The pale coated gal lay under the light of the nearly full Winter moon. Her paws were tinted and the snow around her was strewn with dirt. She had terrible timing for den digging but the young miss could no longer fight the urge. Her bulging sides were proof enough that very soon she would be mother. Winter nights were always quiet and Azalea had fallen asleep quickly in the midst of her work, worn out from all the digging. The job was only half done, she had meant to complete it. Back legs kicked as she adjusted herself to be more comfortable her upward facing side rippling with the movement of life within. This little hill covered in a thicket of trees and with the tiniest sliver of a creek, it would be her home now. Her home within her home, rather.

OOC:YAY COLZALEA TIMES YAY. Collision knew what Azalea's fate would be. He knew that something sacred had been defiled and he knew all too well that it hadn't been the first time. Isardis was irrevocably a monster, however, Azalea had allowed herself a dark privilage before she should have. Could he question her motives? No, he took Soleil as a mate when he was three years old. He killed a man over her when he was barely two. She had always been what made his heart throb. Azalea had obviously discovered something great with...Sarak and had explored that. It wasn't her fault, and he wasn't going to act as though he had accepted it, but he would avoid the additive of stress. Afterall, he had just killed for her much like he had killed for his wife. Two down...for those you love-- its been worth it hasnt it? He was slow to come on her...she was jumpy wasn't she? so close to having her children. his grandchildren. he was excited in that aspect--heartbroken that it was...here for her. this was it. Her life as she knew it was over. IT had to be all about the younger children that would be here any day. He hoped that he had rinsed the smell of Vixe completely from him. He was...worn and tired and he knew that he likely smelled atrocious after the way he did that...but, he didn't want to bring those thoughts down on her. She knew what he did-what he was capable of doing for her. A father's love...that was something he wanetd her to remember she had. Something her children would be bereft of. "Azalea?"...the eagerness was so clear in his voice.

Dreams would carry a much lighter version of herself (one free of pups) across a sweeping plain with the greenest grass she had ever seen. It was a world seemingly reborn. The forest to her right was alive with bird song. She rushed across the open, jumping a stream just as she heard her name called. Coming to halt the pristine female looked around, ears pressed to full attention. When the name came again it was louder, closer. Her eyes would flutter open and Azalea would begin to stretch her tired legs. Blurred vision fixed on the towering dark figure before her. His scent filling her with a warmth she hadn't felt since being a young pup. "Daddy?" Her voice called softly. A light smile touched her lips as her vision began to gather itself from her temporary sleep. "Do you like my den?" As she sat Azalea remembered where she was and that she was pregnant. Also that she hadn't finished the den so it looked like shit. Her ears folded back and she began to look uneasy. "It sucks, right?" Her tone was flatter now, looking away from the intense golden gaze of her father. He was the man who had felled her friend, for reasons she didn't understand. At least, she was sure it was him. When she had found Vixe's body, still warm, her heart had dropped into her stomach and she had gotten physically sick. But she couldn't quite get out of her mind how she was sure she had seen Collision near that very same spot not long before that. He had been fighting someone she could not see. She said nothing else, just slowly wedged herself up into a sitting position.

if he knew he would have been overridden with guilt. Vixe--a friend to Azalea-something that perhaps, he would not be able to ever fathom. That was for the best and his sanity would benefit from it. Golden eyes kept down on the opening before him and eyes watched his daughter. She was really living this. A small questioning tone and the sweetest word he could have ever heard made his heart tighten. A sigh would drop free from his lips and his tail pulled closer to his body...poor thing, "Are you doing alright?" the question was quick and genuinely concerned. He knew there wasn't much he could do for her and so he prayed he was enough.

She asked him another question and he offered her a gentle smile, "It's beautiful, 'Zalea," He pressed his nose towards a side of it moving whatever the little bit that was sticking out was. She had some to learn on--but she'd never really had to care for herself. Isardis had done that while she belonged to him. That thought...was so grueling. A low sigh and he aimed to push his own backside against the greenery, "I can help you fix it up over the next few days. Before the children are here,' He knew she was well aware how close she was...would she be ready? ever? It was such a hard thing to prepare for.

"Are you doing alright?" honestly, he only hoped for her happiness. Azalea was a young one and there could be joy found here if she would just allow for it. "If you aren't being plagued with that question enough," she probably was.

"Are you doing alright?" His question came while she was still in half sleep. Her reply came as a light nod and an "mm" sound. "It's beautiful, 'Zalea," his response made her heart clench as she sat up, wide awake now. Parents were good lairs, or they seemed as though they were supposed to be. Azalea was not a good lair at all. Her eyes spoke the truth more often than not and her mouth usually had a mind of its own. "I can help you fix it up over the next few days. Before the children are here,' One side of her face pinched at the word. Stress flooded over her in waves as she thought about that word and all that was attached to it. Her body was about to be ruined and she couldn't even wrap her mind around a word. "Are you doing alright?" A question repeated and she had to wonder if he just meant if she was physically well. "If you aren't being plagued with that question enough," Her head tipped. "I--" She paused, gathering her thoughts. "Not really... I've kinda been... hiding out." Her eyes fixed on the ground, bottom lip a bit pouty as she draw a paw around in a spot of dirt, mixing it with the snow. "What will they think of me?" Her voice was small, cracking a bit even. It was clear that it had been heavy on her mind. The anxiety she felt over seeing her pack mates was unnatural and it drove her insane.

There was a lot on the man's mind. The fact that all of the additives lately had only added to the stress of his missing daughter had played a number on his mind. The destruction that befell Vixe was part of the chaos brewing in his mind. No, Collision would never fully go dark, but fact of the matter remained--he needed to let them know that his love for them was remarkable and something that was never to be tested. 'Zalea would never learn of quite his degree of animosity, if he had things his way (which often didn't happen), instead he wanted to focus on making her realize that even though her children had been conceived in the worst of ways they were still hers and they could still grow to be proper young blessings. His eyes fell from her gaze and he wished for a moment he knew what to say. He did.

The man slightly rose from the ground and moved to the side of his daughter attempting to pull her head into the breadth of his chest. bigger than her mother--but still a fraction of his size he could practically feel every cold feeling free from him at the sight of her, "You shouldn't be," His voice was soft; fatherly, and it held a wave of emotion he wasn't particular on sharing with just anyone, "I have a story to tell you," And perhaps he could already hear an internal groan--likely that of a teenager who could feel an oncoming lecture, but this wasn't the tone Collision was using, it was something softer and more personal.

"Near the same thing happened to your mother," had that ever been divulged to Aza? Likely not; it wasn't something Soleil would talk about and it wasn't particularly something he wanted to be known for. Ripping the throat out of a boy, but alas, that was the first time Collision had ever spilt blood, and it had been for the one he loved and it had been so fast, "We were in a different place; the original Valhalla, when it was first named. I was about...12 seasons (3 years old) and I had known your mother for about a year. She ever tell you how I found her? Or I guess she found me..Regardless, she was so innocent and sweet and open to the world and I just wanted to protect her. She was beautiful and intelligent and everything I could have desired. She was perfection and I wouldn't have traded her for anything. A male--I don't know his name-- crossed the borders and attacked your mother. She's not really the fighting type, in case you hadn't noticed. He...tried to hurt her," Collision's meaning was clear, "Now, she didn't have the repercussions that you did, but there were still effects. That was the first time I had ever killed anyone. At age three I spilt blood for the first time," A sigh drafted from his lips and he looked downward, "If you don't understand what I'm trying to get at--I don't care how anyone else in this world looks at you. It only matters how I look at you. And there is one thing I would trade your mother for--You. Azalea. You and your siblings. Granted, I'd throw my life down before hers was ever requested, but we are parents. You are our life,"

Azalea tried to figure what was on her father's mind. He was a stoic wolf and unlike her was good at hiding what exactly he was feeling. Her gaze mirrored that of what her mother's would look like, wide eyes looking up at the towering male and waiting for what he had to say. She was not dumb, she knew her father was wise. Wise beyond what she cared to believe often. His wisdom was held within, precious pieces of information rarely gifted to others. It served to say that her father's next actions left her speechless. He stepped near to her, sweeping her cranium to encompass her and pull her close. Her breath fled her body and she felt like a small child again. Lip trembled and she bit back the whimper that sought to wander from her dark lips. "You shouldn't be," His voice so gentle, more so than she had heard directed at her in a long time. "I have a story to tell you," She moved back from him, seating herself. Any animosity she might have felt toward her father leaving her body entirely. Like a fresh start, a slate wiped clean. Ears pressed forward, eager to hear what he would tell her. Again, just as the child she used to be, a puppy no more than knee high to a grasshopper. So eager to learn she had been back then and now days so eager to believe she knew it all. "Near the same thing happened to your mother," Her ears folded back for a quick moment, confused. Same what? Her father went on... Before her internal eye a master piece was painted. She had been told of her parent's meeting but it was still a magical thing to her and each time she pictured the scene a bit differently. However this time the story went beyond that. It became darker, twisting the contents of her stomach as her mouth dropped open. Her own mother had been... had been... Almost been. It did not surprise Azalea that Collision was the hero of the story nor did it scare her to know her father had killed a man. (aside from Vixe) Without a doubt Azalea would have done the same, or at least tried. Her mother was the most fragile and innocent of wolves she knew. Collision looked burdened though, a heavy sigh would cast from his lips and his eyes would touch the ground. "If you don't understand what I'm trying to get at--I don't care how anyone else in this world looks at you. It only matters how I look at you. And there is one thing I would trade your mother for--You. Azalea. You and your siblings. Granted, I'd throw my life down before hers was ever requested, but we are parents. You are our life," His words made her smile but she was shaking her head at the same time. "No. No you wouldn't, I wouldn't let you trade mother for me." But of course she would, because in her little family, Collision was the patriarch. And as he had proved time and again, nothing would break focus once a decision was reached. "I don't want to be a mother yet but I take after my daddy, I won't turn down the challenge." She cast devious eyes to him and a smirk on her face. "I've only told Aunt Pip... but, I do like them... or it, or whatever is the correct term. I talk to them and I eat lots." See? She wasn't doing too bad of a job.