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The next days were cold and the nights freezing, but no new snow fell down and with the temperatures getting a bit above the melting point during the days, the landscape around them changed from the pure white cover into a mix of brown and white.

A week had passed since Imyasel and Demon stopped their mating and they got back into their old way of life of hunting and cuddling together a lot. Imyasel loved to run through the forest together with Demon or snuggle up with him in the morning and watch the sunrise before falling asleep.

In the last days, she had felt anxiousness and nervousness in Demon. He jumped up a lot and ran back and forth instead of just laying down with her and she saw him look up the mountain a few times. Even though there were still freezing nights, the temperatures went up and more and more of the snow melted.

At the same time, that Imyasel noticed his sudden restlessness, Demon also seemed to be more protective of her than before. He did not let her go out of his sight anymore. He even followed her up to a few steps behind when she relieved herself or went for a drink, something that did not faze him since she had grown strong enough to hunt.

Imyasel felt a bit annoyed by it sometimes, especially when he did not let her follow the natures call alone, but he was so affectionate and caring that she did not push him away or tell him to stop. At the same time, it annoyed her and made her feel warm and protected.

Something inside her also changed and calmed her down quite a bit. She felt like something in her body, especially her belly, changed and instinctive was very careful when she lay down to not crush her belly.

Another week went by, and it felt for her as if she gained weight at her belly. It was just very subtle but because it was her own body, she wondered if she maybe had skipped a bit too much on her exercise. In addition, her appetite increased, and she ate much more than she had done the last weeks.

With the abundance of food and them hunting daily now, there was always enough food and Demon even let her quench her hunger first now before he ate the rest.

When the snow had melted completely, Demon raised one evening and started to climb up the mountain. Imyasel followed him thinking that he wanted to go on a hunt, even though they just ate the rest of their last prey from this morning.

The little wolfess was surprised, when Demon continued to run upwards the mountain without stopping, leading Imyasel further up until the trees got fewer and snow covered the land around them again.

“Where are we going” it had been a very long time that Imyasel had asked a question. She had been so used to just spend her times with Demon without sharing words, that she winced from her own voice suddenly filling the cold air.

Like always, Demon did not answer but just pointed his nose at the mountain top and continued to walk. He turned around to Imyasel every few steps as if he wanted to make sure that she was still following him and that she was okay.

The small wolfess followed him without further questions, even though she wondered where Demon would lead her now. It felt as if he had waited for the weather to get warmer to continue their journey. Something in Imyasel knew that they continued their travels that started before the winter, but she still had no idea where the big wolf wanted to take her.

It took them one week to reach the top of the mountain. Demon went alone for hunts during the day when Imyasel rested, because with climbing higher, the prey got scarcer as well. Imyasel started to get exhausted faster and had to rest at the morning when they stopped. Demon never was away for long, before he put a rabbit or another small animal in front of her and then snuggled up with her for the day rest.

Before they reached the peek, that hovered still a few hundred steps above them, Demon took a turn around the mountain and stopped at a plateau this morning, that offered a view over the other side. Imyasel blinked into the morning sun. Under her was a land of smaller mountains and hills, most of them hid by a big forest and some of the bigger ones with a snowy top.

The view filled her with happiness and calm. On the one paw the view was beautiful and she felt a happy tingle inside watching the world being laid out like a meadow under her, on the other paw, this meant that they did not have to climb up anymore, which had been more and more exhausting for the girl.

Her belly had grown a bit more and now was clearly bulging. She also felt something inside her belly that sometimes moved. Her motherly instinct told her, that pups were growing inside her, even though her mind did not catch up to it. She had never wondered where pups came from, because when she got into an adolescent age, she already fought with survival and had other priorities.

The lack of an adult wolfess or any other adult wolf that would speak with her also had left the girl naïve and clueless about the full meaning, even though her primal instinct led her to be more careful, rest properly, eat a lot and not overexert herself.

She snuggled up to Demon while listening to the piping of the wind and his low and happy growl. She took in his strong scent and felt his warmth. When she closed her eyes, she sighed happily and felt just happy that she could rest and that she was next to the big wolf, who she had grown even more attached during the last weeks.

The walk down the mountain was easier than the climb in the last week. Even though she did not exhaust that fast, Demon still went with a slower pace, even though Imyasel felt his restlessness and he seemed to go much faster than he did.

Imyasel, sensing his urge, tried to run faster to show him that it was okay to pick up the pace, but she had to notice that this drained her energy much faster than in the week before. Her belly felt heavier, and her body reacted differently than she was used to, as if the extra weight she put on was draining her faster because her body was not used to this extra.

She had to realize, that even though she wanted to go faster for Demon, dropping the pace for her had been because he felt that she exhausted faster. She dropped her speed again and just followed her big companion at the pace he set. They made many breaks during the night and during the day Demon let her rest while he rolled around her to protect her from the cold wind.

At the third day the view around them got blocked by the forest they entered. Imyasel did not know where Demon was leading her, but at least he seemed to know, because he continued into the direction and went straight after they climbed down the mountain.

The temperature got warmer as and the ground in the forest softer. It was not frozen anymore and snuggled against Imyasels paws softly, making it easier to find a grip and her paws did not hurt as much as with the cold frozen or rocky ground in the last weeks.

The rest of the week and one more week passed, while they traveled, getting slower with every day. The belly of Imyasel now was clearly visible and she often felt the cubs inside move around. The drop of the pace was not only due to the running speed, but also because they did more breaks and only traveled half a day now.

Imyasel felt exhausted much faster and even though she tried her best to keep up with Demon, the bigger wolf had to stop and wait for her multiple times a day. The little wolfess tried her best to mask her exhaustion, but even though she wanted to do her best to not hold Demon back, her older companion was sensitive to her struggles and forced her to rest regularly.

The last day, they had climbed up a hill, which Imyasel mainly noticed from the steep and a small river that ran next to them. The forest around was thick and brimmed from noises. Birds and other animals made hit hum like a beehive during the day and even at night, Imyasel could hear the cries of owls or the cackling of a fox. With demon around the young wolfess slept deep and without worry about the other animals, but she loved the silent sounds that traveled through the forest at night.

This night they had only run a few miles yet, when Demon suddenly stopped and moved next to Imyasel. She felt him step over her just like when he had still been a pup and tower over her protective as if to protect from an attacker.

It took a while for Imyasel, catching her breath and looking into the dark forest around her while sniffing the air, until she could make out a smell under the smell of Demon. It was faint, but she smelled other wolves and just when she was sure, that there was more than one wolf, she saw their eyes, glimmering in the starlight, appearing around them. They were surrounded by at least one dozen wolves.

Even though Demon stood over her, Imyasel sensed no worry or aggressiveness from the big wolf but she felt his tail brush against her hind from swishing back and forth and a low happy growl emitted from his throat.

“Brother” the voice of an adult wolfess came from the right and when Imyasel turned around, she saw a timber wolf female close in carefully. She had black fur very similar to Demon but was by far not as big as him. She was clearly bigger than Imyasel by a few heads though. She smiled when she came closer, and the moonlight grazed her face. It looked much friendlier and less frightening than Demon’s face, even though her eyes were the same red color.

“Still not much of a talker, are you” she pushed her head against his flank in a joking matter, which made Imyasel whimper and growl a bit, because she got too close to fast for her comfort. It was just now that the wolfess noticed her as well and she jumped back a few steps, just as startled as Imyasel. 

“Who is that” she asked with a slight surprised growl in her throat and Imyasel, just getting over her shock of the sudden advance of this stranger, felt Demon step away from over her and then nudge her at the hind to push her a bit towards the strange wolfess.

“Who might you be, little wolfess” the grin of the big wolfess in front of her made Imyasel a bit insecure. It was not aggressive but rather friendly, but in addition there was something hidden in the smile that Imyasel could not grasp.

“Imyasel…” she answered with a low voice. When she looked around, she saw that the wolves around them had moved into the light and sat down. They were all clearly smaller than Demon, but still much bigger than Imyasel herself.

The wolfess in front of her started to circle her and sniffed at her in different locations. When she inspected her already showing round belly, the wolfess grin got wider.

“You sly hunk!” she chuckled with a gaze to her brother and pushed him with her paw. “So that’s the reason it took you so long” Imyasel saw Demon nod wordless like always.
“And she looks awfully young…” the Demon’s sister continued. “Did you snatch her away from her pack” When Imyasel looked over her shoulder, she saw Demon shake his head and his ears were flat on his head showing that he felt a bit embarrassed.

It was new for Imyasel to see Demon looking insecure, but she had no time to dive deeper into this as the wolfess in front of her continued to sniff at her and she nudged her flanks, head, and hind.

Finally, Imyasel got over her first surprise and shock and looked up to the wolfess and asked with her sweet low voice “Who are you”

The wolfess stopped and smiled at her. “Oh, I did not introduce myself yet, did I. My name is Charnellia. I am Demon’s sister and the daughter of the leader of our pack.” Imyasel looked up to her insecure and wondering. If she was the daughter of the leader and the sister of Demon, he must be the son of the pack leader.

“It seems that he did not tell you that he had a sister. What did my brother tell you” The tone of Charnellia sounded a bit growling and Imyasel winced and backed a few steps away.
“His name…” she just answered with a fearful smile.

Charnellia shot a judging gaze towards her brother and when Imyasel followed it, she saw that Demon acted even more embarrassed. It was the first time that Imyasel saw him look insecure or defensive.

“You want to tell me that all he said to you was his name He never spoke other than that” Imyasel ducked and shook her head, looking back at the wolfess, that had a stern look on her face now.

“By the moon!” she cursed and Imyasel winced again by the sudden loud shout of the wolfess. 
“I don’t believe you, brother. You still are as awkward as always, I see. How the hell did you even manage to obtain her without even talking to her” she looked at her brother with reproachful.

Demon did not answer and so Imyasel, shivering from the sudden outburst of the wolfess, whispered.
“He… saved me… when I was… attacked…” the stern look on the face of Charnellia changed into a smile again.
“I am sorry. It seems I startled you. Don’t be afraid, I was just surprised by my brother.”

With a look to her brother, she added. “We will have enough time to discuss that in details, right brother” and with a smile towards Imyasel she added “I see that you are exhausted. Our pack grounds are still a bit, but we will lead you there. I am sure you would like to sleep in a comfy den rather than here. Run with me!”

Imyasel looked to Demon insecure and saw him nodding slightly and so she followed Charnellia who turned around and jogged slowly towards the spot where she appeared before. Demon ran directly behind her, and the other wolves grouped around them.

Charnellia asked a lot of questions about the origin of Imyasel, how she met Demon and what happened and even though Imyasel still felt a bit intimidated by her, she started to tell the story of how her pack got killed by tigers, how she set off alone without knowing where to go and how Demon saved her when she was attacked by hyenas.

She found out that it became easier once she started and even though her voice became husky fast, because it had been a long time since she had talked so much, she found it comforting to talk about her adventure to the older wolfess.

Charnellia’s voice became softer when she asked things and the look on her face softened when she heard of the hard times that the little pup went through. Sometimes, when Imyasel told her about how Demon cleaned her or later how he took her a few weeks back, she threw angry gazes at her brother, but she did not comment it in any other way.

After Imyasel was finished, Charnellia started to tell her about their pack and how it came that Demon was away from them for so long.

They had a big pack, and their father was the leader of the pack for a long time. Demon was the younger brother of Charnellia, who was two years older than him. From a young age, he had been much bigger than all others and when he had grown up, he had been much bigger than any other in the pack so it was clear that one day, he would become the new leader.

The hurdle for Demon was, that his voice was also very loud and frightened most of the other wolves, especially the females and he had trouble finding a female because of that. All the females in the pack avoided him out of fear from his big frame and his loud voice, even though he had always been very caring and soft inside.

Because he could not find a mate, he decided to look outside the pack for a wolfess and left the pack. This had been 2 years ago and Charnellia already thought that Demon either found a pack elsewhere and stayed with them and would never come back. Based on the story of Charnellia, Demon was 5 years old by now.

Imyasel understood, that Demon also did not have it easy, and she also understood why he did not talk much. Charnellia explained, that he started to stay silent because he became afraid of shying away others, but his silence also was a reason for others to often avoided him because for those who were not as close as his sister, or now Imyasel, it was hard to guess what he was thinking.

Even though the walk went uphill for some time, Imyasel did not regard her rising exhaustion, because she was so entranced into the story of Charnellia. She felt like she could understand Demon even better now.

Suddenly, they reached the top of the hill. Imyasel had noticed that they passed more and more wolves, all around the size of Charnellia, and then they looked down from the peek at a big flank of the hill with burrows, rocks and caves and a lot of wolves in different ages.

Charnellia led them to a cave on the side, close to the top of the hill. From the smells inside Imyasel noticed that it had been empty for a while, but there was a very faint familiar scent.

“Rest here!” Charnellia said, while Demon lay down in the middle of the big cave and the other wolves waited outside. “For this day you need to gain back your energy. You will see the pack leader tomorrow and they will have a lot of questions, so you need all the energy you can get. I will bring you some food later.”

The wolfess smiled. “Welcome home, Imyasel. I am sure you will soon get used to our pack.” And with this the wolfess left the cave and Imyasel went the last steps over to Demon and snuggled up with him. The bigger wolf put his head next to hers, curling around her protective, and locked her shoulder caring.

Imyasel closed her eyes and instantly drifted off to sleep feeling exhausted but happy. All that mattered for her was, that she was with Demon and that they had a cave to rest. It did not deem to her yet, that they were at the end of the journey.

She felt at home, but not because of the words of Charnellia or because of the cave, but because of Demon. Wherever he was, it was home and whenever he was with her, she felt at home. She happily sighed a last time before the darkness embraced her and led her to happy dreams about Demon.