"He's washing off the blood. You really did a number on his back, Little Tiger."
"He did a number on my everything!" I hissed, though I reached out and took my daughter, pulling her into the crook of my arm. She immediately began to root for milk, her tiny paws kneading my sore chest. I winced. "Where are the rest?"
"With Damar," Noah said. "He wouldn't let them out of his sight. He's... intense today. Protective. But his fever is gone."
I looked at the bright ray of light flooding the entrance of the cave. The struggle of the winter, the fear of the delivery, the suffocating darkness of the hibernation—it was all behind us now, wasn't it?
"Help me up," I said, reaching a hand out to Noah. "I want to see it. I want to see the sun."
Noah and Fenric each took an arm, hoisting me up with a gentleness that felt like a silent apology for the chaos of the night before. My legs were shaky, and I walked like a newborn cub myself, but as we reached the mouth of the cave, I gasped.
