Silvershore

Chapter Nineteen

It was the first time Stormjay had seen a litter of newborn pups. Two gorgeous she-wolves with a mixture of Calvin and Kiara's pelts. One smaller reddish-brown one with Calvin's white paws and a larger brown one with Kiara's dark brown paws. A sacred responsibility of love and nurture of these beautiful gifts of life from The Pack of the Stars had been given to Calvin and Kiara this day

"What have you decided to name them?" Bright Moon asked.

"The one on the left's name is Kaia, and the one on the right is Nyla."

The reddish one was named Kaia, and the brown one was Nyla. Beautiful and fitting names for these little miracles of life. The two new lives came as sea air, rolling over buoyant waves, kissing with a coldness that brought wakefulness and awareness of the moment they had arrived at. These puppies were his cousins, two new important lives he would have to swear to protect.

Stormjay smiled. "They're beautiful...I'm sorry I couldn't help you during your birth, Kiara."

"Don't worry about it..." She gave an exhausted smile. "Bright Moon did very well...there were many other wolves by my side the whole time. It was a very quick and easy birth..."

"I'm happy to hear that... is there anything I can get you?"

"I'm alright...I just need to sleep." She giggled.

And that was their cue to leave.

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It had been a fairly uneventful day, other than Kiara's birth. Stormjay didn't have much on his mind throughout the day...somehow, his time as a trainee ending didn't affect him much, as he was already quite respected and did a lot for the pack. The only thing that changed yesterday was the fact that everything was official now - he was no longer a trainee.

But the more he thought about it, it had changed more than he thought. Stormjay was growing up. Although he wasn't technically an adult yet, he truly felt like one. He had been surrounded by older, more mature wolves his entire life, so he had no choice but to mature quicker than necessary. And, despite his age, he was one of the tallest wolves in the pack. He had not only started to learn everything he needed to know about The Pack of the Earth at a very young age, but fell in love quite young. He used to be just fine not knowing if Bright Moon felt the same way, but it was starting to mess with him a bit more recently.

Stormjay was terrified of telling her how he felt. He always had been. What if it ruined their deep companionship they had shared their entire life? Everything Stormjay had done in his lifetime, Bright Moon had been right there beside him, cheering him on. They knew every little detail about each other, other than the thing Bright Moon needed to know most. Roscoe was right the other night about confessing to her. Stormjay couldn't take it anymore. He needed to do it. Tonight. But he needed help.

"Roscoe," Stormjay approached Roscoe, who was eating a rabbit near the center of the Main Territory, close to the pack meeting area and Wood's den.

"Oh, hey there, buddy. What's up?" Roscoe looked up from his rabbit to face him.

"I...need your help...sorry."

"No need to apologize...what do you need help with?"

"...Can we talk about this in your den? It's really personal."

"Sure thing. Let's go. I'm done with this rabbit, anyway."

The two of them headed off to Roscoe's den, which was quite close to the center of the Main Territory, so it wasn't very long of a walk.

They entered the den. Roscoe's pitch-black pelt made him almost invisible in the darkness of the den, the only way to see him was the evening light shining from the outside.