The storm had come out of nowhere.  Such violence was uncommon for so early in the year, often reserved for the blanketing humidity of the late summer.  It had caught Veho completely off guard, thinking it only a spring shower when the sudden wind picked up.  Screaming, howling, it reminded him of storms back on the plains of his youth.  Panic swallowed up the grey wolf as he glanced around for anyone, any pack mates.  Where were they?  Were they okay?  A howl went up, trying to alert others to the sudden violence, but all his voice was lost to the screaming heavens as mother nature bore down upon the hollow and the pack that took its toponym from it.

Veho called again, lost in the thunder of his own heartbeat as the forest creaked around him.  Branches snapped and fell, and suddenly the alpha was aware of a hot streak of pain across his face.  A large branch lay only inches away, and it dawned on him how fortunate he was one of those twigs had not taken his eye along with a bit of flesh.  Unable to do anything also against the raging storm, the wolf was force to take shelter in the only area he could find.  The large rocks near the river were not much, but they at least buffeted the wind, and allowed the male to wedge himself beneath until the storm screamed its way past.

As soon as it had started, everything had stopped.  The air was eerily still – not even the birds chirped or the squirrels called as the forest and its inhabitants warily tested out the peace that had settled.  The wolf waited several minutes before shoving his snout out, testing the air.  Not a single drop of rain fell.  Ears swept back again, and his face followed his snout, and eventually, the wolf slowly pulled himself from the shelter entirely too small for a creature of his side.  The granite crags scrapped along his his limbs, across his tail, and for a moment he could only stare outwards in some measure of shock.  For the most part, the forest stood unharmed – leaves were down, as were dead trees and old branches were snapped and fallen.  The silence remained for several more moments, and eventually, the birds resumed their songs.

It seemed to snap Veho out of his trance and he lifted his nose to the wind, trying to scent anyone nearby.  His heart lurched in his chest.  Where was Rook?  Where was Oula?  Were they okay – had they been able to find shelter in time?  What about little Pip and her family, what about the yearlings, Tomen and Nineva?  For a moment his heart seemed to stop altogether, his mind providing any and all possibilities of what might have befallen his pack, his responsibility, his family.  All of them swirled around him like the dark clouds that had blanketed his forest only moments before and his ears strained as he listened.  Life, all around him – but was it his pack?

All at once, the wolf realized he needed to act.  His heart cried out for @Rook.  Rook, his darling, his heart, what had happened to the boy with a blue eye and a heart entirely too large for his body.  A moment later, his mind skipped to Oula – his partner, a worthy woman.  Oh, he so respected her, admired her, he did so love her, if in an entirely different capacity than the heart he had for Rook.  But who did he find first?  Rook – the wolf had been drifting away, what if he hadn’t gotten to shelter in time?  Oula – heavily pregnant with their children…and that was his doing.  He’d asked this of her.  If anything had happened to the bright woman, it would be his fault that any sort of harm had befallen the woman.  His mind was made for him, and he knew he had to find the other alpha first, that she was his responsibility.  As long as he found her alright, he would go for Rook after, and once those two had been seen to, call for the rest of his pack.

The wolf set himself a steady pace, nose to the ground as he tried to find any hint of his packmates.  Eventually, he did come across Oula’s trail – and fresh!  His heart skipped a beat and the medicine man picked up the pace, his legs racing across the wet forest floor.  Soon, soon, he’d almost bolted right by the little cove the woman had found for herself.  He slammed on the brakes and whirled about, flinging mud and debris before he found his footing and whipped over to the opening.  Veho had to halt for a moment, tell his heart to settle, insist his mind clear – barreling in like a panicked youth would serve none.  He was still a medic, even if his role had been served as alpha in recent months.

Swallowing down that lump in his throat, he gathered himself and ducked into the small hiding spot – there he found Oula on her side, and clearly in a great deal of pain.  Ears flipped backwards as he whined softly, fearing the worst.  She had been caught out in the open during the wind, something had fallen on her, or perhaps she’d fallen on something, or--  Before his mind could get away from him completely, silver eyes caught something small and moving by the woman’s side.  “Oh.”

The single word fell from his lips, momentarily stunned by the small little lifeforms nestled at their mother’s side.  Two pups, fat and wriggling, already cleaned by their dam and pushed into the correct position.  Safe. 

That certainly explained the pain, he thought in a daze, silver eyes only flicking back and forth from his partner to the two little ones at her side.  Boys?  Girls?  Did it matter?  No, he thought, feeling his heart swell as he ducked down, crawling a little closer.  His belly dragged across the the mud and dirt, and he gingerly reached out to touch his nose to Oula’s muzzle.  Are you alright, he wanted to ask – but that seemed to be a stupid question.  She was clearly in some sort of pain, and rightfully so.  If only he’d had something with him!  There were plenty of herbs back in his cache, for pain, for bleeding, for any illness she might be feeling.

“Oula,” he sighed, tail swishing behind him.  He had to do something.  Something.  “You are doing so well.  I am so glad you are safe.” With any luck, the worst of the weather was over, and they’d only have to deal with the birth of Grizzly Hollow’s newest members.  “I have things, plants – had stored them for this.  For you.  I can go get them.”  But he didn’t want to leave her alone. “Tell me what you need.”

At least she still recognized him – at least Oula was still capable of clear thought, of forming sensible sentences.  It was some tiny breath of relief.  She was not so far gone there was nothing to be done – it was no normal situation, but it could be worse.  It could be worse. 

Of course, nature has a lovely sense of irony – he needn’t even say the phrase out loud, and a moment later, the woman informed him that all was not okay.  It went from ‘not so bad’ to ‘it’s definitely worse’ in a matter of seconds, and Veho cursed under his breath at his own foolishness.  Why did he think that?  Of course it got worse!

“Breathe,” he reminded her, his mind racing.  The last thing his partner needed was for him to start panicking.  Claws kneaded into the wet earth as he quickly racked his mind through his catalogue of herbs back in the medical den.  Before he could announce his plan, a chirp made him aware of someone else nearby.  The grey wolf shimmed backwards, head rearing up as he realized Pip had brought a friend along, as well.  Deep breath, he told himself.  The younglings didn’t need to see him fall apart, either.

Completely forgetting about the bloody streaks across his own face, his hindquarters, he gave them both a brief once over.  Deciding the pair looked alright, he bobbed his head.  “Oula – the pups,” he huffed, glancing briefly over his should, “seem to have a very strange sense in timing.  I have plants, for this.” The pain, and the bleeding. “Pip, you know where the cache is.  I need you to bring the sweetgrass.  Shouldn’t be anything else that looks like it.”  Long, green stalks – one of the only things that wasn’t a flower.  He then turned his attention to Tomen.  “I need you to find your father.  Make sure he isn’t injured – and then I need him here to keep watch so I can help Oula.”

This was a vulnerable time, and should someone sneak up on them – it was unlikely Veho would notice before it was too late.  With tasks assigned to the two younger members of the pack, he turned, shimmying his way back into the entrance of Oula’s small den.  The small break had cleared his mind by a degree, and he nudged the woman’s snout gently.  “This is going to sound counterintuitive,” he murmured, “but stop pushing, at least for now.  Straining will not allow the pup to readjust and--  And it will hurt you, too.”