A sweeping wind flooded down into the den, making the squirming pups throw fits as they tried to find sleep. Azalea lifted her head, looking out of the den to the blizzardy world beyond. merely days before she had given birth. It was crazy and the thought made her body trill with a rotten mix of good and bad emotions. Vomiting was the first thing she remembered. Despite her body being two hearts less, she was still on the rounded side and it was something she was eager to work off. Nursing took getting used to but there was a feeling of content that she wouldn't quite shake. Getting through the first two days saw her with a new level of confidence. Isardis hadn't materialized to steal them away or to wreck her home. The pack was preparing a move to an island and the only reason she could fathom that they had waited so long was due to Azalea coming due. She had requested to Erani and Chrysanthe that they keep visitors away. She needed her privacy. It was much of a relief to have gotten it for so long and she would have to ask them how they had managed to keep her family at bay. The blizzard outside, though, made her feel a bit stranded. Her pack mates, for the most part, bundled away to the hard of the pack while she had chosen to situate herself deeper into pack territory on a lonely hill covered in trees. Licking her lips as the pups began to squirm once more, she stood up, their small bodies tumbling away, and turned to place herself between them and the drafts from outside. Using her nose she bumped them closer to her, back to her warmth and her salad bar of a belly which she would hardly stand to look at. Speech,

Azalea was back in Valhalla. They had managed to win her back, but it seemed that it had been at a price. He hadn't noticed it at the meeting, since he had been too engrossed in trying to listen to what his Aunt was going to say, but once everyone dispersed and he had gotten time alone for himself, he realized that he had missed something about his sister. Her scent was different. It was still somewhat tainted from her stay in Glaciem, but there was a new element to it; one he hadn't picked up on right away. Azalea was pregnant. Pregnant. As in his little sister had little tiny pups in her womb. But from who... He tried not to think of who his new nieces and nephews stemmed from, but one image kept popping in to his head as made the journey from his den to the one that his sister was residing in. A brief talk with Chrysanthe had revealed Azalea's choice of residence, which was where he was headed to now. Skull would be tucked towards his chest, ears folded flat, ceruleans narrowed to slits as he trudged his way through the storm, the howling winds of the blizzard deafening. He didn't care really that it was storming outside, he wanted to see his sister and dammit he would. He had to meet his new family...and find out who was the sire to those children, though he already had a hunch. It wouldn't take him long to find Aza's chosen den, the tell tale trees alerting him to it. He would push onward through the snow, making his way to the mouth of the den, slitted eyes finding his sister's figure curled up, her back to the mouth of the den. He would walk forward until his head was inside the den, allowing his voice to carry easier. Aza? It's me Gael. Can I come in? He would remember his father's warning when his mother had given birth to his baby sisters and wait patiently at the mouth of the den for his sister to welcome him or shun him. Talk like this

Perhaps not the wisest thing she could have done but Azalea had done some mild excavating in the past twenty-four hours. She had made the den cozy, too cozy for multiple full sized wolves to exist in. Erani had been forced to help her birth from outside the den. Not a wolf who liked to sit still, and with two new things to think about, she had busied herself trying to make more room without burying the pups alive. It worked to just the amount she needed, allowing room now for another wolf and maybe even three to gather in the den. Wisps of scent rolled into the den and Azalea' shoulder fur prickled. "Aza? It's me Gael. Can I come in?" The tones though were gentle and familiar and soothed the rush of anxiety and fear she had felt in the long solo second. "Gael." She said his name in reply, tail thumping lightly against the floor as she turned her head to see him. "yeah." Subdued, a good word to describe her tones. She reached down, teeth carefully encompassing the caramel and white pup before she scooted herself to the side. She placed him down, right at her paws, and reached for the other before Gael could get in the den. "I don't have a clue what I'm doing. In case you are wondering." She gave her larger brother an exasperated look. She grew quiet, looking down at the pups as they squirmed about her belly fighting for the best milk flow. "Soren and Kismet." She looked to her brother as if for approval. "Named for nothing in particular. They just kinda came to me, I guess." A light sigh would leave her lips. "I don't suppose a girl could get something to eat in this weather?" It was half a question and half a joke. She hated being waited upon but she really was hungry and something in her made her unwilling to leave.

It was just a tiny bit cold outside and having to stand out there for respect to his sister wasn't something he wanted to do all the time; especially in this kind of weather. But he would hold his tongue, waiting to see when Aza would acknowledge him. It would seem like an eternity before her voice would resonate in the cave, her tail thumping against the cave floor as her skull twisted around to face him, inviting him in. With a grateful sigh he would allow himself to cross the threshold, taking a moment to shake himself free of the snow that had been collecting across his back, careful not to throw any of it on the pups or Aza herself. Once clean of the snow, he would move towards his sister, watching as she readjusted herself and kept the two tiny figures close to her abdomen. Ceruleans would trace the outlines of the pups' silhouettes, noticing how one of them had a very definite similarity to Aza, while the other looked nothing like her. Protectiveness towards the two little ones would settle over him, though he would rather hesitant about approaching them. He didn't think they were the product of love... I don't have a clue what I'm doing. In case you are wondering. Soren and Kismet. Named for nothing in particular. They just kinda came to me, I guess. I don't suppose a girl could get something to eat in this weather? She would introduce the two little ones; Soren and Kismet. His nephews. Funny to think that his sister had two little boys on her paws. Reminded him of his own mother, with himself and his brother. Still, the fact that his sister was now a mother, a mother before he became a father was a rather strange concept to grasp. He wasn't sure if he would be able to fully get to used it any time soon. She would go on to basically request something to eat, given that she was basically eating for three. Lucky for her, Gael had a fresh rabbit he'd caught earlier just for her, figuring she would be hungry. You're lucky I think ahead lil sister. He playfully teased as he allowed himself to disappear back into the blizzard, retracing his quickly disappearing paw prints back to his den, grabbing the cold rabbit carcass in his jaws before making his way back to Azalea's den. He would shake himself off one again, allowing the rabbit to fall at her paws, limbs folding beneath him as he allowed himself to lay down before her. He would watch her quietly, trying to decide whether to ask the question that was burning his tongue. Talk like this

Her brother would bring cold with him. Shaking away the snow but unable to escape the chill that clung to his fur. He had hardly settled before she started talking, and asking for food. "You're lucky I think ahead lil sister." She looked at him innocently. Though he had been distant since her return, he was clearly still the brother she knew and mostly loved. He left the den only to come back with a frozen rabbit. She must have not noticed it due to it being still as a tree trunk, blood littering it in solid clumps. Licking her lips she realized just how hungry she was. "You are a life saver." She reached for the kill, not even letting him set it down. Once she had it she set it before her, leaning forward once more but this time to give her brother a lick on the cheek to show her thanks. When she leaned back, her eyes were bright, "Do you want to see them? Closer I mean?" She didn't really wait for an answer, picking Kismet up lightly and setting him down in the open, between the two of them. She did the same with Soren. She wiggled her body happily as she sized up the rabbit that was now between her paws. She started to pluck the fur, testing the skin to see if it had started to thaw yet. No dice. "I'm sure you're wondering the same thing everyone else is, who they're from, and the answer to that is Isardis. And trust me, I certainly didn't ask for it. I was stupid and giving myself for Gideon was stupid. Glaciem wasn't all that bad though, more so I made it bad for myself. I got to see Liberty... she's doing really well. And Vixe looked after me..." She frowned then, "And Collision killed him." She sighed, looking at the pups who had curled up together. "I came to love them when they were inside of me, so surely I can come to love them now." It was the only way she could put it, the only way to describe that it had been like and was like. She felt bound to them, responsible for them. She would not fail them, regardless of how she felt. It was like she had become the leader of her own miniature pack. Failure was not and would never be an option.