Page 82 of The Princesses of Ruin
Then there’s a tinyyip.
I gasp, looking to Emillia’s arms. Cradled against her bosom are two stark-white pups, their eyes opened. One is a brilliant blue, andthe other a shimmering gold. They’re healthy, their bellies full. The mother must’ve fed them before she left.
“Adrik,” she says, her gaze locked on me. “Are you sure?”
I nod. “I will care for them.”
She heaves a sigh and looks down at the pups, each about the size of a one-year-old baby. “If they piss in the tent, I will be very cross.”
I laugh and drop to my knees beside her. “I will clean it.”
“And if they bite?”
“I will heal it.”
One of them yawns bigly and my heart melts. My little wolf.
“Did you get enough fur from the male?” she asks.
I show her my full pouch, then remove my belt.
“We may as well camp here tonight. I’ll get some wood for a fire once you’ve got the pups in their harnesses.”
“Good, good,” I say absently as I get to work cutting my belt into the appropriate sizes.
I work late into the day, realizing only when Emillia returns with a pot full of sloshing white liquid that she’s been gone a long time.
“I warmed up the mother and milked her. I think the cold kept the milk preserved, safe for the babes,” she says, looking down at the yowling young. I hadn’t even realized how vocal they’d become.
“We’ll have to ration it,” I say, praying the pups will be able to eat solid food when we run out.
She sets the pot down next to the pups. They rouse, gaining their feet and shuffling toward the scent of their mother’s milk. If they can walk already, they may be close to weaning.
“How are the collars coming? I’m freezing my tits off.”
“I’m nearly done,” I say, returning my attention to the delicate work of burning the runes into the leather without setting the whole thing on fire. Just two more to go. Phi is next, the long sweepsgraceful and smooth. I pull it off despite my shaking hand. I’m cold too, I realize.
Eng to create the shield of cold around them, at sixty degrees so it may be controlled from the outside. I hold up my work when it’s finished and inspect it.
I move to the blue-eyed pup and measure her neck, then punch holes in her belt for the latch.
“What are you going to call them?” Emillia asks.
“I’m not certain yet…We’ll have to come up with names together,” I say.
“Together,” she murmurs with a smile.
I get the collars fitted and attached, then test them with temperatures well within the pups’ tolerance.
They hold.
Theywork.
I have puppies!
Chapter thirty-one
Kazimir
