Snow Survival - The Crystals

Chapter Four

Storm gasped happily when he heard his mates news. "That's great!" Wow, already? That's amazing! Then the gray and white wolf fell asleep after he ate his meal with Rose. He heard the occasional yelp of pain during the night, but he thought it was nothing. He woke up to see Soar huddled over Rose. At first he was confused at the presence of the healer then he saw curled up under Rose were two fluffy pups. One was a she-wolf whose fur had shades of pink and a male wolf who was gray with a white face, looking almost identical to Storm, but he had a darker gray tail, paws, and a couple of darker gray spots. "Rose, they're beautiful!" Rose smiled widely, the happiest he had ever seen her. "What are their names?" Rose wrapped her tail around her pups. "Raspberry and Pebble." Storm nodded happily. "They're beautiful! I'll hunt some prey for you and them." The white and pink wolf nodded gratefully and started licking Raspberry. I guess she doesn't want to give them pup names and their adult names right away, He thought. That's fine. I doubt Snow would mind. He walked up to Metal, who was pulling a small thorn out of his pads. "Would you like to hunt? Rose had my pups!" Metal nodded. "That's great news," The white wolf with gray spots turned towards the cave entrance. "You should probably tell Snow that Rose had pups, he would want to know. Storm nodded to the wolf, eager to hunt, but obeying. The walked over to Snow to see the Alpha was already awake. "Hello, Storm. Do you need anything?" Snow growled at the presence of him. "Oh well, yes. I wanted to tell you Rose had my pups. Pebble and Raspberry." Snow swished his tail. "That's great! I needed to tell you something, too. I have been so busy that I haven't been able to pick a Beta, but I think you would be a fine choice." Storm's tail stuck straight up. "Really? Thank you so much, Snow." Snow nodded then turned away. "You should go hunt now, Rose and her pups need food." Storm nodded then bounded out of the Alpha's den towards Metal and the two set off into the forest.

"So you're Beta now?" Metal asked, interest in his gaze. Storm nodded. "Apparently, but It's a lot on my shoulders along with being a father." Metal turned when he smelled deer. "Yeah, that makes sense." Then the white and gray-spotted wolf with yellow eyes started to crouch down and Storm did as well. Then the deer came into view. The sunlight filtered through the tall pine trees, making the brown buck appear almost golden. Storm and Metal hid behind a bush, trying to breath as soft as they could. One wrong move, and they would miss the biggest meal of the season. The deer turned away from the direction the wolves were facing the deer. Metal lightly brushed his tail against Storm's, telling him, come on, this is the perfect chance. Storm nodded stiffly and then they both stalked closer to the buck until they were almost right behind it. Storm then leaped out of the bush and onto the deer's back, sinking his teeth into its neck. Metal followed close behind and sunk his jaws into the deer's leg. The buck cried in pain and tried to fling Storm off and kick Metal off, but it was unsuccessful. Storm sunk his teeth harder until he heard a snap of bone. He leaped off the deer into the snowy ground below. Metal stood up and shook his fur. "We did it! This is the biggest catch we have gotten all season!" Storm nodded happily. It definitely beat rabbits and mice.
When Storm and Metal returned, they were both exhausted from dragging the heavy buck to the camp. When the wolves came back to the cave, they were both exhausted from dragging back the heavy deer. Cherry walked over to them, gasping. "Spring is here!" He cried happily. The first deer the pack caught was considered a sign of spring coming. Bee followed close behind her son. "Great catch, we will be fed for at least a moon!" Then Snow trotted over to them. "Wonderful, just what we needed in a time like this." He murmured gratefully. Storm bounded over to Rose, who was licking Pebble's fur. Storm nuzzled Rose with his nose. "I can't wait for them to be hunting beside us," He smiled. "Me, too." Rose replied happily. Storm ripped off a chunk of meat from the deer and gave it to his mate. Rose licked up the scraps gratefully. "Thanks," Storm nodded then he curled up next to Rose and fell asleep. He could eat when he woke up.

Storm woke up to wolves murmuring happily to each other. FrostPack was gathering around the pack rock. Hop was going to get her adult name. Storm sat next to Cherry, who was beaming with happiness. He guessed he wanted to spend more time with her. "FrostPack, we gather here today to make a new member of FrostPack become an adult. Hop, step forward." The white and black wolf with blue eyes raced into the middle of the surrounding wolves with joy. I remember feeling like that. "You shall be known as Moon. Starlight and I will help teach you." Moon nodded happily as her mother walked over to her. "I am so proud of you," Starlight said as she licked her pup's ear. "Meeting dismissed." Snow leaped off the rock and walked over to Moon. Now they are going to train her until she can hunt and fight herself. Cherry turned to him. "I'm happy she is an adult now!" He yipped. Storm nodded enthusiastically. "It is always good to have an extra set of paws."