Phoenix Maplewood I don't have the right to ask where you go at night

Saena's tongue swept her jowls for the fifth time that afternoon, finding no traces remaining of the ptarmigan eggs she had found and devoured in the plains. She was pleased with her pack's success in finding eggs, pleased that she had managed to sate her craving, and pleased that the sun was warm and the sky clear above the maple wood. There was something relaxing about the earnest onset of spring. It washed her cares away from the surface, driving them deep into her mind only to emerge when she was alone in silence or late at night, and it gave her a necessary reprieve from the constant negative thoughts she'd been having.

She clambered unsteadily atop a fallen log, momentarily heedless of her safety despite the bulge of her belly and the prominence of her teats. A fall would be disastrous, but Saena was ever sure-footed and, as she expected, did not fall. She made it to the other side of the decaying log with only a few creaks and groans from the ancient wood and sprang to the ground only to wince as her forepaw protested when it hit the ground. With a light gasp, the female seated herself and gingerly lifted her foot to inspect it for damage.

He wore a smile. He had worn one since he had discovered the eggs and enjoyed them. It felt as though his senses were alive in a way they had not been for a long, long time. The sun felt warmer, seemed brighter, and the breeze was like gentle fingers gliding along his face and ears. The birds sang with beautiful clarity and tone... perhaps it was the nature of the season. Spring always brought renewal, and liveliness. Perhaps it was the invigoration he felt at the change in his life. Perhaps both.

Yet for all this re-found contentment, and want of enjoying life once more, the white wolf deigned not to seek out his other packmates. There was only one whose company he wanted, and he sought her out, finding her sitting beside a large log, eyeballing her paw. "Step in something?" He asked as he padded closer, his tail animated in a gentle sway that swept it across his heels.

She lacked the dexterity to roll her paw like a wrist, but she gave it a few deft shakes and was just placing it back to earth when Luke's gentle timber broke the silence. She hadn't noticed him approaching, which was amazing considering he stood out in the woods almost as starkly as she did, but his voice didn't make her jump either. Perhaps subconsciously she was aware of him before otherwise sensing him. She didn't dwell on it long, instead finding his silver gaze with her own.

"I wish," she said with a wrinkle of her nose. "I just landed on it weird. I forget how heavy I am sometimes." It was a bit of an exaggeration, but for the petite woman, it often felt significant. A part of her hated it and desperately hoped the end result was worth the pain, both physical and emotional. A little cynical voice in the back of her head told her it wasn't, and it was that that she was most afraid of these days. She pushed it away and favoured Luke with a step forward and a brush of her nose across his nearest shoulder. "I just want it to end so I can move properly again," she admitted, but it was a hopeless admission. She couldn't rush the pregnancy and as far as she knew, termination wasn't even a thing.

Her nose brushed his shoulder and his own nuzzled the base of a copper ear. Her comment pulled his gaze toward her belly. "Don't think you have to wait too much longer," he murmured. He had no experienced, but she appeared to him swelled to capacity, and he could not imagine she had far to go.

"Do you have a den... I mean, is there anything I can do for you?" He asked tentatively with a cant of his head. For all his love of puppies, he had zero experience to draw from when it came to these things. He simply wanted to be there for her, to help where he could, although the thought of whose pups she bared put a sour taste in his mouth. If only he had come from her sooner... but no, he had to force himself to focus on what was now.

"Hope not," she mutters, tilting her head to press her crown into his affectionate touches. She wonders if there will come a day where she doesn't regret coupling with Reek while receptive. It's unlikely she'll ever not regret it. Perhaps when her pups are born she will find she loves them, but still, the circumstances of their birth directly contradict her desire for them to come into a proper family, and for that reason she's sure she'll always regret it.

She cants her snout and nibbles affectionately at Luke's neck, no longer frightened that Reek might learn of her own infidelity with the Bluenose. Reek has stepped out of her life now and she has full control of it. He asks what he can do and Saena lifts one slender shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Stay with me," she tells him. That's all that Luke can do for her now. The unspoken desire for his help in raising her children—and filling the spot left behind by Reek—is there, but she doesn't dare speak it out of fear he is not willing to raise the pups of another male.

He leaned into her touch, his eyes closing as he focused on the sensation of her gentle teeth on his neck. The white wolf had always been a physical creature, and he had dearly missed the affectionate contact of another. Yet, he knew without question that there was no other wolf whom he would permit to touch him. She was the sole companion to remain within the inner circle of his trust.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, returning her nibbles with a series of his own across a slender shoulder blade. Though he wished the pups were his own, what was important to her would become important to him. He would defend what she herself would defend. As if to say this without words, his muzzle descended from her shoulder to brush gingerly across her swollen sides as he stepped forward. "I'll stay with you through anything and everything. I wasn't joking when I said you're stuck with me."

Saena hasn't realized her own insecurity and fear over Reek's unfaithful behaviour until Luke insists that he's staying and she feels every muscle in her body loosen. She can't take a second blow to her confidence and security, and feels very much the victim of the past month, and Luke's presence soothes her frayed nerves. She doesn't expect anything of him, truly, but to know he stands with her brings her the comfort she hasn't felt in some time.

"Even if they all turn out really ugly?" she tries to jest, but her face falls flat when she realizes that's a distinct possibility. She's overlooked Reek's homeliness, but now his face comes to mind without the veil of budding love to make it lovelier, and she fears her children will resemble him. She doesn't know if she could handle looking into the face of her ex-mate every time she faces one of her kids, and that thought drains all the humour from her eyes.

"They won't be," he reassured her. "Reek might be an eyesore, but you're beautiful, and if you mix beautiful with ugly at worst you'll get average, and there's nothing wrong with that," he flashed her a playful grin. "Come on, let's see if we can find a snack, maybe grab a nap, eh?" He would not be taking 'no' for an answer, nudging her with the crown of his head until she agreed to come along with him. Then the pair moved deeper into the maplewood.