AN: Well, here's the new story! This is where things start getting interesting!

In the depths of a cave in Jasper Park, a large crevasse sat quietly. Its sheer cliffs plummeted silently down into a heavy, undisturbed darkness.

However, that changed. Something had emerged from the darkness and was making its way up the smooth wall.

Finally, a paw emerged and clamped down on the slick floor. Rather than risk putting too much weight on it, the rest of the creature sprang up and out of the pit, having pushed off with its legs.

Slowly, in the eerie glow of the cave, the figure of a wolf rose to its legs. They were shaky and the wolf was bloody, its fur matted, but it was alive.

Nick threw his front paws in the air in a gesture of triumph. He had survived. His fall hadn't kill him and neither had the climb back up. He was filled with such self-pride that he now held himself even higher than he had before.

There'll be time to celebrate later, he thought as his paws returned to the ground, Now, I need to get back to work.

He turned and walked away from the fissure that had nearly killed him. He would soon be back in the fresh air he had been denied for weeks. Then, he'd find his little helpers and they'd finish their work.

Whether they wanted to or not.

"Hello Humphrey."

The words had shattered the silence with a deafening force.

"Mom?" Humphrey repeated, as though he was trying to convince himself.

"Hello Kate." The wolf had now turned to her, smiling warmly.

"Hi," Kate replied, just as surprised as her mate.

Stinky opened his mouth as though to speak but couldn't find any words. He just left it hanging open for several awkward seconds before he remembered to close it.

"Mom?" Humphrey asked again.

The wolf chuckled. Though she too was grey, she didn't look particularly like her son. She was of a darker hue and was more uniform; however the fur on her head was also darker than the rest of her. Her eyes were green rather than blue.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" His mother seemed amused by her son and daughter-in-law's reaction.

"Yeah," Humphrey replied, "W-what are you doing here?"

"Can't a wolf stop by to see her family? One that's gotten bigger it seems." She had just then noticed the three pups staring up at her, dumfounded. She couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, yeah!" Humphrey exclaimed remembering the pups himself, "Mom, this is Stinky," he said pointing to the eldest, "Claudette, and Runt," he pointed to the other two as well.

The wolf looked at Kate, "Did you let him name them?"

Before Kate could reply, Humphrey cut in again.

"Why are you really here?"

"I told you."

"Mom, Every time I've seen you, you've been doing something. You're always running about chasing after something. You've never just shown up for a visit. You came here for a reason."

His mother sighed. "You are my son, aren't you? But, the reason can wait till morning. It's late and I think I'd like to get to know these three better," she gestured to the still silent pups.

"Just promise it won't be like last time," Humphrey said, smiling himself for the first time as he finally walked forward and hugged her.

"Why? Last time was fun, wasn't it?"

Runt was the first pup to find a voice and asked the question that had been on all three of their minds.

"Dad, you have parents?"

AN: I hope to update every couple of days but can't promise anything. It is likely that after this story I'll take a little break. I'm going to be starting college and it may take me a while to work out a routine. I think this story's going to be fun to write, hope you find it fun to read!