12: Surprises
Aniu woke feeling well rested and strangely warm. She attempted to roll over on her back to simply enjoy the warmth, when she pushed Trajan off of the slight platform that her bed was on. He awoke with a yelp as he hit the hard, cold cave floor with a loud thump.
Aniu, losing her source of heat, flipped back over with a whimper and looked down to see a groaning Trajan lying sprawled on the ground. She laughed at the sight and decided to have a little fun with him. She prepared herself to pounce, but Trajan, who had recovered but had decided not to blow his cover, wanted to get revenge for the jostling he had received. As he saw her crouching for a pounce he sprang up and tackled her, effectively pinning her to the ground.
She let out her own startled yelp as she struggled in his grasp but realized quickly that she had been outsmarted. She figured she should try a more deceitful tactic. She leaned up and gave Trajan a lick on the nose and he was so startled that he leapt backward, only to be followed by a now free and pouncing She-wolf.
Their previous positions had now switched and Trajan found himself under a laughing Aniu. When he saw her joy, he couldn't help himself, and bursted into laughter too. Soon they both lost control of themselves and were rolling on the ground in fits, unable to stop.
Eventually the crazed laughter died down to small chuckles, as the two were able to calm themselves. "That was the most fun I think I've ever had," Trajan said.
"I don't know, seeing you dance around with a rabbit stuck on your nose was pretty amusing." Aniu responded with a sly smile.
Trajan whimpered quietly at the memory and Aniu let out a few more chuckles.
She then walked to the cave entrance and noticed the sun already halfway through its route across the sky.
"It's noon already!" Trajan said as he came to stand beside Aniu.
"Indeed. It appears we slept a lot later than we should have. Speaking of sleep, I'm sorry that my parents stuck you at the entrance. They must have known how cold it would be."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm fine now and we were able to keep each other warm last night, so at least some good came of it." They both blushed at the memory of the close contact they had shared.
"Say, where are your folks? I didn't see them as I fell from the bed." Trajan said as he nudged Aniu playfully.
"It was an accident, ok. I'm not used to company when I sleep!" She said as she nudged him back. "Well, father is most likely out on a hunt for the pack an mother is probably making a cave call." Aniu answered as childish laughter rang out through the canyon. "And I think I know where."
They made their way down the path that led to the canyon floor. As they turned to face the direction the laughter was coming from, they were startled to see Alva waiting in the shadows. When he saw Aniu, A confident grin came over his face and he strutted out to meet her. When he saw Trajan following however, he let out a low snarl and his stride faltered.
Walking up to Aniu and pushing past Trajan, he demanded, "What is the mutt still doing here?!"
"Under the Alphas' orders, he is to stay until he is fit enough to make the journey home." Aniu replied, allowing some spite to seep into her words. She really couldn't stand Alva. He was absolutely obnoxious and incredibly stubborn. No matter how many times she rejected him, he always returned with another offer to go for a walk or hunt together.
True to his habits, he put on his most convincing smile, which was about as charming as the rear end of a grizzly, and asked, "So, princess, what do you say we head out for a little hike together? I know some of the greatest spots with the best views of the territory."
Aniu growled in disgust and replied, "Gee Alva, I'd love to, but I don't think I'd be able to see anything around your ego."
Trajan, who'd been silent up to this point, once again cried out with laughter and Alva turned to glare at him. But Trajan didn't back down and continued cracking up, making the canyon walls ring with the sound.
Realizing that he had been rejected again, Alva stalked off into the forest at the entrance of the canyon but not without a final snarl and snap at Trajan.
As soon as he was out of sight, Aniu let out a sigh and glanced over at Trajan to find him completely straight-faced and looking at her with concern. "Are you ok?" He asked sounding genuinely worried.
"Yes, I believe so. It was only Alva, nothing life threatening." Aniu said. "But what about you? A second ago you were rolling on the ground nearly laughing yourself to death."
"I figured he'd need a little humility to bring his head back down to size" Trajan responded. Then he smiled mischievously and said, "Don't worry, your not that funny."
"Hey!" Aniu shouted, swatting him on the shoulder with her paw. "I thought it was clever."
Trajan only began walking again, chuckling to himself. But before he got very far he stopped suddenly and turned back around, looking sheepish, "I, uh... Don't know where I'm going."
Aniu began chuckling to herself as she regained the lead and turned them in the direction of the cave that now emanated laughter.
They arrived at the entrance and Trajan peered inside only to be pounced on by two little balls of fur with sharp teeth and painful claws. He let out a bark of terror as he was dragged to the ground. He let out one of his infamous groans and peered up only to see two tiny faces gazing back at him in confusion.
"Who are you?" The one on the left, a girl with grayish-brown fur, piped in her adorably high voice.
"Don't you know anything, Lexi. This is that dog that Aunty Aniu rescued from the blizzard." The one on the right, a pup with dark gray fur, who Trajan assumed was Lexi's brother, chided.
"I knew that, Lupin!" Lexi barked at her brother. Then turning her attention back to Trajan, she said, "You smell funny. You need a bath!"
"Alright kids I think the poor dog has had enough." Aniu interrupted, barely able to contain her laughter. "Go back inside to join your brothers."
"Yes Aunty Aniu." They complied in unison and quickly dashed into the cave from whence they'd come.
Trajan, still lying on his back, asked, "Aunty?"
Aniu let out a giggle and responded, "My little sister's cubs." Then she turned towards the cave and strode inside without another word.
Trajan was left in the dirt, staring after her. He rose slowly, shaking the dust out of his fur, and followed Aniu, thinking, 'she has a sister?'
As he entered the cave he was greeted by darkness at first after the bright light of the sun outside, but his eyes soon adjusted and he saw Aniu prancing around four little pups in the middle of the cave while her mother and a wolf Trajan didn't know sat on the far side looking on with smiles.
Trajan stood in the cave entrance awkwardly until the pups saw him and they all yelled at once, "Intruder!" and pounced on him again.
He fell on his back as the four cubs climbed up to his face and started nipping his nose.
"Who are you?" One asked. He stood proudly with his head held high on Trajan's chest looking powerful and brave.
Trajan assumed he was the oldest based on his behavior and was about to respond when Lupin stepped up, "That's the dog that Aunty Aniu saved in the big blizzard, Remus."
"And he smells funny!" Little Lexi added.
"Really?" Asked the fourth and smallest cub. He took a deep whiff of Trajan's chest fur and stumbled around, gagging, "your right, aha, aha! He does smell funny."
All the other pups laughed at their little brother's exaggeration as he continued to spin, pretending to be dizzy.
Trajan knew they were only kidding so he decided to play along, "Hey, it can't be that bad." He said as he took a whiff of himself. He instantly started gagging and retching right along with the smallest pup.
"Ok," he choked out, "maybe I could do with a little freshening up."
The little ones couldn't stop laughing and Trajan saw goofy smiles across the faces of the three other adults as well.
As the little runt finally recovered, Trajan walked over to him and ruffled the fur on his head and asked, "what's your name kid?"
"Balto," He replied, "but my brothers and sister just call me Balt."
"Balto, huh? I like it. It has a nice ring to it."
Hey Balt! Come on, Lexi and Remus are going to race!" cried Lupin from where he and the other pups waited.
"I'm coming!" little Balto called back. Trajan watched him scamper over to his siblings still thinking about that name. Balto. He really liked it, maybe, if he ever got lucky enough, he'd name one of his pups that.
He remembered he wasn't alone and turned around to see the three she-wolves looking at him curiously. He put on a guilty look at having forgotten they were there and looked at the one in the middle, the assumed mother.
"Uh...Hi, I'm uh, Trajan." He stuttered out.
"Nice to meet you Trajan, I'm Maia, and the mother of those four monsters." The middle wolf replied, indicating the pups running back and forth just outside the cave.
"You're really good with pups," she said to him, bringing Trajan's attention back from outside.
"Well, yeah, I guess. There not much different than dog pups. Just more painful bites." Trajan started, "back in Nome, my best dog on the team, Maverick... Well he had pups and I would often go and visit them and spend all day just playing with them on the beach." He let out a small, sad, smile at the memory and realization that those poor little pups would never see there father again.
Aniu was shocked. Trajan hadn't revealed anything about his past life to her yet and this surprisingly deep and sensitive piece of information must have been hard for him to talk about. Knowing that he must have been thinking about the terrible fate that had befallen his friends by his low hung head and small whimper, she walked over to him and gave him a lick of comfort on the top of his head.
He lifted his head and gave her a small smile then a nuzzle to the snout in thanks.
"You were right." Maia said to her mother who had been silently observing the encounter. "They are perfect for each other."
"Yes." Matra said to her youngest daughter, without taking her eyes off of the two beings still in the center of the cave. "Now if they only saw it too."
"Give them time, and in the end, love will find its way around their differences." Maia replied with a glint in her eyes.
"I suppose," Matra conceded. "On another note have you heard from Nava recently. It seems your brother is getting along pretty well with his own pack."
"Yeah, I can't believe that he is an alpha now too. After he ran away and abdicated his right to the title, I thought it was because he didn't want to be alpha."
"He may have been the oldest but he was still the runt out of the three of you. The others wouldn't have respected him, and he figured as much. With a new start he was able to begin his own pack, slowly recruiting lone wolfs until his pack becomes powerful enough to find its own territory."
"Well I miss him," Maia pouted, lying down and placing her head between her paws.
"Me too." Responded Matra.
"As do I," put in Aniu coming back over with Trajan in tow. "But he has made his decision and I for one, am proud of Nava for it."
"We all are." Said Matra while Maia nodded in consent.
A peaceful silence settled over the group, only to be interrupted by a confused Trajan, "Who's Nava?"