I know this story was originally supposed to be a one-shot, based on a dream I had. But the more and more I think about it, the more and more it seems wrong to me to end it on such a depressing note without any hope for what is to come Therefore, I am combining it with a story-idea I've had for a long while to give this story a better and more hopeful ending.


There was a change in the wind, Ambrose felt it. He had been meditating in his high-mountain cave when, suddenly, he picked up on strange energy. Something new had clearly been introduced into Jasper. Ambrose could sense it and, from the type of energy, he felt he already had a particularly good idea of what it was. He jumped to his feet and began to run down the mountain path. This was an emergency and he knew he had precious little time to waste.

He did not even have to wonder about where to go. In his mind's eye, he could see the energy trail leading him onward, onward into the forest, onward toward three young she-wolves whose fates had been decided that day.

But the three were, by this time, already returning home and nearing their parents' den. Thus, Ambrose had to follow the trail all that way. It was not difficult for him, but he knew that it might lead him to other wolves and the secret of his existence would be out. And that was one secret he was not ready to reveal.

Ambrose finally managed to reach them just as they were arriving home. Winston was already standing in the distance, smiling and waving as his three daughters approached, Kate and Melanie jockeying for position in front and Lilly dragging along somewhat behind. And Ambrose could see quite clearly, in a mystical sense, that each of them had been marked. Marked by the gods of old with their childish conceits. He saw clearly that Kate was marked to thrive, Melanie to die, and Lilly to suffer worse than death.

Ambrose snarled as his eyes turned upward, toward the direction of Olympus. "Curse you, you wretched beings!" he barked under his breath. "Why can't you just keep to yourselves and not interfere with the lives of those to whom you are not given to interfere? Do you not realize that there is a spirit in the world that judges you just as it judges us? You shall pay for your insolence in time, for the time comes when your puny rule shall be wiped away and by that spirit shall a new age be inaugurated!"

As he watched the three wolves, he sighed. The gods had had their fun, this was certain. And perhaps things would take that course; Ambrose knew it was ultimately up to the three wolves themselves, whatever the gods said, for fate and free will are not so easily untangled as Jove and his ilk would believe. But still, Ambrose did not like them trying to having any influence into things which were not given them.

"So I shall add a little destiny of my own," Ambrose whispered, for he knew that the powers of an enlightened being are greater than those of any of the gods trapped in arrogance. He readied himself and walked quickly over to where Winston stood.

"Look at Kate and Melanie," Winston said with a smile. "They both have the makings of fine pack leaders someday. I wonder which one will actually succeed me. I've got to get back to Tony soon with my choice as to who will marry his son."

"That is not a hard question to answer," said Ambrose behind him.

Winston turned around swiftly to see the old wolf standing there. He was surprised and greatly worried. "Who are you? I have never seen you before in our valley!"

Ambrose chuckled a little. He knew that Winston had seen him before, but simply did not remember it. That was Ambrose's own doing.

"Never mind that for now," Ambrose said, "for I have come for a very specific reason. I shall answer the questions which you have just been asking yourself. But tell me, where is your lovely wife?"

"I'm right here," said a voice coming toward them. Winston shuttered as he saw that Eve had her eye focused with murderous glare on Ambrose.

"And how could you possibly tell us these things?" Eve said skeptically. "And why should we trust you when we don't even know you? How do you even know who we are, since we've never met?"

Ambrose smiled. He could tell he was going to have to go through with this conversation every time he had to speak with Eve. He said, "As I have said, who I am is unimportant. Merely a seer of sorts who lives out in the wilderness. And that is why I know the answers to these questions."

"You expect us to believe that? What do you take us for?" Eve said. It was evident that she considered Ambrose a threat and was already thinking about how best to dispose of him.

"Please, dear, let's just hear out what he has to say," Winston said, not truly believing Ambrose but wanting to keep Eve from doing anything rash. "That, at least, can't do us any harm."

Eve growled. "I suppose you're right, but he had better not try anything."

Ambrose smiled warmly. "I wouldn't dream of it," he said.

"Very well," Winston said, "go on. Tell us which of my daughters shall marry Tony's son and unite the packs."

"It is very simple," Ambrose said. "The daughter of yours which shall unite the packs shall be the first one to kiss her mother."

(Author's Note: As some of you may notice, this prophecy is based on the one

which predicted that Lucius Junius Brutus would found the Roman Republic.)

"Really, the first one to kiss her mother?" Winston said, trying to hide his own skepticism. "It is that easy?"

"Winston, really, you are so cynical at times," Eve said behind him with a smile. She was obviously flattered that she had been worked into the prophecy.

Ambrose grinned pleasantly. He knew neither of them understood the true meaning of his words.

"Kate, Melanie, Lilly," Eve called. "Come quickly. It's time to get home!"

All three pups, wanting to please their mother, broke into a run. Kate and Melanie raced each other to reach their parents first and receive their praises. Lilly did it best to keep up with the others but she obviously was nowhere near as fast.

But she did try. She tried so hard that she accidently put one of her front legs straight in the path of the other and toppled to the ground. She landed hard and sent up a cloud of dust as he face became planted in the dirt.

Kate and Melanie raced forward with all possible speed, like horses running neck and neck to the finish line of a track. For many moments, it was unclear which would get to Eve first. But, at the last possible moment, Kate found an extra ounce of speed in herself and managed to outpace Melanie. She reached her mother first and leapt up to lick Eve's face.

Winston leaned over to Ambrose. "I guess we know which one shall unite the packs," he whispered.

Ambrose smiled as his eyes focused on Lilly, who had picked herself up and was trudging over to join her sisters, looking down at her paws with shame and embarrassment.

"Yes, we do," he said.

Winston and Eve both turned to face Ambrose and further speak of this, but both met with a surprise. He was gone.

"Where did he go?" Eve said in alarm. "He just disappeared!"

"What a strange person," Winston said. "I wonder if we'll ever see him again."

Lilly finally reached her parents, a tear in her eye. She had hoped for some affection and comfort from her mother and father but they were both too occupied with her sisters to notice. Lilly cast her head down again in sorrow. It seemed to her that she was just not meant to be as important to their lives as her sisters were.

From behind a nearby tree, Ambrose watched. "Do not cry, little one," he said, "for you too shall have your day. I have used magic just now which has overridden the gods' pathetic attempts to control destiny and restored it to a higher course. You shall not suffer a life like this forever. For when I said that the one who unites the packs will be the first one to kiss her mother, I did not mean Eve. I meant that mother from whence all come, from the Earth itself. And you, purest Lilly of lilies, were the first to do that. Your day shall come. Winston and Eve will not remember me, for that spell I cast when I brought you to them must hold a little longer, but your day shall come. This I promise, my little miracle, this I promise you."

Then, as quickly as he had come, he was gone. As he returned to his mountain home, his heart grew light with laughter. The gods had tried their best to undo what was being done to bring about the new age in Jasper, but their own efforts would be undone, and their powers already now were growing less and less. The new age would come after all; all that was left was to wait and work for it as it was being born.