Chapter Twenty-Six

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A couple weeks passed and winter advanced quickly upon the pack. A fluffy blanket of snow covered the ground and the trees until all the wolves could see was whiteness.
In response to the bitter cold that came with winter's beauty, the pack's various coats grew into lush, thick fur to keep them warm. Their fur grew so long that no one seemed to notice the small swelling in certain wolves' bellies.

Luna batted Eclipse playfully with her paw, her eyes bright and twinkling. They were laying facing one another on their sides, snow covering their legs and their snouts.
The others were asleep nearby, just out of earshot of the couple.
He chuckled quietly and licked the tip of her snout.
"I'm almost certain it's the case... I'm not sure if we should tell them yet, though," she murmured.
"Why not? They'll be ecstatic."
"I just don't want to disappoint them..."
"We can keep trying if you're not sure about it," he whispered with a small grin on his face.
"No... I'm sure I'm pregnant. I can feel it. There's no feeling like it, Eclipse. It's so beautiful."
Her lips slowly twitched up into a grin. He nuzzled her and marveled at his mate yet again. He could never stop staring at her and keep wondering how he was so lucky. His family would be proud.
"Do you want to tell them?"
She hesitated for a moment before nodding once.
He rolled to his feet and shook off the flakes that clung to him indignantly. She rolled up beside him, taking extra care to protect her abdomen as she did so.
Eclipse looked around at his fellow pack members. They were starting to wake up now, stretching and yawning as they did so. Redwood and Maple rolled lazily to their paws and trotted over to sit in front of the Alphas.
"Good morning," Redwood said politely.
"Good morning," Eclipse replied.
Misty and Timber took a little longer to get up. The betas nuzzled one another silently before getting to their paws and padding over to their Alphas. They sat obediently with grins of greeting on their faces.
"How is everyone today?" Luna asked the circle of wolves.
Murmurs of content rumbled throughout the group and Luna smiled to herself.
"Good. So I have some news..."
The other wolves' ears perked up and they leaned forward. All except the Alphas, who just smiled knowingly to themselves.
"I'm pregnant."
Howls of joy broke out from the group, making the forest vibrate with electricity around them. Tails wagged and congratulations were exchanged. Then Maple asked,
"When do you think the pups will arrive?"
Luna shrugged her shoulders, unsure.
"I would guess right around the end of winter. Hopefully they come later so we can protect them from the cold."
Maple nodded and smiled at Luna.
Eclipse looked over at Misty and Timber.
"So you're still excited to look after our pups when they arrive?"
Misty wagged her tail, practically panting with excitement.
"Of course! I can't wait to teach them new things and they can learn to play and hunt side by side with my pups..."
Silence.
Misty's ears lowered flat against her skull and she hunkered her body down against the cold snow. A glazed look came into Timber's eyes as he stared into the emerald orbs of his Alpha.
The rest of the pack stared at the two with absolute shock in their eyes, as if they couldn't even fathom what they had heard.
"Your pups?" Eclipse spluttered, trying to comprehend what was happening.
Timber confirmed with one shaky nod.
Confusion immediately switched into blind rage.
Eclipse half-growled, half-howled in fury as he lunged forward at Timber.
The males collided with a sickening thud and the wolves watched in shock and horror as Eclipse rolled on top of his opponent with ease. Timber was pinned in a matter of seconds. Eclipse bared his teeth and snapped his jaws at the beta's throat, his eyes burning and his hackles raised.
"HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I SHOULD SPILL YOUR INNARDS RIGHT NOW AND FEED YOUR SORRY CORPSE TO THE CROWS!!!" he snarled, spit flying into Timber's face.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't think this would happen..."
"THE HELL YOU DIDN'T! WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN WHEN YOU SCREWED AROUND??!"
Meanwhile Luna stared at Misty with disbelief and hurt in her eyes.
"Why would you go behind our backs? Why would you go against pack law? We don't have enough food to support that many pups. Why did you do this?!"
Misty broke into a hysterical cry, tears soaking into her soft gray fur.
"We didn't mean to... I didn't think I would get pregnant... We love each other! We want to be true mates!"
Luna snarled and bared her teeth, the fur on her back rising.
""You broke pack law! I don't care what you thought!" she snapped.
Eclipse snarled again and bit down on the skin of Timber's neck. He shook his head roughly from side to side, thrashing the beta violently back and forth.
Timber yelped and whined, trying desperately to make him stop. Blood soaked through Timber's fur. Misty saw it and ran forward towards Eclipse.
She let out an indignant bark and Luna suddenly lunged at her to grab her scruff. Misty yelped as she was dragged back away from Timber.
Then she tripped and fell headfirst into the snow, dragging Luna down with her. Eclipse noticed this and quickly let go of Timber, rushing to his pregnant mate's aid.
"Stop it! You're gonna kill the pups if you keep this up!" Maple cried.
"Just get past it! What's done is done. All we can do now is try to keep everyone alive through the winter," Redwood growled.
Eclipse turned on them to snap, but he knew they were right. Luna got to her paws and shook her head.
"The punishment for breaking pack law is exile..." she murmured.
"That law can go eat a skunk," Redwood growled, "It's not worth breaking a pack up over and you know it. Look, I know it's not my place to say this, but we can figure out some way to keep everyone around. Plus some. Everyone just needs to take a deep breath."
Maple padded over to Timber to help him up as her brother talked.
"I know you're trying your hardest to be the best Alphas you can be, and you're not going to be awful if you let this one law slide. In fact, you'll be even greater in all of our eyes. Just try to forgive them. Please," he finished.
Eclipse and Luna paused to try and find the words to reply.
Then Timber got to his paws and Eclipse slowly turned his attention back to him.
"Just know... I would've killed you."
Then he stalked away into the snow-covered forest.
Luna shot a look of utter hate and disgust at Misty before trotting off after her mate.

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