Wolf Puppies

When Suly heard the good news, she shed tears right in front of me. "I'll seriously pay you back. I'm sure you know how much this means to me… Thank you, Anna", she said while hugging me tightly. "Hey, hey, that's enough. I only asked, and my father agreed. No need to be so thankful. Besides, we are like family, right?", I replied.

When she asked about me, the news wasn't so cheerful anymore. "... Did you give me your own…", I stopped her there, "No, my father didn't agree for a reason. I'm simply too inexperienced, and therefore wouldn't understand most of it probably. You are close to mastery on the other hand, and such an opportunity will be really great for you. You didn't take my place, so don't think like that. Thank your own hard work and skills for this, not me".

"Hehe... Sometimes, I forget that you are actually much younger than me… Come here you…", she hugged me again. Of course the Grey Lizards wouldn't simply leave right away. They had a project to finish first. There was another piece of news, which pretty much everyone expected at that stage.

The three wolves were about to give birth. That meant little wolf puppies would come to our world. Fortunately, my father was still around. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do. "Actually, there's nothing for us to do really. I mean, they'll need some space and a quiet environment. Other than that, the mothers will deal with that themselves. After all, they do that in the wild all the time, right? There are no doctors taking care of pregnant wolves in the wild", he assured me.

"Take a few clean rugs, since birth is a bit messy, and lay them inside the house. You can prepare some clean water for the mothers. They might want to drink something, and you'll need to clean up later on. Then, make sure all the other wolves are outside. Just give the three of them some space, and they'll take care of everything. You can check up on them once in a while, but don't do it excessively… Wolf puppies are really delicate, so refrain from touching them too much. Though do take them to their mother's bed, they will be more comfortable there. The mothers will take care of the rest", he added.

"Right... Clean rugs, water and space. Got it!", I repeated the major points, and left to collect everything. This was really stressful to me, even though my father told me not to worry. He didn't seem to care at all, and even talked with others as if nothing special occurred. I, on the other hand, rushed between places collecting rugs as well as water.

With everything prepared, it was time to shoo away other wolves from the house. Most of them were curious, but left without much of an issue. One of them didn't want to leave though. "Rogue, come on. Give her some space, she needs some time now", I said, but he refused to leave. "Rarf", Ivory barked at him. "See, she needs some space. Let's go outside, you can see her later on", I added while dragging him away.

"To think you'd get this attached to someone… Actually, that makes me happy… Here you go, just wait here if you want", I said after taking him outside. With Ivory, Nana and Fluffy comfortable inside, I found Dawn then Leran.

"Don't disturb Ivory, Nana and Fluffy inside the house. Give them space and time, alright? Don't let other wolves get inside either, since they'll only disturb them. Anyway, I'm off. We'll see each other later". They nodded and told me not to worry. With that taken care of, my work or rather study of Formations could resume.

The tunnel and the room with Formations had no access to daylight, so I didn't know how many hours passed. Only after stepping outside, did I realise that the sun was starting to set. "I should probably check on them now". My father, Frosty and even my mother were long gone. Dawn was probably training her own skills, while Leran played with Dante outside.

"Are you going to check up on the puppies?", Leran asked. "Yes, but let me check up on them first. Then I'll let you see the puppies as well, deal?", I replied. "Hehe, sure, sure. I'm so excited, since one of them will belong to me", he said. Dante seemed excited too, although he didn't fully understand what was going on. Kids usually mimicked the behaviour of older kids or even adults. Since Leran was really excited and vocal about it, Dante knew something good would happen.

Most of the wolves from the pack found something to do, but Rogue was an exception. He sat next to the doors where I left him. 'He doesn't seem to have moved even one bit. That guy is either really worried, curious or protective…', "Hey, Rogue. Take a break for a while, will you? I mean, you sat here for a good part of the day. Go drink some water, or maybe you're hungry?", I asked. "Araraa… Wooo", he complained.

"Hehe, alright, just let me check on them for now… No, no, no. Let ME check on them, you stay here", I said while trying to get inside. He complained a bit more, but this wasn't his choice. I slipped inside without letting him in, and almost froze in place. "...These little wolf puppies are so cute!", I couldn't help myself but exclaim. The whole place was messy for sure, but the rugs stopped most of the blood and… whatever else was there.

The three mothers took care of their little ones, and didn't mind me approaching at all. They even looked at me with pride, as if saying 'look at my little babies'. Nana was the closest to me, so I approached her first. She had four little puppies. Three of them were mostly grey-ish in colour, but one was a bit darker and had a tiny light grey pattern on its back. "Arwoo…", "Yes, these are you babies. They are beautiful… You did really well, let me clean you up a bit… You guys wait a minute, I'll be there soon", I said while petting her.

Nana's private place had to be washed properly, but her puppies were mostly clean. 'She must've licked them clean, since everything else is messy', I thought. Once Nana got cleaned, I slowly picked one puppy up. "So tiny… Don't worry, I'm not taking them away. I'll just move them to your bed, alright?", I said. Nana seemed a bit torn between leaving her other puppies to follow me and staying. She remained with the others, until only one puppy remained. Art that stage she finally followed me to her bed.

"See, you guys will be more comfortable here… Here, eat something, you must be hungry too". My father didn't tell me anything about food, but they must've been hungry. Giving birth wasn't easy for them, I assumed. Moreover, they haven't eaten anything for most of the day. Nana grabbed the meat like crazy. She had to be really hungry. "Alright, you rest here while I take care of the other two".

Fluffy also had four puppies, but all of hers were grey-ish in colour. She was a bit more protective of them though. Making annoying noises when I lifted one of the puppies up. "Seriously? I'll just move them to your bed, come with me if you want". She actually did, and watched my every step. Once all her puppies were moved and she got some food, I could finally check up on Ivory.

"Oh you only have two puppies?", I asked, but she moved a bit and there was a third one. The puppy seemed a bit weaker than the other two. Even Ivory looked at me with worry in her eyes. "Don't worry, we will make sure he grows up well. You did really well, you have three beautiful puppies. Let's get you cleaned up and comfortable", I reassured her.

The third puppy was indeed weaker, and barely moved. The puppy was alive for sure, but I didn't know what to do at that stage. I wasn't even sure whether medicine would be useful in such a case. After cleaning Ivory up, I moved the puppies to her bed. "Here, eat something…". Ivory was hungry, but perhaps due to worry she didn't want to eat. "Come on, eat. You need to be strong. I'm sure the puppy will be fine. Just keep it warm and pay attention to it, alright?", I added while petting her.

She finally decided to eat something, allowing me to clean up the rest of the mess. With the three wolves and their puppies mostly comfortable in their beds, I opened the doors to be greeted by Rogue. "Come, I'm sure you are getting pretty impatient. Be careful though". Rogue didn't even wait for me to finish, he simply slipped past my leg and entered anyway.

'...So far, he's behaving really well. I guess he's even more protective of the puppies than a mother. What a weird guy'. They seemed to be fine, which meant Leran and Dante could finally come in as well. I could tell how excited Leran was. Wolf puppies were indeed rarity in the North. No one kept wolves like us, or at least no one I knew. "Just make sure not to disturb them too much, and don't try to snatch their babies from them. Have a look, and let them rest peacefully, alright?", I said.

"Yes, yes, can I see the wolf puppies now?", he asked at the door. "Sure, go in. Oh, I'll take Dante, we don't want him to do something bad unintentionally". While Leran checked the wolf puppies out, I brought Dante to Ivory and Rogue. "Anna, look… Arf arfs", Dante pointed at the little puppies.

"Hehe, yes, little puppies. They are cute, right? Look at Rogue, he's so protective of them", I replied with a laugh. Dante wanted to touch the 'arf arfs', but I didn't let him. "They are really tiny and delicate right now. I'll let you play with them once they grow up a bit, alright?". He wasn't happy about that, but there was nothing he could do to change that.

After we bothered Ivory, Fluffy and Nana, I told Leran and Dante to play outside. 'I should probably let the other wolves come in. They'll need to get familiar with those puppies too', "Luna! Hunter! You guys as well! Come inside, I'll let you check out the puppies", I called out. The pack of wolves quickly rushed towards the doors. They were as curious as everyone else.

"Slowly, slowly. Just don't make them feel uncomfortable, alright?", I warned them before fully opening the doors. Some of the wolves were really curious, but cautious at the same time. They approached really slowly, and checked the puppies from afar first. The female wolves were much more at ease. Luna seemed really happy for Ivory, and even licked her puppies. The pack quickly adjusted to the new addition, and created like a protective circle around them. I found it amusing that they'd protect puppies, even though they didn't belong to them.

"Arf!", Curly jumped onto my shoulder. "I've been wondering where you went. The little wolf puppies are cute, eh? Would you like little martens too?", I asked teasingly. Curly looked at me annoyed, then wrapped herself around my neck. "You are also cute, you know?", I added while petting her head.

My house grew a bit smaller thanks to the addition of puppies. Altogether, we had eleven puppies but we wouldn't be keeping them. 'Dawn, Leran and Tara will take one each, but with my father gone… How will I give away the other eight?', I asked myself. Moreover, Dawn pretty much lived with me. In reality, ten puppies would remain anyway. 'I'll think of something. Uncle Ulon should be here soon. Maybe he can help out, or take one…', I thought.