Dragoncrest Cliffs walking around with them blue faces

Before she could stop it, a laugh burst out of her at Hermes’s remark. I’m sorry, she hastily apologized, raising a paw to her mouth. He looked rather genuinely crestfallen, after all. I feel that, Meerkat added with much more reservation, letting out a sympathetic sigh and moving her paw from her muzzle to pat gently at the boy’s shoulder.

She mused on his words for a moment longer before saying, But the thing is, most wolves do tend to run around a bit. I almost think it’s better to re-frame our perspective than hope against what’s oftentimes inevitable, you know? Meerkat had actually thought about this in regards to her own offspring, recollecting how much she’d hurt Towhee simply by leaving the nest. Obviously, that’s way easier said than done, because being left behind never feels good. And it’s harder when they don’t say goodbye… Again, she patted Hermes’s shoulder.

Her mind strayed to her future kids again. Meerkat had already made up her mind to raise them under the assumption they would disperse. It was her goal to prepare them for the world, make sure she gave them all the love and care a mother could possibly provide, as well as the tools for survival without her. Obviously, she would love it if her pups decided to stay close, but just in case, she wanted to prepare herself. One day soon, they would leave her womb. Someday beyond that, they might leave her side, with her bittersweet support.