knew her, Ebony. “What is going on here!?” Mother demanded, stomping her foot. The leading formation wolf, brown in color, turned to her with a frown on his face, it was Mono.

“If you want to get rid of him, do it yourself.” He walked over to Aniu and started to talk to her. While mother was distracted, Ebony dropped the branch in front of Akino.

“You got with Aniu? You sly dog, he he he. oh, no pun intended, brother” She winked, she also went over to see Aniu, giggling. Akino grew a cheerful smile, catching on to what was happening. One by one, all the wolves broke away, and said goodbye to Aniu.
“You guys, I can’t believe you.” Aniu said, a smile beaming from cheek to cheek, though she didn’t know how she truly felt about the whole situation. Mother stood where she was standing in front of Akino, awestruck by her pack. Akino dragged the branch over to Aniu, having more wolves step out of the way. The sun broke out from behind Akino, his fur gleaming in the suns rays. Aniu’s heart raced, and it filled her with warmth, replacing her spiral of emotions for a moment..
“C’mon Aniu, I think it’s about time we get out of here.”

Chapter 1

   Freezing winds, and snow took it’s place in Alaska now. In a place beside Nome laid a serene flatland, snow covered the green land, coddling it like a blanket. the plains were encircled with tall grey pine trees releasing a fresh, clean scent into the air. Everything for the most part was sedate, except for the wind that grew more intense as the day went on. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was nowhere to be seen beyond the trees.

  Aniu, now a mother wolf with her lone surviving pup, rested beside the entrance to their new home. It was a small rock cave, barely visible in the cliff wall. the two were left resented by the pack, because of the actions the she took. Aniu laid at the entrance, thinking of her mom and dad, brothers and Nayak... “Hey now, that’s my ear you have!” The pup was jumping around Aniu, trying to get her to play with him, and it finally worked. “Alright, you’re gonna get it, Raargh!” Aniu had a warm, soothing voice, even when she was playing. The two laughed, growled and played. Aniu moved the wrong way and her injury got to her, she had to stop. The pup stumbled onto his back and barked at Aniu, standing above him. The pup’s eyes grew dreary and he stuck out his paw. Aniu stared back at him and touched his paw with her nose. Aniu then licked his face, the pup smiled, shot up and started all over again. “You just don’t tire out, do you?” Aniu looked up toward the sky. A dark, ominous storm started to draw near. “Alright little one, I think it’s about time to call it a day.”

   Their cave had no other entrance, no leaks of wind or water, except for the small stream that came from the depths of the cave that cut criss cross down the middle, which was well frozen over by now. The inside walls were grooved, jagged from rushing water from so many years ago, which gave the cave it’s musty smell. Aniu sat them beside a kind of small crevice in the wall to better protect themselves from the bitter wind. Aniu’s coat shimmered from the melting snow, as well as the pups. The pup secured itself in the warm part of Aniu’s stomach, as the powerful storm howled outside of the cave, Aniu watching it with shining eyes.

  Deep within their cave came a light, repetitive tap-tap. Aniu’s ears perked up, she turned her head to see Akino. He stretched, and let out a big yawn “Aniu, who left the door open?” he said still tired. “Oh, Akino you’re up.” Akino sat beside the two, and cuddled with Aniu. “How are you doing today Aniu, do we have enough food?” Aniu never answered. The pup whined when he felt he was left out, Aniu started to clean him. Akino looked down upon their pup, his face filled with grief. “What are we going to do with him?” Aniu paused, and stared intensely as if she was looking through Akino. The husky tried to allay Aniu, flashing a toothy smile.  

“We can take care of him Aniu, he’ll be fine, we-”

“You know we can’t do that.” Aniu replied quickly. The husky hung his head then sighed, releasing a large mist in the air, “I know”. Anui licked Akino’s cheek, a little reassurance. In truth, Aniu wasn’t any happier with what they had to do either. The pup, oblivious to what was happening, stared at the outside. There was a moment of tense silence until Aniu interjected “I’ll take him to town tonight.”

“Tonight?” Aniu’s gaze was back on the storm outside.

“The sooner, the better, for him and us.” The three sat together in silence. Waiting for the storm to pass.

   Aniu tried resting long before the storm started to fade, tired from the pup. Aniu was kept awake though by Akino and the pup, she found them playing on the ice. Aniu raised her head, “Akino, be careful with him.”

Akino was laughing as the pup tried skating over to him. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine if he’s anything like you.” Akino went down to pick the pup up, and got bit on the nose. “Oww, yeah, just like your mom aren’t you?” Akino got hold of the  pup, and placed him between Aniu and himself. Akino felt eased when he looked at the pup “We still haven’t named him yet you know.” Akino said in a mellow tone. They watched as the pup exchanged glances between the two.

“I know, it’s probably best that way.” Aniu replied solemnly. Aniu looked over to Akino who obviously had something on his mind. “What’s bothering you Akino? You know we can’t get attached to him, not now… Akino?” it took a moment for Akino to reply, “What? oh... Aniu, I was thinking-” Aniu’s ears caught movement outside. “Quiet!” she whispered as she crept to the opening of the cave. Akino took their pup and hid deeper inside. Aniu looked around outside, waiting for whatever made the noise. Aniu heard some running from the town’s direction, and got ready to attack if she needed to, her heart jumped when she saw who it was.

“Oh Nayak, you’re here!” Nayak was out of breath when she got there. she has grown a lot in the past month, but seemed thinner somehow.Aniu rushed over to Nayak and they wrapped their heads around each other.

Akino appeared at the cave entrance “Aniu what was... Nayak, what are you doing here? It’s so good to see you!”, the pup popped out from under Akino’s feet. Nayak turned to Akino, “It’s good to see you to Akino, and your little one too.” Nayak touched noses with the pup, he sneezed and smiled in return.

“Aniu I’m glad I caught you.”

“What’s wrong Nayak?”

“The dog I was going to have watch your pup, Mercy, Her owner just moved away with her yesterday, I tried finding someone else who would watch him, but no-one wants a wolf pup. There is also word, that the hunters are leaving tonight.”

“Tonight?”

Akino stood, too shocked for words, though he tried mouthing some.

“Nothing will be better between now and night, except for his, and our chance of survival, Akino the hunters are coming here tonight.” Akino didn’t give a verbal response, and seemed rather distant, but Aniu knew he understood.

“But, what are you going to do now Anui? Who’s going to watch him?”

Anui thought for a moment. “we’ll have to watch him ourselves.”  Akino looked at her in shock

“But Aniu, what about the hunters? They’ll be looking for you, remember why we were trying to get him away from us?.” Aniu turned to face Akino “ This is temporary Akino, until we can find someone who will. I’ll make sure I have somewhere safe for me, and the pup to hide, you just worry about yourself. Nayak, thanks for the help.”

Indecisive, the storm had once again picked up, walking became increasingly hard from all the snow and wind, making the path to town hard to find, but Aniu knew she was on the right path, she’s been to town several times through the years she’s lived in the pack’s cave. They crossed a crevice and found a nearby cavern. Aniu crossed a thin trail of ice to get to it. Once inside they found a dry wall that well protected them from the wind. Aniu laid in a corner and placed the pup by her stomach, the pup was shaking heavily. “ok, we’ll wait here until the storm settles.” Akino laid down beside them, and started to drift.

What felt like moments turned into hours. The moon was out, and felt just as bright as the sun. Akino had a very strange feeling, he couldn't quite get fully asleep because of it, but almost got there at some points. He found Aniu was still sound asleep and smiled, but he started to look around him and Aniu in shock. Where’s the pup? He thought to himself in a panic. He sprang up, and saw in the cave a ways, the pup. He sighed a relief, and strolled over to him. The pup was looking at the cavern with peculiar interest. It was a giant ice cavern with bounds of massive icicles, glistening a deep opaque blue from the moonlight. He found a peculiar formation he liked and sat in front of them and studied them in awe. It was a giant icicle hanging from the ceiling that reached down to about midway in the cave, then was mirrored on the floor, a bunch of tiny icicles formed around each one, almost like they were