Luna Stardust's Arc

Chapter 3 of 8

Dawn came gray and slow. Luna sat by the stone fire pit she had built outside the den weeks ago, feeding it small sticks. Today she was allowed inside. She did not rush. She waited for the alpha to come for her. A sound stopped her hand. A soft scrape. A whimper. Luna turned toward the den mouth. One of the healed pups lay there, shaking. Behind it, a thin wet trail showed where it had dragged itself from inside. The path glistened like a narrow pond, lit by the low flames. Its purple fur was dull. One small wing trembled against the stone. The alpha was nowhere in sight. The pup had come on its own. Luna's chest tightened. If she touched the pup now, without permission, every careful day would burn. If she did not, the pup might not last the hour. She knelt at the threshold and held out her open hands. "Come," she whispered. "A little more." The pup pulled itself forward, claws scratching stone. It reached her knee and collapsed. Luna did not lift it inside. She gathered it onto her lap right there at the entrance, warmed her palms with breath, and pressed gently along its ribs. She began again. A shadow filled the den mouth. The alpha stood above her, eyes hard, watching the pup curled in Luna's arms outside the den she had not been invited to enter yet. The alpha did not growl. She lay down beside them and rested her great head on her paws. Luna kept working. The door, this time, stayed open.