Author's Note

The next chappie be the smexy times, so don't say I didn't warn you

Chapter 5 “A Place to Settle”

The pack woke in the morning, the snow was practically glowing as the sun’s rays glinted off of it. Ember stirred, feeling his mate’s body twitch. He lifted his head to look down at her. Her eyes opened instantly, looking up at him with sleep still in them. “Good morning,” he murmured in a soft tone.

“Good morning! How are you?” she asked while smiling brightly.

The Lead Alpha grinned at her sudden excitement. The morning hours triggered something in her, something that the others appropriately nicknamed ‘Morning Speckle’.

“I'm alright, dear. Thank you for asking. And you?”

“Oh, I'm doing great! Are we going to be walking again today?”

He nodded. “Quetzal told me we walked about five miles yesterday, and Saddle Horn Peaks is fifteen miles away from our old cave. So we still have a ways to go.”

She groaned dramatically, resting her head on his shoulder. She then tilted her head and looked into his eyes, smiling after a few seconds. He gave her a look.

“What are you smiling at?” he asked.

“Nothing, Sir. It's just that your eyes are really pretty.”

“Well thank you.”

Collin turned to face them, about to say something when Speckle suddenly gasped.

“Alpha, look! His eyes are really pretty too.”

The pegasus scoffed. “Our eyes are the same color, Speckle.”

“Really?” she asked, tilting her head to one side as she first looked at Ember’s red eyes, then to Collin's. “Huh. You're right. Well, the both of you have pretty eyes.”

“Thank you. Ember, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. How about you go check on the pups, Hun?”

“Okie dokie!” she said, jumping to her feet and going over to where Nicky and Firefly sat, watching the two fillies as they played in the snow.

Collin smiled at her as she left, glancing over to the Lead. “She's adorable when she's like that, isn't she?”

The other agreed. “Now, what did you want to tell me?”

Collin hesitated before answering. “Well, Sir…Sirena's Heat is coming up in a month, and… I was wondering if I could share it with her.”

Ember gave him a look. “You're an Alpha yourself, you know. You don't really need to ask me for permission for that.”

“I know, Sir, but, you know...”

“I do, and I appreciate your coming to ask me. If you're looking for my blessing, then you have it.”

The other's eyes lit up. “Really?”

He nodded. “Of course. How can I say no to that? Unless, of course, the Elders forced her to go through Heats alone all the time, which I doubt they would ever do.”

“Thank you, Sir!”

“Not a problem. Don't you hurt her, now. She may be your soulmate, but she's still in my pack.”

“Of course not, Sir. I would never hurt her on purpose. She's everything to me.”

“I know you wouldn't.” Limelight came up to them then, apologizing for interrupting. “You're fine, sweet pea. We were done talking anyways. What is it?” She gave him a look, and he instantly understood. “N-now?” he asked with a bit of nervousness in his voice.

She nodded, and he sighed. Collin gave them a suspicious look, but didn't say anything. The red stallion cleared his throat as he stood up, catching the attention of the rest of the pack. They all looked at him with curious eyes. He gulped, looking down at his daughter as she took his hoof and nuzzled it affectionately before setting it back down. He smiled a little at her, looking back up afterwards. Taking a deep breath, he then said, “Everyone, there's… there's something I need to tell you.”

The area was dead silent when Ember finished speaking. The rest of the group didn't move, and from far away they didn't even look like they were breathing. The Lead slowly laid down, resting his head in between his front hooves in shame. “If you want to shun me, that's fine. I'll understand,” he said sadly. What happened next was something he hadn't expected from most of them. One by one, they rose and wrapped their hooves around him in a hug. Soon everyone was huddled around him, and he could feel the love radiating in the tight embrace. They soon broke away after a while, because, all comfort aside, having eleven ponies on top of you can get pretty uncomfortable quickly.

Limelight was the only one who held on, her hooves lightly wrapped around his neck, reaching up to whisper into his ear. “I knew you could do it, Dad.”

He smiled and quickly kissed her cheek before starting to speak. “Thank you. I'll take that gesture as your acceptance?”

They agreed. “Of course, Sir. We probably would have done the same thing in your situation,” Sirena said.

Collin then stepped forward. “You still haven't told us what made you become a Lead Alpha,” he noted.

The other stallion nodded, sitting up after Limelight let go. “My father was old enough to be considered an Elder when I turned twenty. This was two moons after the whole Moon Fever incident, by the way. The other Elders decided to take him and deem me as a Lead, since not many regular Alphas would do what I did.” The others nodded, feeling bad for him. He stood up once again, looking to each of them before turning around. “Let's continue forward, shall we? The last thing we need is for some of those Rogues to come back.”

The group trudged forward, in their wolf forms now, after eating some of the doe that was left over. The way was relatively quiet, no other sounds except for shallow breaths and crunching of snow under their paws. They had walked about three miles from their last resting spot when Ember froze.

“What is it now?”, Collin questioned.

“Mountain lion. It probably smelled the doe Nicky’s carrying. We're going to have to run.”

“But, Sir-”, Firefly started.

“I know about your leg, Omega. But I think your life is more important. You're going to have to fight through the pain.”

She sighed and muttered, “Yes, Sir.”

Sirena then spoke to the pups on her back. “You sure you'll be able to hold on tight, Mist?”

The pup nodded, Dust verbally giving his answer. The pack heard yowls and hisses coming from either side of them, and about ten or so of the large tan coated felines emerged from amidst the trees. “By the stars,” Ember grumbled. “It's a whole group of them. And here I thought they were solitary creatures.”

“They are, Sir,” Quetzal put in. “I'm not sure why so many are here at once.”

“Well, now is not the time to find out. Let's go.”

They started to run, the mountain lions right on their tails. Unfortunately, due to Firefly’s injury, she was about a foot behind the rest of the pack, something one of the lions used for their advantage. It pounced on her, digging its claws into her back as they both fell to the ground. She howled in pain, getting yanked backwards. Ember’s and Collin's eyes went blue when they heard the cry. The Lead Alpha glanced to the dark gray wolf that was running beside him. “Collin, lead the others out of here. I have to go get her.”

“Sir, you might get hurt!”

“I don't care. I'm not letting one of my pack members die from something I can stop.”

He turned around, running towards the fallen wolf and the cougar on top of her. He leaped, bearing his claws and teeth and inserting them into his target, flinging the cat off of her. The cat hissed and spat as it skidded across the ground, running back and striking Firefly in her bad leg. She yelped, the loss of blood causing her to slump forward and pass out. Ember growled lowly at the mountain lion, his eyes dangerously close to that pale blue color. It looked at him for a split second, before turning around and running away. The other cats followed its lead. The Lead carefully hoisted the Omega onto his back, running down the path that the others had taken.

“Firefly! Is she ok?” Nicky asked, her voice filled with concern.

“She passed out,” Ember replied, laying her down gently against a rock.

The other recently changed ponies huddled around them, Quetzal coming forward to examine her wounds. She sighed when she looked at her hind leg. “This leg keeps getting worse quicker than it gets better. At this point, I think it would be best to just cut it off.” The other mares gasped, looking at the Beta with wide eyes. She looked back at them with a saddened look. “I don't think we have any other option. If this wound gets infected, she'll probably end up not being able to use it all.” Ember sadly agreed, stating that something similar to this had happened to his father. Sirena raised a hoof to speak.

“Go ahead, Alpha.”

“Sir, we can't do this now, can we? She's lost enough blood as it is if she passed out. Not to mention other animals would smell it and come after us.”

“You make a good point, Sirena. What are your thoughts on this, Quetzal?”

“I agree with her, Sir.”

“Very well. Let's continue onward once she wakes up. Speckle, do you mind staying with these two while Collin, Mark, and I go see what's ahead of us?”

“No, Sir. I don't mind.”

“Good. Rookie, Scout. Come with me.”

The three stallions left, leaving the others behind for a few moments as they continued onwards. Speckle turned to look at the Beta as she flipped the wolf onto her back to look at the wounds there. She then tsked, shaking her head slowly.

“This poor Omega. What did she do to deserve all this?”

The unicorn shrugged. “I'm not sure, Quetzal. I'm just surprised she's been able to stay mostly positive all this time. Knowing me, I'd probably just become depressed.”

“It's in her nature. And it's in yours too, Speckle. I can't remember the last time I've seen you be sad about something for longer than 30 seconds.”

She chuckled a little at that. “You're probably right.”

“Of course I am. I'm a Beta, after all.”

Speckle rolled her eyes, then looking down at the copper coated wolf. “How deep are the wounds on her back?”

“Not very. Thank goodness that mountain lion didn't have a chance to do any more damage. Those cats can be vicious.”

She cleaned and bandaged the wounds, taking extra care with her leg. The wolf then started to stir, opening her bright orange eyes a little before whimpering and squeezing them shut again as pain coursed up her leg as she tried to get up. Speckle could sense this, leaning forward and gently patting her shoulder. “Lay down, Omega. You are in no shape to be walking around right now,” she said in a soft tone. Firefly turned her head to look at them, laying down and transforming in the process. She looked tired, bags under her eyes. “You alright, Firefly? You look like you haven't slept.”

The pegasus nodded. “I haven't. My leg was hurting badly last night.”

The Beta gave her a look. “And why you didn't tell me this earlier?”

Firefly cowered in embarrassment. “I'm so sorry, ma'am. I didn't want to have to wake you so you could look at it. I thought it would go away.”

“It's alright. You're not going to worry about it anymore soon.”

“What?” the pegasus asked, confused.

“We're thinking about amputating your leg, Firefly,” Speckle responded.

“O-oh. Does everyone else agree on having it done?”

The unicorn and dragon hybrid both nodded. “I see. Well if anyone knows what to do for sure, it'd be you guys. I trust in your decision.”

“Thank you, Omega. I appreciate your honesty,” Quetzal said.

Speckle rose and went to find the stallions, which wasn't that difficult as they were coming back towards them at that moment.

“Is she awake?”, Ember called out to her when they got close.

“Yes, Sir,” she replied.

“Great. Thankfully we didn't find anything else on the path, so it should be smooth sailing from here on out."

“I'm glad to hear that, Sir. Do you want me to go tell the others to get ready?”

“Yes, please. I need to talk to Firefly for a bit while you're doing that.”

She nodded and took off. The Lead split from the other two stallions to go see the wounded Omega. She looked up at him, her eyes flashing yellow as he drew closer. “You doing alright, Firefly?” he asked. She nodded once.

“I suppose. As alright as I can be. Thank you for saving me, Sir.”

“You don't need to thank me, Omega. It's my job to assist any of my pack members who are in need.”

He helped her stand, yet she winced and hissed quietly, the pain zipping up her spine as she even so much as put her hind leg on the ground. He noticed this and shook his head. “Looks like I'm going to have to carry you again,” he murmured. She looked down in embarrassment.

“Sir, I'm not a pup. I don't have to be carried everywhere.”

“No, but I'm not letting you walk around like that. Either you're flying or I'm carrying you. Take your pick.”

She weighed her options before sighing in defeat. “Ok. I'll let you carry me, Sir.”

“Wise choice, Omega.”

He then dropped to his knees, allowing the purple pegasus to climb onto his back, tucking her legs against his sides once she was settled. She whimpered a little when he stood up. He snorted. “What? You're afraid of heights now? You're a pegasus, for crying out loud.”

“No, Sir. It's just that you're tall.”

He couldn't help but laugh at that. “Please. You think I'm tall, try riding around on Collin's back.” He then cleared his throat. “Um, not that I've done that before… Totally haven't.” She giggled a little.

“It's ok, Sir. I won't tell anyone else.”

It was early the next morning, and the group had been walking since the last time they'd stopped. Ember did allow them to have little breaks from time to time for food or rest, but he knew that the goal was to keep moving. If the creatures that appeared during the day were intimidating, the ones at night were not forces to be reckoned with. Especially not Timberwolves, cousins to Werewolves from the east. Although clashes between the two species were rare, when they did happen, whoever lost in the fight would end up seriously hurting. The Lead sighed in relief as the place they were heading for finally came into view. The terrain was not as heavily surrounded with trees as was the their old cave, meaning that it would be harder for trespassers to sneak by unnoticed. “We're here, everyone,” he called out to those behind him. They all sighed in unison.

He let Firefly down, Quetzal and Nicky immediately coming to her side so she could lean on them. Saddle Horn Peaks, as it was appropriately named, was a series of mountains that were clumped somewhat close together, from above taking the shape of a saddle. Each mountain had about ten to twelve caves etched into their sides, perfect for a community. However, when Ember sniffed at the air, he couldn't smell the hide or tail of another wolf pack around. He then asked Collin if he could smell anything.

“No, Sir. I don't smell any other wolves around here except for maybe one in that cave over there.” He pointed to the cave he was speaking of.

“I'll go check it out. You and Mark go and establish the perimeter.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The dark blue pegasus and light green unicorn went off to go do just that. Speckle followed her mate after having the girls get off her back and stay with the others, yet something about the wolf’s scent had the boys following her as well. Ember stepped cautiously into the cave, alert for anything. Turning a corner, he saw a blond coated male wolf laying down on the ground, eyes closed as it slept. The second it smelled him, its eyes snapped open, teeth bared as it growled at him. “Calm down, dude. I'm not going to hurt you,” Ember muttered. Just then, the colts ran past him, slamming into the wolf with a tight embrace.

“Dad!” Dust excitedly exclaimed, so happy to finally find his father.

Mist smiled, brighter than Ember had ever seen him do in the few days that he knew him. Speckle appeared at his side, about to say something but he silenced her. The wolf transformed, revealing a tan unicorn stallion with blonde hair, similar in color to Mist’s.

“Boys? It's been so long. I'm sorry I left you to fend for yourselves. I was being selfish and heartless. If you could forgive me, I would be grateful.”

Dust laid down at his side. “Of course, Dad.”

“Thank you. Mist, how are you?”

The gray pegasus didn't say anything, but looked up at him with bright eyes. “Still the silent type, huh? That's alright. Your brother talks enough for the both of you.”

“Hey!” the unicorn colt exclaimed with a pout.

“Joking, Dust. Your mother sure would be proud to see you two now.” He then looked up to Ember. “Thank you for finding them, Sir. I tried myself after some point, but after that blizzard happened a couple moons ago, I lost their trail.”

“You're welcome. Your name?”

“Sandstorm, Sir.”

“Nice to meet you. I'm Ember.” He then gestured to the mare beside him. “My mate, Speckle.” Sandstorm looked at her with a smile.

“She's lovely, Sir. It's nice to meet you, Speckle.”

“Likewise,” she replied.

Then, something suddenly snapped. The unicorn stallion's pupils shrank, as if they were being exposed to a bright light. He started to growl, causing the colts to back up a little in fear. When he lunged towards Mist, Speckle was in front of him in a heartbeat, bearing her teeth, her eyes bright red.

“Dust, come here,” she ordered, the colt running over to hide behind her beside his brother.

The three backed up slowly, reuniting with their Lead Alpha. Ember stared at the stallion blankly, confused as to what just happened. One second, the colts' father was all happy and smiling, the next, he looks like he's about to claw his son’s eyes out. There was no reason for that, unless…

“No,” he whispered to himself.

Speckle heard it and looked at him with wide eyes. “Sir, is he…?”

“Yes, Speckle. Take these boys out of here. I don't want them to see this.”

She obeyed, ushering the two young ones out of the chamber. Poor Mist, who knew what was going to happen, walked out with tears in his eyes. Ember walked slowly to the unicorn with a heavy heart. He sighed before making his eyes turn blue and commanding in a loud voice, “Submit yourself, Omega.” Sandstorm fell to his knees, tilting his head to the side while he had it bowed, exposing his neck. Sure enough, his Mark spot was a gray color instead of pink, indicating that he had Moon Fever. The Lead lowered his head, taking the main artery in the other’s neck in between his now sharp teeth. “I'm so sorry,” he whispered before biting down and pulling.

The unicorn wailed before he slumped over, the sound breaking the earth pony’s heart for a second time. He then just sat there for a moment, not saying word as he silently cried. He froze as he smelled his daughter coming towards him. “Limelight, please don't come in here. You don't need to see this.” She refused, going in to sit beside him anyways. She looked to the now dead unicorn lying on the floor in front of her, going over to close his eyes. Sitting back down beside her father, she looked up at him.

“I'm sorry you had to do this again,” she murmured.

“I didn't have another choice. He was going to attack his own son. Those poor boys… They're probably going to hate me forever now.”

She shook her head. “No, they're not. They'll probably respect you more than ever now. You put their father out of his never ending misery. At least he was able to see them one last time.”

Ember nodded slowly, pulling her closer to him. “I thought you were my little innocent angel, but it seems that you know more about things than I do.”

She shrugged. “I can just, read ponies I guess. Especially you, for some reason.”

“I take some comfort in knowing that.”

He rose, going over to drag Sandstorm’s body up a ramp that was inside the chamber. It led to a small cliff face that was just above the mouth of the cave. The moon still loomed in sky, shining brightly. The others looked up from where they sat on the ground. Dust then understood why the Lead told them to leave, and he held a hoof over his mouth to keep his sobs as quiet as possible. The moon's light shone onto the unicorn's body, causing a bright light to burst from his chest. A ghostly figure of the stallion then appeared, standing before Ember. “Thank you.”, he started. “For bringing my boys to me. I'm going to miss them so much. Tell them I love them.”

“I will, Sandstorm. I'm sorry for having to do that.”

“Ember, don't beat yourself up about it. It was my fault I got Moon Fever. I wasn't being careful, and it lead to my downfall. Just, take good care of them for me. They deserve someone better than I ever was, and I see that in you. Farewell.”

His spirit then floated up into the sky, disappearing after some time. Suddenly a bright light caught Ember’s attention, and he looked up. A new star shone beside the moon, twinkling as if to tell of its existence. He smiled a little. “I'll make sure your sons will be the best Omegas they can be, Sir. I promise you that.”