1. The Family

It was a bright and sunny day, the sun shining its rays upon the grounds of a pack of wolves. There wasn't a cloud in sight, giving the day a rather pleasant feel. The pack of wolves were basking in the sun, absorbing the warmth of it. But not all wolves were to be resting, as someone had to do the hunting.

A lone wolf was stalking its prey in the fields surrounding the pack grounds, the tall grass disguising the wolf from his prey's eyes. His pelt consisted of dark grey fur with a few streaks of black but having distinct dark blue fur on his sides and back, with a white underbelly. His prey was a lone bull, one that seemed to be showing his old age. But, the old bull had scars on his side and face, showing he's had his fair share and experience fighting with other males. He had lived a long and eventful life, but that was to change today. Today was to be his demise.

The wolf walked silently towards its unsuspecting prey, the wolf being downwind, keeping the bull from picking up the wolf's scent. Because of his fur, the wolf had to crouch extra low onto his belly, but he did it perfectly, as he got within 8 feet of the bull's side. The bull stopped his grazing, doing so out of instinct, took a glance at his surroundings, something he was taught to do since he was able to walk.

The wolf stopped as soon as the bull did this, but let out a small sigh of relief when the bull put its head back down and continued grazing. Then when the time was right, the wolf pounced onto the back of the wolf and locked its jaws around the neck. The bull instantly started to try to shake off the wolf, but his jaws were firmly grasped around the neck. The old male put up a fighting effort to shake the wolf off his back but he was getting weaker by the second as blood started to flow from his wound.

The old male then let out one final bellow and fell to the ground, its life taken by a worthy adversary. The wolf jumped off the back as the caribou came down and landed perfectly on all his four legs. 'I'd better get this back to Rachel,' he thought to himself, 'she must be hungry by now,' dragging the carcass towards the pack grounds.

Some time passed, and he eventually reached his pack's grounds. He passed a set of dens where he saw wolves talking, playing and telling jokes to each other. He smiled as he saw a group of pups play with their dad. 'I can't wait for them to be born,' he thought to himself, his mate Rachel expecting his pups. But unknown to him, they were already in the process of being born. A wolf by the name of Bruce came by and smiled, giving a quick greeting and offered to take the carcass to the fresh-kill pile. Chris nodded, ripping a piece of meat off for Rachel and was off to see her.

A wolf came running to him and stopped, trying to catch his breath. "What's wrong Michael?" Chris asked, worrying something was wrong. "Chris, it's your wife." He said with a smile. "Is she…" Chris started, stopping as his friend nodded, confirming she was in the process of giving birth.

He dropped the slab of meat he had, running towards his den and he heard screaming coming from inside. He looked in and saw the pack healer and his mate Rachel. Chris walked in and immediately went to his mate's side. "Hi, h-honey." Rachel said in a set of gasps, breathing fast due to her giving birth. "Sorry I'm late" Chris said, letting her grab his paw and lock it in the death grip. He shut his eyes tight as she did that.

"How many?" he asked the healer through gritted teeth, pain obviously coming from his mate's grip on his paw. "She has given birth to 4 healthy pups, and one more is on the way." Alice said, who was the pack's healer. Chris was glad he made it just in time to see at least one of his pups be birthed. Rachel pushed with all her might and strength and soon a dark grey ball of fur came out of her. "It's a boy." Alice said as she placed him next to his siblings.

Rachel, even though how tired she was, scooted closer to her pups so they could have her milk. "I'll leave you two to bond with your family." Alice said and smiled as she left the main den. "Oh Rachel, they're…they're so beautiful…just like you." He said as he nuzzled his mate's head. "And like you." Rachel said as her last born pup was very close to what her mate looked like.

"What should we name them?" Chris asked. Rachel looked at her first born pup. He had a mix of silver, which was her coat, and the rest black from his father's coat of fur. "He'll be called Storm." Rachel said, giving him a quick lick on the head as he burrowed into her stomach, scenting the milk. "I like that." Chris said, giving her a warm smile. "Your turn, honey." Chris looked at their second born pup. She had pure silver coat, just like her mother, and a white underbelly. "I think Lunar will do." Chris said with a smile. "I think you're right, it suits her." Rachel said.

She then looked at their third born pup. He had dark blue fur and streaks of silver along his sides and back. "He'll be Blaze." Rachel said as his fur matched his name. Chris then looked at their fourth born pup. She had a black coat of fur with streaks of silver and blue on her fur. "Her name will be Lola." Chris said. Finally, now was the time to name their last pup.

"We'll both decide on him." Rachel said. "Alright." Chris said. They looked at their fifth pup. He had a dark grey and blue coat of fur, with a white or silver underbelly and a dark blue tail with ice blue eyes. "Humphrey." They both said at the same time. Chris looked at his wife and saw she was smiling at him. "How did you know?" he asked with wide eyes, surprised that she said the same thing.

"When you were outside in the middle of the night, you were talking to yourself about possible pup names, I heard you say that you would love to name one of the pups Humphrey." Rachel said as she licked her mate's cheek. "Thank you." Chris said, rubbing noses with his mate. Even though it was still early in the afternoon, Rachel was beginning to fall asleep out, the pups using their feeble little paws to try and make the milk flow quicker.

She curled up into a ball with her pups still feeding on her milk and she put her tail in front of them to keep them warm, and she quickly drifted off to sleep. Chris sat there thinking how he was the luckiest wolf in the world. He had a beautiful mate, he was the leader of the pack, and now he had a big family. He also decided that he would retire early today. Chris remembered about the caribou he brought in, and figured he'd let the pack know they could dig in.

Chris went outside to the last place he left it but when he reached it, he saw most of the pack lying around the skeleton of a caribou. Chris smiled, chuckling to himself as he headed back to his den. 'Of course, they'd tear into it,' he thought to himself.

When he got back to his den, he took one last look at Rachel and his pups. Rachel was curled into a ball around her pups, and it looked like the pups had also gone to sleep as they were huddled around each other, but he saw one pup was missing. He then looked a little to his left and saw Humphrey wandering around, sending little mews, lost without his mother and siblings.

'He must have wondered off when I stepped out.' Since they were newborn pups, their eyes were still closed. Humphrey began to shiver because of the breeze that was blowing, he assumed. Chris gently picked Humphrey by his small neck and placed him with his brothers and sisters. He stopped shivering as soon as he was reunited with his brothers and sisters, the sight of his new family melting his insides.

Chris curled up into a ball around his wife, laying his head next to hers and intertwined their tails. This was the happiest moment of his life. But all happiness must come to an end. Unfortunately for some, that happiness could end rather abruptly. But for now, happiness was to be had.