Bearclaw Valley the conqueror worm

just a cameo, continue on without waiting for me! <3

beset with many of the challenges of fresh mothers, astara often found herself catching pitiful snaps of sleep between cleaning and nursing. she did not know it, but day by day her heart for these little grubs grew -- and while she was neither affectionate or overly emotional, astara was an attentive, protective mother.

she knew little of the taboos that forbade wolves from entering her den, but outside visitors she would tolerate, so long as they did not touch. her fur bristled as she recalled the alien feeling that had overcome her as evien had grabbed her child.

she woke to the sound of a wolf outside; catching a glimpse of a shadow as it passed along the den lip, astara watched dully -- but not inattentively -- as her child bristled like a startled catch while a dead worm ceased its writhing at her feet.

galena. astara measured the lioness with a careful gaze. so long as her child was not touched and the den not breached, the blackbird would allow it; after all, there was no better time to learn than early on.