chance?” Aleu asked, lifting her head and looking into Aniu’s amber eyes. “Jadze . . . they said you could offer me a second chance . . .”

 

“Yes, that is true,” Aniu responded. “I will offer you a chance, as they have already told you; however, with each choice, there are consequences.”

 

“So, can you send me back?” Aleu pleaded. “I need to be with my family . . . and Shadow. Please.”

 

Although she sounded persistent about her request, there was some doubts in her mind. But what if she says no? Aleu thought, shuttering a bit nervously with a whine. While it is true that I’m no longer Alpha of the Talbourne Clan, I still have a mate and children to watch over . . .

 

I still have a purpose to serve, don’t I?

 

“The choice is up to you,” the magnificent lupine repeated again. “You have indeed served me well, and I know that life continues to go on now that your tenure as Alpha has ceased.” Being an all-around spirit, Aniu could easily sense the troubling thoughts within the heart of the quarter-wolf, even if she didn’t show it in her expressions.

 

“Well, I’ll come back to life, then,” Aleu’s ears pricked up eagerly. “I don’t care what the consequence is – I just want to be back with the ones I love.” Tears dripped from her blue and gold eyes, showing how much returning to life really was to her.

 

“Life . . . it is a precious thing – I’m sure you know that very well,” Aniu sighed, speaking with warmth and a sense of love about her.

 

“Yes . . . Yes, I do,” Aleu nodded. Nearby, Alai let out a soft sigh, but it was not noticeable to either female, but anyone that saw it could tell that something troubled him as well.

 

“Not many creatures have ever been returned to life after dying once;” The lupine goddess continued. “More than twice is even rarer actually . . . but I feel that you are meant to return to life once more . . . just for one more time.”

 

Aleu was overjoyed, leaping to her feet with a smile. “Oh, thank you very much, Aniu.”

 

“But with every deal, there is an equal price that must be paid, my child,” Aniu’s almond eyes began to glow golden as she spoke. “In exchange for returning your life, you can never have children ever again.”

 

This news made Aleu gasp with a look of shock on her face. No . . . I can’t have anymore children? She thought as tears thinly fell down her cheeks out of her own control. This would break Shadow’s heart . . . as well as my own . . .

 

I wanted Papa to see me give him a final chance to be a grandfather at least . . . and I loved being a mother to Lima, Sheik and Thunder – that’s why I stepped down from being Alpha . . .

 

“I know that your last litter were all still-born,” Aniu tried to comfort her with calm words. “and that the sorrow of this loss may be too much for you and your family to bear, but this shall be your sacrifice for returning to life. You must be think carefully about what you feel is the right decision to make . . . for your time is drawing short.” She turned to a wall of the cave, her eyes had returned to their normal shade of amber. “Look there, and see your den, my child.”

 

Aleu remembered how Aniu taught her to see other places long ago. She took a deep breath as the instructions went through her head and she followed them, thinking long and hard about the den where she last was. Close your eyes, think about every little thing you can remember . . . now, open your eyes . . . Aleu let out a gasp at what she saw in the ‘window’ on the wall.

 

Her family was weeping inside the birthing den, mourning over her unmoving body and the five tiny newborns that remained still. She could see her parents, Balto and Jenna, nuzzling each other in comfort; her sister Melody was by Timbre’s side, uncontrollably in tears that she couldn’t stop; Saba, her now almost all-white sister and the new Alpha of the Talbourne, was crying herself as Everest returned to her side with tears in his own eyes; but these weren’t what made Aleu tear up herself.

 

She saw Shadow, cowering over her body and trying to lick her awake with his tongue. Her three grown children suddenly ran to their father’s side, crying out for their mother in tears. Aleu could hear their softly muffled cries for her, but she knew that answering them back would be impossible . . . unless she made that decision to never bear children again.

 

“Shadow . . .” She murmured through her tears. Aleu had seen the agony that her family had been through the first time she had died – even witnessing her own funeral was almost hard to watch . . . and seeing her limp form following the current of the nearby river – but this was the worst state she had seen her mate before in her life. Not even the typical bullet wounds that always seemed to hit him in the shoulder felt worse than having to live life without the stubborn quarter-wolf by his side . . . and Aleu knew that for a fact.

 

Alai could only turn his head away with lowered ears and tears in his eyes as well. He still loved Aleu, but he knew that for now, her heart belonged to another.

 

“My child, have you finalized your choice?” Aniu stepped beside her with her query. “If a choice isn’t made within the next minute, you will be dead permanently and I cannot reassure you that I can return you to life.”

 

Aleu was silent, feeling the seconds remaining of her life beginning to slip away. She remembered that she would have to surrender her right to bear children ever again . . . But being back with Shadow, our kids, and the rest of my friends and family . . . it would all be worth the sacrifice.

 

She nodded, looking back at Aniu with a smile. The white wolf nodded back as if to understand her choice; of course, this was all to Alai’s chagrin, causing him to let out a small, almost inaudible whine.

 

However, Aleu took a final gaze of love at the red wolf, moving over to nuzzle him. “Wait for me, Alai . . . I will return to you soon, I promise. I can’t live forever, you know.”

 

Alai still had a slight frown on his face, but his bluish aura brightened anxiously around his form as he returned the gesture with a kiss. “You know I’d wait forever for you, Aleu . . . Take care of yourself now, okay?”

 

“I will . . . I love you,” Aleu nodded, smiling as she passed through the ‘window’ and had disappeared back into the realm of the living.

 

Alai let out a sigh once the gray-brown quarter-wolf was gone, turning to Aniu with a look of sorrow in his eyes. “Aniu, I feel so horrible for the way I acted towards her. It wasn’t like me to be so . . . selfish.” His head drooped. “Was it necessary for me to be so . . .”

 

She didn’t even need him to finish his sentence. “Yes, it was, my child. I meant for her to have a difficult decision to make, and I knew that you would try your hardest to make her stay.” Aniu smiled when she paused, knowing that Alai was deeply in love with Aleu – she knew everything like that, of course. “You really love her, and the bond that you two share is strong; however, the remainder of her life has begun, but I shall give you this promise: she will return to stay with you, Alai. You have always served me well and deserve many thanks as a servant to me.”

 

Alai bowed. “Thank you, Great Aniu. I understand your words and promise completely, but may I suggest something to you?”

 

“Why, of course,” the white wolf grinned. “What do you suggest I do for her?”

 

“Well, . . .” Alai began to tell her. “Here’s my idea . . .”

 

I just want to make her smile . . . that’s the least I can do . . .

 

 

 

Shadow was a bit comforted to have his children by his side to mourn, but there were so many questions that they asked him that were just too difficult for him to reply.

 

“Dad, why is Mommy dead?” The girl-pup Lima asked with tears in her eyes.

 

“Yeah, will Mom come back?” Thunder stepped forward next. “She’s always come back! She can’t leave us! She . . . she just can’t . . .”

 

“Mommy . . .” Sheik was at his mother’s neck, shaking Aleu’s scruffy neck with his paws like a young pup. “Mommy . . . Mommy, wake up . . .” Tears began to drip from his eyes, but that didn’t stop his siblings from joining him.

 

“Mom . . . you can’t die . . . You just can’t!” Lima shook along with the other two, weeping as her head leaned against Thunder’s. She was unable to make herself stop crying, no matter who tried to console her.

 

Thunder, on the other hand, was silent as he shook the one he had grown to call his mother. He remembered the kindness and nurturing love that she had for him, even if his own mother was taken from him when the hunters were capturing any wolves in sight. He was able to cry a few tears before howling out loudly in mourning – Thunder had adored being considered Aleu’s son, but he never expected to actually lose her . . . not like this, not yet.

 

Naturally, the actions of Aleu’s children made the rest of the family present start crying uncontrollably, if they weren’t crying already. This was indeed a sad day for the Talbourne, and with dawn approaching, Saba had no choice but to prepare herself to eulogize her older sister when the time for burial arrived – that was the duty of the Alpha after all, no matter how closely related they were to the dead.

 

She approached her father and mother, fighting back tears as hard as she could. “We’ll have a memorial for her and her pups in the morning light,” Saba said quietly to them. She did not know that they had witnessed a Talbourne funeral times before, but they were too much into their grief to say anything back . . . except Balto was

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Next page