Blacktail Deer Plateau with heavy heart

Saena didn't say anything in response to Blue Willow's forgiveness, but only because she didn't know the words to express her gratitude. Even if her feelings toward her father, his mate and the others who had left with them would never change, she could work to be better and more patient with those who lived at the Plateau. It was her home and theirs too, and there was really no point in burning bridges with those who remained. They were more of a family to her than her real family, and she was not her father's daughter. She would not take the torch to those who cared for her over one wolf... not even Junior.

"Really?" she asked, looking skeptically back at Blue Willow's swollen belly. "But you look like you're gonna just... blow up. Does it feel weird?" The thought of being that fat someday with someone's pups made Saena's skin crawl. She couldn't imagine being pregnant or ever wanting to be pregnant, not if it meant swelling like that. "Does it hurt?" she wondered next, ready to pin back her ears in horror if it did hurt to be pregnant.