He was slightly caught by surprise at the sudden action. When Kiona had jerked away, Achak thought maybe she didn't want the touch. Now she had herself pushed up against him, not just crying, but now close to sobbing. Guilt once more began eating at the wolf.

"Kiona..." Moving to sit, then lowering his head, the alpha let it rest against the female's, wanting to comfort her. "We were both upset and said things we didn't mean..." Closing his eyes, he rubbed his face into Kiona's neck fur. Something Achak found the female enjoyed. It also worked to soothe her in previous times.

She nodded, still physically against him as much as possible. "I...know," she said. And they remained like that until the sun set. Wolves mated for life, and they vowed to keep it as truth.

The two of them returned home when they were ready, walking as close together as they could. The entire packed sighed in relief when they came back, knowing they forgave each other, but none of them were as ecstatic as Tonrar, Hinto, Hokee, and Nayeli, who had to stay in the cave. Hokee didn't approach them like Tonrar and Hinto did, amorously attacking their parents with licks and yips. Nayeli wanted so bad to join them, but she stayed near her grandmother.

Greeting the two pups affectionately, the two alphas couldn't help but be cheered up some more. Pups just seemed to have that reaction. Trying not to trip over their offspring as they weaved excitedly around their legs, Achak and Kiona started walking to the cave.†

Olathe smiled as they approached, from her place at the entrance, lying down with Nayeli between her front legs. The black and silver pup clearly wanted to go to her parents, but couldn't walk on her injured leg, so waited somewhat patiently until they came over. Tail wagging happily then, she gave and received attention from both alphas.†

Hokee, having grown more nervous as Achak had approached, hid behind Olathe, not wanting to have another angry encounter with the large wolf. He had gotten upset after the fight, blaming himself for it, when the pup knew it wasn't really his fault, that it was an accident.

"Are you alright, Nayeli?" Achak asked, licking her face. Olathe stood up and exited the cave, giving the two of them time together. Hokee, realizing his "shield" had walked away, tripped over his own paws trying to pursue her.

"Yeah, but I wanna go play!" Nayeli whined.

"You'll be able to in a few days," Kiona assured her, lying behind her in Olathe's place, with the pup in her arms.

"We're not gonna miss the surprise, are we, Daddy?" the silver and black pup asked, hopeful. Tonrar and Hinto's attention drew towards their father.

"Of course not," he said. "As soon as you get better, I'll take you and your brothers." He smiled down at all of them, and Kiona, who smiled back at him.

Thankfully, being distracted at the moment, Achak didn't notice Hokee scramble out after Olathe, only to be brought back a few minutes later by the older wolf, placing him down between the cave wall and Kiona. With a smile at him then Kiona, the silver wolf turned and left again.†

Nayeli peeked around Kiona's body at Hokee, smiling at him. Then, hobbling over to her friend started nipping at his ears playfully. She didn't really understand why the other was hiding.†

The blonde pup at first was too hesitant to play with Nayeli, after what had happened earlier that day. But eventually she won him over, and began to, gently, play back, nipping at her and ducking her attacks. Hokee was sure to stay next to his adopted mother as well.†

Achak was busy anyway, having Hinto and Tonrar attacking him and jumping on him. But after a while, it was time to settle down for night. After their baths, the pups gathered together in the back of the cave in their usual spot. Nayeli was once more next to Hokee, curled up next to him as they drifted off. It wasn't long after the rest of the pack came in, joining the smallest in sleep.

A few days passed, and the alphas and the rest of the pack left the four pups with Shiro. Nayeli's leg was practically healed and could comfortably play with everyone, which brought great relief to them.

The wolves were mostly feeding on small animals; they were so used to being around the pups this past week, they didn't mind eating so little (naturally the pups still got to eat)† but now it was about time to go on an actual group hunt to get a decent meal in everyone.

Achak kissed his mate on her cheek and started running to the nearest snow-blanketed meadow to find food. Kiona saw it as a form of play, his kiss, and began to chase after him. The rest of the pack joined in the chase, catching on to the game. Aya turned it into a racing game when she passed her brother up in the run, and everyone obliged by trying to be the first to wherever they were going, not really caring if they disturbed anyone around them (they would promise to eat that evening no matter what). Barking and yipping only added to their fun.

Being as caught up in the race as they were, the pack all ended up running on a sheet of ice made over the night when it froze over. Upon noticing they were running on ice, they realized how badly it would end if they slipped. But as soon as Kiona thought about it, she lost her footing, and although trying her best to keep her posture, she slipped and fell on her stomach.

Achak noticed she was losing her balance while running behind her, but couldn't do anything to stop himself from sliding into her. When Aya and Kanook tried to turn around (laughing in the process) to aid the two fallen alphas, they too ended up slipping, falling, and/or being crashed into by oncoming runners until everyone was flat on the ice, in pain from the laughter rather than the landing itself.

Well that was certainly entertaining. Embarrassment gave way into amusement, watching each other try to regain their footing, only to fall down again or knocked into. Achak let Kiona grab hold of his tail as she got to her own paws, making sure he himself had a good grip on the slippery frozen ground under him with his claws. Glancing over at the others, he started laughing again as he witnessed quite the funny scene.

Poor Zephyr, just couldn't seem to get his legs under him for long enough to walk a foot or so before slipping and falling ungracefully onto the ice again. But Ayashi, being one to take after their mother, tried to help the brown wolf up, only to either cause both of them to go down again, or just one of them. Looking closely, the black and silver wolf grew curious as to why the wolf seemed a bit...timid (what other word can we use instead of this?) around his sister, and how long had it gone on for.

The alpha didn't get much more time to think about it before hearing Kiona let out a yelp that sounded like 'watch out' before his legs were knocked out from under him as something plowed into the wolf. Laughter soon followed it, and Achak knew exactly who it was. Kanook. His blue eyes searched out for his uncle, who was half under him, laughing, and glared, though he, as well as everyone else watching, knew it was half-hearted. The cream and chocolate colored beta gazed back at him innocently, with a hint of a smirk on his muzzle.

"Whoops sorry. Well, actually I did it on purpose, you just looked so deep in thought and focused. Of course, I wasn't suppose to end up on the bottom..." The silver streaked wolf smirked at that. That's right...the other was at his mercy now...

Achak took the freedom to pin Kanook to the ice, hind legs slipping about, and play bite at his face and neck. As boisterous as the whole thing was, Kanook eventually cried out in mercy (good-heartedly of course) to have his nephew let him up. They all had to get off the ice patch and make their way towards food. It took quite a few minutes, but everyone did manage to make it on snow again safely. No one was feeling very tired either, thankfully. The festivity rejuvenated them. Playing with the cubs seemed to make them get in touch with their inner child outside of the den. They would certainly need the energy catching a deer.

No does would be on their menu because chances of them having a fawn were very likely, and even wolves had a sense of dignity with that sort of thing. They ended up catching and killing the largest buck in the herd, luckily and started dragging it home right away. Something was flawed in the air, and Achak wanted to get home as soon as possible for some reason.

As Zephyr, Dartanion, Takoda, and Kanook dragged the kill with the alphas leading and the others trailing behind keeping an extra look out, a canine form a bit smaller than Kiona dashed in front of them. It was a blue-eyed, black and white wolf yearling.

The sudden entrance by the young wolf made all the wolves turn to the front of the group where Achak and Kiona were. The large black and silver alpha's eyebrows raised slightly at the smaller. There was nothing threatening about him. But he looked a bit worried, nervous, making him wonder as well. Kiona, beside him, beat him to saying anything.

"Who are you?" Surely none of them had seen this wolf around before. The black and white yearling couldn't be more than a year by his size and structure.

"I-I was...there are..." The young wolf took a moment to breathe an gather his throughts. "Humans!"

Well that got their attention. Achak's eyes widened before narrowing. So that's what the feeling he had sensed for a while now was. Should have known...Humans brought trouble with them wherever they went. Stepping forward, the wolf now spoke to the other.

"Where are they, how close?" Seeing that his large size might be intimidating the younger, the silver streaked wolf softened his stare.

"I saw them and just ran, I don't know. Past the river clearing though...coming this way...!"

"Can you take me to them?" Achak asked, trying his best not to make it seem like an order.

"Y-Yes, I

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