WC: 395
Coli padded along on all fours, shivering from the cold and dripping with water. The small wolf was gripping a basket in her weary jaws, the contents hidden from the world and safe from the storm. She hoped her pups were still napping, and was eager to get them indoors and warm. Her youngest, Florina, had taken a tumble, and she hoped fervently that the pale-furred girl would not catch cold. Luckily the child did not seem harmed or upset, but it only served to embarrass the new mother; surely she should have been more vigilant in protecting her children. Ears pressed flat against her sodden fur, she trudged on through the mud, over fallen branches and around puddles, struggling to find her way through Jordheim in the dark.
At last she saw there were others gathered, and knew she had finally reached Saul and Lilin's home. She did not recognize most of the windswept packmates around the threshold -- she picked out Niernan, and assumed the female wolf he was shielding protectively had to be his Grace. There was a hulking white male gently holding a small dark female in his arms, giving her the impression of another couple, albeit one she did not know. Coli was already in a poor mood due to the storm and her maternal instincts, but she did not have the patience to put up with love and mateship right now. Not when she was still alone, and Anu was... The small wolf bristled, stalking past them with the heavy basket clamped in her teeth. When she reached the doorstep, she placed her precious cargo down, shaking her waterlogged pelt and spraying rainwater in a radius around her. Then she pawed at the door, scratching impatiently at the wood.
"Just open the damn door already, before we all drown," she growled, blue eyes glaring at the strangers. She would feel too guilty to snap at Niernan, he already looked frantic enough trying to balance the bundle in his arms, his satchel, Ciaran around his neck, and holding his lady's hand to keep her close. But she was too exhausted and high-strung to care what these other packmates thought of her, not tonight. Her limbs were trembling, weakened by the anemia she was still recuperating from. It was not a good night.