Arrow Lake like a stone

For @Aurëwen

There was a flutter of nerves within the breast of the pale dove, though she withheld the indication of her nerves by steeling herself further. The duck clenched in her jaws had been capture by chance—the bird had not seen her coming, and her fangs had been swift. The struggle, though, still saw to her ivory and honeyed pelt to drench with the water of the lake, but she had begun to dry significantly during her traipse to delivery.

Aurewen was a mystery to the woman, and Ketzia felt uncertain how to handle her presence. Stigmata had previously assured her he had garnered multiple wombs to further his legacy this season, and the pregnant she-wolf still felt the bitter taste that left in her mouth. Takiyok had been expected—but this she-wolf was new to her, and they had not met properly. Had Stigmata impregnated her and brought her to their home? The woman’s ascent within the ranks only furthered her suspicions, but it was time to release her jealousy and let it drift away with the mountain breeze.

After all, there was little she could do not, but then to befriend the supposed children of the General, was there not? Especially with her own children on the way. It would do them no good to be at odds at the many other mothers of their pack—already she feared the first mothers would find her presence unacceptable and chase her from Diaspora.

She found the whelping den of the pale mother, and the sylph took pause for only a moment before dropping the prize at her feet, her tail giving an idle sway. She uttered a gentle whine to announce her presence, lime eyes fixated upon the entrance where she believed the unknown woman to be resting—steeling her heart and lifting her muzzle a notch to withhold her fleeting concerns.