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A thick mist covered a field filled with blades of tall grass. The grass swayed gently and a cold wind suddenly ran across the field. It slipped through the blades of grass and towards an old, scarred wolf that was sleeping peacefully. It began to dance around him and in his fur, trying to wake up.

“I’m awake…” he grunted. He didn’t seem to think that it was odd how this gust was acting so… so lifelike. As if it was another living creature, only with no body.

This seemed to be what the wind wanted, but apparently this was not enough. The gust of wind was persistent, and kept dancing around him until the old wolf got to his feet and yawned.

“Alright alright... I get it already… what do you want?” the old wolf asked.

Pups. the wind seemed to whisper. Pups.

Somehow, the wolf understood this message. For his eyes grew wide. Then, a smile stretched across his scarred maw. “The pups!” The old wolf’s tail began to wag happily, and he leapt up into the air and snapped at the mist. Though he suffered for this, for when he landed a jolt of pain shot through his body. “Gah… I guess I’m not as young as I used to be…” Then, he walked out of the field, limping slightly, and into the forest.

xxxx

Rose pushed her only remaining pup close to her. Rose was a rather beautiful wolf. She was mostly white with tints of grey and brown here and there. And her surviving daughter was a look-alike daughter, though she was also a runt.

But this didn’t trouble Rose. What trouble her was the fact that her other two pups, both male, had died shortly after they were born. She knew her daughter had inherited the spirit that dwelled inside herself, Rose had felt the spirit leave the minute her daughter was born, but what of her sons? Thunder was sure that she would have at least one male and one female. The female would inherit the spirit that had once dwelled in Rose, and the male would inherit the one that had dwelled inside Thunder.

“Aldora… what is going on…” Rose whispered, her eyes on her daughter. She spoke directly to the spirit placed in her daughter, hoping for some sort answer or sign. “Why have the Great Spirits killed my two sons? What of Kathan?”

Nothing.

Rose let out a sigh and cast a mournful glance at the corpses of her two sons. She shook her head and watched her pup nurse, then realized something: she had not named the pup yet. Mulling over all the names she had thought of and the names Thunder had suggested, she finally decided on one.

“Moon.” Rose said softly. “The greatest source of light in the darkness of the night… it bears hope that the dawn will come again. That is what you are, a beacon of light. Hope.”

Rose swished her tail across the den floor and laid her head down. She allowed Moon to nurse and as she did so she shut her eyes and thought. Aldora and Kathan were unpredictable, yes. And there was no telling who they would go to next. But they had been so sure. So sure that Aldora and Kathan would go into two of her pups… and if Kathan was not with one of her sons, who was he with?

“Rose… my darling…”

Rose opened her eyes and raised her head.

Thunder crept in, his ears back. He was an average looking wolf with grey, white, black, and brown fur. Thunder’s eyes fell on Moon and furrowed his brow. “What? Only one?” He looked around, curious. Then he spotted the two corpses and looked back at Rose with a look of sadness mixed with confusion.

Rose sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know, Thunder. We shall have to wait until Stone arrives… maybe he will tell us what is happening…”

“I have a guess.”

The old wolf slowly walked in, his eyes on Moon. Stone watched Moon nurse and stared at her intently. After a long tense silence, Stone nodded as though the pup had been telling him something. “Aldora and Kathan sense a great war coming, as do the other Great Spirits. They killed your sons because they would only lead to the downfall of the light.”

“Yes, yes.” Thunder said dismissively. “But what of Kathan? I felt him leave me not to long ago.”

Stone shook his head. “Aldora refused to tell me his exact location. She only told me, ‘The sun and moon provide light to the earth. The moon is the light in the dark sky, surrounded by diamonds. While the sun is in the light in the light sky, but surrounded by only the soft warm clouds and virtually nothing else.’ I think its supposed to mean that your little pup will live a glorious life, while the other pup… will be surrounded by family and little else…”

Rose pinned her ears back. “But… but how do we find him?”

Stone sighed and shook his head. “I’m not sure. We need to just put our faith in the Great Spirits. Everything will work out in the end.” He looked at the pup. “Until then, I will keep a close eye on Moon here.”

Rose didn’t bother questioning how Stone knew the pup’s name before Thunder. Aldora had probably mentioned it. She watched as the old shaman wolf left the den and then looked at Thunder, her ears laid back.

Thunder shook his head. “Its like Stone said… all we can do is put our faith in the Great Spirits and let them work everything out.”

Rose nuzzled him. “I wonder what Aldora means by ‘a great war?’ The lands have been at peace ever since you and I defeated the Shadow Wolves. Unless… do you think… they’ve risen again?”

Thunder smiled at his mate. “Don’t trouble yourself with it, Rose. Just relax and get some rest.” He nuzzled her, then looked at the bodies of the pups. With a sad sigh, he picked up one of the bodies and carried it outside so he could burry it. He did the same with the other one. When the job was finished, he nuzzled Rose once more, then left her.

xxxx

South of Moon’s packlands, there was another newborn pup. Though this pup was not the son of an Alpha and an Alphess. No. He was the son of two ordinary Subordinates. And he was a rather ordinary-looking pup. He had brown and grey fur, though was a runt.

His mother, Sky, was far more distressed than Rose was. Her litter was too large. The lands on which they lived with drying up. The lake, their main source of water, was getting steadily lower. And prey was harder and harder to come by. The Alpha’s solution: limit the number of pups that could be born to a litter. And the number allowed had been narrowed to two. And she had four pups.

“Sky…”

Her mate, River, walked in. He looked almost afraid. Then, when he saw the number of pups, he sighed. “Choose the two you wish to keep, and I’ll take the other to out to Arrow.”

Arrow was the Beta. He was in charge of killing the pups if there were too many to a litter.

With that River walked out, his heart heavy. He wished he could help Sky pick the pups. But he just couldn’t stand to. How was he supposed to decide who lived and who died? It was just to much to bear.

Inside the den Sky was struggling on deciding. She had two daughters and two sons. One of the sons was a runt. Perhaps she should give him to Arrow considering he would most likely die anyway… but…

“I can’t do this…” Sky whispered. “I can’t decide… Great Spirits… please… help me decide… please…” Sky set her head down on the den floor and fought the tears that were finding their way to her eyes.

Suddenly she saw someone entering the den. It was a beautiful pure white wolf with golden eyes and she carried the scent of roses. “Do not cry, my child.” The wolf walked closer and looked at the pups. “I shall take the two strongest with me.”

Sky didn’t want to argue. This was clearly a Great Spirit. No mortal wolf could possibly be as beautiful, or smell so strongly of roses. But she did not want to be left with the two weakest, they had a great chance of dying and leaving her with no children. But before she could stop herself she blurted out, “But they will surely die!”

The wolf chuckled. “They shall not die.” She looked behind her and another, smaller wolf entered after her. “We will take your two pups to a much better place to a new mother, like yourself.”

Sky nodded and watch the Spirit and the helper wolf pick up her two largest pups. Leaving her with the runty son and a small female. Sky watched as the Spirit and helper left and seemed to disappear with her pups the second she stepped out of the birthing den. Then she realized her two remaining pups had no names.

“Sun.” Sky said, her eyes falling on her runty son. She looked at the female. “Sun and Glimmer.”

xxxx

Rose was asleep in the birthing den, as was Moon. Though the sound of paws and the strong scent of roses roused her from her sleep. Rose opened her eyes and lifted her head to see a beautiful white wolf and a smaller wolf, a yearling perhaps, standing in the den. Each held a newborn pup in their mouths.

The two walked over and set the pups down next to Moon, who looked rather small and daintily built compared to them. The white wolf looked at Rose with golden eyes.

“Raise them as your own.” the white wolf said. “They have futures here. And worry not, their mother knows they are going to safer home.”

Rose only nodded and watched as the white wolf and the helper disappeared completely. Then, the she-wolf looked down at the pups. She decided to call the male Boulder and the female Ivy. Then, she sighed. “This has certainly been a big day… hasn’t it my little ones?”

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This story has been almost four years in the making. Slowly I've been tweeking and tweeking, and I've finally decided on the characters and I have the plot set.