Sunset Valley Torn

for @Blackfell, after Gjalla heat

the sky hung low and bruised with the coming storm.
morwenna stood just beyond the lip of the den, where earth gave way to stone and the scent of crushed moss clung thick to her limbs. behind her, the world was quiet. the pups, bellies full, lay tangled in milk-warm sleep. ishmira rested curled near the back wall, breath even, while other shore slumbered beside her with her chin resting lightly atop one of the babes.
[inent]outside, all was still—save for her.
she did not pace. pacing betrayed unrest. instead, morwenna stood rooted, tall as a sentinel, and let the weight of the evening wrap around her shoulders. gjalla’s heart. it echoed, throbbed like a bruise she could not press without flinching. this was wrong. this—whatever this was between her and blackfell—was not what gjalla deserved.
but gjalla did not know.
and still, morwenna had called him here.
the wind curled around her ankles. somewhere in the hush of trees, a raven muttered. blackfell would come soon.