A couple of weeks later Snowdrop was watching her cubs playing with Dahlias, her gaze was mostly on the younger cubs. She knew that Arctic and Shadow were too young to leave her but she longed for another litter but if she chose another mate she would have to say goodbye to her cubs for no male would tolerate cubs that didn't belong to him, something that poor Dahlia was learning the hard way. The sisters had noticed Storms absence, the male would do nothing but hunt then return when it was dark with some meat for his family, and he wouldn't let Snowdrop, Arctic or Shadow eat with them and grew extremely angry whenever one of Snowdrops cubs approached him or his family. Still, his hunts meant that the six cousins could play without getting attacked for it.

Snowdrop pricked up her ears at the sound of paw steps, Storm was back early. She barked a warning to the youngsters and they broke apart. Storm ran up dropped meat at Dahlias paws then raced off back towards the hunting grounds but not before giving Snowdrop a nasty snarl. Snowdrop growled quietly to herself, she glanced at Arctic and Shadow and turned towards the hunting grounds, the pair understood immediately and followed her, their tails wagging furiously. As soon as they found an elk herd the cubs went silent, Snowdrop was pleased with their progress. Arctic being the smaller of the two was faster than her brother and her stamina was a little better, Shadow just had brute strength and used it to his advantage by trying to trip the prey, unfortunately smaller prey would just get squashed under his huge bulk whilst he was trying to pin it down something that extremely irritated his sister.

The hunt began as Arctic ran out towards three cow elks; she split them up and veered right to chase after the slower one. Snowdrop and Shadow ran behind trying to keep up. They chased the elk a long way. After about five minutes the pack had to stop to catch their breath, this was the furthest they had travelled for hunting, they had been lucky with hunts and the chases only lasted about thirty seconds. Snowdrop eyed her cubs wondering how they fared after a long chase, Arctic looked distressed, she was worried that they would lose this kill, maybe she'd misjudged and picked the wrong one and Shadow was glaring at his paws and shaking them every now and then, this bemused Snowdrop. They couldn't waste too much time or they really would lose this one, they set off again, Shadow was at the head of the pack, his black nose to the ground as he was the best tracker. They followed the trail until they finally tracked it down. Snowdrop took over and dropped into a crouch, the cow was drinking from the stream but it seemed to be on the alert. Snowdrop was the first to attack; she had a mixture of strength and speed. She helped by slowing it down so Arctic and Shadow could come in and finish it. Arctic and Shadow went either side and bit at its flanks until blood flowed out of its wounds. It wasn't long before the cow staggered and went down. The pack wasted no time and dug in, ripping large chunks and gulping them down. Snowdrop watched as Shadow dominated the kill on his side, he'd let Arctic eat but snarled at her if she ate too much .She watched with interest for she remembered her pack hunts when she was young, she wasn't the smallest but her siblings Lillian and Foalan would do everything they could to stop her from eating. It wasn't until both Snowdrop and Shadow were finished did he let Arctic eat what she wanted, the leftovers

Snowdrop and Shadow were sat underneath a tree enjoying the shade when they heard a yelp. Shadow snarled as Arctic ran towards them, her ears flat and her tail between her legs for a bear had come out of nowhere and chased her off. Snowdrop gazed steadily at the bear before leading her cubs away from the kill. Shadow and Arctic looked confused as their mother was walking in the opposite direction of the den site. Snowdrop ignored them and then she could hear their confused barks turn into sad whines as they realised they weren't going back. It pained Snowdrop to leave her sister with four cubs but it would be better for all of them if they let them be. She found the pack a good resting place and settled down for the night. Her ears pricked up as she heard a sad howl in the distance, she looked down, it was Dahlia.

The next day Snowdrop chose not to take part in the next hunt, Shadow and Arctic looked confused and a little nervous but they went without her. Snowdrop felt guilt pricking her paws as if she was walking on a bed of thorns for Snowdrop was hunting but not for food, she was hunting for a mate. She felt that desire to mate again overwhelm everything else, including her responsibilities to her cubs. However things never go the way you want, she had been following several wolf trails and all so far had led her to either dispersal females or packs which she chose to avoid. Her paws were starting to ache so she sat down to rest panting a little. Her ears pricked up as leaves crunched under her paws. She turned to see a male wolf a little way from her, he was rather handsome, he was rather large, had sleek black fur and yellowy green eyes. He approached her cautiously and sniffed at her, once he'd determined she didn't belong to another male he started to act extra friendly. Snowdrop acted extra flirty, she rubbed against him brushing her tail under his chin. They behaved this way for a few minutes then mated right there and then

Snowdrop discovered that his name was Adonis and that he was a descendant of the Druid pack which explained why he was this size. Adonis was overjoyed that he had found a mate at last but Snowdrop couldn't share his happiness just yet. She led him back to where she had left her cubs; they were waiting for her there. She saw their delight at seeing her turn to fear when they spotted Adonis. The large black male narrowed his eyes and moved quickly towards them, the cubs backed away even Shadow who almost matched Adonis in size. She could see their confusion as they ran away from this male whilst their mother did nothing to stop him, to protect them. Their fear took over and they raced away as fast as their legs would carry them, Adonis grunted in satisfaction and returned to Snowdrop, he licked her face and settled down beside her. Snowdrop watched her cubs retreat and prayed they would be alright.

Please review and request names, cubs are on the way