the wolves outside that afternoon. The mood was somber and quiet now as Aleu sat by her mate and her parents; they looked out at the flowing river in front of them with drips of tears in their eyes. There wasn’t very many wolves present for this event; it was just close family, relatives and friends of the family, with exception of Saba’s younger pups and Aleu’s Little Jadze – they were being cared for in the nursery with a she-wolf until the memorial had ended. Dash, Melody and their mates and children were present – their remaining children were at least a few years old now, and unfortunately, thanks to fallen siblings and bloody battles fought within their short lives thus far, they knew a lot about death.

The white form of the Alpha stood over them from the shoreline where all could see her with Everest’s red and white form seated behind her; this was Saba’s first time doing a memorial for stillborn pups – actually, not even Aleu had ever done such a funeral before since their lives were usually plagued with violent attacks and the deaths of those sworn to protect their Alpha back then; all pup-bearing females usually had all of their pups to survive also, so the fact that Aleu, the former Alpha, bore four that were already dead when born made some wolves wonder what Aniu was up to with one pup out of five being revived. Saba’s face was calm and serene as he began to address her Clan, not exactly knowing what to say, but in her heart, she knew that these were her nieces and nephews that the Clan would never know.

She also knew that they were still Clan-born, and they deserved a proper burial as such; her eulogy was elegant, probably no one would have ever guessed that it was completely made up as she spoke it.

“My brothers and sisters, friends and family, we gather here today, not to remember those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our safety, but to remember how lucky we truly are to be alive. The Great Aniu grants us life, and yet sometimes life is not meant to be, as it was early this morning for these young ones.” Her slowly-turning muzzle led everyone’s gaze to the four lifeless bodies of the pups near where Aleu’s three grown children stood respectfully on the other side of the river by their side, across from Saba’s position. Jenna began to weep quietly, causing Balto to comfort her with his nose. “We do not know whether their destinies would have been different if things were under different circumstances, but alas, all things in our lives happen for a reason – these pups, although young, sacrificed their lives as part of a bigger plan . . . which is something we do not understand at the present time.

“However, we should not just mourn for these innocent pups destined not to live among us, but be glad to know that they are forever with Aniu, surrounded by her warmth and grace. They are safe in her presence, free from this dangerous world in which we risk our lives just to survive day after day. Someday when we all join Aniu in the next world, we will meet them again . . . take joy in knowing that we shall see these little ones once more.” Saba paused, gesturing with her muzzle. “Let us pray.”

Every wolf, dog and hybrid present followed suit, lowering their noses towards the ground as Saba gave a prayer.

“O Great Aniu, you are the giver and taker of our lives. Bless your Clan this day as we remember and mourn for these innocent young that were not meant for this world. Give us the strength and comfort to carry on from this tragedy, for their arrival into our world has equally touched us all with grief. Please bless the family of Aleu and Shadow as they accept this fate, but allow them to be strong as they raise the single life that you have returned to them.”

A single tear slid down Aleu’s face as she listened to the prayer; instinctively Shadow heard her sniffle and nuzzled her with closed eyes and a caring heart. He didn’t need to see the sorrow on his mate’s face – he felt that same sadness as well.

“Now, I ask nothing more than the wisdom to make the right decisions for your Clan and your divine blessings to protect those wolves that are here today. Thank you for everything that you have given the Talbourne Clan, and may we all continue to be protected by your grace and mercy forever.”

Her prayer ended and they all lifted their heads for the burial. Saba bravely tried not to cry as she began to recite the names that Aleu had ended up giving to the pups that were born dead. “Alexa . . .”

Sheik used his mouth to carefully grab the first-born pup, the red female with the white eye marks, placed it into the river and let it go downstream.

“Poppy . . .” Saba murmured as Lima did the same to the second pup, another female one that was more brownish-orange against the sun’s rays than red. “Knoll . . .” Thunder’s turn – he took the body of his brown-gray brother and released it into the water’s current. “Galide . . .” Shadow left Aleu’s side to cross the river himself to bury the last pup, the gray male. He had tears in his eyes as his jaws opened and allowed the pup’s tiny form to fade away into the depths of the river.

“May Aniu guide thee home . . .” The Alpha let out a howl, ending her prayer. The parents – Aleu and Shadow – felt moved enough to join her, as did the others. For that one moment, they were as one, remembering the young pups that Aniu spared from the harshness of their cruel world. The howling lasted less than a minute and the memorial was over.

After Saba lowered her head in a silent yet final prayer to those taken into the clutches of the river, she rose to meet with the rest of her family and friends – they needed her to help comfort their sorrow of Aleu’s difficult delivery, and none of them had ever had such a tragedy to happen before.

This is so horrible, Aniu, Saba thought as she saw her family crying and weeping after the funeral. Why did this happen? Was it truly necessary for all of them to die just so one could live?

The white wolf spirit did not answer – Aniu was silent this day, leaving the Alpha to ponder alone the absence of Aniu’s wisdom and the meaning of this sudden family tragedy.

Perhaps she is in mourning too, Saba predicted as she comforted Aleu through her tears. They too are her descendants, just as Aleu and I are, thanks to Dad. I guess it’s only natural for her to want to be silent to me today. She sniffled and felt the nuzzles of her family beside her as they all remembered the young pups that would never grow up within their Clan before finally returning back inside minutes later – they couldn’t risk staying outside of the cave for too long, even during these sudden times of peace.

But as with all things, life continues to go on . . .

It was dark, and there were stormy gray clouds everywhere above where she looked. The brown-gray she-wolf was standing on a cliff, overlooking the forest outside of their territory, right near the large cave that the Talbourne inhabited. Things looked nice and normal only moments ago, but the blue skies quickly changed to gray clouds signaling an upcoming storm. The sun was hidden by the darkness, but a sudden form of a blood-red moon replaced it, brightening the dark and eerie mood of her surroundings. She could hear a evil cackling resound from the heavens, one that was quite familiar in her pricked up ears . . . but it was impossible . . .

No . . . Oh no . . . It can’t be . . .

Shade?

Aleu panted rapidly as she tried to run away from the darkness, knowing what Shade was capable of doing. Shade was a creature that was selfish and cruel, wanting nothing more than for everyone to bow down and worship him instead of Aniu. She knew something about him that not many other wolves knew – Shade was actually Aniu’s son, an evil child that eventually committed the first act of murder in wolf history by killing his own mother eons ago when the world was still new and wolves were the rulers of the animal kingdom. Guided only by his own power of hatred, evil and greed, Shade had many wolves to join his side until he was able to send all of Aniu’s faithful followers to the island of Ill’aenna, imprisoning them in seclusion forever. However, the Talbourne defeated Shade himself and he ended up burning eternally in Hell for his ultimate crime of murder; yet, he had succeeded in his main mission by keeping his mother’s Clan separated from the rest of the world so that his message of evil and power could continue to be taught to the remainder of the wolves that chose to follow him.

This was only the beginning of Aniu’s master plan to free her Clan, despite the loss of many lupines for the cause . . . and soon, Aleu’s destiny was to be the one to save them at last . . .

I thought Aniu used Saba to destroy him for good . . . He should be dead! She thought as she felt her heart pound as she hid in a mountain cavern. Aleu had fought him several times throughout her life, both mentally and physically . . . she had even sacrificed her own life in order to destroy his, and still, just like the legendary Phoenix, he continued to rise from the ashes and return to life, creating complete havoc for the many Clans of wolves around Alaska by using his manipulative words to cloud the hearts of vengeful wolves and canines in order to act on his own plans of revenge against the Talbourne or any others who served Aniu. As a spirit, Shade could, unfortunately, change his appearance to suit his current liking, usually becoming either his traditional lupine form or as something else . . . The last time Aleu fought him, Shade was not on four legs – he returned as a human . . . and