sleep.

   A couple of week later the cubs along with Nanu and Iluq walked across the sea ice, though not yet an impenetrable covering it was thick enough for the youngsters to walk on. As they walked they watched as summer visitors left for warmer climates, pods of belugas and killer whales swimming past them. The group waved their paws and called out goodbyes, receiving splashed tails and goodbyes in return. Jumping over a gap in the ice the cubs laughed at a small beluga jumping out of the water. Then all gasped as Kesuk and a group of narwhals jumped out of the water, their tales glistening in the sunlight. Moments later Kesuk surfaced again swimming over to a small ice island.

“Good day Aurora.”

“Good morning Kesuk that was a fantastic jump.”

“I love to swim with their kind it was my last chance” Kesuk replied flicking her tail.

“It must be so much fun to swim with me.”

“My home is a wondrous place, as a spirit you could swim in this water, all of you could.”

  “Well we Ice Bears can swim, I will go in if you will” Nanu said looking at her friends.

“I will” Aurora replied wagging her tail.

     With that both cubs jumped into the water their white fur turning blue in the water, Aurora quickly getting the hang of swimming. In the water Aurora gazed around in shock as she came nose to nose with a narwhal. Next to her Nanu gasped as a killer whale surfaced beneath her, lifting her up out of the water, her four paws stood on the whales back. Seconds later another whale did the same to Aurora as Kesuk slipped into the water. With Valeria, Kuno and Iluq running alongside them on the ice, Nanu and Aurora were taken for a ride by the whales. In the ocean Kesuk swam beside the whales, listening as the whales told the cubs stories of their travels.

 “That was amazing I wish the whales could have stayed longer” Nanu said some time as the cubs watched the whales leave.

  “Me to, it was nice of them to give us a ride” Aurora replied.

“It was there time to leave” Kesuk said. “They will be back next spring.”

“We will be too big to ride them then” Nanu replied as the cubs made their way home.

   As winter past Nanu, Iluq and their mother left for the frozen sea and Kuno, Valeria and Aurora made their first hunt. As the cubs grew so did their powers, with Valeria becoming ever more confident with using the Sigh, all powers that is, as the third power, to see into the minds of others, had been born within her. Most of all Valeria relished her time spent flying with Qilaq the pair sharing a bond that few could understand. Aurora’s powers were also growing, each day bringing more changes to her. For Kuno the power his sisters possessed was confusing, something he did not fully understand or want any part of.  

  “Kar they have to be told, we only have two months” Aniou said as the pair sat talking on the cliffs above the den.

  “I know but they are still too young. Why does it have to be so soon?”

 “Because becoming one kind or the other is harder once they are adults, the change is best done during adolescence.”

 “That is logical but…..they could be angry that we kept this from them.”

“We had to Kar…..Neither of us had the best cubhoods, what we did allowed them a happy one. We can both see how much our daughters care for their powers, Fell and I saw ours as a curse.”

  “You have a point Aniou” Kar replied looking down to where his cubs played. “It has to be tonight.”

  “Tonight” Aniou replied.

      That night Kar and Aniou stood in high cave looking at the stunned faces of their cubs. Then the gabbling of chatter broke out as their cubs fired questions after curios question at their parents. The cubs had taken the news of their choice better than expected, understanding their parent’s reasons for not telling them sooner. Sitting together a while later the cubs discussed their choice.

“It is crazy we have to choose” Kuno muttered shaking his head.

“Better than being forced into being one kind though,” Aurora replied.

“That would have been terrible” said Valeria.

  “At least we have some time to decide.”

“It might not be as hard a choice as we think. I have Mum’s spirit powers and Valeria has the Sigh” Aurora said looking out over the tundra.

 “You think what we will be has already been set out for us?” Valeria asked.

“Perhaps, we have those powers for a reason.”

“That’s stupid. We are wolves wild and free, you two spent too much time with Mum’s spirit friends” Kuno scoffed.

  “Aurora could be right” Valeria replied glaring at her brother.

“Or she could be wrong” Kuno replied turning to the white cub. “Those powers of yours, they mark you out from the rest of the pack. You need to start acting like a real wolf, you are not Mum, you are not a spirit.”

  “MAYBE I AM! Maybe I am a spirit, my powers will be a strong as Mothers” Aurora replied running off across the ice.

 “KUNO THAT WAS NOT FAIR” Valeria howled snarling at her brother. “Just because you do not have powers does not give you the right to judge Aurora or me.”

 “I said what I had to, she if different, you both are. Listen we are wolves, live free, hunt what we need, defend the pack, defend the land, always free. That is the wolf’s right, you are both different. I want Aurora to start acting more like a wolf” Kuno replied walking away and leaving Valeria with her thoughts.

     Out on the ice Aurora ran for a long as she could, her mind whirling with Kuno’s comments. As she ran Kuno’s comments that she was different began to make sense, that she was the outcast in the pack. Aurora knew of her parents past, the story had been told to all of the cubs. Aurora knew of the isolation that power could bring, an isolation that the young white wolf felt now. For the first time in her young life Aurora felt separated from her family and pack. Under the star filled sky she stopped on a snowy cliff, panting with exhaustion. Her head hung low, tears of confusion fell from her eyes.

  “Where to do I belong?”Aurora thought. “I have wonderful powers yet they do not seem to work in a pack. Kuno is right, I am an outsider.”

     Suddenly the Northern Lights appeared in the sky, wrapping around Aurora as she stood in the cliff. Standing in their midst Aurora looked around her with awe, never before had she seen the lights whose name she bore. The lights turned her fur the colours of the rainbow. As she stood there Aurora felt her powers swirling around her, a feeling of belonging and of her potential entering her heart. In the midst the lights Aurora saw her gifts for what they were, the Northern Lights welcoming their spirit made flesh.     

“I am a cub of the Northern Light, I am more than other wolves, the life of a normal wolf is not mine. I may only be a cub but I am my Mother’s cub, a spirit cub. I am different. I was given these powers for a reason, the Northern Lights I am aligned with them in some way. I could be so much more than what I am, I am my mother’s daughter, between us, with the others spirits…..I could be happy in that world.”As she stood there a vision of the future appeared.

   A young girl with red hair ran through the tundra with a red and cream dog running next to her. The girl laughed as the dog barked. The girl turned around, green eyes looked at Aurora. Then suddenly for a moment the eyes turned bright yellow, wolf eyes, moments later the girl herself was a red wolf.

  “That girl is important, she is….whoever she is…those wolf eyes…my powers can help her and those like her. The wolf eyes mean she cannot be human…she does not look like the native humans of this land. The future she is part of my future…she is important…a human yet a wolf…she and I are tied…of course….I will be more to her in the future.”

   Standing on the cliff Aurora threw back her head and let out an enormous howl, a howl that resonated across the tundra and ice. Aniou understood her daughters choice, Kuno and Kar stopped in their tracks, out with Qilaq on her on shoulder Valeria saw a vision of her sister. The Sight encompassed Valeria allowing her to see her sister on the ice. The power within Aniou, Valeria and Aurora rose within each of them, allowing them all to see each other.

     Life of a pack                                     

   Winter was a long season in Alaska but at last it ended bringing with it spring and new life. A week before the cub’s first birthday the pack welcomed new life as Starlight and Fells cubs were born. Four cubs two of each gender, a black male, a silver female and two cubs which were a perfect mixture of both their parents. The pack rejoiced glad that their leader’s line would continue, with each wolf taking an interest. Fell had never been so happy, he had a family of his own, the past was gone he had a place in the world. A week after