the presence of the several she-wolves by her side, shushing her and reminding her not to push yet.

 

But it hurts! Aleu wanted to scream out, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything except for a groan. The aching of the children inside her beginning their path into the world took the words from her mouth. My God, just let me push already!

 

She had been like this for the past couple of hours since Shadow left to retrieve her father. Nothing but heave and ache, push and shush . . . and still no sign of a puppy emerging from her hindquarters.

 

Aleu let out another painful cry; this pain was the worst one yet. Birthing wasn’t this difficult when Lima and Sheik arrived, she thought as she endured the contraction with clinched teeth and shut eyes. I wonder if this pain is due to my older age?

 

She knew she was right – not many wolves had children once they hit a certain age, and most of Aleu’s female companions had ceased raising children because of the threats of hunters, rival packs and the possible attacks from the dark wolf, Shade. But Shade’s tyranny against us is over . . . he’s destroyed now, right? Aleu thought. With the evil lupine force gone for good, it was safe to replenish the next generation of the Talbourne Clan so that the older protectors would know that Aniu’s mighty Clan would live to fight another day for many years to come.

 

But right now, she had to push . . . Aleu could feel a puppy begin to slip out of her, and there was no way she could ignore her maternal instincts any longer.

 

Aleu let out a grunt with Melody there for the laboring female to rest her head onto her neck, putting pressure on her sister as she tried to push.

 

“Aleu! Don’t push yet!” Melody shrieked at hearing her older sister’s noises. “You’re not ready!”

 

“Aah . . . It . . . can’t . . . wait . . .” Aleu shut her eyes, letting her body act naturally.

 

“Aleu, no!” Melody’s voice howled as Aleu howled out a birthing cry, drowning out her younger sister’s own command.

 

Her tail lifted and landed to the side as a splash of blood and water spilled on the ground, soon followed in a few seconds by a pearly soft sac with a newborn puppy inside. Weakened, she collapsed forward and landed on the ground, completely missing her sister’s grayish fur. Aleu struggled to catch her breath in heavy yet quick pants while the she-wolves-turned-midwives took care of the baby.

 

However, Melody took immediate action over the newborn. “You guys take care of Aleu,” she told them in between removing the sac skin from the pup. “She needs to calm down before she delivers again. I’ll make sure the pup’s healthy and okay.”

 

She licked and licked until she could carefully remove the pup from the sac. It was a girl-pup, a daughter with markings were visibly vivid on her body that reflected both parents – dark red like the father, but with light-beige patches around its shut eyes and muzzle, similar to the mother’s own markings. However, something was terribly wrong.

 

The pup was quiet and unmoving, completely unresponsive of Melody’s touch. She didn’t cry out at all and her body was not warm.

 

The pup was dead.

 

“How do I tell her this . . .?” Melody asked under her breath, so none of the other females – mostly Aleu – couldn’t hear her. I told her not to push . . . she added in her mind.

 

“Melody, . . . is the pup . . . all right?” Aleu managed to pant out, amidst her recovery and preparedness for the next birth.

 

The gray she-wolf was silent. She didn’t know how to tell her that her puppy . . . her newly-born daughter . . . was dead.

 

“Melody? Is something wrong . . . with my baby?” Aleu cried out again, slightly stronger than before. “Why can’t I hear . . .” She paused, letting out a gasp as she realized what was missing. “Why isn’t the pup crying?”

 

All she could do to respond to Aleu was turn to her sister with a frown and streams of tears coming from her eyes.

 

“Mel . . . no, . . . don’t tell me, . . .” Aleu could see the sadness and agony in Melody’s expression, as did the she-wolves present. A couple of the she-wolves themselves gasped shockingly when they finally saw what was beside Melody’s paws, only adding to Aleu’s distress. “No . . . no . . .” She could translate what she wanted to say just by looking in her sister’s eyes. “ . . . oh my God . . .”

 

“I’m . . . I’m sorry, Aleu,” Melody lowered her head to cover the pup in her salty waterfall of tears. “I . . . I tried to save her, . . . but she . . . she didn’t make it . . .”

 

“NO! Oh God, no!”

 

The booming bark of Shadow caused everyone to glance his direction. He and Balto had just arrived on scene, and the new father was completely distraught by this sudden news. Tears splashed on his cheeks and landed at his paws.

 

“Shadow?” Aleu weakly cried out to her mate, now with tears in her eyes over the loss of their newborn daughter. “Shado—ooh!” Another contraction hit Aleu, making her lose focus from the loss of the first pup to the miracle of life about to take place; she rose her front-half of her body up, allowing the pup to have an easier flight into the world. “Oh . . . oh . . . it’s coming . . . AAH!”

 

“Aleu!” Melody turned back to her sister. “Breathe . . . Oh, hang on . . . hang on!” There was no more time left for mourning over the lost pup now – another was about to be brought into the world, so the females returned back to caring for their former Alpha and preparing for the next birth. However, the loud sobbing from her brother-in-law outside of the room only added more tenseness to the air, as well as to the gray female in charge. “Dad,” She barked to her father. “get him out of here, please!”

 

The wolf-dog nodded to his daughter, obeying her command immediately – he knew this was not the time or place for Shadow to be present; he would only add more stress onto Aleu’s current condition, which would possibly hurt the pups that had yet to be born. The mourning form of Shadow was moved out of the birthing den’s entrance and with Balto’s assistance, the two males made their way to another empty den.

 

It was hard for Balto to easily relate to this sort of tragedy – he had had children killed once they were matured and in the prime of life, but never born dead. He could imagine the sorrow that the once strong wolf was feeling inside his heart.

 

My newest daughter . . . DEAD? Shadow still couldn’t believe the news that he had walked into as he hobbled against Balto, his tears were wetly staining the hybrid’s coat dark brown as he continued to sob. Why, Aniu? Why is this happening? Why is she dead?

 

I want these children of mine to live, not die! Why . . . ?

 

Balto remained silent as they heard Aleu loudly struggle to birth another pup – hopefully this one would be born alive. He wanted to say something the perk up Shadow’s spirits, but what exactly do you say to the mate of your daughter after losing a granddaughter at birth?

 

I can’t really say anything else to console him, poor guy . . . It was out of my hands . . . as well as his own . . .

 

It must have been Aniu’s will . . . tragically . . .

 

“Shadow . . .” Balto began to say, but Shadow’s gaze vacuumed up the words he had planned to tell them. The hybrid remained silent – no words could comfort his daughter’s mate, but the least he could do was remain by his side.

 

I don’t want him to be reckless in his condition,Balto thought as they arrived at a den that was a safe distance from Aleu’s birthing chamber. He had a feeling that if he left Shadow alone, the wolf’s actions would be wild and out of control, reflecting his ragingly sad emotions.He’s taking this rather hard, and I don’t think that Aleu needs any more tragedy right now.

 

“ . . . this is not the result that I wanted . . .” the red wolf murmured under his breath as he collapsed onto Balto’s neck once more.

 

“It’s not just you – none of us wanted this, Shadow,” Balto corrected him, trying his hardest not to show his own tears of sorrow. “Maybe the rest of Aleu’s pups will be waiting for you once you calm down, okay?”

 

Shadow’s head lifted with a sniffle, turning towards Balto’s as he sighed. “I hope so . . .”

 

I hope so too . . . Balto looked back at him. “I really am sorry about all this, Shadow.” Shadow still didn’t seem to be ready to return to Aleu’s side quite yet, so after a pause, Balto spoke again. “I suggest that you get some rest. Maybe when you wake up, Aleu will be ready for you to see your new children.”

 

Shadow was able to smile just a bit at that – hopefully things would work out in the end – but he placed himself on the floor of the den and closed his eyes to sleep, hoping that Balto’s prediction would be right once he awoke.

 

 

 

With a series of pants and several miles that their paws had traveled in the past hour, Dash and Jenna finally reached the cave entrance where Timbre awaited them. He was still as serious about his job as ever, but it was easy to tell that he was relieved to see his friend and the still beautiful husky again.

 

“Welcome back, Dash,” He grinned at the two. “Long time, no see, Jenna.”

 

“Same to you,” Jenna lowered her head, respectfully greeting Melody’s mate.

 

“Hey, Timbre,” Dash greeted his friend. “How’s Aleu doing?”

 

The brown and tan wolf’s expression was solemn and easy to translate. “From what I’ve heard, it’s not going so good.”

 

Jenna gasped, taking a slight step backwards in shock. “Oh no . . .”

 

“Shadow’s been taking it pretty hard, but

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