This was hardly the first time the mountain wolves had taken in and cared for abandoned or otherwise orphaned pups. Such was a practice that I had been familiar with my entire life - my elder sister Ceal adopted by MoonGlow when she was left alone in the wild lands that bordered our home. We wolves of Spirane were a hardy type, but we were also caring and would never even think to turn a blind eye to a pup in need. So when news had come to me that Hollowpoint had found to pups in the rubble of the recent rock slide on the northern face of the mountains, I had accepted them into the pack with open arms. Neither could remember how they had come to be in the mountains, nor what had become of their parents. Their scents had been muddled by the dust and debris of the disaster that had nearly taken their lives, and there was no trail to follow to put the pieces together on if they even had parents to be returned to. Haven and Hollowpoint were their parents now, just as MoonGlow and Alcide had become parents to the abandoned Ceal, Rhiannon and Taliesin.
Even though this was not Haven's first litter, I knew well that fours pups could be quite the handful to look after. And so I approached the clearing of her family's den site shortly before dusk, hoping to find the pups put to bed for the night and Hollowpoint readily available to keep watch over the precious babes whilst I took my sister out for some quality time together. It had been too long since we had simply chased fireflies and talked as sisters are wont to do. I'd spoken with Hollowpoint to arrange such an evening, but I knew well that the whimsical imprint of my younger sister sometimes wandered and had a mind of his own. So I was pleased to find him close at hand when I arrived, and I called quietly upon Haven.