The Loner

Chapter 2: First Breath

( Nova looks like the pic above )

God rays filtered through the darkness making the snow white wolf shimmer in the sunlight. Her eyes slowly crack open to find that it is morning. A huff is heard from her muzzle and makes no attempt to get up. But her growling stomach forced her to get up and consume energy to keep her and her pups alive. So she got up and crawled out of the cave to find food.

After a minute or two of walking, she stopped, heard the crunch of snow. She crouched down, belly full of pups on the ground, and waited. A white-tailed deer creeped out of the forest, eyes squinted to see if any danger is near. After deeming it safe the doe walked up to a tree and started ripping off and eating bark. Sounds of the deer grinding the tree bark are heard.

She steadied her breath and popped her hind legs up. Her white fur coat was blending in with the environment around her. This is good for her, the deer, not so much. In lightning speed, she pounced on the back of her pray. After a few minutes, the once alive deer was dead.

The wolf, Nova, drug the carcass back to the recently claimed den. After a while she finally reached the cave, wheezing. Hey, you can't blame her, she's pregnant. She started to tear into the still-warm flesh of the deer. She needed to keep her energy up for the health of the pups.

After getting her fill (about ¼ of the deer) she drug it back outside and started to cover it in snow. Not only would this mask the scent, but it also keeps the deer from rotting before she can eat it. Once done she piles snow over it. She then headed bad to the cave, no longer hungry. She laid down, completely drained of energy.

But suddenly her eyes widened and her breathing was irregular. A loud whine came from her muzzle. Her ears flattened against her snow white coat of fur. She could feel the kicking and twitching of the pups inside of her. Another pitiful whine escaped her mouth as she started panting. She now knew what was happening.

Labor

Her tongue dangled from her agape mouth, steam pouring out like a waterfall of mist. Her eyes rolled back at the pain of her body adjusting itself to give birth. The long wait had finally come to an end. She rearranged herself on the leaf pile. Every movement caused pain to shoot through her.

After hours of pain and hard work, a small cry of a defenseless pup rang out through the cave or den. She craned her neck to look at the tiny life form she would raise to be a great wolf for her pack. Soon after gazing at it, she licked the goop that was sticking the newborn pup's fur and clear the mucus from his mouth and nose.

Not long after three more pups had been born. The firstborn is named Ōkami (male), the second born is named Hoshi (female), the third born is named Yoru (female), and the fourth born is named Dāku (male). Okami has a white coat of fur with dark grey freckles on his muzzle, tail, and legs. Hoshi is a light brown with hints of red on her feet and tail tip. Yoru is a light silver with black paws and ears. Daku is a solid black with tiny dots of white on his muzzle, ears, and chest.

Looking down at her pups she could see them slowly starting to drift off to sleep. She smiled, well as much as a wolf could, at the tiny, wiggling bodies of fur. Nova's eyelids slowly started to drop. Her eyesight blurred as she curled her body around the pups to keep them warm. She sighed as sleep took her away from reality.