Aurielle Adravendi

She padded lightly along the top of the wall, gradated blue eyes scanning outward into the outer territories for anything amiss. The long tresses of her tail dragged lightly over the stones, and as she found the end of her circuit ahead, she slowed, tipping her head up to sniff the air. Soon enough, she’d be holding her first meeting, father or no father, and she wondered if she should seek out the rest of the pack first to see if they had any news to be announced. Her head cocked and she turned her gaze inward, staring across the plains. Gwen worried her slightly. The older woman had suffered a fall while out venturing, and had struck her head. Now, the young Archangel wanted to check in on her fellow leader and friend, to be certain no lasting ill effects remained. Leaping from the wall she loped across the plains, pausing at the center and lowering her haunches to the ground and tipping her head up to howl for the true-blooded Adravendi in her usual pleasant tone. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Aurielle's timing was... interesting. Gwen had just discovered a fact about herself that she had been dismissing as impossible, silly, even ridiculous, for quite some time. But sitting there in her den, she had just been forced to confront the truth, at a sudden movement that was clearly not normal digestive gurgling slammed into her abdomen from the inside.

She was pregnant.

But... how?! She hadn't mated with anyone, hadn't even more than considered it since she had flirted with Diarmuid the winter before. Yes, there had been her feverish delusions, the hallucinations after she struck her head... but for goodness sake, it wasn't like the ghost of her mate could have gotten her pregnant. That was simply ridiculous!

It was at that moment that Aurielle's call came to summon her, and Gwen winced. How on earth was she going to explain THIS? She had wryly told Aurielle and Paladin about seeing her husband, though not the salacious details, just that she had hallucinated seeing him. It was important that the healer know all of her symptoms to treat her properly after all, but obviously it was just a delusion.

Or was it?

Still in shock, steps dragging, she moved to catch up to Aurielle by the border. Standing there for a moment, staring at the yearling with pupils wide enough in shock to nearly swallow the blue in her eyes, the warrior finally just blurted it out with no explanation or preamble, her voice incredulous. "I'm pregnant."

When Gwen came into sight, Aurielle felt a flutter of concern rise in her chest. The older woman looked stunned. Shocked. The young leader opened her mouth to ask what was wrong – if she needed to how for Paladin – when Gwenevere preempted her. Aurielle's jaws clicked shut with a soft kiss of surprise.

Pregnant? There were going to be pups in the pack? Despite the law about asking the Archangel for permission to conceive a litter, that law was really only for when the pack was wearing a size too great for the territories to support it. And to let the Archangel know to expect to be announcing a new litter in the near future.

The pack's numbers were dangerously low, however. They were barely treading water as it was. So… Gwen's news planted a seed of hope in the shimmering young woman’s breast.

“Congratulations, Gwen,” she smiled, adding in her mind, I think, since she wasn’t entirely certain if this was a development the older wolf necessarily wanted, “But… are you happy about this?”

Her query held a cautious measure of hope that she hadn’t just inadvertently annoyed Gwenevere.

Aurielle's cautious congratulations and question made Gwen blink. "I don't know," she confessed. "I think I am glad to be able to raise a new generation of my family line. I had always wanted children when I was younger. They're certainly not going to be unloved. But..." The gaze she fixed on the young alpha was pure, complete bewilderment. "It's just not possible for me to be pregnant. I haven't been with someone since... a long time ago. Years. And I'm very nearly at the end of my reproductive years to begin with." She sat down heavily, rump meeting the earth with a thud. "It's ridiculous, really, and just impossible, but it's also quite obviously happened, so to be quite honest I don't know how I feel."