when she'd known jack shit, that her time was close, and in the late hours of the night, she retired into her den to prepare.

Labour started in the early morning and lasted an hour, maybe a little more, before the first meaningful contraction came. The pup she birthed was larger than Tiercel had been, or maybe it just felt harder because this time, she wasn't walking around mid-labour thinking her stomach was just upset. The pain was more immense and the process slower, but in the end, she cleaned a healthy dark-furred baby boy while retching on the amniotic sac (still disgusting, btw), christened him @Thade, and nudged him into place along her stomach.

Having decided that she was only carrying a single pup this year, Wylla laid her chin across her forelegs and prepared herself to sleep. The pain stretched taut along her abdomen refused to wane, and for a long time, she ignored it. Her memory of giving birth before was hazy; hadn't it hurt for a while afterward? She was convinced that it had and she fell into a light doze until at last her body had enough of that shit and reminded her sharply that bitch, you're not done yet.

Because she'd been basically sitting on the process for at least half an hour, the second baby came fast compared to Thade. A much smaller cub from first appearances, and a lighter shade than her brother, but still dark brown for now like most cubs tended to be. @Phaedra, she decided. Wylla cleaned her as well, thinking painfully of Tiercel all the while, and when the pain began to ebb away, she finally curled her body around the two newborns and closed her eyes. Even if she slept now her ears remained alert, her senses hyperfocused. The only wolf who had a hope in hell of getting close to her now was @Mahler, and even he was likely to be chased away with bared teeth for at least a few days.