Part FOUR – Tribulation & Revelation

*WARNING:This part mentions situations that may be too intensely difficult for some readers and has been rated PG-13 because of it. Please remember that you have been warned. Thank you. - Juuchan17*

About a couple of hours before the dawn, Aleu awoke from her sleep, Scarlet still sleeping by her side. She was hoping that Aniu would visit her again in her dreams that night to congratulate her for proving that she deserved the title of Alpha of the Kawa, but Aleu woke up disappointed. Her dreams were silent and dark, without any indication of failure or approval from the white lupine spirit.

I guess I didn’t do anything I wasn’t supposed to . . . I thought I did what was right. She thought.Perhaps Aniu is pleased with the way I settled things. Aleu sat up and took a deep breath at the entrance of the cave. The moon was almost fully covered by the tall forest trees just by the edge of the Clan’s territory. The dark navy sky was still dotted with dim late-night stars that in only in time would soon be faded by the bright rising light of the sunshine. The air was cold when a breeze hit the tip of her dark, wet nose, but there was something else . . . there was a scent that was carried on the wind that blew into Aleu’s nostrils . . . a familiar scent of . . . of a close friend. 

“Lorna . . .?” She murmured softly as she heard a howling chorus coming from around the center of the forest. It sounded like four lupines howling at the sky above them, and just as she thought, one of the voices sounded exactly like the friendly and wise young she-wolf.

Instinctively, Aleu thought that her light gray friend had went out into the woods to visit the Trio outside her mother’s den and to check up on Dahlia after she began to give birth earlier that night. Aleu hadn’t seen the brown and white female since her fight with Riza began that evening, and she thought it was appropriate to visit her and see if she needed anything. 

Following the rock path across the pool, Aleu quietly scampered through their mountainous home, hoping that no one else – especially Scarlet – noticed that she had left.Maybe if they wake up before I return, they’ll think I began hunting for breakfast early today, The quarter-wolf yearling thought as she took a quick glance back at the almost-stacked sets of sleeping and living caverns that her remaining Clan continued to slumber in; finally, she bolted into the forest, following an exclusive scent trail that the Trio had left especially for Scarlet, Lorna, and Aleu to find, in case they wanted to see Dahlia.

After about five minutes of traveling through the tangles of branches and snowy leaf floor, Aleu caught a glimpse of Nuk, the largest wolf of the pack and of the Trio. His dark-blue and bulky form rose and fell as he breathed, sleeping upright beside his two companions, Sumac and Yak, both who were also asleep. Aleu gave them a small smile and sniffed around, hoping that she would catch a whiff of Lorna. Nothing here, she said to herself, letting out a soft sigh. I guess it’s okay to visit Dahlia. I hope she doesn’t mind. 

Quietly the young Alpha lowered herself to the ground-leveled entrance to the birthing den and sniffed. She caught the scent of Dahlia and about four new smells. Those must be . . . her pups! Aleu’s eyes grew in anticipation as she let out a quiet whine to let Dahlia know she was there.

“Dahlia?” Aleu softly spoke into the entrance. “Dahlia, are you awake?” 

She heard a soft moan and a rustling of dried leaves against the she-wolf’s coat as the new mother looked towards the entrance. “Oh, Aleu! I just woke up when I heard you whining outside. It’s kind of hard to sleep when there’s these three whimpering bundles of joy always keeping you busy.”

“Three?” Aleu’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I thought I smelled four pups in here.”  

Dahlia was silent for a moment; her head and eyelids lowered in sadness, and Aleu had a feeling that she didn’t feel like talking about it. “Come on inside,” Dahlia spoke in a soft tone of sorrow. “I’ll tell you what happened and I’ll introduce you to the newest members of the Kawa.”

Aleu wriggled her way into the den, crawling through the two-foot tunnel that led into the main room where she felt the presence of Dahlia and her litter. The den was mostly dark, but a thin stream of moonlight trickled in through the entrance; it was still quite dim, but her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, allowing Aleu to see the beauty and elegance that still remained in the recovering she-wolf. 

“Are you okay?” The mousy-brown female asked Dahlia. “Was the birth too painful? What happened?”

“I’m fine, Aleu,” Dahlia sniffed quietly and then licked the pups that moved beside her teat-covered belly, nursing on their mother’s milk. “Giving birth doesn’t hurt too much after you’ve done it at least once, so they slipped out of me easily.” 

“Whew!” Aleu gave a happy sigh of relief. “I’m glad it went well. Maybe one day I’ll experience the miracle of giving birth to my own pups.” She nuzzled her friend’s nose, but felt the she-wolf move her head away from her. “Dahlia, what’s wrong? What happened . . .?”

“Things weren’t okay after my daughter left,” Dahlia’s ears fell as tears streamed down her face. “I growled at her to get some privacy; I could feel the first pup pressing against my body, ready to be born. Minutes after Lorna left, the first puppy easily slipped out of me.” Her voice began to crack slightly as she continued. “He was so small and delicate, looking just like the splitting image of his father. Before I even felt another contraction, I named him Niva, giving him a name that sounded similar to his own father’s. I . . . I didn’t know that he was going to join Aniu so soon.” 

“No . . .” Aleu shook her head in disbelief. “He . . .”

The brown female nodded. “Yes, he unfortunately passed on, but he did it quite peacefully, near the time I had the final pup. I buried him in here, the place where he was birthed.” She pointed her nose to a corner by the wall where a tiny pile of dirt was slightly elevated. A clawed four-toed paw-print was stamped beside it, signifying that it was a grave for a newborn. “Although it’s painful to lose a child only a couple of hours after its birth, I still have his three siblings to remember him by.” She licked them once again; this time, Aleu glanced at each pup as Dahlia told her their names.  

“This one, the second-born, is Misty. You can tell how she got her name, right?” Dahlia finally gave a happy giggle, which allowed Aleu to smile with her. Misty was a light gray female that apparently inherited Lorna’s looks and markings.

“She’s beautiful, just like a cloak of mist. Kinda resembles her older sister, doesn’t she?” Aleu commented.  

Dahlia nodded and continued, licking the second pup. Its fur was entirely coated in dark gray except for a tiny patch on its hind leg. “I named this one Maple. See her marking?” She pointed out with her nose. “It’s in the shape of a leaf, just like the ones I’ve seen before in the forest.”

“Wow, what a distinct mark!” Aleu grinned. “The name suits her well.” She glanced at the final pup, which began to crawl over its nursing siblings and reach its nose to a nipple that was in between the two sisters. “What about this one? I’m curious to hear what you named her!” 

Dahlia let out an airy giggle. “Him, not her, Aleu. It’s a boy.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Aleu’s face flushed embarrassingly. “So, what’s his name?” 

“Manx.” The she-wolf replied back, accepting the young Alpha’s apology. She leaned down to clean the male pup’s brown fur, watching it begin to wag its tiny nub of a tail. “I have a feeling he’ll wear his name well, especially with that small tail of his.”

“Well, I think the name’s cute.” Aleu smiled widely. “I’m sure he’ll grow into it, although his tail won’t!”  

The two females giggled at the joke as they watched the trio of blind and deaf newborns whimper and squirm across their dam’s birthing bed of leaves and dirt. While Dahlia nursed her pups, Aleu continued to converse with the new mother, talking mainly about what had happened while she was asleep and after she had gone into labor.

“Oh my! She did that to you?” Dahlia licked Aleu’s wounded leg. “How could you manage to even stand afterwards?” 

“I’m not sure, to tell you the truth,” Aleu replied back, enjoying the moist strokes of Dahlia’s tongue on her wound. “I just did what I thought was right by allowing those who didn’t like my leadership to leave.”

“That was the right thing to do, I suppose,” The she-wolf agreed. “The Kawa doesn’t need wolves that refuse to obey their Alpha.” 

“At least they can return whenever they feel ready to,” Aleu added. “It’s only fair.”

Dahlia gasped in shock. “But . . . but that means . . .” 

Aleu nodded. “Yes. I have allowed Riza to return, only if she wishes to. She and the others too.”

“Others?” The brown and white wolf’s eyes lit up as she repeated the word. “What others? Who else left the Clan?” 

“Well, a couple of others – Tydra and Viking.” Aleu mentioned. “I don’t know whether they left because of disagreeing with my style of leadership or plotting something with Riza, but I didn’t ask them why. I guess I didn’t want to know.”

Dahlia gasped, then lowered her eyes, shaking her head slowly as if she knew it was bad news. “I know exactly why. Those two were trouble since they were yearlings.” Aleu listened carefully to the new mother’s tale of the runaway twins. “Tydra and Viking were the children of Nava and Hilde, one of my fellow hunting companions; they were born about four years ago, near the time I had my first litter. They