neat…wolf-dog, I guess…but you’ve proved to me that breeding doesn’t matter. You were holding your own against Lupus in that fight, and that impressed me enough to see your side of the story and stand up for you. Even if for some reason I did become alpha male, I wouldn’t boss you around or ignore you or anything. I don’t think everyone realizes it, but this pack would’ve fallen apart a long time ago if it hadn’t been for you. You know what’s right for this pack…and if you think not having pups this year is good for the pack, well, I’ll trust that you’re right.”

“Oh, stop it,” Aleu said, feeling guilty and peevish, “You’re making me sound like a perfect angel or something sent to Earth. I’ve messed up a lot, and a few minutes ago I wasn’t thinking about the pack. I was thinking about myself. I can’t stand anyone telling me what to do…I know I sounded like a spoiled brat, and right now I’m not even on good terms with Linder. That just goes to show how good of a leader I am.”

Flint studied her face. “You two argued, huh?”

“Do you read minds or something?” Aleu said sharply.

“Your face just now said it all,” he said, “Did you fight about her being bossy? She can get like that sometimes.”

“Okay, now my face says I don’t want to talk about it,” Aleu said rigidly.

They sat in silence for a while as they mentally chewed over each other’s words. The sun rose over the horizon as a shining golden disk.

“…What other things do you see in me?” Aleu asked, suddenly genuinely curious, “Besides all the ‘good’ decision making, I mean.”

“Well, let’s see,” Flint said, stepping in front of her so he could see her face, “You’re independent, that’s for sure. And stubborn.”

“Am not!” Aleu exclaimed.

“Yes.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“No way!”

“See? You are,” Flint said with a grin. Aleu gaped at him as she realized what he had done. He smiled, and started circling her. She followed him by turning her head. “But you are beautiful,” he said gently, winding his way slowly until he was at her side, “And confident, too.” She grinned and blushed, but her smile faded as she felt herself freeze, then inch slowly forward as Flint did too, until they were almost touching.

Flint’s eyes were a thick, warm brown.

“What do you see in me?” he said softly.

“You?” she said, “You’re smart…and confident…and, and brave-” His eyes closed as he leaned forward and kissed her.

Aleu’s eyes stayed open for a few seconds, but they closed as she felt a soft, sweet ocean of loving waves sweep up inside her. Unknown to her, her tail wagged slowly as the kiss continued, but she was caught up in the warmth and light and unfamiliar feel of soft lips pressed together with hers. He felt so good against her.

Aleu didn’t know what Flint was thinking, but his feelings poured from inside him into her. She was dizzied with emotions whipping around inside her heart, and she couldn’t help thinking that this kiss was the first slice of tenderness she had felt in months. She didn’t want it to stop, but she worried that it just might never stop, and then what?...

Approaching footsteps made them break apart, and Aleu stared uncertainly at Flint. He grinned sheepishly at her, and a small smile crept on her face and stayed there even when she turned to see who the intruder was.

“Morning,” Linder said as she padded towards them. She saw their grinning faces and stopped in her tracks. “And what have you two been doing?”

“Just talking,” Aleu explained quickly, “Is anyone else up?”

“A few,” Linder said stiffly, “You’ll have to pick the alpha male today, before we go on the hunt. Oops, that’s right, I’m not supposed to be helping you. Good luck, then.”

She sauntered away, and Flint cocked his head and whistled in disbelief. “You must’ve said something really stupid to get her like that.”

Aleu shoved him, but not too hard, and hurried to the mouth of her cave. There were sleepy hellos and mumblings, and Aleu waited until every wolf was on their feet before making her announcement. “Hey, everybody. Listen, before we go on the hunt, there’s a certain Ceremony we have to do that I’ve been putting off for months…” She didn’t have to say anymore, because immediately everyone seemed to wake up and begin to whisper among themselves. Aleu padded outside to the riverbank and waited. “All the males in the pack, please come out here and stand in a line, starting at the cave opening and ending where I’m standing.” She knew how to do this Ceremony because of Linder’s careful instruction over the Ceremonies after the Ceremony of Rejection disaster. Now she figured it was about time she showed some respect for the old customs and the ancestors who invented them.

All the males obediently lined up as they were told, strutting and seeming overly confident. Aleu’s heartbeat raced in her chest as her eyes flew up and down the assembly. She would have to pick one of them, any one…

She took a deep, solid breath and pattered mechanically down the line, scanning faces and mentally X-ing each one out. She almost entirely passed over Blake, but his eyes were so full of hope that she nearly stopped to consider him. But no; she was on a mission.

Aleu slowed as the blur of black and white came closer and closer in her side vision until she was standing right in front of him. Flint gazed steadily into her face, and she had to stop herself from crying out in emotion as she lowered her head and nuzzled him. She didn’t feel any movement against her, and she wondered if what was happening was almost too much for him. She knew her whole body seemed to be surging with every emotion she had ever felt. Her heart beat so hard against the inside of her chest she was afraid it would burst out.

She licked his forehead gently just as she had done when he was betraying her, but this time her action was in welcome, not a send-off. She raised her head and let out a ringing howl, and Flint joined in with a low, thick howl that resonated around him and shook inside Aleu’s chest. She raised the pitch one note higher, and he followed. She raised it to the next note again, and he went higher, seeming a little baffled. Higher and higher they climbed, until finally Flint dropped out to let Aleu howl by herself, looking at her quizzically.

She couldn’t keep back a mischievous smile as she thrust the last, highest note into the air and let it sing its wild tone. As the pitch died away, she swung around with Flint by her side and they led the pack on the hardest, most adrenaline-pumped hunt that had ever taken place in the history of Aleu’s time as alpha.

That night Aleu lay on the cave floor and Flint sat beside her as they watched over their sleeping pack from their own back corner of the cave.

“I guess now the pack’s complete,” Flint said quietly, “We’ve got two alphas, a beta, two omegas, and every wolf in between.” Quicksilver had challenged the Golden River beta to a fight and had won.

“Yeah,” Aleu agreed. She gazed intently into the semi-darkness surrounding the sleeping wolves. Had she just seen a flicker of movement among the relaxed bodies?

“Aleu, I know this is going to sound…awkward,” Flint said suddenly, “And I know the answer’s kind of obvious, but I need to hear it from you. Why did you choose me for alpha?”

She looked up at him with piercing, sincere, soft blue eyes. “Because I think I have more than a crush on you, and you have more than a crush on me. Because you’re the only one I trust to lead but not dictate, and you’re the only one who will let me lead with you but won’t let me walk all over you. Because you won’t be afraid to knock some sense into my head once in awhile, or let me know when I’m getting too cocky.”

“I didn’t know I was any good at multi-tasking,” Flint said with a grin. Aleu smiled as she lifted her head to nuzzle him, but a whimper from the shadows interrupted them.

“Blake?” Flint and Aleu said in unison when they saw a small golden-brown wolf barely illuminated in the half-light. Blake fled from the cave in a panic, and Flint let Aleu go after him so she could see what was wrong. He had a feeling that his presence wouldn’t be helpful, and that this was something between Aleu and Blake that they needed to work out themselves.

“Blake! Wait! Wait a minute!” Aleu shouted after him, but he only ran faster, splashing across the river, whipping through the gray-green grass, leading her back to the old pack cave near the sea, where the air was laced with salty scents. Aleu coughed up the river water she had accidentally swallowed and shook out her dripping fur when Blake stopped by the edge of the water. He looked out at the swirling foam and hissing waves as if in a trance. “Blake?” Aleu came up beside him. “Blake, what’s wrong?”

He stared numbly into her eyes, and she felt a frosty wind blow through her. “What’s wrong?” he said in a hollow voice, “What’s wrong is you like Flint, and I love you.”

Aleu felt like a giant wall of seawater had smashed against her chest. She opened her mouth, but the sighing waves stole away any words she thought of saying. Blake continued