Stavanger Bay crabs taste better when they can't grab you

Evermore provided the answer to Lane's unspoken question, and so she crunched down. Her lower incisors punched through the bottom of the crab easily, but the top of the crab--where the shell was thickest-- remained unscathed. 

Huh. A different approach, then. Lane positioned her mouth carefully around the outside of the crab, so that the majority of her power would concentrate at the edges of the crab's shell. She bit, and the shell folded like a leaf with a satisfying crunch. It was the most challenging puzzle of a meal that Lane had ever faced, but that made the prize inside twice as sweet. 

Lane nodded at Evermore's explanation, which made a great deal of sense to her. Lane was a wanderer herself; she'd only settled down in Duskfire Glacier out of necessity, in light of her accidental pregnancy. "And what has the world offered you so far?" Lane wanted to ask, but she wouldn't get the chance, as Evermore chose that moment to offer her latest judgement.

"I like you, Lane," she piped up, and Lane lifted her gaze from the crab, a bit dumbfounded. From Lane's point of view, she hadn't really done all that much to earn this woman's favor, apart from being patient with her prying questions. Then again, perhaps that was enough.

Lane wouldn't get the chance to recover from her surprise, because Evermore was quick to offer yet another opinion that would take her aback. "You're going to be a kickass mom."  ...How in the world did Evermore figure that? It stood in contrast to every other message she'd gotten along her journey so far; most wolves had implied she was doing the wrong thing, leaving her home territory while pregnant. 

"Thanks. I wish I had that same confidence." Lane was so grateful for the praise, she actually answered Evermore's latest nosy question. 

"They're the alpha's. His name is Wintersbane." Lane shrugged, indicating that there was nothing to really tell. No love affair, no juicy details to delight her new, rather gossipy friend. Except maybe one. "..He's the one who wanted kids," Lane explained. "As for me, I didn't really..." she trailed off, then picked back up after a pause. "In the moment, I didn't realize this would happen." Lane tossed her muzzle over her shoulder, indicating her pregnant belly. 

"Now he gets his kids, I guess," Lane sighed, "With me, and with Tzila, and with whoever else he covers this season..." Ah, fuck. That came out a little more bitter than Lane intended. She wasn't upset at Wintersbane or Tzila, in truth. In all honesty, it was her mixed-up feelings toward Rye's and Imaq's coupling that had triggered the ill-feelings, and now those feeling were being displaced onto the father of her litter. Weren't pregnancy hormones such a joy?