Memories of his mother and the terrible mill filled his head, but he pushed them out of the way so as to not ruin the happy moment he was living in.

“Finbar! Willow! Puppies!” an eccentric voice exclaimed joyfully behind him.

Finbar jolted, having been spooked. He whipped around to see a familiar face. “Bruno,” he yarped. “Wow, it’s nice to see you, man.”

Willow smiled brightly like the sun, pleased to see her old friend again. “Hello there, Bruno.”

“Greetings,” the mixed up fox-dog trotted down the natural steps of the rocks, his fluffy tail dragging behind. “I’m seriously glad to see you guys doing so well. It looks like your father didn’t flay your man alive.”

Willow chuckled, the bad events nothing but a thing of the past now. “Yes, thankfully,” she said.

Finbar raised a brow playfully. “I see you’ve made my old den yours.”

Bruno yipped. “Of course! It’s really such a nice spot. Who wouldn’t take it if the opportunity arose?”

“I don’t blame you,” Finbar responded, “because there are some nights I miss the solitude of this area, this cave. It’s so nice, which is why I brought my family here for the day.”

“Has it been a good one so far?”

“Yep, it’s much needed relaxation. I’ve been training so hard for the last month, and working to feed everyone in the pack.”

“Ha! So you really have become a wolf, huh?”

Willow interjected devotedly. “He really has, but he was always a good wolf to me. More so than some wolves I know, even.”

The comment struck down into Finbar’s heart warmly; he would cherish her words about him forever.

Bruno strode over to the pile of sleeping puppies. “Hey, sleepy heads, wake up, you’ll miss time with your family,” he prodded Ashen, who looked around lazily and yawned. The realization of what was before him must have struck late, because his delayed reaction told all. The male pup screeched in fear and ran to his mother, crying.

“Mom!”

“It’s alright, dear, this is a friend. His name is Bruno,” Willow nuzzled and licked her son. “He won’t harm you.”

“But he’s scary…” Ashen cried pitifully.

The other pups followed, also whining, unsure of the situation and new stimuli.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Pfft,” Bruno rolled his eyes, grinning. He thought they were cute. “Guess I’ll just have to dig in myself.”

WIth that, the brown canine picked off blueberries from the branch, and gobbled them down.

Finbar huffed with amusement. He had not asked if he could eat any of their food, but he was a fox after all. The ways of Bruno’s sneakiness, as well as boldness, were within his blood, and perhaps the tact of the border collie too. “What a fox you are,” he said with a relaxed smile.

“As fox as there ever was!” came the reply from Bruno through the gobbling of blueberries.

Ashen padded up to Finbar, and curled up in his arms. It was likely very comfortable for him to sleep in the shadow of such a protective father. It made the white wolf-dog proud, and he looked down on his little son with affection and a restful gaze.

‘This is the life,’ he thought.

“How has pack life been treating you, Finny?” Bruno asked, lashing his tail gleefully because he had his share of fruit.

Finbar looked over to him, the breeze slowly dying down so it became somewhat hotter, the heat clinging to his fur. “It has been good. I can’t really ask for more than it has been,” he responded contentedly.

“They bit you, didn’t they?”

“Huh? Oh. Yea. The initiation… thing.”

“How did you feel about that?”

“It was weird, but I managed.”

“That’s good, man. You see, I could not ignore being bitten, so I guess that’s why I’m not in a wolf pack! I could be, my blood has some wolf in it somewhere, but that life isn’t for me. I am mostly fox and dog, with a leaning toward fox. I stay alone, that’s just the way it is.”

“Heh! I wonder if that is how it works for me,” Finbar chuckled. “I’m mostly a wolf in blood, but it’s confusing because I have the tendency of dogs sometimes. Is it the same case with you, Willow?”

Willow thought seriously for a moment, then replied. “I don’t know. I have never lived with dogs, I don’t know their ways enough to tell you.”

“Do you act any differently than your full blooded packmates?” Finbar asked curiously. Perhaps opening up about this would finally get him the answers he needed to beat his insecurity into the dust.

Willow flattened one ear. “I guess a little? I’d have to think about it.”

Bruno approached and put a small paw on her snout in comfort. “Blood is important, you know, but even if you are different, it doesn’t mean you’re bad. We love you.”

Moonlily, who was snuggled up with her mother, had been listening to all of the discussion. The silver pup piped up: “Mom, what are you guys talking about?”

Willow sniffed and licked her daughter’s face: “Nothing that needs to concern you, my lovely.”

Finbar thought for a moment; maybe it would be a good thing to be honest with them from the get-go. “Honey, what if we told them? I think they’re ready for it,” he said with a confident smile.

Willow seemed unsure. “I…” she trailed off.

Ashen lifted his head out of a seemingly dead sleep. “Tell us what?” he eyed his father with wonder.

Finbar looked down at his son, and then knowingly over at his mate.

Bruno broke the momentary silence with a sharp laugh, then went back to eating his blueberries. “This is great. Not a purebred in sight. What a company to keep.”

Sugarloaf whined, not saying a single word. Being her father, the white wolf-dog knew she was feeling anxious. She wanted to know, he could see it in her icy blue eyes.

“Alright. You can tell them,” Willow said, finally. She still seemed unsure about all of it, so he was determined to make this go as smoothly as possible.