Nimueh had been very surprised to find Murina in the pregnant way. Even since the first time she had met the lassie, she had known and realized that Murina’s social skills weee not quite up to par. She was riddled by anxiety, and stuttered most of the time when she spoke. It did not bother Nimueh at all, but she knew all too well how cruel the other wolves of the world could be. And so, Nimueh had felt pity for her, but more than that she felt empathy. The Iberianess knew how to interact with others very well - often using her body if her tongue failed - and she never stuttered. But it was her genetic defect along with her heritage that had made her the laughingstock of the pack when she was a pup herself. She had been hated, despised, and even feared just because she was different. And so, despite the fact that Murina was not a puppy, Nimueh had decided to take her under her wing, protect her from the vicious ideologies of those with a God complex. Not for the first time in the last few months, she thought of Cynbel - he had saved her back then from the others, the mere fact that he was blooded, that he was a prince, silenced their remarks. But nothing that he had done, nothing he could have done, would have silenced or stopped the hateful glares sent her way. If looks could kill, Nimueh would be ripped to shreds and spread up cross the various kingdoms, no two pieces of herself in the same place. But she had learned to ignore them all, and nearly had lived with the knowledge that they would never understand her. But that was not why she thought of Cynbel now - she thought of him because he had left her once again. Yes, the first time around she had been the want to physically leave, but he had been the one to betray her. And now this time? He had come with vows and promises to be better, with apologies of sorrow falling from his blighted lips. But where was he now? All of his promises were empty and hollow, with no substance. Nimueh shook her head - now was not the time to think of him. Not when one of her pack members was going through the painful contractions of labor, just as Nimueh had done herself only moments before. Nimueh had tried to make light of it, calling it easy. But there was nothing easy about it. And there never would be - that was why females have been made stronger than males - in order to survive the dreadful process.

Nimueh was torn - half of her wished to focus upon her pups, while the other part of her wished instead to take care of her figurative child, Murina. She settled for grooming her three surviving pups, while coaxing Murina through the process. After all, her offspring were deaf and blind, they would not be able to hear the word she spoke… But they would feel the rumbling of her chest and smell her breath and her perfume all the same. And so, Nimueh made sure that each of them was completely dried. And afterward, she licked at the rumps both to express them and to stimulate them to nurse from her teats. All the while, she called out to Murina with the words of encouragement and support.

“Keep pushing Murina, you can do it.” And - “That’s it! Here comes the first one!” And of course there was the - “You’re doing great, Murina, keep going! I know you can do this!”

Murina was lucky in that she only had two pups destined to be her legacy from this litter. The process took shorter with her than it had with Nimueh, and Nimueh was glad for her. Life was hard enough on Murina without her having to feel overwhelmed by a large litter. But any feeling of contentment that she had felt had quickly slipped away when Murina told of the pups’ parentage. After all, it was what Nimueh feared - that these newborns had not been begotten out of love, but instead out of force. She could feel her hackles bristling down her spine, but she managed to suppress the growl that sought to escape - she did not wish to worry her pups, all three of which were already sleeping.

“I am sorry indeed, dear Murina, that you had to endure and suffer through such a thing. I have suffered the same before, and I know how terrifying and traumatizing it can be. The only words of comfort that I may offer are these two facts. The first is that the joy you will get from these pups, and their love for you will soon greatly out shadow the pain of the memory of the rape. The second is that even without them, your body will heal, your heart will mend. It will take time, but eventually it will be just a bad dream. The more weeks that pass and the more time that is put between you and it will blur over the details, will ease the pain.”

Nimueh looked to Murina‘s pups and smiled.

“I suppose that this is one way to breathe fresh life into a pack - overwhelm it with puppies! Now their names - have you a reason for them, or did they just come to you? I have realized I know not much about you. I did not know if perhaps they were family names, or perhaps titles from stories were told when you yourself were young.”

Instinctually, Nimueh curled a little tighter around her own whelps, before resting her head on her paws. Each second that passed, she was fighting exhaustion, fighting the urge to fall asleep and rest. And it was far from easy, but she did not want to slip into the sweet release of slumber until she was sure that Murina would be content with her pups, that Murina would know what to do with them. And she wanted to be there to answer any questions, should Murina have any.”