Aurora Borealis

Connected lore with Hush of the Forest! Picks up where the lore in his bio left off.

A/N: Hush thinks of himself as he/him but Aurora thinks of him as she/her because he's been too conditioned by the pack

Aurora Borealis ducks into the dim nursery and a few females, some swollen with pups and some with puppies suckling at their belly, raise their head to scent the air and look at the newcomer, but all soon lay their heads back down. In the corner, the one wolf to not raise her head lays curled up, but despite her lack of movement, her brilliant white pelt gives her away, even in the shadows. As he approaches, he can make out the single pup nursing, also a shining white. He thinks briefly of the other four puppies born to Hush. As they had nestled into her belly, in those first glorious moments, he had seen her mouth soften and her eyes begin to glow.
It had been heartbreaking to watch those four plain pups torn from her belly. They simply weren't what the pack needed. Not special enough, and just another four mouths to feed. Hush had watched the wolves taking the puppies away, and done nothing to stop them, but there was no mistaking the way her eyes dimmed as she watched the mewling, squirming puppies be carried out of the den and out of her life.
However, the one remaining puppy seems to be the focus of her attention now, and Aurora was very glad. He had seen mothers fall into themselves like a collapsing sandbank after the loss of puppies, and though it might be a hint of weakness, he doesn't want Hush to fall into the same trap. As he comes closer, Hush swings her head up to look at him.
Before he can even open his muzzle, she locks eyes with him and says, "They're taking her."
Aurora blinks in confusion. "They're what?"
"They're taking her," Hush murmurs, nuzzling the small white pup. "I can feel it."
"What are you talking about?" Aurora asks, nonplussed. He had simply come to check in on Hush and see how she was doing, and this was shaping up to be more than that. "She's everything they've ever wanted, they wouldn't get rid of her. She's like...a golden pinecone to them."
Hush rests her muzzle gently against the white pup and speaks so quietly that Aurora has to lean in quite close to understand anything. "I see the way Fir's Cones and Sunset Shines Over Lake look at her...it's not a kind look. They'll find a way to kill her soon enough. She isn't enough for them in some way, I can feel it. Call it a mother's intuition." Her voice wavers and almost breaks on the word 'mother'.