Marselina trotted along with her pack next to her best friend, Redsong. "How much longer are we going to walk in circles like this?" said Redsong. "I can't feel my feet anymore!" Marselina laughed and replied, "Don't worry. I'm sure Dayton knows where he's going. Oh, look! There's the meadow right over there!" Marselina was brown with a red tinge on the edges of her fur. She had a perfectly white underbelly, and beautiful, sky-blue eyes. Redsong was all a dark red colour with black spots on her tail. Dayton, the leader of the pack, turned around. "Alright! Here we are! Marselina, Redsong, your huts are over by the big oak tree over there." He pointed to skillfully made lean-to's with a huge oak tree shadowing over them. "Perfect." Marselina breathed. Redsong and Marselina ran to their huts with no delay, and Marselina went in slowly. Dayton remembered the frigid wind and newly laid snow. "Now, go in, honey, before you catch a cold." Dayton gave her a lick and nudged her in. He followed. They pressed their heads close together, and Marselina whispered, "Dayton, I love you." The black and white striped wolf replied, "I love you, too, Marselina. 

     Redsong was awake before anyone else, as usual, and joyfully singing (hence her name). Marselina wanted to just about knock her out. Dayton woke up and told his mate, Marselina, to check and see if Taz, the pack protector, was awake yet. The lovely wolf padded over to Taz's hut and shook him gently. "Taz! Wake up, the pack needs some protection! Hello?" Taz, the silver wolf with a red stripe down his back, lunged out of his hut and to the edge of the Red Clan's territory. His huge, black paws sure did give a threat to any poor thing that may come across him. Redsong merrily skipped towards Marselina and said, "Isn't it a gorgeous morning? Did you feel anything from the puppies last night? How are they doing?" Marselina was pregnant, and Redsong and Dayton were the only ones that knew about it. "Oh, they were very calm last night, and I'm sure they'll be arriving soon!" Redsong started up her beautiful voice again, singing about morning and snow and the sun.       Marselina was exhausted from getting up so early, so she told Dayton that she was going to rest for a little while. She climbed into their bed, and the scent of Dayton gently lulled her to sleep. Marselina then heard a noise. A noise that not even she could explain. Then, the entire world began to spin, faster and faster. She heard her self yelp in pain as she saw a puppy's lifeless body, and then, blackness. She saw nothing. All of the sudden, she saw the dead pup again, but this time it wasn't dead, it was quite alive. It was running around, bouncing up and down until the ground opened up, and the dog disappeared into the hole. Next, there were fierce animals trying to kill her too. There were hunting dogs and humans tracking her down. The world began to swirl again, and what she saw next was the worst of all; it was Dayton, and he was running away from her and her pups. Then when she felt like she was falling, she heard his voice saying, "Marselina! Wake up! Please, wake up!" Marselina opened her eyes. It was Dayton. She said, "Oh, Dayton! I had the most horrible dream! I was screaming, I saw a dead puppy, oh, but it wasn't dead. It was eaten by the ground, then I was dead. Then I-" The striped wolf closed her mouth. Marselina sighed. "I'm sorry. It was only a dream." Dayton licked her and told her, "It's OK, Mar. You're fine, I'm fine, the kids are fine. We are all alright." With that, he smiled at her and left. Marselina thought to herself, "It was just a dream. It was just a dream..."      Marselina awoke again with Dayton at her side, and it was the next morning. She yawned and walked out carefully, trying not to wake up Dayton. Taz was standing at his usual spot, and Redsong was singing her merry little song. It was a peaceful morning, and Marselina felt refreshed. Redsong bounced over to her. "Hey there, sleepy-head! How was your night, Mar?" Marselina sighed and told her, "Fine." Redsong bounded away when Taz sounded the alarm. "EVERYBODY GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!" He yelled. Everyone dropped. There was a gunshot. All the wolves scrambled for cover, and someone was howling in pain. One of the hunting men told the other one, "Ha! That's one more than you, Bill! Looks like I'm winning! We should go before the pack attacks us; that was my last bullet." The men left, and Marselina tried to find the howler in all the commotion. She couldn't believe her eyes. Redsong was bleeding on the snow, calling for help. The brown and red wolf tried to comfort her until Taz sounded the all-clear. When the hunters were gone, she called for Dayton. He came, and Redsong's wounds were wrapped and treated. "You're gonna be alright." comforted Marselina. "You're gonna be alright."        One week later...      Redsong was up and about again, singing her song and annoying the entire Red Clan in just one week. "I'm so glad you're alright!" yipped Marselina. Taz was grateful too, and so was Dayton. Marselina had kept feeling sensations in her stomach area, but she knew already that the pups were coming soon. But, she didn't know how soon they would actually arrive. Marselina felt a stinging throb in her chest, and her heart began to beat harder. "Dayton," she cried, "I think..." She began to sweat heavily. Dayton was confused. "Mar?" She began to cry out in pain. "The pups are coming!" Everbody gasped. Dayton made sure she was calm and he brought her to the hut. He needed help with delivering the puppies. "Somebody help us! The puppies are coming!" Redsong immediately leaped into the hut and informed Dayton to stay outside. The pack formed a circle around the hut, and nobody could go inside; Marselina needs her space. Dayton heard yelping, whimpering, and howling coming from Marselina, making him nervous. Then there was nothing, making him even more nervous. Everyone held their breath, waiting for a sound. They didn't hear anything. Dayton started to cry silently. He thought for sure that Marselina and the pups were gone. Suddenly, there was a baby cry from the hut. There were more barks, yips, and whimpers, but he didn't hear Marselina. Redsong's head emerged and she exclaimed, "We've got puppies!" The entire Red Clan rejoiced, and Redsong let Dayton in.      Dayton had never seen anything more beautiful. His mate was lying down with three gorgeous pups nursing and crawling around. Marselina was beaming with happiness. "Dayton, look! Aren't they beautiful? We should name them." The proud father laid down with his mate, and agreed to name them. They first picked a pup with brown ears, brown belly, brown paws, brown muzzle, white face, and white body. It was a boy. Dayton said, "I think a good name for him would be Odin (oh-din). It suits him." Marselina liked the name, and they moved on to the next one. This puppy was red with a black nose bridge, black paws, white belly, and dark red tail. They named her Akeelah (a-keel-luh). The last one looked exactly like Marselina, with a white belly, brown body with red tinge, and a red-tipped tail. "Dayton." spoke Marselina "This pup may look like me, but we should name him after you. I want to." Dayton looked puzzled and said, "Well, it's a girl, so we should name her Marselina, but if you want to name the pup after me, then we should call her Detani (day-ton-ee)." Marselina smiled with joy. "Yes! Detani is a wonderful name. Let's let them rest now." Dayton was absolutely pleased with his new family, and he promised Marselina that he wouldn't let anything happen to them or her. The new mother told Dayton, "Oh, thank you for protecting the pups and me. I'm sure that nothing will ever happen to them now." Marselina licked Dayton's muzzle and she told him, "I love you." Dayton said, "I love you, too." Redsong popped in and asked Dayton to let the puppies and Marselina rest. He left, and Marselina let out a sigh of triumph and drifted to sleep.      One month later... Marselina's pups weren't pups anymore. They were much bigger now, and they were beginning to eat meat. Odin definitely lived up to his name; he was strong, the leader of the pups, and a real fighter. Akeelah lived up to her name also; she was headstrong, smart, and observant. Detani was just like her father; caring, had an attitude at times, and imaginative. Marselina saw the little ones play-fighting, and she told Odin, "Odin, no! No fighting near the ice!" Odin sighed and he brought the fight away from the ice. Detani was so imaginative that she was making up her own game and playing with Redsong. Detani was howling and saying, "Arrg! I be a pirate! Walk the plank, mateys!" Redsong went along with it. "Oh no! It's a big, scary pirate! I should do what she says and walk the plank!" They both looked at each other and burst out laughing. They were, to Marselina, the best of friends. Akeelah was wrestling Odin when they stumbled into a pile if fur. They looked around and Odin said to Akeelah, "I-I know where we are. Look at those men over there, and those big sticks they're carrying." Akeelah did see men with camoflauge clothing on them and big sticks. "I see them, Odin. Maybe they want to play with us!" Odin stepped on Akeelah's tail, stopping her from going forward. "Akeelah, they don't want to play, they want to kill us! They are hunters! Those big sticks are

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