If anyone had told Elowen a year ago that she would one day have children, she would have laughed – loudly – in his or her face. Pups were not part of her plan, nor did she think it would be fair to inflict upon innocent youth the upbringing she had received. To be raised in a society in which your fate was determined by appearance was bearable if you happened to fit the ideal. But if you were deemed undesirable, as Elowen had been, you bore the mental burden of the outcast.

Yet today Elowen struggled somewhat to ambulate around the base of the cliffs, her belly not so swollen as others but weighted enough to take a toll on her slight frame. Because it was Maddox, she had needed little convincing to agree to a litter. In fact, she was content with their decision to start a family, but there was still a nagging worry in her mind that she would fail her children in some way, and leave them resenting her as she resented her father.

These thoughts were foolish, she knew. Her sheer determination would ensure that she would be a better parent than her father; and if she were lost as her mother had been, she was reassured by Maddox’s gentle nature that he would be exceptional on his own. Not that she was expecting such a situation to occur, but her mind constantly analyzed all possibilities.

Elowen was very grateful indeed for Maddox; they had their similarities and differences, but she felt that they meshed well – imprinting still had not been fully explained to her, so she was not aware that it was as if she and Maddox had been specifically fashioned for each other. She felt more for him after only a year than she could have ever imagined. With him, she was less reserved and less analytical; she could just be. Her months here had been happy ones, and from here could only get happier.

Slowly she wandered across Diveen to her den, her sides rippling with pulsing contractions. Where to go when the time came had been a source of internal conflict for her. On the one hand, she was comfortable in the den she shared with Maddox, but on the other she was still very private and that part of her nagged that she should locate another place in which to give birth. In the end, rationality won out with the fact that if she created a secret den, help would be delayed if anything were to go awry. Instead, she had spent a few days digging further into their den and collecting necessary items: whatever dead leaves she could find, soft grasses, and lichens from the cliffs.

Without bothering to call for Maddox, who was likely off performing his pack duties, Elowen curled upon her bed of leaves to wait out her contractions. Luckily, she did not have long to wait since she had been active throughout the morning until the pain intensified. Before long, she began to push, and in an even shorter amount of time she felt relief. This was wrong. Looking back, she was filled with horror. The amount of blood was normal, but the dark pup was miniscule and had yet to move. Tenderly, she picked him up and began to clean perhaps more roughly than she would have otherwise. It took several moments, but eventually he gave a small squeak and began to squirm. A sigh of relief escaped her and she pushed him to her belly.

She had no chance to worry again over his size before another urge to push overcame her. This time was more difficult, but not unmanageable. Within a few minutes another dark form lay ready for her to begin cleaning, this one a girl. Her eyes closed briefly in contentment as her children ate their first meal. Looking down at them, she began to fret about the first. His sister dwarfed him drastically at this point, despite his damp fur that was beginning to dry into an impressive fluff.

Aside from her worries concerning the boy’s size, Elowen could not have asked for a better experience. There was no need for a healer to bring a poultice, or even poppyseed. She was tired, but with her laid two healthy (to her knowledge) pups. They were dark and earthy, looking overall more like Maddox, though each carried some of her grey tones. The boy had a very pale silver gracing parts of his top line, which in the current light looked nearly white. Her smile faltered as she thought of how favorable her father would find the coloring. Yet thoughts of her estranged family could not keep her perfect happiness at bay, and she released a low carrying call to summon her Maddox to the den at last.