Duskfire Glacier who told ancient faerie stories to each other.

Imaq allowed her own broken graze to trail out to the darkened plateaus of ice and permafrost, to the distant shadowed patches of vegetation and the outlines of the evergreens. The slight flicker of her ears was the only sign that she heard the Beta, as if she too wanted to ignore it and avoid looking directly at the distended swell -- if only just for this moment. Just to be Imaq, medicine woman and hunter of Duskfire again and not someone who might be carrying tiny future members of the pack.

"Imaq...just want them to be okay." She answered at last. She truly didn't have any hopes for a big litter or small litter, boys or girls. She just wanted them to be safe. Alive, she thought, with a heavy swallow. 

"Iana?" she asked, somewhat timidly, after a heartbeat had passed. "Why sad about pups?" It was clear that Selkie didn't just mean her own, that she was referring to how the entire whelping season seemed to have the wren down.