right?"

"I hope so.  Rowan, what's wrong with her?"

"How would I know, Linden?  Besides, I think Mama's coming."

Sure enough, the large golden female emerged from the curtain.  She was smiling.

"She's okay?"  The puppies yelped.

"More than okay," replied Aspen mysteriously.

 
"Brite's PREGNANT?!"

Aspen laughed at Juneau's shocked expression.  "That's exactly how Pawnee acted when he found out about me."

"Where is she?  And she's going to be okay?"

"In the den, and yes, just fine."  She couldn't suppress another chuckle.  "Go see her."

The future father knelt carefully at the entrance of the alpha's den.  It was easy to see that he had grown into a powerful animal in the past few months:  His large, shaggy shoulders barely fit through the hole, and he had to crouch low to make his long legs fit.  

"Hear the news?"  Brite gave a low chortle.  Her petite frame, lying in the nest of grasses, was largely in contrast to her mate's tall, muscular build.

"Yes.  How are you feeling?"

"Why do I get the impression that I'm going to be asked that constantly?  Yes, of course I'm feeling fine.  I'm just not able to hold anything down at the moment, that's all."

"Well, if that's all it is, then I guess I'm okay with that."  Juneau's tone was teasing, and Brite butted him as hard as she could manage.

"If our pups are anything like you, they're going to end up insane!"  They both laughed at her comment, but not without a few playful swipes exchanged first.

"Great job on the hunt the other day."  The Elder, a tall, black wolf with hulking shoulders and a stooped gait, whacked Juneau on the back in congratulations with a large forepaw.

"Ow.  I mean, thanks!"

"No problem."  With a sly grin the spry old wolf trotted stiffly away, his silvery muzzle curved up in a smile. 

"You doing okay?"  Juneau spun around and found that none other than the half-grown pup Linden was inquiring about his mate.  He glimpsed Brite, her belly growing larger every day, shake her head emphatically at the pup.

"No, of course I'm not," she quipped sarcastically.

Juneau approached, grinning in spite of himself.  "Go on, run along!"  Obeying Juneau's order, Linden scampered away from the alpha male and female to play with her friends, many of whom were smaller than herself--they had all been born after her and her brother and sister.

"She's grown so big already," Brite commented with a sigh.  "It seems like she was just a baby yesterday."

"Sure does.  Say, how about we go and visit Balto for the night?  He could use the company; his kids are all grown up.  That is, unless you're not feeling up to it."

"Of course I am!  But will the pack be okay?"

"I'll put Pawnee in charge.  He knows I could use a break, and after all, he's the beta wolf now."  After a hectic last-minute hunt for spring meat for the growing pups, Juneau was exhausted.  It had been a very long month since Brite had been found pregnant, and they both could use a vacation, however short it way be.

"Well, what are we waiting for?  Let's find Pawnee."

Balto stretched and settled himself on the planking of his old boat.  Nearby, in the shadows of late twilight, Juneau and his mate plopped down next to each other.  It was the next day, and they had been traveling for many hours without stopping, hoping to make it by nightfall.  But with Brite's pregnancy it was nearly impossible to do so, and it had been very taxing on her to make it at all.  Yet here they were; they had arrived and were quite glad of it.

"So, Uncle, how have you been?  Lonely?"

"Me?  Pshaw.  Jenna visits pretty much every day, and I her.  But," the older wolfdog conceded, "it would be nice to have little ones around the place again."

"Well, when my family visits you someday soon, you won't be lonely."  A wide grin stretched across Juneau's face as his uncle's features twisted in shock.  "You don't mean..."

"I'm expecting in late February, another month."  Brite intervened proudly.

"Congratulations!  I'm happy for you."  Balto got to his feet and nuzzled both of them.

"We're pretty happy for ourselves," Juneau chuckled, "but anyway, what's happening in Nome these days?  I've heard that..."

The talk continued late into the night, and Brite had long been resting on her mate's shoulder when the two "men" turned in for the night.

Weeks passed, and it became harder and harder for Brite to move around.  Soon she was confined to the cave, and several days before the delivery couldn't make it out of the den itself. 

The entire clan was eager the day of the birth.  Tension radiated and bounced off of everything.  And of course, no one was as concerned as Juneau.  He paced in the same path, back and forth, back and forth, for two hours until The Elder sagely advised him not to create a ravine in the cave floor.  "Her time will come, and soon."

"When?"  The young alpha's face was haggard. 

The wise black wolf's eyes softened as he said, "I do not know.  What I do know is that birth is treasured among the members of this clan, and that everyone in Northern Heights will do whatever it takes to help Brite."  With that, he turned away.  Juneau took up his restless pacing, and this time, no one tried to stop him.

It was a long and difficult birth, and Aspen had her paws full with the delivery; but at last four pups had emerged into the world.  After resting for several minutes, Brite urged her friend to announce the birth and let Juneau into the den ("He's probably worried sick!").

"At last!"  Juneau gave a howl of jubilance that echoed across the stony outcroppings of the mountain.  Others joined in the rambunctious cacophony, and it lasted for several minutes.  Finally, laughingly, Aspen urged Juneau inside, saying in hushed reverence, "Oh, Juneau!  They're the most beautiful things!  You'll love them!"

"I'm sure I will," he murmured.

Snuggled at Brite's side were four young things:  A large, black male pup with brown markings; a medium-sized light tan male; a big dark brown male; and lastly a small deep-chocolate colored female with a pale chest and pale legs.  Also, unlike the others, she had strange tear-drop markings splattered across her hind legs like dripping dew on a summer morning.

"They-they're beautiul," Juneau breathed.  His breath seemed to have left him suddenly.

"Aren't they?  Let's have some names.  I'd like for both of us to pick out each name, not one or the other."  Brite cocked her head in request.

"It's a deal.  How about 'Tor' for that one?"  Juneau indicated the large black male puppy.

"Let's modify that.  Since he's so big and strong, let's call him 'Thor' instead!"  Brite laughed.

"A good name," Aspen assented, smiling.

"All right, then.  What about a name for the tan guy?"  Juneau's head wrinkled in concentration.

"Lane?"

"No!"  Juneau shook his head violently.

"Sam? Perry?"

"No and no.  Something distinguished.  Something like...Atlas?"

"Atlas?  Yes, I like that.  Atlas."  His mate bobbed her head approvingly.

"And that one?"  The large dark-brown male was pointed out.

"Oh, I already thought of a name for that one."  A smug smile encased Brite's face.

"You did, did you?  Well, let's hear it, then."

"Just look at him.  Who does he look like to you?"

Juneau and Aspen stared carefully.  Suddenly realization dawned on Aspen's face and she let her breath out with a whoosh.

"What?  Who does he look like to you?"  Juneau stared at her in curiosity.

Aspen slowly replied, "Like you, of course, yes.  But he looks even more like-"

In a flash of sudden realization and shock Juneau knew.  "My father?"

"Yes." 

Brite backed Aspen up with a nod.  "Aspen described your father to me once, and from what I can tell, he looks almost exactly like-"

"Bering.  And that will be this pup's name."  Juneau had never seen much of his father, and his few memories were dim.  But he knew from descriptions-and in his heart-that this pup was truly like his father.

"And for the girl?"  Brite's eyes jabbed in the direction of the small, dark female.

"I dunno...that's hard.  But a trader came to Nome from a distant land once when I was young, and I heard him say a name-Malthace.  Do you like that?  We could call her 'Thacia' or just 'Thace'.

"It's unusual and different...but I really like it.  Malthace it is."

"You have chosen well."  Aspen's approving comment was backed by the squealings and whimperings of  Thor, Atlas, Bering, and Malthace.  After Aspen left to infrom the clan of the pups and their new names, Juneau nestled down beside Brite, and the two of them slept soundly.  Their pups kept them in good company.

Four months later...

"Papa!  Come play!"

"Not now, sweetheart.  I'm busy."

"PLEASE??"

"No."

"Pretty ple-"

"NO."

Disappointed, Malthace slunk off, tail tucked between her short legs.  How hard it was to be the youngest and smallest of the litter!  Her papa seemed so incredibly busy.  Maybe she was overreacting, but...no, it couldn't be.  He loved her and always made time for her.  Just not now.  Heaving a puppyish sigh, she