The sun rose and set for thirty days. Throughout this time Brisk's mind lay drawn to the aspect of becoming a father. It also reminded him that Petra was there, each paw step at the entrance of his den made him jump. He didn't want the secret getting out. For the first few days after Petra joined them, he got barely any sleep. Between the nervousness of being caught keeping him awake at night, to the ecstatic nature of Blix, Brisk was just tired. Blix paced around the camp, raced through the territory, and stared at the sky. He had no family left in his pack, they had all disappeared. The closest was Petra, and she had just up and gone. No one had seen her, and that made Blix extra upset. He loved her, almost as strong as a mate loves their mate. In the days following that he just walked around the camp like a zombie. Sometimes stopping to yell at someone or give orders. Brisk could tell he was giving up seeing her again. It hurt him to see his alpha in this much pain when he held the answer Blix so desperately searched for; where his beloved sister had gone. Weeks passed, and Brisk could tell Petra was close to giving birth, but nothing would prepare him for it. It came very early one day, even before the sky turned light. Petra's pierce wail shook the den. Brisk was on his paws in seconds, but apparently they hadn't woke up yet. He tumbled back down to his bed, and still had no clue what was going on. Luna was up too, and already at Petra's side. Brisk's vision focused and he looked at Petra. Her stomach rippled as a contraction shook her body violently. "Brisk, go get me some very strong sticks, we can't have her waking up the whole pack." Luna ordered. She then gently placed Petra's mouth in hers, and clamped down to keep her from squealing in pain. Brisk sped out of the den, almost tripping over a rock. He rocketed out of camp, and went to the river. The reeds there were large and strong; they would be perfect to keep Petra quiet. He waded into the water, and walked across the river to the reeds. The water was cold against his belly fur, and paws/hooves. He grabbed two long reeds, and snapped them out of the water. He plunged back into the water, and waded back across. He got out, and shook his fur of the cold morning swim. He started to gallop back towards his den, the mud slapped at his belly fur, and legs. Brisk slipped through the ferns in front of his den and entered. Luna's eyes shined sweet relief as she saw Brisk with the reeds. "Hurry give her one before yowls." Brisk nodded, and snapped reed in half. He rolled it to Petra, and she grasped it firmly in her teeth. Her teeth sunk into it like it was prey. Her body shook with another contraction, and she whined through the reed. Her breathing became hard, and she looked at Luna who screamed "Push!" She obeyed, and pushed hard, the pup slid out. "It looks like its father." Petra commented. It was a healthy, big, white and red male pup. Luna was now breathing harder; her own pups were due soon, so helping Petra was hard on her. Brisk would have helped, but he wouldn't have known what to do. Petra's muffled cry brought Brisk out of his thoughts. She was in the middle of giving birth to another pup. It slid out, just as Petra broke the reed. Brisk rolled her another one as Luna assessed the pup. "You've had another male, but with more of your markings, Petra." She laid the pup next to its brother to nurse. "Am I having any more, Luna?" Petra asked. Luna nodded "One more, I think, and it's about to come so grasp the reed." Petra barely had hold of the reed as she gave birth to her last pup. "It's a gray and red female, Petra. I think you are done now, so you can let go of the reed and breathe." Luna waddled over to her nest, and collapsed on it. Her breath became slow, and easy, so Brisk knew she was asleep. "I sure hope you're done, Petra" he began "just look at my den!" Blood surrounded Petra, and had spilled almost everywhere. "It's not like I knew that was going to happen." She whimpered softly. Brisk immediately felt bad, so he went over and licked the top of her head in apology. She began shaking again, and winced through another violent contraction. "Brisk I'm not done!" she shrieked. He got there just in time as a pure white pup slid out. "Female, I just hope she doesn't have blue eyes." He told her. He knew that there was a chance that if this pup had blue eyes that she could be deaf. Brisk lay the pup with its three other siblings, praying that it would be the last of Petra's pups. She panted heavily, and leaned over to bathe her newest pup. "She's so cute, but she's also so little. She's the runt right?" Petra asked. Brisk shook his head. "I'm not so sure, you still seem a bit bloated, feel any more pain?" She shook her head. "I don't feel anything, I think I'm done." She sighed, but the moment was cut short when a contraction ripped through her body. "Brisk!" she shrieked. He moved behind her to intercept the pup that was being born. The cream pup arrived shortly, and Brisk laid it with its siblings. "Another little girl, Petra, she's bigger than the white one, which is odd. Normally she'd be smaller." The little pup stretched, and a red paw was visible. "Looks like she has a red paw, just like you." Brisk commented. Petra nodded, and pushed all the pups to nurse. "Ok I'm going to go get some moss to clean up the den. Can't have the pups open their eyes in a week to see this, can we?" he joked. Petra rolled her blue eyes, and ignored him. Brisk padded out of his den, and headed for the forest. There was a rock deep in the forest that was covered in a thick, soft layer of moss. It was perfect for bedding, so it would be fine for soaking up a bit of blood. Brisk galloped through the forest, the twinkling sky the only thing to keep him company. He leapt over a fallen tree when a scent hit him. He inhaled deeply, and knew what it was. He was instantly in a hunter's crouch. The squirrel was just heading out of its nest high up in a tree, to find some early morning breakfast. It bounced off the trunk, and landed softly on the ground. Brisk lay still where he was, hoping it wouldn't see him. It walked a few paces from the tree, and stopped to grab a nut, and that's when Brisk leapt. He landed on it perfectly, and grabbed it by the neck. He crunched hard, and felt satisfaction once it went limp in his jaw. He carried it with him to the rock, only setting it down to rip some moss of the rock. He carefully balanced the squirrel on his tail, and headed back to camp. He peered cautiously through camp, before heading back to his den. Petra looked up, and sighed. "Thought you were Blix, I feel like somehow he is going to find out." He shook his head. "As long as I'm here he won't find out anything." Brisk mumbled through a mouthful of moss. He tossed the squirrel at Petra, who caught it happily. "Thanks, this looks good." "It better be I balanced it on my tail the whole way back. Crap, looks like I dropped half the moss. I'm going to go back, and find it." Petra nodded, and began chomping through the squirrel. Brisk headed back out for the woods, and searched the path he had taken. He made it to the log, and saw the other half of the moss. He grabbed it quickly, and froze. Blix was walking towards a cliff that overlooked the river. He stopped at the edge, and tilted his head back in one of the most mournful howls, Brisk had ever heard. These are the howls I've been hearing since Petra's "disappearance". Brisk felt a pang of guilt rise up in his throat. I wish I could tell you that Petra is safe, and has five newborn pups, but I can't. Brisk thought sadly. He sighed, and trotted silently back to his den. Petra was fast asleep, the squirrel carcass neatly picked, and laying towards the entrance of the den. Brisk mopped up the blood, and placed the dirt moss with the carcass, he'd get rid of them once he would wake up. He shuffled tiredly towards his bed, and plopped down beside Luna. He curled around her, and let her scent drift him off to sleep.