Part THREE – Winter’s Struggle

*WARNING: This part is rated PG-13 for the idea of a difficult mature situation and some language usage. Please use discretion when reading. Thank you. - Juuchan17

Almost a month had passed since the Kawa Clan had arrived in their new home by the river and just as expected, the rough snows of winter had arrived, causing hard times for the wolves. Food wasn’t too scarce – rabbits, squirrels, and other small woodland animals were plentiful in this area – but the small kills were nothing compared to the thought of caribou. Over a month ago, the Clan learned that their usual winter herd of caribou had migrated to the green and mountainous land across the water, never to return to the other side again; however, with only their former Alpha’s prophecy from the Great Aniu to guide them, most of the Kawa was reluctant to leave without having any proof that the prophecy was true.

It was around late fall when Balto and his runaway daughter, Aleu arrived to the Clan – first as intruders on their territory, then as welcomed guests that soon learned of the Clan’s recent hardships. Never would they have thought that their arrival was planned by an unknown deity, for one of them was already destined to fulfill a difficult task: to lead the Kawa across the wide body of water and find the caribou herd. Both Father and Daughter could easily be passed off as wolves and since the gray-brown male was older and more wolf than the naïve light-brown female, the elder Alpha, Nava, had told the Clan that Balto was the one Aniu had sent to save them from death. However, once a mysterious series of solid ice islands formed a bridge across the water, a series of events changed Nava’s judgment; he realized that he was wrong, for it was not Balto’s destiny to take Nava’s place, but it was the young Aleu’s instead. 

The experience from then until now had truly allowed the mousy-brown quarter-wolf to mature into an Alpha that was worthy enough to follow the wise Nava’s paws. She had led them across the water and even found a new place for them to settle into, just in time for them to prepare for the first storms of winter. Although her dominant husky breeding showed in her method of leadership, Aleu was learning well on controlling her wild heritage within her blood.

The sun was hidden again for the fifth day that week; a large snowstorm had finally ceased last night, leaving a blanket of white powder covering the ground; the chirping of winter-dwelling birds waking up from their night’s slumber filled the winter air with a wake-up call, but it wasn’t necessary for some forest dwellers today. In a woodland clearing, a solitary hare was crouched onto a snow-covered patch of grass, nibbling on it with its tiny set of teeth. A scruffy shadow was hiding behind a small shrub, its claws digging through the snow and into the dirt below. It pricked its ears up, slightly twitching them whenever it heard the hare’s slight vibrations in its movements. A minute went by, but the snowshoe hare had turned its back on the predator; it was time to strike the prey.  

Breathing in sync with the hare, the creature crept slowly before leaping from the shadows, revealing itself as a young light-brown she-wolf with beige-tan markings on her face, ankles, chest and tail. She panted as she spotted the hare, who had just noticed the wolf’s presence; it had darted to her left, quickly hopping back into the forest. The lupine tracked and stalked after it eagerly, hoping to still be able the catch it as much-needed food for her Clan. Within moments, the hare began to graze again and dropping its guard, allowing the perfect moment for the female to strike the small, white creature. She pounced and seized the hare, quickly placing her jaws around the hare’s neck and biting it with her sharp teeth until its head fell limp against her mouth. She released it, smiling and letting out a sigh of relief over a successful kill.

The female lowered her head and opened her mouth to grab the rabbit carcass, but her ears twitched backwards at the sound of crackling leaves underneath the snow – someone else was near. She quickly grabbed her kill and sniffed the air around her, hoping that the intruder was actually a friend and not a foe. The unknown creature’s paws crunched against the packed snowfall, causing the female to crouch and growl defensibly. All she knew was that it was a wolf – she could smell the blood of fresh kill on its lips and hear the slight gurgling of a growl escaping from its throat. She sensed it was watching her, waiting for her to drop her guard and steal her food; however, she lowered her ears, jerked her body around and leaped at a nearby bush, dropping her kill and landing on top of a mud-red lupine. 

“Well, I see you’re doing well with your hunting, Aleu,” the wolf replied, grunting a little bit. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, could you please get off of me?”

Realizing who it was, Aleu lifted herself off of the male, allowing him to get up. “Oops! I’m sorry, Scarlet!” she apologized, lowering her head. “I thought you were a intruder or something.” 

“It’s okay,” he grinned as he lifted his body up from the snow and shook off the wet snow from his fur. “I disguised myself in order to hunt easier. I will say that I am impressed by your improvement over the past few weeks. I was testing you a moment ago, seeing if you could tell apart a stranger from a friend only by using your senses of smell and sound.” He winked at her happily. “You did a great job! You’re a very quick learner!”

“Well, I did have a great teacher, after all! That one was my fourth kill today too. I buried the other three in the woods near the lake.” Aleu nuzzled Scarlet then she picked up her kill of rabbit and motioned her head back into the forest where she kept the rest of her kill. 

“Let’s head back,” he walked up ahead of the mousy-brown yearling, leading the way. “Show me where the other rabbits are and we’ll all feast.” Aleu followed quickly behind as Scarlet trotted back into the winter woods.

The two lupines arrived at the foot of the lake with Aleu’s four kills and Scarlet’s six in tow. Most of the Clan was already up for the morning, grooming each other two by two in their separate caves on the mountains; the lake and the nearby river just a few yards away, flowing beside the foot of the rocky peaks that they now called their new territory. A few of the younger wolves and matured she-wolves noticed their Alpha’s presence and began their descent down the caves and across a few flat, stationary stones that lay on the lake until they arrived at the shoreline. 

“Welcome back, Aleu!” A light gray and ivory she-wolf nuzzled with Aleu after the Alpha set down her kill. “You were up quite early this morning with your hunting, huh?”

“Yeah,” She answered back with a friendly laugh. “Scarlet’s been telling me that some animals wake up early in order to graze without fear of being caught. He’s such a good teacher, Lorna!”  

Just by looking at the yearling’s slightly flushed face, Lorna could tell that Aleu was smitten for Scarlet. “He’s cute too, don’t you think so?”

Lorna’s comment only made Aleu blush darker. “Well . . .” She turned to Scarlet’s direction where he was mingling with some of the other wolves, especially the three oddball wolves that had helped Aleu during her first couple of weeks as Alpha: Sumac, Nuk and Yak. “Well, he is quite charming . . . and handsome . . . and wise, just like your father.” She giggled as she turned her head shyly. “I think I’d like him to be my mate one day, Lorna!” 

“He’s quite a catch, I’ll agree to that!” Lorna also giggled. “If he wasn’t so infatuated with you, I’d go after him myself!” The two females shared a rabbit underneath a nearby tree while the morning as they continued to chat about recent happenings.

“So, how’s Dahlia doing, Lorna?” Aleu asked. “She hasn’t delivered her pups yet, but the time should be close, right?” 

“Mom’s doing fine,” the light gray looked up at a nearby cave where the brown and white she-wolf was still resting. “She should give birth any day now, so she’s just gathering her strength by sleeping most of the time. She might start searching for a den in the woods when her time comes to deliver, so I was thinking about digging one for her. Would you help me?”

“Sure thing, Lorna,” The Alpha agreed. Dahlia was one of the well-respected females in the Clan, and the litter that she carried was the last litter of their former Alpha, Nava. “But I was wondering about something.” 

“Fire away, Aleu,” Lorna nodded. She always enjoyed listening to the quarter-wolf’s curious queries and answering them to the best of her ability.

“Well, you mentioned a while ago that the breeding season was in the spring, right?” Lorna nodded. “So, why is Dahlia the only pregnant she-wolf in the Kawa right now?” 

“When Nava first had visions of his successor arriving to lead us across the water, he took no time in deciding to have a back-up plan, in case something should happen to the new Alpha. After seeing his previous success with Dahlia’s last litter of me and my sister from a couple of years ago, he mated with her about a month before you and Balto arrived, hoping that perhaps he would be able to watch them grow from birth. Of course, this was not in Aniu’s plan . . . but he did not pursue to follow us.”

“I remember while Papa and I were on the iceberg, he said to us, ‘Only my spirit is strong now.’” Aleu recalled. “I suppose his condition just wasn’t strong enough to go with us. Both my father and I offered to assist him across the water, but he refused.” Aleu let out a gasp, realizing something. “Maybe he refused us because Aniu needed him to stay behind. ‘Everything happens for a reason,’ right?”

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