Way of the Wolf: Redemption

Chapter 18 ~ Steady

Chapter 18: Steady
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Aljana and the pups were standing in the deeper part of the river, and the little wolves listened to what the warrior told them with eagerness. She showed them how to hold the spear, how to stand in the water, how to strike at the fish. I doubted they'd catch anything. The pups were excitable, splashing about and barely able to keep still even when scolded.

Leaning back on my elbows, I soaked in the sun. It wasn't a particularly warm day, and there was a slight chill in the breeze, but it was nice none the less.

"How far along are you then?" Katrin asked from next to me. She was picking out the biggest berries in the basket to eat, happy to leave Aljana struggling with the pups.

"Around two months," I answered quietly. Chewing my lip, I tried to dredge up the courage to ask her what I needed to know. "Should I be able to feel him move?"

Katrin considered me for a moment before shaking her head. "It varies. Some mother's feel them quite early, others not until its proper kicks and wriggles. With Tordis, I kept feeling almost a flutter. I didn't feel that with this pup."

That made a little more of my worries melt away. I still hoped I'd feel it soon. No amount of words from Madden would make me sure he was okay until I felt it myself.

I asked everything else I could think of and she was patient when explaining something I didn't quite understand; like the nesting I'd been doing without realising. Food cravings. The way my body and mood might change. I avoided asking about giving birth, it wasn't something I wanted to face quite yet. She even let me feel her pup as he or she moved around and I grinned at the feel of a foot pressed against my hand.

"He keeps me up all night with his kicking. I'm glad he's due in the next few days. Our little pups will grow up together," she beamed.

That had never occurred to me. Our pups would be so close in age. I hoped they'd be friends. A pup needed friends. I'd make sure to give my child everything I never had, he'd grow up pack, never knowing true hunger or fear.

"Are you sure it's a boy?" I asked, moving my hand as the pup kicked again.

She shrugged, licking the juices from a berry off her fingers. "Nobody can know for sure, except Signy. She has a knack for guessing a baby's gender but she insists I'll have another female. I hope it's a male, I'd like to have one of each. What about you?"

"It's a boy." The surety in my voice made Katrin's eyebrow quirk up and I blushed a little. "It's just a feeling I have. I keep calling it he."

"You'll need to think of some names then. Dirk and I can't settle on one." Katrin sighed, glancing back out at the river where her female was trying to get the pups in line.

I was pondering over her words. Names had been another thing I hadn't thought of. What did I know about naming pups when I didn't even have a real name of my own? Did Bjarke have names he'd picked out already? I pushed those thoughts to one side. It didn't matter right now, I could worry about that later, alongside making sure the den had everything needed for the arrival of a new pup. I still had months left.

We fell back into silence and watched the pups. Aljana looked close to tearing her hair out as she narrowly avoided a brush with the spear a small male wolf held. I chuckled and Katrin shook her head. I wondered how Katrin had convinced Aljana so to do this. Madden had a long way to come in convincing his mate it was time for pups if her expression was anything to go by right now.

Tordis came splashing over after she'd had her turn and pouted at her mother. "Will you come paddle with me, mummy!"

"Not today, my pup. Maybe Freydis will paddle with you if you ask nicely though," Katrin suggested with a smug smile.