saying. Blake continued gazing at her with no expression, but it was obvious he felt hurt, betrayed, even.

“I’ve…LIKED you ever since you came to lead the pack. You’re beautiful, and you have the confidence and leadership I’ll never have. I know I wouldn’t make a good alpha, but I was hoping…I know it was stupid. But seeing you with him hurts.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” were the words that jumped out of Aleu’s mouth.

Blake kicked a stone into the salt-strewn waves and watched the ripples fly out. “Because it was stupid. I knew you didn’t like me.”

“But, Blake, I do like you,” Aleu said, surprising herself and Blake by licking his cheek, “I just…like Flint more.”

Blake’s deep gaze burned a hole into her. “Are you sure it’s not just puppy love?” he whispered.

Aleu thought before answering. She had known puppy love a couple times before; she had had crushes on a few of the dogs in Nome, but the feelings had been short-lived and fleeting. Her relationship with Flint was different: deeper, more passionate, and it gave her a glimmering, sort of insane happiness she had never felt before. She loved Flint, and even Blake’s pleading face couldn’t stop her from saying, with ringing confidence, “I’m sure.”

Blake’s face fell, but Aleu nudged him reassuringly. “Hey. You’re still my friend. And friends don’t stop being friends just because one of them likes the other, but that friend likes someone else. Let’s just forget about the whole alpha male thing and just be good pals, okay?”

Blake sighed. “That’s going to be nearly impossible, but alright.”

They ran silently back to the cave, and Blake lay down by the entrance while Aleu trotted into the cave and stretched out by Flint, noticing for the first time that she was shivering.

“Whoa!” Flint exclaimed, starting, “You’re like ice, Aleu! Where did you and Blake go?”

“I followed him across the river,” she said, trembling and cuddling up to Flint, “Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Is it all worked out?”

“I think so,” she told him, and buried her nose into his fur. He smelled big, strong, and good. She rubbed her head underneath his chin, and he grinned and softly licked her forehead. The gushing storm of warmth flowed inside Aleu, and she whispered, “Um, Flint?”

“Yeah?”

“Um…I love you.” She could feel her ears flushing pink. Wow, she was making this really awkward. Was it some kind of talent she had inherited from her father?

Flint stared at her for a long time. “You know what? I love you, too.”

She smiled and snuggled into him, breathing in his scent and warmth and feeling sleep begin to steal her away. His lips tenderly wrapped around hers, and for awhile she tasted heaven…

A few weeks later, Aleu stood outside the cave entrance waiting for the hunting party to return. She hadn’t been feeling well lately -headaches, stomachaches- so she had declined going on the hunt. Bored, she yawned, and suddenly brightened. What if she surprised Flint when he arrived, played some sort of trick on him? It would give her something to do, and the look on Flint’s face after she startled him would be priceless.

She slyly glanced around, then quickly hid behind a small shrub whose leaves were just beginning to come to life. She swiped out her pawprints with her tail, and none too soon, because she could hear the drumming of wolves’ paws on the melting earth, and suddenly the hunting party trotted past. The scent of fresh meat and blood reached Aleu’s nose, but she kept down and quiet.

“Aleu! We got a moose that weighs about three hundred pounds! Come and get it while it’s fresh!” No answer. “Aleu? Where are you?” She saw his black paws begin to pad around, then he sniffed. Aleu bottled up her growing excitement as Flint’s paws stepped closer and closer until he was right in front of the bush. “A-”

“WOOOO!” Aleu howled as she sprang out at him and tackled him to the ground. He yelped in surprise as they tumbled over each other and slid to a stop a few feet away, with Aleu on top of him. She burst out laughing, but stopped when she realized Flint was coughing. “Flint? Are you okay?”

“Get-off-me!” was his reply, and she climbed off and sat beside him as he caught his breath. “Uh!” he gasped, “Aleu, I think you’ve gotten kind of fat! You almost squashed me!”

“FAT?” Aleu cried indignantly, “I’m not fat!...Am I?” She looked down at her stomach and, indeed, it had filled out to become fuller and thicker. “Okay, so I put on some pounds. But I’m not FAT!”

“I’m sorry I said that. I didn’t mean-” Flint tried.

“I’m not FAT!”

“Look, I know-”

“I can’t be fat! How can I be fat? I’m not fat!”

“No, you’re not,” Flint said gently but firmly, “Just don’t try jumping on me anymore, okay? I swear, you’ll always act like a puppy.”

“Hold it.” Linder stepped up and gazed fiercely at both of them. “Just hold up a second. Aleu, you been feeling sick lately?”

“Yes…” she replied tentatively.

“And you’ve never noticed this weight before, but you’ve been doing all your regular activity?”

“Pretty much,” Aleu said, a sudden idea needling into her brain but she pushed it away, unbelieving.

Linder stared solemnly into Aleu’s eyes. “Then it’s official. Aleu, you’re pregnant. You’re going to have pups.”

Aleu was speechless for a second. “What?” she whispered. She put a paw to her stomach, and flinched when she felt a tiny kick like the flutter of a butterfly wing. She raised her head and gazed helplessly at Linder, but she was only greeted by surprised expressions or brittle smiles.

Flint padded over and lovingly pressed a paw to Aleu’s rounding stomach. Another kick made Aleu jolt back, and Flint grinned and nuzzled her.

“I can’t believe this…” Aleu murmured distressfully in Flint’s ear.

“Believe it,” he replied not too comfortingly, “Because it’s true…I’m going to be a father!”

Aleu didn’t feel like celebrating, though. She didn’t know what to feel. A part of her felt uplifted, because the thought of pups was so wonderful…and yet it was scary, too. What was she supposed to do? What would it feel like to push tiny bodies out of herself? And above all, was she ready?

Aleu was woken up that night by a cold nose nudging her face. “Wha’?” she said sleepily.

“C’mon, Aleu, get moving,” Linder’s hard voice commanded, “There’s something you need to see.”

“It can’t wait till daylight?” Aleu mumbled as she got to her feet.

“No,” Linder snapped, “It can’t. Now follow me.”

Aleu shrugged, yawned, and followed Linder out of the cave.

They trekked silently across the fields until in the distance the moonlight revealed twelve wolves encircled in council. Aleu suddenly realized there hadn’t been as many wolves sleeping in the pack cave; they must’ve been sent to make sure there were still some wolves coming to sleep, to cover up the meeting. How could she have been so stupid not to notice until now?...Probably because she was so tired, she thought, and wished her gestation period didn’t make her so drowsy and unaware. It was suicidal to her position as pack leader.

She worried that she should’ve brought Flint along so he wasn’t completely in the dark, but before she could think much Linder was pushing her into the shadows.

“Hey!” Aleu spluttered as she almost tripped over her own paws, “Take it easy!”

Linder gave her a warning look.

The two crept forward until they could hear what the ‘council’ was saying.

“Aleu is due with pups now. Obviously, they will all be wolf-dogs.”

“Can we all agree that something has to be done?” said one wolf.

“Once the pups are born and live in our pack, other clans will get word of it,” continued the first wolf pompously, “It will be yet another excuse for them to either hate us, or they’ll think it’s alright to have dogs or wolf-dogs join their packs, thus there will be more wolf-dogs among us than true wolves. What will happen next? The wolf species will die out, and only wolf-dogs will be left to govern the wild.”

“You’re all jumping to conclusions,” Quicksilver proclaimed, “Aleu has the right to have pups. When she has them, it’s our duty to help her look after them. Nothing more. I think other packs will have the sense to only let wolf-dogs or dogs in for special exceptions. As in Aleu’s case, too, how many dogs have pups with a wolf, anyway?” Aleu made a mental note to thank her beta wolf later for his loyalty.

“My conclusions might not be so far from the truth,” the first wolf said carefully.

“You know, I hate arguments,” a female wolf called out, “I hate debates, I hate anything that takes a long time to decide. Hurry up and make your choice! Are we going to kill the pups or leave ‘em alone? ‘Cause I don’t aim to be out here all night listening to you puffed-up airheads prattle on about what you think’s going to