The foxlike woman was clearly experiencing significant discomfort; her elegant features tightened and pinched around her bone structure, those wary eyes still not quite meeting his - either afraid to betray her weakness or afraid of crowds in general. Kaukab’s heart went out to her, even though he could hardly understand why someone would act so tense in their own home - but then the woman cried out her name on a yelp of pain, petite frame convulsing, limbs folding like paper underneath her, and the starry prince was dashing forward before he actually understood what the hell he was doing. He noticed now that the exotic damsel was heavily pregnant; her water had broken, soaking the grass beneath her in a saline puddle, and her abdomen twitched and shuddered with every contraction that rippled through her uterus. Kab’s mismatched eyes went absolutely huge with fascination. And terror. But mostly fascination. He had never actually watched someone give birth - and while he might have asked about the process in an offhand manner to Macaria, they hadn’t actually gone into detail. Puppies were something Kaukab didn’t want to CONSIDER until he himself were much older, and the twins too, when they all…

A sudden intense heat flushed under his spice-hued fur, and Kaukab forced himself to stammer something to comfort the poor Ethiopian she-wolf. “M-miss Olya? Do you need--” He had to skid to a halt when none other than Siku snarled like a demon right in his face, the colossal alpha throwing himself between the worried lad and his apparent mate. Thinking he was about to be killed - and not understanding why - Kab craned to peer around the king’s broad white shoulders. “I just want to help her! What if she… ?” But lo and behold, nothing had to be done. In the short span it had taken Kab to run across the terra, for Siku to get in his way as if they young lad presented a threat, Olya’s body had pushed the pups out with record efficiency. The russet boy’s ears pricked at the sound of tiny squeals emanating from the small litter - teensy lungs opening up for the first time. Siku abandoned his aggressive stance to pad over to the new mother, his previously enraged lyrics smoothing into a gentleness that shocked Kaukab to hear. At least, when it came to Siku’s own family, the emperor could be kind and understanding. Kab just hoped he never did anything to infuriate his new leader - not that he grasped what had set the black-and-white soldier off in the first place.

It was then, while Kaukab slowly recovered from his fright and Olya shared a private moment with Siku that the twins reappeared. They must have concealed themselves behind one of the many boulders that guarded Graes, for Kaukab had not known they were there. Immediately his ears pricked upright, eyes of midnight and sunlight widening as he saw his black-and-white brides. “Girls? I’m so relieved… I wasn’t sure where you had gone.” But something was terribly wrong. Kab didn’t realize what until Kallik screamed for her sister. She chased after Nukilik, who as stalking slowly toward the newborn pups with a mask of tight anger and… was that pain? The enraged twin turned on her concerned sister and tore her cheek open with her fangs - and that’s when Kaukab threw himself into action again. Disregarding Nukilik’s challenging stance, the feverish glare in her dark green lanterns, he approached relentless, head held high…

And when she fell to the terra, Kab was right there, laying down in front of her to hold her head between his white-speckled paws.

“Nukilik, calm down.” He didn’t touch her. Not yet. He just wanted her to focus on his voice - not the one in her head, and not the one of her overbearing father yelling at her. “This isn’t you. If I told you to do something ridiculous, you’d just laugh in my face, right? So laugh now. You don’t have to listen to that voice if you don’t want to.”