Phoenix Maplewood This one's a contradiction because of how happy it sounds

This is for the pups because stressed Saena = premature birth! Forward dated 1 day to accommodate my timeline, heh. @Shreya and @Luke, being their grandmother and Saena's closest friend and stand-in dad, are also welcome to visit at this time. Everyone else will be sent away!
Note: Saena has changed her surname back to Redleaf so the pups will also have the Redleaf surname. :)

In early dawn on a Monday, the mewling cries of newborn wolf pups muffled by dirt walls broke the quiet of the maplewood's very heart.

An exhausted and hurting Saena curled around them, half asleep but unable to truly drift off. Their cries pierced her calm and kept her suspended between sleep and wakefulness, but it wasn't as bad as it could be. With nothing to compare it to, however, Saena found it headache-inducing. The black-furred babe was wailing incessantly against the curve of her deflating belly while the one that seemed pinkish in the den's gloom was scrabbling around for purchase in her fur. The red-haired one was tucked beneath Saena's foreleg, where she quietly hoped it would suffocate so she would never have to suffer looking upon a lookalike of her direst enemy.

But of course, it would not suffocate, as Saena's instincts kicked into overdrive. She wouldn't allow it to die, but to say she was disappointed that one was black like her cheating bastard of an ex and one was red like Fox was a massive understatement. On appearances alone, Pinky was her favourite, but she was disappointed that none were white like her, being unaware that she, in fact, would've turned out much like Fox if not for her piebald gene.

"Stop, Milo," she muttered wearily at the crying black boy. She hadn't wanted to use that name. As she told Spring, it was a reminder of things she no longer wanted to think about, but in the aftermath of birthing them, she had no brilliant revelation on names. Milo was the only one that came to mind. Turning herself slowly, she slung a foreleg over Pinky to suppress her wriggling, and then her eyes fell upon the now-exposed red pup near her leg. "Indra," she decided. It was disappointing because she wanted to name the thing Vile Witch of the South after Fox herself, but that was no name for a wolf, and Pinky didn't look like an Indra. She shuffled her hind leg forward to scoot the red-haired girl nearer, although she didn't know to what end.

On that note, her eyes fell to the pinkish wolf beneath her leg. In time and outside the dark of the den, her true fur colour would become apparent, but for now the child was pinkish from her nose to her tail. "What the hell am I gonna call you," she wondered aloud with a frown. "Pinky" wasn't a very wolfish name, either.

OMG !!!! best birthday ever

against soft, pale fur the little thing mewled, blind and deaf to every aspect of world save for the mother's warmth. insensate as she was to the natural order of things, the little pup knew and dreaded the flooding, sudden absence of warmth. she felt her world entire overturn as saena shifted her and she issued a bleat of protest, though fell to silently mouthing saena's hind toes in search of sustenance.

Laurel Redtail came into the world kicking and screaming. Once able and very much willing, she started to call out towards whoever or whatever was around her. The wails of protest did not cease until she was nudged towardsa source of food and then she eventually latched on, content, if only for a little bit.

When Saena sequestered herself to the den, her pregnancy drawing to a close and motherhood dawning, the white wolf went in search of food. To his disappointment, the maplewood featured no prominent sources of water, and not wanting to stray from his new territory, he was forced to look to small game instead of fish. That it was a fresh rabbit trail he encountered first dictated what he would hunt, and hunt he did. It took him the better part of an hour to secure a catch.

His approach was cautious, not knowing if the pups had been born and not knowing how Saena would receive him under these circumstances. Yet as he, one tentative step at a time, drew near, his ears swivelled forward to the softest, squeakiest sounds, and soon his nose caught the whiff of them too. He was struck not by feeling, but by the complete lack of it. His old self would have been warmed endlessly to hear and smell the newborns, but he now... was decidedly impassive.

He felt only the same sense of protectiveness and affection for Saena that he had always felt, laced with a sentiment of duty. He laid down near the den entrance with the rabbit dropped in front of him.

When the atmosphere in the territory because heavy and anticipatory, the creaky one progressed southwards towards Saena's birthing den. Noise and warming scents came from within, and outside lay a calm sentinel prepared with a fat spring rabbit. He was one of the prettiest males Shreya had ever seen, and his very presence suggested that he was special to the new mother.

Shreya herself had been glad and slightly surprised to have been accepted into the new litter's life, for while she was their great grandmother she was also the direct ancestor of a certain Reek. No matter what he'd done, it was inherently sad that (as she understood it) he would not be allowed to see his pups for a while, but Shreya imagined he'd make more with Tavi in the months to come.

Ah hello, she greeted the curiously blue-tinged male. Saena invited me, she explained foremost, for while an old lady was no threat she also needed to get past the bouncer. She sat. How's she doing, do you know?

just throwing another post in bc museful despite literally being a potato

she wriggled, feeling an absence of comfort. with a shrill wail she moved from her mother's feet, clambering insensate and carelessly towards warmth -- except, in the opposite direction. her efforts were short, for her stamina was lacking -- in mere seconds she slumped to the ground and whimpered. guided by some unseen sense she was not yet aware of she found laurel's side and climbed about her, seeking blindly for her mother's teat.

Ah, yes, feel free to ignore post order here. ^^ I've had a long week, sorry for delays!

Beyond the squeaks and whimpers of her newborns, Saena heard nothing. The forest outside felt hushed. Whether that was a good omen or a bad one was well beyond the young mother's reckoning, but she imagined there were ghosts of animals crowded about the den. They seemed to appear to her only when good or bad things happened, the result of various forms of stress, which she couldn't fathom.

The increased wailing of one cub caused Saena to lift her tired head, and her eyes focused on the foxish one. "Shut up," she grumbled, shifting her foot away as toothless gums scraped against her toes. She threw a foreleg around Indra as best she could and tumbled her off of Pinky and onto the ground, where Saena maneuvered her snout to nudge Indra toward her belly. The sensation of nursing was terrible but it was necessary. She knew that down to her bones, and she winced when both Pinky and Milo latched on.

The sound of muffled voices outside drew the young mother's attention and she made a low noise of welcome, for she recognized Shreya and the only other wolf who was likely to be near was Luke. While she wanted to rise and socialize, instinct kept her down for now; dislodging her feeding cubs seemed like a bad idea, but the adults outside would know she was awake and alive.

He soon had company, and narrowed his mistrusting eyes upon the older female as she drew near to the den. She greeted him kindly, and informed him that she had been invited by Saena. A small, barely audible growl bubbled in his throat, but he forced it away, and shuffled in his spot as he attempted to unroll the tension from his muscles and forbid his hair from rising. He did not respond right away, drawing a deep breath which he slowly exhaled.

"She's fine... I think," he said, his brows briefly furrowing as he glanced at the den entrance. He wanted a closer look but preferred not to risk having his nose chomped off by the new mother. As he understood it, new mothers could be savage. "I'm Luke." He offerred, attempting to be friendly despite himself.