quality time with your family – you’ll never know when you’ll spend your last moments with them in this dangerous world we live in.”

 

Shadow sighed. “You’re right. Maybe I should . . .” He smiled back at the she-wolf. “Thanks for the advice, Jadze.” They nuzzled each other in a friendly manner. “You really did mature during those last moments.”

 

“No problem, Shadow,” Jadze chuckled again. “I’ll always be here to help. Just call and think of me when you begin to dream, and by Aniu’s grace, I should be able to come to you.” She lowered her head and began to walk back into the darkness. “Farewell, Shadow. Until we meet again . . .”

 

“Goodbye, . . . Jadze . . .” Shadow’s voice echoed down the cavern as the female disappeared, fading into the deep darkness.

 

 

 

By the time he woke up, it was past mid-day. Shadow still couldn’t believe that he saw what he saw in his dream . . . Was that really her? Did I really see Jadze? He knew that no one else would believe it if he told them. But I know what I saw, Shadow closed his eyes, remembering the she-wolf glimmering with that bluish sheen of the spirits. I saw her in front of me . . . and she said it was okay . . .

 

He was even more relieved when he turned beside him. Aleu and Little Jadze were still asleep beside his red fur, which made Shadow smile. Good – they’re still safe, he breathed a soft sigh of relief, but it tickled the light gray-brown muzzle of his mate.

 

Aleu let out a soft moan, fluttering her eyelids and looking at her mate. “Oh . . . good morning, Shadow.”

 

“Actually, it’s more afternoon now,” Shadow chuckled, nuzzling Aleu sweetly on the nose. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Well-rested after that long sleep,” Aleu responded. “This little tiger’s a little rough when it comes to nursing, but she’s a perfect little angel when she sleeps.” She nuzzled Little Jadze awake, causing her to whimper for her mother.

 

“I guess things couldn’t be better now, right?” Shadow asked, touching his daughter gently with his own wet nose. “After Little Jadze is old enough to be weaned, are you thinking about another litter?”

 

Aleu’s ears pricked up at the query. Oh no,she thought. Shadow will be so upset if I tell him the truth about the deal with Aniu . . . Oh, what should I do? Her ears fell, mainly in fear, but also in disappointment.

 

“Aleu?” Shadow called her name, snapping her back from her thoughts. “Are you all right?”

 

Aleu shook her head with a glum look on her face. I have to tell him . . . I have to tell him the truth . . . “No, Shadow . . . I’ve got something to tell you.”

 

“What? What is it, Aleu?” Shadow asked, sitting up beside Aleu, who also sat up as well.

 

“You must swear to not tell anyone else about this, okay?” Aleu asked. “I don’t want to worry everyone with my affairs.”

 

“I promise,” Shadow nodded. “This must be serious business.”

 

“It is,” Aleu began her tale in a soft tone. “When I was . . . well, dead, Aniu told me about the fact that I have actually died several times . . . and if I returned back to life . . . one more time, I . . . I . . .” She tried not to cry, but the tears couldn’t help but fall from her eyes. “I can’t be brought back next time . . .”

 

Shadow gasped, his eyes widened in complete shock. “No . . . Oh my God . . . Aleu . . .”

 

“I’ll . . . I’ll actually . . . die . . .” Aleu murmured amidst her tears. Those words were hard for the quarter-wolf to even admit to herself. The thought of even leaving my mate, children, friends and family behind . . . It just scares me . . . She thought. Although she knew that one day it would come, Aleu wasn’t sure if or when she could actually go through with it. Aniu had restored her life so many times, returning her from the point of near-death . . . the thought had her afraid for how the rest of her time on Earth would be.

 

“Oh . . . oh, Aleu . . . Shh-shh-shh . . .” His ears fell as he licked away her tears with his tongue. “Now you really must be careful. Thank Aniu you’re no longer Alpha . . . this would only make me even more worried about your safety.” He brushed his muzzle against hers. “Now, I’ll make sure that you’re protected at all times. I won’t let you out of my sight, Aleu . . . I promise.”

 

I knew that would happen, Aleu sighed lightly under her breath with a hint of frustration. Shadow was always very protective of her, even when she was Alpha. I know he means well . . . he loves me, that’s all . . . and he just doesn’t want anything to happen to me, especially since I won’t be able to come back . . .

 

“No, I don’t need any extra protection, Shadow!” The quarter-wolf’s stubbornness kicked in with a growl. She paused to catch her breath and stepped back, but before Shadow could reply back, Aleu only spoke her mind. “Shadow, listen to me. I know you mean well, but I can watch my own back . . . even if I am your mate. Just because I’m not the Alpha of the Talbourne anymore doesn’t mean that I’m some fragile creature that always has to be protected!”

 

“I know that,” Shadow retorted, but his tone returned to calm as he moved closer to her. “but . . . but I just don’t want to lose you, Aleu. You mean so much to me, and I always want to protect you, even if you’re not the Alpha anymore. You’re still my mate, and I love you too much to have something happen to you. It’s my duty as a mate . . .” He leaned his nose towards hers for a kind gesture, but Aleu moved her muzzle away with a forlorn frown.

 

“Well, there is more to what Aniu told me,” Aleu continued, knowing that things weren’t going to get any easier. “In order to restore my life, I made a deal with her . . . I . . . I had to give up bearing pups.” Now her tears transformed into twin waterfalls once she paused, leaning up against Shadow’s red neck. “I’m so sorry, Shadow . . . but it was Aniu’s will . . . It was the only way I could come back . . .” She sniffled. “. . . so that means . . . Little Jadze is . . .”

 

Shadow was stung silent as tears dripped down his face as well. He couldn’t believe those words either, but if it was Aniu’s will, Shadow knew he had to accept it. “She’s our . . . our last . . .” He only returned the gesture, comforting Aleu with his gentle touch. “ . . . shh-shh . . . Don’t cry, Aleu . . .” He tried to be strong in front of her, but now he realized that somehow . . . his vision was right.

 

“ . . . I feel that it’s an honor for her to have such a fine name . . .”

 

You’re right, Jadze, Shadow thought, slightly grinning amidst his tears of what he had just learned. He looked at the tiny newborn suckling on one of Aleu’s teats near her hind legs, gently using her jaws to squeeze milk into her mouth. His grin was now a smile. It is an honor . . . She is a special little miracle . . . that deserves a name that will suit her . . .

 

“But . . . we’ll make it through, won’t we?” Aleu sniffled after a few minutes. She and Shadow parted from their embrace, staring into each other’s eyes. “I know it won’t be easy for us . . . but now, we’ll be . . . just like everyone else . . .”

 

“It’s okay,” Shadow looked at her with sparkling eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you . . . or to Little Jadze . . .” He chuckled a bit, much to Aleu’s surprise. This is it – this must be the right time to tell her how I feel now . . . he thought. “You know, I kinda like the name ‘Jadze’ for our daughter.”

 

“Oh, you do?” Aleu gasped in slight delight. “You mean, . . . are you sure it doesn’t bother you? I mean, you were there when Melody’s daughter . . .”

 

Shadow nodded, still smiling. “Yeah, I know. Jadze died by my side, but I know that she’s okay . . . and she . . . she’s glad to know that our daughter is blessed with this name. She even said it was an honor . . .”

 

Aleu didn’t even need to ask him to explain himself. Aniu . . . she thought to herself with a slight grin.

 

“At first, I wanted to go against it . . . just like Timbre, Melody and the others were when you suggested the name,” Shadow continued. “My thoughts reminded me of Jadze’s last minutes alive . . . and what she told me . . . Those words and her death . . . they troubled me deeply, and I . . . I was afraid that the future would be repeated . . .”

 

“I understand, Shadow,” Aleu fell back onto the ground to her newborn pup, but rubbed her nose into his neck, down to his chest and ending halfway to his flank. “Her death was . . . so sudden, so unexpected . . . and she was so young, too young to be killed . . . It touched us all when it happened.”

 

“When I talked to her . . . in my dreams,” Shadow quietly wept as he continued to talk. “Jadze reminded me of the risks that we all take in life. Life is nothing more than risk, and if something is meant to happen in a certain way, then that is the way Aniu means it to be.” His lips were still smiling as he suddenly chuckled lightly. “I think that we’ll just take these cards that Aniu has dealt us and just live the rest of our lives to the fullest . . . We don’t know when our lives will end, so each moment should be like our last . . . That’s the way Jadze would have wanted.”

 

Aleu took a soft breath and nodded, looking up at him after gently grooming Little Jadze with her tongue. “Yes . . . let’s do that.” She smiled. “Now that I’ve been blessed with a beautiful daughter, a loving mate, and a final chance to enjoy my family . . .” Their two noses touched sweetly, tip-to-tip, causing them both to smile.

 

I feel like my life has started all over again . . .

 

 

Chapter VIII

 

The sun was warming the fur of the wolves

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