Swiftcurrent Creek the road that led us here

he sought out @Dawn this evening, feeling utterly hangdog, but with a large hare dangling from his jaws. it was somewhat the equivalent of a big bouquet of flowers—it didn't erase his relative absence these past weeks, but at least it was something. and she needed to keep her strength up, anyway.

the litter must be arriving sooner rather than later; he'd seen, from afar, her womb fill up, her appearance morph ever so slightly from lithe hunter to expectant mother. she was bigger than ever before, and the sight of her filled him with both excitement and terror. the latter, mostly, in spades.

how could he have done this to her? he knew she wanted pups—that she had been upset at her inability to give him pups, last season. but everything had changed since then, and whatever solid ground they had stood on together last spring was gone, different, eroded. now there was only uncertainty, and how dare he bring not only a good woman into that maelstrom, but children as well?

aditya sighed around the mouthful of hare, trotting along the bank of the stream, eyes peeled for her gray form.