Deathless Death

Ulric watched with a tired sadness as Eska painstakingly crewed up bites of food and forced Aranea to eat them. He gave a somber nod as she explained how she'd have to be fed like this if she wasn't eating or drinking on her own otherwise she would be dead. That much was obvious from the thin, frail state of her body that made her swollen stomach look almost grotesque. He still vividly remembered how Azariah had looked when she was pregnant. She had been huge with their large litter of big pups, but she had been healthy, glowing. Aranea... Aranea had made herself into a skeleton and it tore away at him. His gaze was fixed on her stomach, feeling guilt and conflict twist in his gut. He had been hands off in this whole thing in an effort to protect himself, but it had led to this. He felt like he shouldn't have left it up to other wolves to take care of his mess.

His jaw tensed when he heard Aranea told Eska to not touch her, seeing some kind of fear in her eyes. He almost wished he hadn't found her by that lake, that she could have died and he could have gone on in ignorant bliss thinking she had run off to Abaven or wherever the hell she wanted to be. If he hadn't known what he might lose then he never would have had to care. But now that he knew there were children on the line that didn't deserve this fate - whether they were his or not - he couldn't allow her to kill them too. He nodded for Eska to follow him out of the den as he backed out of it, taking a couple steps away before sitting heavily on his haunches with a sigh.

Dread settled over him, and his ears flicked, but he had already settled into a grim resolve by the time Eska came out to where he was sitting. His silver gaze lifted to meet hers and he felt a bit of that calm she offered him just with her presence, but there wasn't much that could fully solve the exhaustion this situation brought to him. "I'm going to have Gwynevere come examine her and see if the pups are still alive," he told her quietly, a frown pulling at his lips. "If they are... I'll take care of her. It's my mess, I should be taking care of it. If not then I'll let her die." That seemed like the only logical and fair solution or at least the solution that he could live with. He wouldn't asked Eska to do this for him. He knew her stance on it and as much as he would love to allow her to end Aranea in whatever way she saw fit his own paternal instincts wouldn't allow it. If they were alive he had to try and protect them from their own mother.

Ulric Adravendi