Silver Falls

prologue

Rays of moonlight filtered through the den, the howling of the wind outside sounding like a soft whisper from underneath the outcropping of rocks, held together by a gnarled tree.

Two wolves lay together in the warm den, the male sleeping, and the female occasionally turning to pull two small pups closer to her warm belly. The male had a dark grey pelt, with light streaks below his yellow eyes. The female was a honey color, with a darker mask, white shoulders and hips, and a patch of red spreading behind her ears and freckling the bridge of her nose.

The small cries of pups caused the dark grey male to wake. He leapt to his feet, head flipping back and forth in search of a possible threat to his pups.

The female beside him gave a chuckle, startling him. "Hush, furball, you'll wake the pups up more than they already are."

The wolf lowered his head, sheepishly bringing his nose to the female's with a grin. "Did I wake you?"

"No, you can't exactly sleep in the first place what with little fangs biting at your belly every few moments," the light brown matriarch sighed with a smile, her silver eyes twinkling with mischief. "But I appreciate the concern, Storm."

The male lay down next to his mate, careful not to disturb his sleeping day-old pups. His pink tongue graced the cheek of the honey-colored she-wolf, who pawed at his shoulder playfully. "Have you yet thought of names?" He asked, gingerly touching his charcoal nose to the pelts of the two pups curled up at his mate's side.

"Of course."

Instead of responding right away, Storm looked into his mate's beautiful eyes; the color of swirling silver snowflakes twinkling in the moonbeams as they fell to the forest floor. The female looked up to the male, sensing his gaze on her. After holding his gaze for a heartbeat she looked away with an embarrassed laugh. "Storm, don't you want to hear their names?"

Laughing at his mate's reaction, he gave her a gentle nuzzle to her white shoulder. "Of course, my dear."

Suddenly there was a crunch of snow outside the den entrance, and the the two wolves tensed. Storm stood, his stance protective.

A familiar grizzled grey head poked through the den, and the Alphas relaxed. "Ah, Tempest, it's just you," said Storm with a relieved sigh.

"Eh, sorry to startle yeh," said the wolf. "Prob'ly should've announced my presence."

The male had a light grey coat which was pelted with scars, and his muzzle had white hairs blossoming around his dark nose. He had a dappled black and silver mask around his brown-yellow eyes. Around his neck was a thick, unbreakable collar of human origin that blinked if you looked at it for long enough.

"Oh, it's alright, Tempest," said the matriarch with a chuckle. "Is it snowing much?"

"Storm's 'a brewin', m'lady. The patrol should be back within moments."

"I've always admired your stubbornness, Tempest."