May Strong Arms Hold You

Meylodi

All wolves entered the world through blood and through pain.
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Ya blo'y t'inkin' o'erwise?! she yelped, her breathing ragged with the effort. Pic'in' a fine day ta come, ain't they? her body shook, further talking impossible. Meyodi's face contorted in pain, but she couldn't stop the pain. All at once, it seemed -

A crack of lightning, their first. A son, bathed in moonlight and casting a shadow upon his back as tall as the mountains he'd call home. Meylodi looked at him curiously for a moment, so tiny and precious, her muzzle licking the little one free until his first yip nearly made her cry, and shuffled him closer. To her warmth. They needed warmth. He needed it. @Badger.

A jerk of her stomach as another contraction had her biting her tongue and trying not to scream. Soon after, their second-born. This one was a darker grey, faded tips of white; another son. She, too, licked him until he gave her a whine, nudging him next to his brother. Find your food, little ones... @Granite.

But oh, no- the pain wasn't done, nor were there only two of their children.

The next two competed for the spotlight, but a sure-black daughter came first, one white paw on her foot. Meylodi could only imagine that she was how Void looked when he was born. She got the same treatment as her brothers, licked until all the fluid was gone from her lungs, and she took her first of countless breaths. She was brought closer to the mountain they had for a mother, snuggled between her brothers. If their mother wasn't in so much pain, she'd be yipping in how interesting their nursing felt to her, tiny paws on her stomach.

A final daughter, white and grey. Licked, breathing as evidenced by a strong yip, a crack of lightning over their head as she was brought to her siblings. Their litter. A knot caught in her throat.

She counted toes, tails, ears, and noses, checking, hoping... All... fine. They were fine. Not a single, solitary thing wrong with their children, at least physically. They were larger than she'd imagined, but still quite small in comparison to their parents.

The Mother-Alfa held her children close, her heart swelling with joy as she finally turned to her mate. Their father. I t'ink I may cry-