Duskfire Glacier [m] Tshärr

She goes still when he takes her belly under paw, in full acceptance of their tryst’s outcome; for once there might not be cubs, but many times now had they tethered. That rebelling fear is tempered by the calm intrigue imbued in the northern face and she reaches past his arm for the snow, returning to their form of communication through mark-making.
In the glistening powder she smudges out of pair of oblong figures; one small, the other larger, topped with pointed ears.
“Wife; mate,” Ayovi indicated to the smaller, blue eyes searching for comprehension from the bear. “She is claimed by a man. She keeps his den, raises his children, studies healing.” Next her paw grazes the second. “The man— husband, he hunts and protects them. It is an economic arrangement.”
Her throat tightens, for this was only the structure within Ahsēer. She glances long into Skorpa’s face, mind brimming with all the questions she cannot ask and the silent furor that a pack would not want her if she was discovered to be carrying a rogue’s cubs.