Duskfire Glacier a dog can smell a lie you know

Imaq leaned against Rye, nestling into his embrace deeper, as if physically drained by the admonission. In truth, she needed the comfort he provided -- even if only for a brief moment of weakness. She had never allowed herself to be weak, to truly process the loss of her first litter. Survival had required her to bury their memory alongside her sons. But the Hotah had provided her with a chance to truly feel it and allow it to weigh upon her, in the company of someone who truly cared. She was endlessly grateful for that. 

Her first instinct was to reassure him but in truth, it wasn't okay. She shouldn't have been forced to carry a stranger's children, love them, and then lose them. "Imaq be okay. Some days good. Some days...Imaq is sikuk. Stuck. Sad." She smiled wanly, perhaps trying to seem encouraging despite the bleakness of the situation. 

"Imaq here, with Rye, now. Imaq try to see good things. Would not be here, would not be nuliak to Rye or mother to Siku, if no bad things."