Whitebark Stream And go with you, I'll go with you

Tags for reference.   :)

Artyom, blissfully unaware of anything beyond the bubble of happiness that enveloped his family's hollow, was mid-story as he and Dawn prepared to settle the pups for bedtime. He swept his warm gaze over each of his children as their eyes grew heavy, as the struggled against the lull of sleep in eagerness to reach the end of their father's tale.

Luckily for the golden Alpha, they had each drifted off to dreamland by the time Chai's call demanded his attention. At once, his chest tightened and his belly flip-flopped with dread, and he exchanged a troubled glance with his mate before making a swift exit.

Please no, he thought fiercely as he hurried in the direction where his pack-mate's howl had sounded, please. He was not to know what fate had in store for Whitebark Stream that night, but at the forefront of his mind was @Aphrodite and @Surya. Had grim news come about one of them, or both? The latter had been for a number of days now, the former far longer, and he gritted his fangs at the darkness swept through his thoughts.

What he arrived to was far from what Artyom expected: the powerful Kavik, crumpled to the ground with fluid pooled on the ground beneath his chin, smeared across his muzzle. Beside him was Grezig, as still as her raven-furred companion. Even more heartbreaking, their children were there to witness such a scene, and Artyom felt the air leave his lungs as he shifted to look solemnly in search of Chai's cornflower gaze.

"What happened?" Artyom asked, his tone hushed, though it was hard to tell if she'd been there soon enough to help or if she'd simply found them this way. His deep frown communicated his sorrow; they'd mostly been a private family, yet he could not recall them appearing or smelling sick when last he'd visited. He looked over the children once more, two little orphans, and said: "I think we should take them to Dawn." That way, they would be warm and safe, and would have the company of his own cubs. When Alsek and Peke were cared for, then the adults could turn attention on where to bury their parents.