It started that evening, just a light drizzle that slicked off of wolf's fur and barely soaked into Father's clothes. He was tempted to remove them, but the small band opted to seek shelter instead. First it was in a dense thicket, uninhabited by anyone in months it seemed. It shielded well from the drip of light summer rain, but as the drizzle turned into a steady pour it seeped through the cracks and their shelter became unstable. With the ground getting soaked as it was there was no point in digging a den, so their next option was to find a cave. That would be harder to do, as most caves around here had occupants. Father investigated each promising shelter they passed, always backing down if a bear or some other predator emerged from its shadows. The rain continued to fall, weighing down wolf pelts and giving Father a soaking chill to his weathered skin. His dark dishwater blonde hair was dripping wet, and he had to keep pushing it away to get it out of his eyes. Grumbling lightly to himself he soldiered on though, and as the clouds grew darker they finally found an empty cave. It was not large, but enough for them to fit and huddle in. So the three of them curled up inside the cave, warming each other up and slowly drying off.

The skies darkened into an ominous black outside their cave, and the steady pour turned into an angry torrent of pelting rain. The rain went straight, then sideways, then sheared and back through the cycle again. Thunder rolled betwixt the trees, over the rocks and rolling hills and reverberated in their cave while white lightning lit up the sky. Pup watched the angry weather from Father's lap, his chest heaving and watching as his anxiety level grew. In the old territory, when bad weather came through they were always safe within the walls of their den but here they were dangerously close to it; the thought frightened pup extremely. He panted and whined, whimpering though he would calm temporarily if Grey Lady reached out to nuzzle the pup or if Father gingerly stroked behind Pup's ears. The cries were only briefly quieted, always coming back if a loud rumble barreled through.

The wind howled ferociously through the trees, whistling a high-pitched and menacing tone as it bullied the weaker trees about. They could hear crackles and booms in the distance, which meant that some of these mighty arboreals were beginning to fall at the hands of the storm. A few were starting to sway near their cave and when one fell not feet from the cave's mouth Pup howled and nearly squealed bloody murder. Father had to hold Pup's muzzle shut and shush him, subsequently trying to soothe him. But the poor thing was still whining and whimpering away, jumping at every fallen tree that followed the one close to their door. Grey Lady tried to console Pup as well, but he seemed to be lost in a loop of fear. So Father thought and thought of how he could calm the nervous Pup down.

"Did you know that Mother is afraid of thunder too?" he whispered quietly to Pup, who was still howling at first but at the mention of Mother he seemed to focus on Father. His ears perked and his head tilted up towards him. "Mother is afraid of thunder? But she is so brave," Pup answered, just as quietly as Father. "She is brave, but that does not mean things still scare her. Mother has learned to look her fears in the eye and wish them away." Pup looked perplexed for a moment, trying to look outside at the raging storm that seemed to be dragging on forever. Another rumble of thunder barreled through and Pup managed to jump. "How can I do that, Father? You are brave like Mother, can you teach me?" Pup asked Father, who seemed to sigh a little. "It is hard to teach, Pup. You must try to tell your mind that all is well. Make the thunder feel small." Father did not know a better way to explain it to Pup; this was the only way he could describe it.

Grey Lady listened as the two talked, her ears perked in their direction while her head nestled in between her forepaws. Her tail did flick though, at the mentioning of another. Mother? Grey Lady's head lifted from her paws and she looked curiously to Father and Pup. "Who is Mother?" she asked, to which both Father and Pup turned their heads in her direction. "Mother is a-" "Mother helped rescue me and take care of me with Father!" Pup said excitedly, interrupting Father. Grey Lady seemed more interested now, though she now looked to Father with her questions. "Is Mother your mate? I thought you had an alpha," she asked, perplexed. "For Mother implies that—" "Mother is not my mate. She is alpha. Pup gave her the name." Father tried to explain it as best he could, though Grey Lady seemed to see past it somewhat. "Was she to be your mate? Is she of your kind, or mine?"

Her questions made Father's brow furrow, for he did not want to answer. However he feared not answering would be worse than answering. So he took a deep breath, before speaking up again. "All that is true is that Mother is alpha. I could never be her mate. She is my kind, but more," he replied, though he made sure to not mention a very important fact; she was feline. The apple to their orange, she was the most unlike anyone in this cave at the moment and he was unsure how Grey Lady would take it. Yet, he thought a bit. If Old Mama and the pack could accept him as their own without him being their kind...then maybe Grey Lady would understand just as much. "Mother is cat. Cousin to hillcats; a lioness." He braced for her criticism then, waiting for Grey Lady to spit on the ground or growl at the idea. How could a lion lead a wolf? It was impossible! Yet, Grey Lady's sagely persona shone through at that very moment. "She must be some alpha if a lion could have the bravery to lead a wolf." Father sighed in relief, barely realizing that Grey Lady had acknowledged him as her kind; a wolf.

Pup put his paws up on Father's chest then, nuzzling his cheek and giving him a swift lick before he curled up against his arm. His head faced the mouth of the cave where he stared out at the storm outside, though now he seemed calmer. Even as the thunder rolled and the trees fell around them, Pup no longer whimpered and howled. He was making it all seem small, like Father said. He then yawned, his eyelids beginning to feel heavy. "I miss Mother," he lazily whispered before burying his head in the crook of his arm. Father merely sighed, putting his head against the stone wall. "I miss her too," he whispered in return before the three of them fell asleep to the din of the storm.