The Life of The Little One

A Runt Is Born

"Oh, they're...so beautiful," a long-haired, stunning white wolf said, panting as she looked down upon her new litter of puppies.

"I see they took after me," said a silky voice belonging to the large, handsome male standing behind her.

She giggled and glanced back at him; he nuzzled her in response. Once he looked back at the pups, however, he squinted his eyes. It was dark in the back of their cave, at it was barely sunrise. He screwed up his bright, copper eyes to see the pups as clearly as possible. Indeed, all six of the pups had his fur color: uneven, smoky gray that was lighter in some spots and darker in others. They were all suckling hungrily, except one. The male noticed for the first time the tiny white ball wriggling around under the other pups, trapped.

"Hey, hey, get off..." He said softly as he gently nosed a couple of the pups until the white one was free. This pup was so much smaller than the others, who were all tiny.

"Oh, dear..." The female whispered, the anguish apparent in her voice as her mate carefully moved one of the pups to allow the white one to suckle for a bit. The one he had moved away whined in protest, but the male simply lifted his head back up and smiled, watching the littlest one drink happily.

"Felix..." She said, looking to her mate. He looked back at her, into her bright green eyes.

"Hm?"

Unable to keep eye contact, she looked back down at the pups, biting her lip. She couldn't bring herself to say it. Seeming to sense what she was thinking, he said,

"So, we got an extra. I won't pretend it's not a big deal, because it is. But I don't think it's a bad thing. A whole nother pup! Isn't that amazing?!"

He made no effort to hide his excitement, and this did reassure her some. Nevertheless, she still had her reservations.

"You just weren't expecting more than six pups, that's all. Number Seven there is a huge surprise! And who doesn't love a good surprise?"

"Yeah, I guess..." She replied uncertainly.

"Laika," he said, "you've been through a lot; get some rest."

They nuzzled and she layed her head down to sleep. Before long, the pups had all had their fill and were asleep, all snuggled into their mom's belly and breathing rapidly. Felix layed behind his mate, laying his head on her side, watching the mouth of the cave.