Sleepy Fox Hollow [m] i am sorry my love's too much for you

They had lost one year to the melodramatics between them, and the delay this year had sparked a fear that her fertile years were behind her. Wylla was happy with and proud of the children they had, nearly all grown and departed, living independent lives and hopefully flourishing, but...

Suppose this was the last year available to them?

Confirmation came in the form of a gentle clack of her teeth, a mischievous light in her eye, an urgent bump of her muzzle against his own and finally Wylla clambering to her paws with the sudden need to run and warm up her muscles. The old wound still ached, especially in cold weather, and was always stiff when she first awoke, but it was easy to ignore the stretching of scarred tissue just then.

With a coy wave of her tail, Wylla darted away from Mahler, curving an almost elegant half-moon to look back at him with a laughing and relieved expression.