Curious eyes of passing citizens of Nome were cast towards the wolves and half-wolf in the street, one of them carrying an injured young lupine on his back. Chaska was at the front, ignoring the quick glances from both dogs and humans. Agro did the same, but Nikan seemed to be a bit unnerved by all of the unnecessary attention.
"Just ignore them, runt" Agro mutter from ahead. Nikan lowered his head and eyes towards the ground, but he could still feel the stares. He shuddered, recalling had happened before when the town turned on his pack. He could feel his heart rate quicken, but not for too long when Chaska stopped to be beside him, then walked by him.
"You okay, Nik?" he asked, using his childhood nickname.
"Yeah" he replied, trying to sound confident. But he couldn't shake the fear he held within. The fear for the townspeople. Chaska gave a questioning look, then dropped the conversation and strolled ahead. He thought he had done so because he believed him, but when the small wolf looked ahead, he saw that they were being approached by a group of dogs. All but two were unfamiliar to him, and even the ones he knew had taken a few seconds to recognize. The big giveaway for one of them was how Chaska interacted with her, but it seemed that he could not recall her name. All he remembered was that she and Chaska were together. For the other, it was resemblance between him and Chaska, and knew it was Balto.
"Where have you been?" Balto queried towards his brother, his voice holding anger as well as concern while his eyes had only concern. "You leave without telling us where you are going, and Agro disappears with you. So where did you go?" Chaska glanced around. Everyone had the same feeling in their eyes. Concern. "There was some trouble at the mountain" he answered quietly, his words carrying sorrow with them. Balto's ears dropped, sadness in his eyes.
"Is Aleu alright?" Chaska nodded. "But...everyone else is not. More than half of the pack is dead or injured, mostly the latter." There were several gasps, and Balto lowered his head. "I'm sorry, I did not know-"
"There is no need to apologize. I should have told you, but I saw only the emergency first. But neither of us are to blame for the tragedy. They tricked us." He began explaining about how their plan turned into a trap, and when they returned to the mountain to find most of the pack dead. He looked back at the unconscious Sarin, his blood seeping from his wound and covering Agro's hind quarters. "He needs help. We need to get him to the vet." Balto nodded and they made way, letting them pass before following closely behind. Agro went ahead with Nikan beside him, adjusting the limp form of Sarin so he would not fall.
Kel lingered back, and Chaska trailed back to her. "Is something wrong?" Her attention was brought to him, and she smiled. She put her head under his head, taking him by surprise as she rubbed the top of it against his chin and neck. "No, not at all. I'm just glad you're safe." Chaska's eyes were at first wide with surprise, then he smiled and enjoyed the moment, not noticing the eyes of her proud parents watching them. It was only when her father made a gruff grunt, gaining their attention before they had the chance to get too intimate.
"Are we interrupting something?" Her mother, Pan, asked. "I think we did" Kel's dad, Brutus, commented, wiggling his eyebrows at them teasingly. Pan stomped on his paw with her own, earning a pained yelp as he jumped to the side away from her. He glowered at her while she smirked back. "Don't be such a baby. You know better than to embarrass your daughter."
"Thanks mom-" Kel began, but Pan stopped her when she started her own conversation. "Now, if you are planning on doing it tonight, I must lay down some ground rules for you. Both of you." Chaska could already his cheeks going warm, because he knew what was coming. He could see Kel's lower jaw drop, and she started to stutter, constantly being interrupted by her mother. Brutus snickered from Chaska's side. "First off, you should take it nice and slow."
"Mom!"
"I'm not finished, dear. Secondly, try not to make too much noise. You don't want to haunt the kids with the-"
"Mom, please stop!" Even though he was embarrassed himself, Chaska couldn't hold in his laughter. Brutus joined him, but was much louder and drew the attention of Kara. "Thirdly, if you have trouble, all you have to do is-" A paw darted to her mouth, and Kel mouthed a thank you to her sister who had saved the day in the nick of time.
"Okay, mom. How about we leave them alone now, okay? They will be fine." Brutus gave a wink to the two lovers before joining his daughter and mate. Even at a distance, they could still hear Pan talking about the same subject all the way down the street, embarrassing them further. They thought about darting into the shadows and burying their heads in the snow, but Chaska insisted on checking in on the injured wolf. Kel gladly agreed, as long as they stuck to the shadows, and away from her mother for a while.
Both made it there without any remark against them, so they believed they hadn't been spotted. But truthfully, many had seen them, and thought they looked stupid on how they attempted to avoid everyone long after being seen. No one actually knew of the previous conversation, but the couple did not know that, and didn't want to risk it. They stepped inside and were led by Nikan and Agro to where a vet worked on Sarin. It didn't look good. He started by putting a muzzle over the wolf's mouth, in case he woke in the middle of the procedure. Even still, he had to be wary of his claws, and strapped him down to the table for extra measures. For now, there was no sign of him waking. That worried them all, but also gave them relief so he would not be awake to cause further damage to himself.
The vet then proceeded to clean the wound. Sarin twitched a few times, but no kicking or howling. After other procedures to clean the wound, he grabbed the needle and began the stitching. Sarin whimpered in his sleep, making the viewers cringe. Chaska could see Nikan edging forward, eager to stop the wolf's pain. But it was for his own good. So he lay on the ground, his forepaws over his ears to block out the sad cries of his nephew.
It felt like hours, which it was, and it was soon done. The vet sighed with relief as he finished his work and made sure his patient was still alive. As he passed them, he caught sight of their pleading looks. "He will be okay. He just needs some rest, and will be ready to leave in at least two weeks." He looked at Nikan, and must have spotted some resemblance. "You are welcome to stay with him, if you wish." Nikan slowly plodded past the vet into the room, his footsteps creaking on the wooden floorboards, and jumped onto his hind legs so his head was looking over the table at his brother's son.
"Come on, Chaska. You heard the human. He needs rest" Kel stated. Reluctantly, Chaska turned and left, with Agro and Kel by his side. When they were outside, they were greeted by another familiar face.
"Hey, Rei!" Agro greeted, stepping forward to him. But Rei made no such move towards him. Instead, he held his cold stare at him, standing as tall as he could. Agro's brow creased and his lips curved to form a nervous smile. He had seen that look before, and it did not bode well for him. Before anyone could make a move, Rei had pounced upon his larger brother, his face above his.
"Where have you been?! I looked everywhere! Even in trashcans!" That explained the smell that caused their noses to wrinkle. "Sorry, but if you haven't heard, I was helping the wolf pack." The little half-breed's face softened almost immediately, and he stopped off from Agro, but he still looked mad.
"That still gives you no excuse to leave without notice."
"And I'll keep that in mind." Agro's smile turned to a more happier expression, and so did Rei's, then they gave each other a dog's version of a hug. "I thought I'd never see you again" the wolf brother confessed. Chaska couldn't help but smile, for he had only seen Agro this happy a few times. Agro and Rei left to talk about things, no longer acknowledging the other two canines alone. No one else was around, so they decided to return their homes, and parted ways. However, halfway to her own home, Kel met back up with her boyfriend.
"I thought you said you were going back home?" He nodded. "I was, but Balto and Jenna were headed there, and I didn't want to disturb them. So I was hoping if I could stay with you. If that's okay." There was a small pause. "Is it?" She hesitated, and slowly rocked her head up and down. "I guess."
They continued their stroll until they stopped on the steps. "Shall we?" Kel asked. She started to go through the doggy door when she felt a pull on her tail. Chaska sat back as she came back out, shooting him a curious glance. "Something wrong?"
"Kel...I've been thinking on what your mother was talking about, and I think we should." At first, the husky was unsure by what he meant. But the meaning soon came to her, and her mouth formed an 'o' shape as if it was unexpected. But he noticed a faint twinkle in her eyes. "A-are you sure? I mean, t-there's so many things we have to worry about. W-what if I get pregnant?"
"Then we will look after our children. You will be a great mother. I promise you I will be there for you and our kids. Always." Kel's worries washed away, and they leapt into a long, deep kiss. They broke it, then went inside.
I am going to finish this chapter here, because I am not going into too much detail on that part. So hope you enjoyed, leave a review, and see you all next time :)