Dalibor

          It was difficult to see where one pup ended and another began in the tumbling mess at Celwynn's feet. A light gray pup with keen amber eyes peering out of a dark mask of fur gave a mighty swipe that missed her target and landed smack into the face of another. That large, dark pup scowled at his sister and jumped on her in return while a smaller she-pup with pretty brown markings clamped her little jaws onto his tail and yanked. All the while, the littlest pup— a dark brown and gray male with bright blue eyes— circled the group until he found a good spot to weasel into and cause havoc. Eventually the knot of quarreling pups tumbled right into their mother who shook her head and began trying to separate her pups, with the one she had just moved running back into the fray while she moved the next.
          Eventually the sun set and they all tired themselves out and collapsed in a heap, just as cuddly with each other as they had been vicious only moments ago. The light gray pup was just as close as she could be to the dark brother she had smacked in the face, and they were still chattering in hushed, conspiratorial tones while their littler siblings did the same on the other side of the heap.
          "Hey, Dalibor... hey do you think they'd expect a sneak attack right now?"
          "I'm sleepy, Ziv. But if we wake up before them we could do a sneak attack then!"
          "Good... idea," the she-pup agrees through a yawn, "in the morning we'll get them."
—

          Dalibor found himself staying up late again. It was silly of him to go about it this way, and he knew he ought to just be direct, but he also knew that he was terrible at this kind of thing. As he was trying to come up with a reason to explain to her why he was still up he heard a rustling in the undergrowth on the hill. He watched for the familiar sight of the she-wolf cresting the hill, but nothing happened. He cocked his head to one side in confusion, then there came a tap on his right side that sent him leaping into the air and whirling around, bristling. As he was putting on his scariest snarl there was laughter from the very wolf he had been waiting for and he let his tail and head droop with a relieved exhale.
          "I really got you, didn't I? You jumped so high, I thought you weren't coming back down!"
          Dalibor stood there panting for a moment, then bumped her head with his, "don't scare me like that! I thought something had happened and we were being invaded, or- or, I don't know. I'm glad you're back in one piece," and he sat down with a resigned sigh.
          "You thought I'd been eaten up by something out there, huh? Would you really miss me that much if I had, though?"
          The dark wolf looked up at the scout, thinking 'now's as good a time as ever' and saying, "yes. Yes I would."
—

          Dalibor stalked through the woods, head on a swivel looking out for his scout. She was supposed to have been back hours ago which wasn't entirely surprising, but something hadn't felt right that entire night. The grass crunched under the big dark wolf's paws as he walked, and the air felt still, crackling slightly with electricity as if there was a storm in the distance. As if on cue a crack of thunder sounded in the distance behind him and a few moments later the ragged, desperate and unmistakable howl of his mate. Eyes wide, Dalibor pivoted and took off like a shot in the opposite direction, thundering over the dry ground toward Banrigh.
          As he neared the hollow he glanced up and nearly tripped over his own paws at the sight of an enormous cloud of smoke billowing into the air above the trees. He ran on even faster, his heart twisting into a knot at the prospect of his mate caught up in the fire that made the sky black. Coming to the tree-covered hill leading down into the hollow from this side he leaped over the side, landing in a spray of dust and barreling toward herbalist's den. Surely they've taken her to Narquelion to be healed, right? Coming upon the den entrance he found Wynandir leading his burnt, smoking, soot-covered and breathless mate inside.
          "Banrigh! Good grief, Banrigh, I was looking for you everywhere. What happened to you?"
          The soot-covered scout just gave him a weak smile, no doubt trying to prove that she was just fine when she obviously was not. Dalibor just raised an eyebrow at her and let out a sigh of relief before rounding on Wynandir. Now that he was in the hollow he could see that the flames were going to overtake the hollow and the she-wolves were on their way to help.
          "We need to evacuate Narquelion, the sick and the families in the den, now get in there!" The red-furred hunter barked at him before he could speak.
          "Absolutely not! You aren't keeping Banrigh in here for even one minute longer. Do you see how burnt up she is? She doesn't need to breathe in any more of this nonsense and she's obviously done quite enough already! Come with me, Banrigh, I'll get you out of here," the dark hunter growled furiously, eyes blazing.
          "She is doing her job, and she's got me to help her so it's fine! It's a noble thing and you should let her help if she wants to!" Wynandir barked back indignantly.
          "I agree, it is very noble. But I would like to come out of this alive and with a living, breathing mate, thank you very much! Would you let my brother get that burnt up and still work like this?"
          As if on cue, another big dark-furred wolf bounded toward them out of the smoke. Roshan shouldered his way between Dalibor and Wynandir and stared each of them down, eventually with the help of an order from Hakaan himself ushering all of them out of the burning hollow.
—

          Dalibor flopped down on the sun-baked rock, his mind numb and blank after the events of the last few days. He had nearly had his heart clawed out a couple of times on top of having to make the walk all the way across the valley and into this forest after a complete stranger who had spontaneously offered up her navigational services in the midst of the fire. He shrugged at this thought, and then the next thing he knew he was starting awake, not sure whether he had dozed off for a few moments or full on had a nap. He glanced up to judge the angle of the sun and found it farther overhead than it had been when he had come outside.
          "Hello there," a sleepy voice made him turn and smile softly, "how are you holding up?"
          "How am I holding up, Banrigh? How am I—?" He let out a huff, "you're messing with me, aren't you? I'm tired is what I am, and there's still a whole new hollow to make into a home."
          The rust-colored she-wolf limped over to join her mate on the warm, flat rock and eased herself down onto her less torn and burnt up flank. Letting out a ragged sigh, she turned to face her mate with a smile, "of course I'm messing with you. You should take a breath, we survived! We made it and this place is beautiful. We'll— well, you'll— be able to make this glade livable in no time I'm sure. I trust your work ethic and your want to just make me the most taken-care-of she-wolf in the whole world."
          Dalibor just stared back at her with a smile, and then a roll of his eyes. That was absolutely his want and he would fulfill it whether he was singed or tired or whatever this next phase made him.
—

          The large wolf groaned as a very small, sharp set of teeth clamped onto his ear and yanked. Another set of similar teeth latched onto his other ear, and that was the final straw. He lifted his head abruptly, shaking the small pups from their hold and rubbed each ear with his paws several times. Squinting his eyes open, he stared at the two small giggling puppies with a huff.
          "You two are ridiculous, you know that? Just ridiculous. These aren't chewing toys to play with, I need them to listen to you telling me you're hungry," Dalibor scolded them, smiling.
          "What's for breakfast? Can we go and get some now? When's Banrigh coming back?" The two asked through their still uncontrollable giggling.
          "I suppose we'll just have to go and find out. I'm sure she'll be back soon, and alright you're already running out there," Dalibor shook his head and stretched, ambling after them.
          As he blinked in the sunlight and looked around the glade he smiled. His pack was happy again, it was warm and there was an abundance of prey for little mischievous pups like these. As if summoned, his third charge appeared as well as the first two tumbled on the ground around her. Dalibor sighed once more, wondering how he had gotten himself the job of caring for all of these young ones while Banrigh was out scouting. In truth he had welcomed this adoption of most of the pack's foundlings. It had turned out that adoption was the path for he and Banrigh, and after getting used to the new workload it was quite fulfilling. Snapped out of his reverie by a nip at his heels, he led the three small pups toward their breakfast.

—

[Starting 430]