The Angels Sang A Whiskey Lullaby

With Ulric looking after her, Aranea had been caring for herself a lot better. It was easy in the presence of him, she wanted to make him happy, or feel better about the situation. After everything that had been said, she still held the lingering love for him, the love that he didn't want to return. There was a part of her that believed he was lying when he acted like there were no real, intense feelings between them. Was he lying? Maybe his judgement was clouded by what was right and what Aranea wanted.

She knew she would never see any of her children again. She knew she was going to die here. And honestly, she wouldn't want it any other way. She was failure for everything in her life. She had never found her place in a pack, she had ruined the lives of all of her children. It would be no different for these ones. They would grow up without a mother. She had failed Tyranis, Allegro, and now Ulric. She saw herself as nothing on this earth, and the fact that she had stayed alive this long to give Ulric their children, it meant more than he could know. Because she felt like if she had done this before, birthed this children healthy, Ulric would still want her off with Allegro and his children. His children, not hers.

She had been outside of the castle walls, a den that had been claimed by her while she wasn't necessarily welcomed inside. She didn't really have the strength to make it that far anyway. The days of the pregnancy felt long but she also made it by through her illusions and the pain took away most of her time. When she felt the contractions, it was a brutal sting compared to her usual belly pains, and even of her last two pregnancies. She supposed she could have foreseen the amount of pain this birth would cause, but she was taken by surprise.

Her voice let out a call, mostly for Gwynevere, she didn't expect Ulric to be here for her. As much as she wanted him to. Her teeth grit and her claws dug into the packed soil under her as another stinging contraction went through her. She wondered if she was farther into labor than she had originally thought. And she suspected the pups would be here soon.

"Aranea"