Ouroboros Spine xlvvi. ringing in my head, when you broke my chest

Major cringe- just know that Adrastus' beliefs and feelings are not a reflection of my own.

The babes were individuals, each uniquely marked and coloured, which might make it easier to tell them apart at a distance, he thought. His eye was naturally drawn to the palest of the litter, and he felt a teinge of pride knowing that at least one of them might turn out to look a bit kike him. The others, he suspected, pulled theirbhues from their mother's side of the family; so they would come by good looks honestly one way or another.

The first she introduced was his son who had been given a beautiful name that he felt would suit him. He would teach this boy to hunt, he thought; and perhaps he would follow his father in becoming the next Sivullik.

Another earth-toned pup was introduced, and he thought he could imagine her sone day in the circle of women, fashioning pelts into useful things, telling stories and catching the eye of all males who passed by closely enough to catch a glimpse of her. He would have to keep an eye on her suitors, for sure.

The gilded babe was introduced next and it didn't go without notice that he wasn't told immediately that the pup was a son or a daughter. So when Lótë explained, he found himself becoming confused. What made Inkalorë both male and female? Was Inkalorë built differently? His brow furrowed.  He was aware that occasionally pups were born with legs twisted, or had head trauma early in their life- and that as a wolf who came from a nomadic pack, those children were granted a swift and painless mercy so that the pack would not suffer from having to wait for one with any sort of physical problem. This....Was something different. They were not in a nomadic pack, but he couldn't help but feel that that which made the child special was-

"A defect."

There was a tone of vague disappointment in his voice. He listened as Lótë introduced the smallest of the litter, but he felt similarly about runts as he did about Inkalorë; something about them wasn't 100%. Perhaps Wilwarin might grow to catch up with her siblings, or at least blossom into soable nonetheless. His attention turned back, though, to the golden tinged child.

"How visible are its parts?" He asked quietly, calmly. "Perhaps it might be best if we raised the child distinctively as a son or daughter." He suggested, believing earnestly that it might create less confusion later on if they were able to assign just one gender identity to the pup.