The Angels Sang A Whiskey Lullaby

It didn't make her feel any better that Ulric was outside the den. Maybe she thought it would, or it should, but it's not how she wanted it. She couldn't blame him though after everything that had happened. She hated herself just as much for what she had done, even if she wanted to die knowing he wouldn't want her after.

Aranea didn't have to look at the dead puppy, she knew as soon as it left her that it was one of the ones that had been slowly killing her. She was extremely confident about the two living pups making it through the birth, it would be after that would make it difficult to survive. They wouldn't have her, they wouldn't have a mother. They would have to learn to be taken care of in an unnatural way. She knew it wouldn't be the first time something like this had happened through history.

Gywnevere had suggested the trillium again, and she had considered just for the sake of the girl, but when she came back into the den the herb was still there. Aranea had laid quiet for a moment, she had assumed one of the live ones would be next given the pause between the birth. She took a deep breath, "Gywnevere, I'm sorry. This isn't your fault. This won't be your fault." She still spoke through tears though not because she was going to die, still thinking of the man standing outside.

When she felt the next contracts, she braced again. Only this time it was unlike any pain she felt before. It had little to do with the pups themselves, her uterus and other parts were in pain from what she had done before. At first she took a quick breath, exhaling. Something that she had experienced through her other pregnancies. But it wasn’t helping her as the pups would come. She started a groan that gradually turned into a dark and loud scream, both the live pups out one after another. Both pups were moving when they came out, but one of them was struggling to breathe. The other one was weak but breathing. Aranea still wouldn’t look at them. Her body hadn’t stopped while there was still a dead pup inside of her, but she was too weak to want to try and push.

"Aranea"