The home that love built

Briar couldn't help but laugh lightly at Artorias' promise to try and make a smaller litter for them if or when they had more. She felt like the castle was already going to be bursting at the seams between their two litters and all the other families and wolves that made up The Hallows ranks, but if they were blessed with another litter she would never be the one to complain. As much as she teased and fussed about what she was putting up with by carrying their massive litters of puppies, she was never ungrateful for the fact that she was able to do this in the first place. As he leaned over to quietly tell their growing children to take it easy on her, a smile pulled across her lips as she looked at her husband with such appreciation, love, and joy. She had known from the very beginning what a good father he was bound to be, but he exceeded her expectations again and again, both in how he interacted with their children, but how he tended to her as well.

The work he did on her tail was tedious and careful and she appreciated his efforts more than she could possibly express. It was such a small thing in the grand scheme of all of the things she might need or want, but it made her feel better to have her tail back in order once more and she appreciated him so much for doing this for her. Once he was done and she returned his teasing, flirtatious remarks, he matched and surpassed them in true Artorias fashion. She couldn't help but giggle and grin till her cheeks hurt as he kissed his way up her body, telling her along the way every compliment he could. As he came to rest with his head on her rounded belly, she looked down at him adoringly, lifting her paw to stroke over the top of his head affectionately. She certainly felt far from a goddess when she was struggling to comb her own tail, but with Artorias as her mate he continued to make sure that she felt like the most gorgeous wolf in the room.

"I'm so glad I get to live this life with you," she told him happily as she lightly scratched over the top of his head, around his ears, over his cheek. A cheeky grin tugged at her lips as she added, "Did you think back then when my dad was catching us together in the barracks that we'd end up here? With five pups and just as many on the way?" Artorias had been a part of her life for so long that she couldn't remember what her life was like without him. "I love you, my Blue Boy," she said with a giggle, giving a particularly good scratch between his ears.

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius"