By Sun and Moon

(started 9/24/07 – ) 

Overall Summary: Two kingdoms of wolves celebrate the birth of their only children: Selene, a silver-gray cub of the Moon Kingdom, and Cyrus, a orange-red cub of the Sun Kingdom. The Alphas arrange for them to be joined in marriage, thus uniting their kingdoms as one, but the reluctant children search for their own destiny as war lies right around the corner.

Rating: PG-13 for violence, hunting, and speak of survival stuff. It’s a wildlife story, so it’s necessary! There’s also description of several birth scenes . . . but they may be a bit too intensely graphic for young children. Reader’s discretion is strongly advised! 

Disclaimer: All of the characters and the story idea were created especially for this fan work only by me, Juuchan17; they should not be used without the author’s (again, mine) permission. Thanks!

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Chapter I: The Betrothal

The typical mid-winter weather that day was out of sight, almost as if the heavens above felt that there was a reason for a calm, clear sky that night. The snow from the previous days remained above the cold, dead soil, although it still found a way to provide for the forest trees. The snow-covered branches had its tips surrounded with dead leaves that had forgotten to make their descent onto the ground in the previous season, but there was a slight sense of rebirth in the air as a tiny bit of green began to peek a little from the ivory snow. 

The terrain was covered with tall pine and evergreen, mostly all of them decorated with a thin layer of white flurries. Three large mountain peaks stuck out from the Arctic tundra, almost as if they were outcasts of the woods. The night sky was scattered with millions of celestial glitter and starlight, topped off with the beauty and majesty of the key pieces of a far north sky: the Aurora Borealis as it danced with the lunar sphere that was often covered by the gray clouds of the night. As many other creatures were fast asleep underneath the tranquil after-midnight sky, a couple of blaring sounds broke the silence of the night.

Two female wolves were howling in pain, releasing their voices back and forth without realizing that the other was returning their calls. Each female was a member of a different pack of wolves, but their kingdoms were close allies to each other, almost to the verge of joining together. Renee, the Alpha Female of the Moon Kingdom, accompanied with Luna, her midwife, within her birthing chamber, was breathing rapidly as her silver and white belly heaved as she groaned loudly as she pushed hard. She had been in labor for hours, which exhausted her extremely, and the moment of delivery was close upon her. 

“Come on, Ren,” Luna encouraged her. “You’re doing great.” After the female finished her contraction, the midwife calmed her with several licks to her forehead. “Now, rest a bit; this next push will be a long one – the one that births your child!”

The pregnant female was lying on her side as her contraction ended, allowing her hind leg to lower at last. She took calm breaths as she prepared for the final push that would allow new life to emerge from her womb. “Where’s my mate, Luna?” She asked in between breaths. “I want him to catch my child once it slips from me.” 

“But . . . but, my Lady,” the white-gray assistant informed the laboring she-wolf. “It is forbidden for males to be in the vicinity of a birthing female. You know that the Royal Law that forbids such an action, even by an Alpha such as yourself.”

“This is my first child, Luna! I want him here to be the first to see our new pup.” Renee shouted in rebellion. “As your Alpha, I order you to summon Taylor to me before I deliver. Now!” 

Luna, defeated by her mistress, lowered her head and tail in respect. “As you wish, Ren.” She left the small cave immediately and ran to find the Alpha of their kingdom.

Only less than a mile away from the Moon Kingdom in her own territory, the other female, a light brown Alpha named Dionne, lay on the ground in front of the other members of her kingdom as she suffered through the trials of giving birth. In their kingdom, it was a ritual for all birthing Alpha Females to go through the task of labor and delivery in the presence of all of the members of the pack. The fifty other wolves could only watch; not even her mate, the orange-coated Alpha Sol, could go to comfort her until she completed her delivery. The sounds she made and the sight of her thrashing about on the ground as she pushed made him lower his ears; still, he continued to look on with worried eyes, wishing deep in his heart that he could do something to help make his mate’s torturous fight a little easier. 

“How much longer?” He murmured to the elder wolf beside him, his father Laxel. “Oh, I can’t bear to watch Dionne suffer anymore, Father!” He let out a whine, turning to the elder like a needy child. “Can’t I go to her at least? She needs me with her!”

Laxel placed a paw on his son’s shoulder, halting him immediately. ”You knew this moment would come when you two joined in that ever-so important ritual of procreation.” He looked back at the howling female in the center of the main chamber of the cavern, knowing that inside his son was suffering. “This is her battle to fight, my son; she must deliver the child alone, with only the weight of the Sun Kingdom’s eyes beside her.” 

And my love to protect her,Sol sighed as he continued to gaze at the agony that his mate faced as she pushed the pressing sac of pup from between her hind legs. “You’re right, Father. I’m sure she can handle this.” Please be with her, Great Mother, he prayed to the spirits as he saw the wet sac crowning from her body.

“The child . . . our heir . . . is being born!” Laxel announced in an almost prophetic voice to his kingdom.  

“Dionne . . .” The Alpha’s ears pricked up as he whispered his mate’s name into the wind. “Our child . . .”

“Quiet, everyone; we must witness this event in peace!” The elder tan wolf hushed the crowd of his fellow wolves with his booming voice. The lupines went from murmurs of awe to complete silence, only with the sounds of the female’s painful grunting and groaning filling the air of the large chamber. 

“Uhh . . . ah!” The light-brown she-wolf tightened her eyelids as another powerful contraction gripped her body.

Steady, Dionne . . . take your breathing steady, darling, Sol’s thoughts were focused on his Alpha Female as she took the final stage of delivering the heir to the Sun Kingdom. I still can’t bear to see her suffer like this . . . but our pain will result in our first child. A tear grew and suddenly slipped down from his eyes. Oh, Great Mother! Bless us this night! 

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Back in the Moon Kingdom, the birth sac had also just begun to crown from Renee as a dark-gray and silver marked male walked carefully into the chamber with Luna following behind him. 

“Ren!” He heard the she-wolf cry out; he called out to her, letting her know that he was there like she wanted. “Renee, I’m here!”

“Tay . . . ohh!” Another contraction stopped her welcoming comment, but he remained by her side as Luna made her way to Renee’s cervix where the pup was about to enter the world. 

“Okay, Ren – push real hard!” The midwife commanded the female. “Push!”

Shutting her eyes tightly, Renee howled out a cry of pain as she felt the mid-section of the birth sac emerge from her uterus. “Ah! Catch our child, Tay!” She told him with gritted teeth. “Break its cord once it’s born!” 

After giving her a comforting lick on the cheek, Taylor went to where Luna was and was told what to do. “Now, that growing sac right there is your child,” Luna reminded him; at the same time, the darker male had a look of disgust as he looked at where his child would enter the world. “Place your paws underneath it and it should just slide onto your legs. There’ll be a thin, pale cord that will connect the sac to the inside of her body, and you just bite it once it’s born.”

“Are you sure I can do this, Luna?” Taylor asked with worry as he quickly placed his legs in the position that he was told. “I don’t want to accidentally mess up or cause any sudden harm to our baby.” He felt his mate calm down, signaling the end of her latest contraction. 

“You can do it, Sir,” Luna smiled, reassuring him with a nuzzle. “Ren asked only for you to catch this child and nobody else. If that is what Lady Ren wants, then I will trust you as much as she does.” She lifted her head back to see a steadily breathing Renee preparing for the last push. “Are you ready to birth your pup, Ren?”

“Oh God, yes!” The she-wolf panted quickly. “My body feels like it will burst if I don’t push it out!” She grunted loudly as the final contraction began to over take her body. “Ohh, it is a horrible, burning pain, Luna! Please get this child out of me!” 

“It’s up to you, Ren,” Luna replied as she went up to the Alpha Female’s head, preparing her to birth the child. “Are you ready, my Lady?” When the silver-gray nodded with a painful groan, the midwife turned to the Alpha. “You okay, Sir?”

He nodded nervously but confidently. “As ready as I’ll ever be, Luna.” He began to speak in a comforting tone. “Come on, Ren; let’s welcome our first child into the world . . . together.” 

Renee took a couple of breaths to prepare herself, but she was able to give her mate a warming smile; she was especially glad that Taylor was not only by her side to witness the birth of their first child, but also that he was going to welcome it into the world with open arms to shelter it.

Sure that the two of them were clearly ready, Luna gave the order. “Okay, one last,