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Aniu watched her pup and felt her fur bristling in anxiety. This was the first time she had borne pups since her death and transformation, and it felt like she was doing everything wrong. Despite her surety when choosing the father, it seemed like her pregnancy was surrounded by bad omens. She had chosen a dog, but one who had been left in the cold and persevered despite everything against him. It didn’t hurt that he was quite the dog. Even as a spirit, Aniu was not disconnected from her preferences.
Despite his strength, though, he passed a few days after their mating, and Aniu, who was used to raising pups with a community, was alone in the snow with her pups. Well…her pup. Out of the four pups only one survived the birth, but he was a handful by himself at one month old. Thankfully her milk came, but just barely enough for the little one.
She took a breath and calmed down just as she heard snow crunching from the entrance. She barked out, “Pakak, don’t leave the cave without me!” She heard her child whine as she stood and shook the dirt off herself and walked to the cave’s entrance where her pup was wiggling like he had fleas. He did not have fleas, strangely enough, just as they avoided her, they avoided him, scrambling away as soon as they touched his fur. She taps him with her paw, almost knocking him over. His paws were huge compared to the rest of him, and he was so bouncy that he was rarely on all four at once. She would have to teach him how to be more solid on his feet.
For now, she led him out of the cave that was their home. Her large prints leave a small obstacle course for her child. He trips into one, falling head over paws and calls out, “Aaka! Aaka, I can’t get up!” She turns to see him submerged in her snow print and huffs out a small laugh and goes to rescue her buried son. Aniu lifts him gently in her jaws and sets him on the firmer snow closer to the tree line. Once they reach the clearing where Aniu buried her mate and pups, her son bounds ahead, surer of his steps and runs around the clearing yelling, “Hello Aapa! Hello Aatauraqs and Aapiyaq! I almost got out of the den before Aaka heard me, but she did hear me and-” Aniu took the chance to lay back down. She listened as the wind whistled through the trees and warmed her undercoat. Spring had already come, but the snow was taking its time melting, leaving Aniu searching for warm moments when she could get them.
Pakak was making trouble, as usual. He was stalking a particularly strong looking stick sticking out of the snow. His form could certainly use some work, but first he would have to learn how not to talk while hunting. “I’m gonna get you. Then Aaka will let me out of the den, and I can hunt and catch lots of rabbits for her!” Pakak pounced on the stick, bent it back and let it go, not knowing what would happen. The stick sprung back at Pakak, not hitting him, but scaring him. He yelped and ran to hide under Aniu’s belly fur. It didn’t help very much as his much darker coat would give him away under her white fur, but she scooped him between her front paws and allowed him to warm himself up and gather his courage once more. “Oh, Miki Pakak. What did we learn?” Her pup wiggled until he was belly up and pouting. “Sticks are mean.” He said so matter-of-factly, that she couldn’t help but laugh into his belly, making him laugh and wiggle, almost hitting her in the eye with a paw.
Aniu decided she had sat long enough. “If you thought the stick was bad, then watch out! She flipped Pakak over and lifted him with her paw onto his feet then playfully growled, allowing him to get a head start in running around the clearing. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him and she did her best to stay a step behind him, allowing him to feel a small taste of victory before bounding in front of him and gently wrestling him to the ground. “Aaka! That tickles!”
She growled, “A little troublemaker is in my grasp. What should I do with him, hmm?” Pakak was quickly running out of breath between the run and the laughing. She sat back and allowed them both some time to regain their breath. After calming down, Pakak cuddled close to her stomach and latched on for milk. He’d been complaining about wanting to eat what she ate but didn’t actually seem to be fully ready to let go yet. Aniu didn’t mind, she was still producing for now, and some pups took longer to fully transition from milk to meat. She would wait as long as he needed.
Once he was done, she asked, “are you ready to go home Miki Pakak?” He nods, drooping in the way little sleepy pups often do. She walked him back to the den, allowing him to walk in front of her so she could give him little pushes when he stopped walking. She would have carried him, but he seemed steady enough for now. Just tired.
Which made it strange that just a few steps from the den he stopped and started growling at the den. She looked up and tuned her senses to the den and found a trace scent, heavily covered, that proved that another wolf had been there and didn’t want to be noticed. How Pakak had noticed, she didn’t know, but she stepped so he was under her and swiveled her head until she caught the same scent on a nearby tree, almost as if the wolf had disappeared into the tree. “Show yourself!” She barked and arched herself. She was plenty big without it, but it never hurt to look even larger. If she was alone, she would transform into a bear or a moose, but Pakak was here, and she had never transformed in front of him before.
“Peace, Aakiaq. I mean no harm to you or your pup.” A familiar voice came from the tree. Aniu watched as a wolf melted out of the tree. It was Nava. Upon seeing her old friend, she allowed her fur to lay down but didn’t move from her protective stance over her pup. Friends could very quickly become enemies, and she would not lose her last pup because of carelessness. “Nava. What business do you have here?” He took his time answering her, as he always had. “The wind told me we had a new packmate, and I knew you would not let us meet him unless one of us saw him first.”
His calm voice had soothed Pakak, and Aniu knew she had a limited amount of time before Pakak got too interested in meeting this new wolf. “I understood that I was no longer a packmate after my death and rebirth.” It hadn’t been so direct, but the way they had treated her after her rebirth, like something to fear or worship, was enough to make her feel unwelcome. Before her death, she was a strong hunter and was considered a good choice as the Alpha had she wanted to challenge Tala. After, though, no one looked at her to catch their food or courted her. Instead, they walked around her bed as if it was sacred or cursed.
Her thinking had obviously taken too much time. Pakak poked his nose out from between her front legs and asked, “You can talk to the wind?” Nava stared into Pakak, and the pup stared back, unafraid. Nava nodded to him. “I listen to all of nature. The other animals, the wind, the water, the trees. I listen to it as I can listen to you and your mother, little pup. I could teach you if you’d like. There are other pups in the pack that I teach as well.” That was enough.
“Nava. We are not pack any more. I have no quarrel with you, but the wind will not protect you from me if you dare take my pup from me.” Pakak was a good boy and followed her lead. “Yeah, you can’t make me leave Aaka! I’ll fight you first!” He growled and Aniu was so proud of his little voice and his strength. She subtly pulled his back under her a bit. His voice, after all, would not protect him from an actual fight.
Nava stepped back. “I understand Aakiaq,” he paused. “I am sorry for how the pack treated you. We didn’t know what was going on. I cannot apologize for them, but I apologize for my part in it. You were always like a sister to me, and I let you down. I listened to the trees and the wind, but not to you.” He bowed his head. “We miss you, big sister, but we have no right to ask you for anything, much less your forgiveness.” He turned around. “I hope to see you and your pup one day soon, Aakiaq.” He then looked at Pakak. “You will do great things, little one. Your Aaka is a great wolf.” He nodded again to them, and she watched him fade into the nearest tree.
She didn’t leave though until his scent faded from the area. Then she took Pakak, who had fallen asleep on his feet, into the den and settled him next to her warm belly. She missed the pack, and maybe one day she would be able to return to them. And maybe one day her Miki Pakak would brave the world with a strength she could only imagine right now. But for now, she would keep him warm and safe. She would teach him that his mother was here and would protect him from cold and intruders and mean sticks.
Aniu settled down to nap with Pakak and fell asleep to the warming breeze and the snuffles of her baby.