Silken

From the first litter of Avan - a new pack member - and the pack leader, Your Final Loss (YFL). She's born during a harsh winter; her littermates succumbed to the cold soon after birth. This, coupled with the fact that the pack's breeding male, Reflect, was unaware of YFL's relationship with Avan and thought the pup was his, led to her dam becoming fiercely protective and lashing out at any wolves who tried to enter their nursing den.

This went on until the pup was 2 months old, when YFL grew restless and briefly left her alone to go on a walk. Reflect, noticing that the pup was alone in the nursing den, took it upon himself to lie by the entrance and keep her company. After a while, the frightened pup's curiosity got the better of her, and Reflect roped her into a game wherein he would playfully growl and snap at her while she tried to bat at his ears.

Unfortunately, it was at this point that the pup's dam returned. When they were met with the sight of their former mate, halfway into their nursing den and growling, they immediately launched a frenzied attack. Reflect instinctively fought back for a few moments before realising the assailant wasn't an enemy wolf, but the pack leader. His rage was outweighed by his confusion and concern, and he hastily backed away from the nursing den while YFL poked their head inside to furiously lick the pup and the rest of the pack came streaming into the area, drawn by the noise.

Reflect hurriedly explains to the Pupsitters that he was playing with the pup, who he found unsupervised, when YFL suddenly attacked; they assure him that it's normal for dams' instincts to sometimes make them wary of their litters' sire. When Reflect expresses confusion that this never happened with their two previous litters, YFL, still furious, turns on him and snaps that this pup is not his.

There's a long pause while YFL realises what they just said - in front of the whole pack - and Reflect tries to process it. No one is particularly judgemental; by this point, it's common knowledge that the pair's romantic relationship drifted apart months before. But since YFL hadn't been seen with another mate, their packmates assumed that they had wanted another litter and asked Reflect to assist, as he often did for other pack members.

In truth, Reflect had been rather oblivious to his relationship's breakdown and had simply assumed that his mate - who tends to have mercurial moods anyway - needed some space, and that they'd settle down again after a while. The pair had spent time together while the leader was in heat, but YFL quickly become distant again.

Unfortunately, the timing of this overlapped with YFL's meeting with Avan, a shy lone male who they quickly became smitten with and adopted into the pack. The male in question is currently crouching on the ground behind his packmates, for fear of the larger Reflect realising that he had mated with the pack leader and turning on him.

Luckily for Avan, Reflect is not a violent wolf; he remains silent for a while, then excuses himself and quickly leaves the clearing. YFL stares after him, regret briefly shining in their eyes, before they return their attention to the pup. The rest of the pack uneasily disperses. Avan lingers for a moment, watching his leader nuzzle their daughter; when it's clear they don't plan to involve him, he follows his packmates away, not sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

Silken is treated strangely for the next few weeks; YFL keeps quiet about their sire, leading to curiosity from their packmates.