all knew. Thankfully the meal would sustain them for few days, or until they killed again. As the winter months came, there would be less and less food, but they had gotten through tough winters before. They would all take it day by day, it being the only thing they could do.

            As they all made their way into the cave to sleep, settling close to each other, Achak sighed contently, gazing over his companions once more before laying his head down. Here in the cave, it offered protection and warmth from the outside winds and cold. Safety. With that thought, the silver streaked wolf's blue eyes closed; body relaxing. The last two days had been tough indeed.

But tomorrow was a new day.

            Achak woke up bright and early the next morning, but he still felt very refreshed. The weather hadn't changed much since yesterday, but he suspected that it would get better as the day progressed. The wolf took a deep breath, a certain scent giving him a light-headed, dazed feeling. He knew who the scent belonged to, but to his surprise, she was a lot closer to him than he realized. Her back was pressed ever-so-gently against his belly. She was curled in a ball, while Achak was more stretched out. He watched her; surprised that she was sleeping like this next to him, and so close. Oddly enough, it made strange new warmth spread throughout his body that he couldn't explain. The alpha looked around, to see if anyone was staring, and to his relief, everyone was still asleep.

            His attention was drawn back to the napping hybrid, whose body rose with her steady breathing, up and down, close to completely silent. He thought about her these past few days. She had grown to want to take care of everyone but herself; him especially, he had noticed. Why was she so fond of him? And why did she make him smile for no reason? He’d ask himself. Not fussing to answer these questions right away, the wolf laid his head next to hers, quietly wrapping the rest of his body around her. Unconsciously or consciously, the hybrid's head also pressed against his in a snuggling fashion. They stayed like that until sunrise, whether they were asleep or not.

~~~

            A harsh winter passed, making a more beautiful spring emerge from the cold. Some snow remained on the ground, as always, but the weather all around was warmer. Trees were beginning to grow beautiful muddy-pink buds on their branches. A few trees were blooming earlier than the others, but the pine trees will bared the weight of their wintry charm, with pockets of snow still resting on their branches, facing the sun against their will. The rivers were no longer frozen and were running and full of life. A few rivers still had thin sheets of ice over the top of them, but the open waters had fish leaping about, which Achak's pack found as a tasty treat every once in a while. They weren't easy to catch, but it sure passed the time. Some of the wolves would go down to the river to just to have fun fishing.

            The only time their fun would stop would be to chase a coyote out of the vicinity. Those pesky coyotes would invade the wolves' territory to bully a fox out of its hole to bear its own offspring. The wolves didn't care for either of the smaller animals, but at least fox's wouldn't try to scavenge the wolves' kill while they were trying to eat it. Coyotes would often risk their lives to get a piece of the fresh kill, and sometimes would be killed by one of Achak's family members. They would kill a coyote with no guilt; however, they wouldn't dare touch the fawns of the herds they stalked. Fawns were too easy to catch and hardly worth eating at all. Though, they were tempting, just because the bucks were extremely temper mental and protective of their does, and the same thing went to the bull moose and caribou and musk ox. The wolves wouldn't even think about going near bears. They avoided them at all costs.

            But it was this season that made Achak pretty uneasy. As easy-living as life was at this time of year, this particular year never set his mind at ease. It wasn't until he saw young foxes and fawns did he realize his situation. Would he find a mate? And would he find one that could keep the pack strong? If such planning didn't already wrack at the alpha's mind, it was only a matter of time before his uncle would come along and start poking innocent fun at him.

            As if on cue, Kanook approached Achak, who had isolated himself from the rest of the pack to be alone with his thoughts by the river, where he often went. At first the beta did nothing but sit next to his thinking nephew, but it was driving Achak to the brink of wanting to speak loud enough for the two of them. Kanook spoke.

            "I know what you're thinking about," Kanook said innocently.

            "What's that?" Achak asked, well-knowing that they both knew what the other was thinking about.

            There was a moment of silence for Kanook to smile to his sweet old self. "Tis the season," the brown and crème colored wolf chimed. "And you aren't getting any younger." Achak was about four human years old now, and what Kanook said was true. He was actually glad he waited this long to think about a mate because if he were to have a different mate to choose from, it would have had to have been Kita, because she was the only other female around at the time. It was a great relief.

            Achak looked at Kanook, waiting for him to make his point, but all the older wolf said was, "Got any secret ladies waiting?"

            "I certainly don't," the black and silver wolf replied, trying to turn this into a serious matter. His irritation towards the continuation of the semi-subtle subject only provoked the older wolf to bring up certain candidates.

            More silence for Kanook to ponder what he wanted to say. "Well, don't forget about Kiona." he sang, taking his leave towards the pack, which had made it's way closer to their alpha's location. Achak watched his uncle leave, and it was at that moment when he got distracted by glowing red fur in the short distance. He kept watching her, even thought she wasn't paying him any attention. The unknown, pleasant warmth suddenly spread throughout his body again like what happened every so often in the cave, during the extra-cold days of this past winter, when he and Kiona "accidentally" found themselves caressing each other. Maybe it was just the spring making him feel this way, but just the same he found that he was drawn to her, attracted to her. Their gazes met, and he looked away falsely casual and stared down at his own reflection in the water. No...He felt this way towards her before spring started, but the atmosphere was only intensifying the feelings.

            He thought back to this past winter, when they got lost, and he had his own body over hers. At the time, he thought nothing of it, but now he wished... Though he knew the past was the past, he thought about all of the other times he was near her, and wished he had done a little more. But those memories were making his heart beat fast. At this point, he wasn't even thinking about her being only part wolf. It didn't matter to him. The real question was...would she accept him?

            The brain-numbed alpha sighed, stood up, and turned around only to meet noses with the one he was just thinking about. Both of them hurriedly removed each other’s snouts from one another. Achak did his best to not show his embarrassment, but he noticed how embarrassed Kiona was and he smiled at her. When she saw him smiling at her, she blushed and looked as if she was pouting when she looked away. It made him chuckle, but he decided to change the subject of thought.

            "Were you looking for me?" Achak asked.

            Kiona paused for a moment, appearing to be holding her breath, and then shook her head 'no'. She took a step closer to him, and looked up at him. He looked down at her. Their gazes were locked for a moment, and Achak noticed again how she smelled so good to him. He leaned his face a mere centimeter closer to Kiona's, only to have her turn around and trot back to the pack's location. The black and silver wolf watched her leave and gave her a peculiar look. He didn't even notice his own actions, so it was still a mystery to him as to why she ran away from him, embarrassed.

            Later that day, Achak saw Kiona resting under a tree by herself while everyone else, minus the ones investigating the province, did the same thing in scattered spots. The alpha looked around for no reason, but to appear busy, and then approached the red wolf-dog. She raised her head to look at him curiously. When he didn't