![]() The dirt on which she laid was cold and damp but did little to temper the waves of heat that washed over her. It was a pain unlike any she had ever felt before, stealing her breath and all of the strength she could muster. Darkness cloaked the world outside, but every now and then the moonlight shone down on the trunks of the cedars, and at times she would watch from her place inside she and Rook's den as the silvered leaves swayed high above. A temporary distraction, of course. She had known the time was drawing so close, had tried to prepare herself for what she knew was going to change her life forever, but...this wasn't like she imagined. Quil was terrified ─ not of what her body was undergoing as her children fought their way to the world, but of the change their births would bring. All her life she had cherished and lost and longed for her family, and now she would have one all her own. She had so much love in her heart for Rook and for the little ones that some days it felt like it could explode. In that way, there wasn't any doubt about whether or not she was capable of caring for her cubs. However, what if...what if something terrible happened to them. What if, as she would never forget for even a single day of her life, her children had to grow up without their mother and father? What if they were robbed of their happiness and their childhood, as she and Cinder and Mace and Rowan had been. The look in Cinder's eyes was still haunting, and Quil believed in her heart that it would always be. ...Even if it was the only thing she would ever do ─ even if it meant sacrificing all else ─ she would make sure that her sons and daughters knew the love of their mother and father, in a home that they would never have to grieve for. A low whine thrummed in her throat as tears welled slowly in her eyes, pooling and slipping down her cheeks as exhaustion and emotion came over her. Her sides rose and fell, strong and steady, with each breath that filled her chest. And still hours passed...And when she had no fight left in her, when she felt as through her body was broken and her work was worth nothing, a single child was born. Drawing what strength she had left, Quil found her son's tiny, perfect body, wet and warm, and drew him near. Seconds crept past and the cub's soft cries echoed through the hollow of the cave, melting her to her very core, and all at once her fears and pain fell away. All that Quil knew in that moment was joy. |
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