Jax stopped short. Lily was alluring to him. Her sweet scent had been in his nostrils since the day she had joined their group. They had not had time for much in the way of affection since the march had started. He ran his paws over her slender white arms and looked at her thoughtfully. Gently, he set her back from him.<br/><br/>"Winter is coming. I can feel it in my bones. Not just an ordinary winter but an early one that will last a long time and out freeze what we have known in the past.I can't say how soon it will be upon us." Jax answered her, his bright black eyes searching the horizon.<br/><br/>Lily pressed against him, running her delicate pink padded paws over his chest.<br/>"That is a conversation for another day. I know you want me as much as I want you."<br/><br/>"Lily, listen to  me," Jax stepped away from her touch. " Don't you notice how much thicker your fur is? Don't you feel the urgency?"<br/><br/>"Yes, but I just thought my fur was beautiful, nothing more. Don't you find me beautiful?"<br/><br/>"Yes, I do and much more than your fur. I want to mate you and I don't just mean mate with you. I have been alone since that fateful day that the Hyane destroyed my family. I want a mate and a passel of bunnies again. What I don't want is for you to catch with a litter and we be stranded in a blizzard. Bad enough that Taryn is carrying but if something were to happen to you.." he trailed off.<br/><br/>"You want to be my mate?" Lily asked incredulously. The sire of her last brood had just been around long enough to plow her and had skipped off to parts unknown. She had never thought to be so lucky to have a true mate.<br/><br/>"Yes, Lily, as soon as we can make it official. But I will not cover you until we are in a secure spot. Please help me follow my resolve. I want you and my body betrays me but I will not risk the consequences."<br/><br/>Lily hugged him and could tell the truth of his wanting. Jax stood very still, breathing roughly, but she patted him kindly on the chest.<br/>"I will do as you ask and dream of that day when we have a family. My brood will be grown by the time we return so we will start fresh, soon."  She bent over to pick up her gathering basket and Jax swatted her on her broad behind.<br/><br/>"Back to work, minx." he said, playfully as he scanned the horizon with anything but frivolous attention,<br/><br/>~~~~~~~~~~<br/>As Raschen was holding Taryn, the bulge in her abdomen wriggled. She looked at   him with amazement.<br/><br/>"The babies! They moved." Her hands covered the bulge protectively.<br/><br/>Raschen didn't tell her the facts of Kuguar gestation. Had she been carrying Hume offspring, she would have 244 days to grow them, but a Beastkin would carry from 80-96 days. Children of mixed linage would be different and a Hume  not even be able to carry for even 80 days.<br/>Taryn was so excited.<br/>"I think I have more than one baby, Raschen. How fun, a cub for each of us! I have  one name picked out for either a boy or a girl. You pick one too. I'm so happy. I'm so happy." She flung herself back into his arms.