Heron Lake Plateau shadow, my sweet shadow

She smiled faintly at his words, I'm standing by that 'anything you want or need' thing. He really was so sweet. Even now, months into their relationship, she still wondered how she'd gotten so lucky. And why, in all that time he'd been with their pack, she hadn't noticed him soon. It didn't matter now, though. He was hers, and she was grateful for everything he did -- even when he wasn't helping her gimp around and keeping her from falling into worse than her own pee.

To his question, she shrugged hesitantly and shook her head. "I...don't know. The healing won't take long, but the puppies..." It was rare that she couldn't definitively answer a medical question, but with the severity of his attack and the advanced state of her pregnancy, there was no way to be certain what kind of effect it would have on the puppies. She swallowed, her dreams lingering on her mind, and shook her head again.

She looked at him, something dark in her golden eyes, and her voice was a hoarse whisper as she added, "There's...something else you should know. About Screech." To even give voice to it, particularly to her precious mate, made her sick. But he needed to know. Now that Screech had shown his true colors and was gone from their pack and family, there was no reason to protect him anymore. She wondered if there'd ever been a reason to protect him at all, really.