Gone Tomorrow
Kick.
With a grunt, the she-wolf awoke. Her groggy green eyes were half closed with sleep, but she looked in the general direction of her enlarged stomach. Not caring, she growled at the object, as if warning it to try and kick her again. Despite that it was a part of herself, one that she could not get rid of, she would be dammed if she would continue this torture any longer.
Kick.
Her challenge was called, and with a huff, the leader of Swift River threw her head down on her paws in defeat. She knew that she would love them the moment she saw them, but right now, she wanted to strangle the little demons inside of her. Indru only had had to deal with her miserable mood changes and her growing appetite, he never had to deal with any physical injuries like she was. Clearly, next time they had puppies, she was going to insist that he became pregnant instead. That seemed like a much fairer deal in her mind. Speaking of her mate, he was missing in action currently. Head lifted off her paws and she looked around, noting with dismay that she was the last one in the den...again. The sunlight was bright at the den entrance, disrupted only by a few dangling roots that they had missed when doing den preparations. Squinting her eyes against the light, she grunted and hoisted herself to her feet. The top of her head barely scraped the ceiling, and she wondered how Indru, who was a whole foot taller than her, could stand it. Snorting, she shook her head at her mental joke and began her slow waddle out into the daylight.
Kick.
Opening her eyes fully as she emerged into the world, Corinna took another glance at her stomach and growled fruitlessly at it. She had to be approaching her due date, right? She honestly didn't know - she was a first time mother and had never witnessed a birth before. But the kicks were becoming more frequent, and her stomach was dropping lower - that had to mean something, right? Trudging forward, the pregnant leader left the confines of the pack den behind her, and waddled away towards the sound of the river. She was thirsty, and who knew when she would be able to get water next? Kick. Growling, she leaned down over the cool liquid, salmon colored tongue lapping it up greedily. She supposed she had to drink enough for her puppies too, at least that was her excuse whenever she ate and asked for more of the pack kill. Her packmates were all kind and gave it up to her, but afterwards, she always felt bad. The more pregnant she became, the less able she was to participate in the hunts, but yet she took the lion's share of the kill. Kick. "I'm sorry," she whined pathetically at the rushing water. There wasn't anything she could do about it now. Some things were simply irreversible.
Kick.
Turning around, Cori didn't even bother to growl at her stomach this time. It was going to do what it wanted to, regardless. Sometimes she wished she could just have Indru rip it out and be done with it, but she knew that wasn't the right answer. She would love her puppies, once they were tangible beings and not these mysterious kicks. Kick. Growl. Kick. Snarl. Kick. Water?
She was waddling back to the den, not intending to stray very far, when she felt her lower body suddenly become wet. Looking down between her front legs, she looked underneath her, noting with alarm that there was far more than an iota's worth of water on the ground. Where had that come from? And then she felt it, the first contraction. Pain like nothing she had ever felt ripped through her, almost forcing her to the ground. Scrambling, she half crawled her way to the entrance of the den, and breathed a sigh of relief, followed by a grunt of pain as another contraction hit her. "INDRU!!!!!!!" It was a pathetic attempt at a howl, more like a whine/scream combination. Tears beginning to collect from the pain, she lay against the back wall of the den, trying to make herself comfortable as the contractions grew stronger.
And then, something strange happened. Instinct took over. She began to push, working with the contractions of her body. A loud gasp came from her throat as she brought her first born into the world. Turning her head to look at him, she beamed. He was beautiful, despite his being blind and deaf and covered with the gunk from her stomach. Leaning forward, she licked his small and frail body, urging him towards her breast. As she did so, she cleaned off the gunk and chewed off the cord that had kept him attached to her when he was inside her womb. Laying back, she grinned satisfactorily - she had given Indru a son.