The Rares

Chapter 27

~~~~Shiloh~~~~

Nickolas's shadow fell, once again, over the opening of the den.  I had five sleeping newborn pups at my belly, but my back was to the den entrance, and Nickolas couldn't see them.

As I had run to the den, Nickolas had scented me, ran out to greet me, but then instincts took over.

I had run straight past him, and into the den. Nickolas had tried to come in, but after I growled a warning at him to stay away, he had settled down. Now, hours later, he was pacing again.

I thought to when I had gotten there.

I pelted through the snow, simply shaking it off my head when I ran through a snow drift. I was lucky that it was powdery in this month.

I sped up when I saw a dark shape in the distance. I knew it was Nickolas, and I knew I was close.

"Shiloh! Are you alright?" He called.

I ignored him, and pelted past. I had to get to a den. I had to.

Finally, I reached the den. I jumped in, and Nickolas tried to follow. I growled at him, showing my teeth. He scrambled out, and I turned my attention to the pups that were trying to force themselves into the world.

A faint squeak pulled me out of my thoughts. One of the pups, the smallest one, was shaking her head, and squirming, letting out small squeaks that faded to soundless wails. Her mouth was stretched open, and she was clawing at her throat.

Fear shot through me. My daughter couldn't breath! I tried to help her, but it was too late. My daughter fell limp. I could tell that she was still alive, but barely. She gasped for air, and helpless, I could only watch as my daughter left me for a place where she could breath.

I gathered my daughter's body up with my paws, and held her to my chest as tears fell  from my eyes. 

"Shi?" Nickolas called. "Are you okay?" 

I growled at him, again warning him to stay away. I waited until his pawsteps faded away. I supposed that he was hunting. 

One of my pups, one of my sons, had woken up when his sister died, and he lifted his head, his eyes sealed shut. I licked his head, and he squirmed closer to me. He laid his head on my chest, then curled up, and fell back to sleep. 

I smiled at him. He looked like a tiny version of Nickolas.

Exhausted from the ordeal of giving birth, and having one of my pups die, I lay my head down, and allowed the sandman to take me.

___________

"Shi,"

I lifted my head, blinking and groggy.

"Shiloh,"

 It took me a few moments to wake up. I curled my tail around my remaining four pups, and looked to the opening of the den, where Nickolas was calling me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I blinked up at him.

"Yes," I replied.

"Do you need anything?"

The pups were stirring.

"Yes. I need you to please stop bothering me. Leave me alone for now, Nicks."

Hurt flashed in his eyes, but he nodded and vanished.

I turned my attention to my pups. Two were females, two were males. One of he girls had long fur that fell over part of her face. I moved it aside with one claw, but she shook her head, and squeaked at me. 

Love for the four little furry, squirming, blind, deaf pups rushed through me. They were mine.

____________

As my pups squirmed and played, their eyes still not opened, I sat at the side where the den opened into the long tunnel that led to the outside.

I remembered when Nickolas and I had made the birthing den. It was soon after Zephyr was shot. Fearing that I would be forced to stay at the stronghold, we made the den. It had a long tunnel leading from the entrance to where I was. There was also a small tunnel as a backup escape, just in case of someone attacking.  I didn't expect an attack, because I knew that Nickolas was guarding the entrance.

My pups were a week old, and I was planning on showing them to Nickolas soon. Because he was their father, he should have some input on their names.

I stood up, glanced at my pups, then walked down the tunnel, and poked my head out of the den.

"Nickolas," I called. He was laying down in a patch of sunlight, but lifted his head when he heard me.

He bounded over to me. "Shi, how are you? How are the pups?"

"Come and see for yourself."

I led him down the tunnel, to the chamber that I had picked when it was my time.  We had multiple chambers so, when I was my time, I could pick which one I wanted. The rest were decoys in case of attack, and each had their own separate escape route.

The pups had worn themselves out, and were sleeping in a black, white, and brown fuzzy heap.

"How many?" Nickolas breathed.

"Four. There were five, but she died. Two are girls, two are boys."

I lay down, and the pups squirmed their way over to my belly to get milk.

Nickolas watched for a moment, then pointed to two of the pups. 

"These two look like me and you," He murmured. "The boy even has my markings in almost the same spots. And the girl has her spots where you do."

He paused, just gazing at hem.

"They're beautiful," He murmured.

We watched the pups until they fell asleep.

"What should we name them?" Nickolas asked.

"I don't know. I was thinking a few names, but I'm just not sure on them."

"What were you thinking?"

"Nico for the one that looks like you, and Nomis for the other boy."

Nickolas thought for a minute.

"Nomis is backward for Simon."

"Huh. So it is."

"But I like that. Why don't our boys be Nico and Nomis. What about the girls?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know... How about Selena for this one?" He pointed to the one with the long fur that covered her eye.

"Yeah. I like that. But what about the one that looks like me?"

We thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with anything.

"Well, the boys' names start with N, and Selena ends with A, so... maybe we could do something that the end sounds similar?" I looked up at Nickolas, trying to see what he thought.

"Hmm, maybe. But what, though?"

"I don't know," I murmured, trying to hold back a yawn. Nickolas noticed.

"Why don't you go to sleep, and we'll figure it out in the morning?"

Drowsily, I nodded.

Nickolas gently pushed my head down until it was touching the ground, then licked my cheek.

"Just go to sleep. I'll watch the entrance and make sure nothing happens."

I blinked at Nickolas sleepily.

"Go to sleep,"

He snuggled the pups up against my belly as I slipped into the soft embrace of unconsciousness.