Hold the Torch Together [Gwenevere]

Gwen gave a short huff of a laugh at Aurielle's curiosity. The way she'd said it made it clear that she knew perfectly well what was going on with the older woman, and was trying not to seem like she was being nosy. "Yes, this was my birth season, and yes, I'm on my heat cycle. It's not as physically uncomfortable for me as for many who seem to be more affected by it, thankfully, though I do make it a point to try not to be around males as much. It tends to make them uncomfortable, and some males will try to use it as an excuse to be a scumbag. Don't believe anyone if they try to tell you that a male can't resist the scent of heat," she added, with a dark note to her usually friendly tone. "It's a lie. They are not incapable of resisting it, they make the choice whether to act on their body's interest or not." Those heat cycles after they'd found out about his illness, Lanse had made the decision not to touch her during her heat cycle, just in case he was able to impregnate her despite the impotence that had shown itself before. They didn't want to risk bringing children into the world carrying the genes for his illness...

Shaking her head and putting a smile back on her muzzle, she shrugged. "So if I need to be around males for official business, it's certainly not a problem, but I tend not to be as social this season. You won't have a problem with your alpha duties during your own heat cycles once your father is ready to abdicate to you," she added, in case that was why she was curious. Of course, she had more personal, emotional reasons for not being social during the winter, but she chose not to bring that up with the yearling. She... wasn't ready to talk about her history, and likely never would be.