Duskfire Glacier while centuries fall apart

knowing that tzila, his wife — he thinks proudly and with soft marvel — is due to give birth any day now wintersbane stays as close as he can while not wishing to totally shrug off his duties as leader. he keeps his patrols in smaller sections, always alert. it had started with the birth of his and lane's children and he feels the familiar budding of anxiety with his wife's due date looming ever nearer.

unlike lane, tzila does not call when she goes into labor. wintersbane only realizes that her time has come and she is laboring to bring cubs into the world when he returns to greyfall with two plump hares clutched betwixt his jaws. he deposits one for lane and drops the other casually along the side of tzila's birthing cavern ( den? ), ignoring it in lieu of seeing his newborn children whom he hears squeaking and suckling.

he ducks into the den, using the bulk of his body to block the entrance ...because tzila is his wife and these children — all three of them — are his. true or not, he can see bits of himself — and his father, arturo — in them all. they are beautiful tzi, wintersbane croons with warbling affection in the smoky timber of his voice.

one girl and two boys; perfect just like their half siblings.

like with lane and his children, the love he feels for them blossoms rapidly beneath his breast, warming him and knocking him breathless all at once.