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Gill whined empathetically. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll skip it.”

Finbar felt sympathy for his mate; even if she likely did not remember her mother, much like he hardly remembered his own, it did not make the subject less painful.

The elder continued: “Well, that sort of concludes it. Balto took Luna as his mate, and she has been good to us. What a great female she is; you know, my grand-niece was her mother. It makes me so proud to share some of the family line with her. Anyway, tensions have been growing over time between us and mankind, but so far there haven't been any other losses of life. After everything I have experienced, I am certain that things will be okay. I wouldn’t worry yourselves very much.”

It was not much longer until Willow eventually finished up Gill’s bath, stepping backward to take in the sight of her hard work. The polite elder she-wolf was spotless, and no longer smelt of feces and urine. Instead she smelled of the stream’s water, such as the leaves and the pure freshness that had infused within it for eons. The rains had carried the moisture up to the mountains, which came down and formed streams going downhill; all of that had given way to Gill having been able to get herself a good state of hygiene once more.

“How do you feel?” Finbar asked curiously.

“Yea!” Willow added, grinning like a pup. She had done a very good job.

Gill took a deep breath of relief then exhaled slowly. “I feel so wonderful, High Lady… I am so grateful to you and your mate. My itchiness is gone, and I’m sure now any rawness will heal up by a few days from now.”

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Willow held her head up high. “Good. You are always welcome, Gill. Thank you for alerting me to your condition. It should never have gotten this bad, that is not what we are about.”

Gill’s jade green eyes sparkled in the twilight. “This is why you are to be our future Alpha. Your heart is gold, miss.”

Finbar went up and merrily booped his nose with hers. “I can’t see as well in this dim lighting, but I am sure you’re as beautiful as Lady Silvera now.”

Gill burst out laughing. “Yea, right! Nice one, though, young brute.”

Willow and Finbar both helped the sightly old she-wolf out of the stream, and let her air dry for a while. They did not want debris from the woods getting caught in her fur as she dragged herself, they wanted her to be as clean as possible when she went to sleep that night in the elders’ cave.

Then, an idea struck Finbar. “Actually, I have a better way.”

“What’s that?” Willow asked, her eyes alight with love. Though this wasn’t the time for affection, she always held those feelings for him, and admired him in all the random moments throughout life. Her mate was stunning to her, and it would be a shame to not acknowledge it.

“I can carry Gill on my back, I’m strong enough,” Finbar offered.

Gill flattened her ears. “Are you sure, sir? I don’t want to hurt you.”

Finbar laughed. “You wouldn’t hurt me, Gill. Come on, then.”

With that, Finbar pushed himself under the elder and lifted her up onto his sturdy back. Crickets having replaced the melody of birds all around them, the three wolves headed back home.

Luna had fallen asleep, and was dreaming peacefully. Suddenly she heard stirring, and shot up to look outside the secluded nursing den; she expected the return of Willow and Finbar, signaling that her duty was over and that she could go back to Balto, and to be fair that is what she saw. However, there was something else; Gill, her great-aunt, was with them, being carried by the wolf-dog.

Finbar carried her effortlessly across the camp, all the way to where she slept in a cave, Willow by his side ready to catch Gill if she slipped off or became unstable.

The ashy dark brown wolf was speechless. She could tell that the old one had been cleaned, her pelt shone bright in the moon’s light and was extremely soft and glossy looking. Her stepdaughter and the newcomer had spent their date night performing a good deed for someone who had been in desperate need of it.

‘Perhaps that wolf-dog is not so bad after all,’ Luna grumbled.