when you count the days

Deathbelle was heavily pregnant. Already she’d been through this twice before so she felt like she should be well and truly prepared by now. However, she was very much aware how different each pregnancy was, and this was no exception. Her first she had been young, in fit shape, and she had Archon’s full support. She had raised and run an Empire. She had felt the smile of god upon her, and with how heavenly her first had been the second was the opposite. The rumors may have been true, and she couldn’t help but think that her union with Hannibal had well and truly been cursed.

He’d felt so right in the moment but perhaps that was the lure of temptation to begin with. She felt Iolaire’s missing presence so keenly that her brother’s open arms were impossible to refuse. And one after another the wolves she loved were ripped from her arms. Io found her way into Belle’s head much more often these days. The one she had given up for the Empire, but in the end that moment caused her to fall from grace.

A sigh slipped from her dark lips as she waddled along the border, missing Magnus more than ever. She was older now, being pregnant was much more difficult this time around. She was always sore, and taking care of herself was hard. Belle tried not to feel regret in having a litter with a man that couldn’t be beside her, but days like this made it hard. Her only consolation was that soon enough at least she would have to carry them like this much longer.