She was finally released. Finally out of the boggy hell that was Iromar, her fur smothered in the stench of musk and wet air. The female of duo black practically raced out of the pack land, her paws swollen from her pregnancy. Andromeda did not enjoy her stay in hell. She did not ever want to go back, not as a prisoner despite how nicely they seemed to treat her. Taking a pregnant female against her will was never acceptable. Andromeda only felt a rage deep inside of her for such a thing. The whole ordeal caused her much stress. Stress for being away from Meryl. Stress for being held in disgusting Iromar. And Azrael. Azrael was going to be so angry with her. She just knew he was going to yell at her. He was probably so stressed, angry, freaking out. She imagined he was pacing the borders of Iromar, his angel mark lit like fire in the muted winter light. She felt so dead inside without him. So dead and so alone. Her desire to see him, to feel him, to touch him again only heightened to some out of this world proportions. No longer would she be hesitant about their relationship. No longer would she doubt. She knew. It was destiny as the stars above determined. They were one and the same and yet so different. They came from the same drip from the over soul above, split in two only to be brought together again before passing on into the unknown. She swore she could taste his rage on her own tongue as if it were her own, for it was her own in some strange way.
But now she was free. Free from her own cage of mist and caves. She wasn’t sure if she would be back to Iromar. The peaceful side of Andromeda that hated war and death never wished to see them again. Yet there is a darker side that seemed to always be hiding deep within, a hatred that clung to her so gently. She wouldn’t know what she would do if she were not pregnant and was to see another Iromar wolf again. Maybe it was just her pregnancy instigating her primal urge to rip apart those who displease her, those who go against her, it was the alpha line in her, the blood of her ancestors that demanded they pay. She would do her best to avoid such thought; she was pregnant now for the first time. Azrael’s pups were insider her and they were perfect. They were a perfect merger of souls who were ripped from each other long ago in the cosmos. And they were coming. They were going to be born into this world and they were going to be great. She would see to it. Azrael would see to it.
Long and thick black legs crossed over the invisible line of territories. The line of scent that distinguished Iromar from the neutral zone. She rushed out like a bolt of lightning. Azrael was here. She knew he was here. She felt it with. Her heart raced as her soul mate came into view, a male so ridiculously handsome, it was almost as if she didn’t notice before. The dark female rushed to him like a tide rushing towards the rocks of a cliff on a beach. She wasn’t the quickest on her feet right now. Her belly swollen, she was steady until she reached him, muzzle coming in contact with fur and she felt so many things in this moment. She inhaled his scent and felt his warmth, the light of his soul beaming into her own. Andromeda whined in joy, not afraid of the potential yelling that was to be had. Yet she could not celebrate long. She had to go. She had to go fast. Inside her, her body was changing. It was preparing to release the two that was themselves. The two that were Azrael and Andromeda combined. The Angel of Death and the Leader of Men. Sun yellow eyes pushed back and potential tears as she pulled away to look at him, to look at Azrael in the eyes with her ears falling back. As much as guilt overcame her for running off to eat, she couldn’t even think about it straight.
“Azrael…We must hurry…They are coming,” she said softly in the cool spring air. It may be spring, but it was also the first day of spring. It was still cold and unwelcoming, yet the birds have started to repopulate and sing, they sing all around on this first spring day. Andromeda winced in pain as she felt her body preparing for birth, eyes closing as her body coiled into itself. It was her first contraction and she didn’t know what to expect. She just knew she had to run. She had to hurry. Her yellows burst open again, looking at Azrael with scared and yet excited eyes. It was her first birth and she naturally had mixed emotions. Hastily Andromeda pushed past Azrael, rushing her way towards Diveen. As they round near the border of Diveen, each step she took became more difficult. The contractions were coming closer together, though still so far apart. Each one hurt like daggers in her side. She just wanted to be home. She wanted to be in their den. She wanted to see Meryl and know he was okay. She whined in pain as she crossed the border. She was almost there. She could smell it. The pain was getting unbearable by now. She was losing focus. Her pace slowed many yards away from the den. Iromar had brought so much stress to the darkened female of starlight. So much stress and it was taking its toll on her body during the birth. Her large form began to stagger, her head falling as she breathed in so heavily. The world was starting to turn now. She looked to Azrael for assistance, hoping to lean on him as she slowly, paw by paw walked to the mouth of the den.
Andromeda wished she had felt relief as she crawled into the den. She noticed the changes to the home…it was larger. She was too stressed and…busy to talk about it though. Meryl. Meryl was here. The black female whined whines of joy and pain all together as she cuddled up next to him. Her black muzzle nosed the young boy affectionately, gritting her teeth in pain as she did so. Her black tassel wagged weakly behind her as she gave the boy a few affectionate licks.
“Meryl…Meryl stay with me…right here stay with me….I…I’m giving birth now, Meryl. It…hurts….I’m sorry it…won’t be pretty just…stay up here with me,” she said between huffs, her eyes closing as the pain continued on with her contractions. They were coming in closer together. Andromeda could feel herself losing her own mind. She was getting light headed. The world started to feel like a dream. Her eyes would wander about the den, searching for Azrael and never seeming to find him, searching for Meryl and getting lost. She didn’t know how long it was. It was blurring together. It hurt so much. Her breathing was starting to hurt. The world began to twist and turn. Gravity seemed to change directions every now and then. Andromeda’s head fell to the side, she was no longer laying on her belly but on her side and she hadn’t even realized it.
By now it had been hours. Andromeda’s breathing was becoming more labored. Her tongue lay outside her mouth in the dirt as her eyes stare blankly ahead. The pain was never ending. It seemed to last forever and she didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse that time was so distorted as was the world. It was a dark place. A dark place of pain and suffering. Azrael was here, this she knew. She could feel the beams of his light surround her when her eyes fell shut. She couldn’t think straight though, in the haze of pain and delirium.
“Starshade….Rosco….the ocean, my dreams,” she said weakly, nonsensical words dripping from her tongue. “Mother died…long ago……No…I won’t go with you….”she continued on, her yellow eyes now rolling about in her head.
Andromeda was no longer with the world in any mental sense. She was unaware of Meryl or Azrael. Her mind was lost in the void between reality and dreams. She worked on instinct now. Bodies were machines in their own right, organic and natural from dirt and sun, but still machines. Her brain ticked away her breathing and every beat of her heart. She began to drool like a feral animal, soft growls starting to form in her throat as the pain felt like crushing boulders on her backside. The first pup was on his way. He was a large boy, and he demanded to be set free from the confines of her womb. Her body instinctively pushed and she wailed, she wailed in pain as the first boy was released. It was an ugly sight of blood and birthing sac. The innards of creatures spread around a pup so small. Andromeda’s head shot up suddenly, ripping the sac from the pup and eating it without hesitation. She grasped him gently, surprisingly, setting him next to her belly as she lay half way on her belly.
He was a boy of black and red. Small specks of white could be seen if one looked close, but Andromeda was too far gone. Her head wobbled as her yellow eyes desperately attempted to fix upon the first pup she had even given birth to. Her head wobbled so much her nose smashed into the dirt before she picked it back up again. Her tongue lapped in her mouth as few times, obviously attempting to form words but failing…until she finally said, “Starfall.”
Her star-crowned head still swayed back and forth in her beyond light headed state, staring at the puppy as it nestled itself into her belly. She wasn’t blinking as often as she should. Everything was blurred and faded. Then another kick to her backside. It is a pain so harsh as the next boy was born. She slashed her head across to her back side but it was of no use. It was too much. As she tried to reach him, she failed. Her wobbled back and forth before falling backward. Andromeda couldn’t handle it anymore. Her body was beyond exhausted. Blood and insides were all around her backside, a pup among them and she couldn’t do anything about it. The black and red boy would need to be cleaned by someone, and fast. Azrael or Meryl would have to do the job. Andromeda’s chest still rose and fell in the dark den. She was alive as Starfall suckled. She was alive but she was weak. She was oh so weak from her stressed Iromar fiasco.
Her mind was still functioning. It was not Azrael or Meryl who could see it. It was beyond that she existed. A world of perfect clarity. A dream world, or as some would say, the other side, a place of spirits. No one really knew the true nature of dreams within the mind. Andromeda was there now though. So lucidly she traveled upon earth, the weather perfect on a clear starry night. In this world of dreams her paws carried her to a spot she often sat, on the edge of a small cliff. The air was thick with the salt of the ocean. She stopped and stared as the ocean rolled in and out with ease. It was peaceful, beautiful. It looked much clearer, so much more colorful than real life could ever be. The world was tinted with a red and purple haze, though it was stunning and seemed so natural. She looked out onto the stars and the water. She felt a presence behind her. Andromeda knew she had to close her eyes. Some say, you see more with your eyes closed. As her eyes begin to close the stars in the sky grow so much brighter, so bright that they take over the world until it is blinding.

Then everything falls to black.

Six Years - Loved by None - Followed by Azrael