I trained you well" Em said with a chuckle as she was licked to death. " And yeah... I wont be able to beat you any more. Whats the fun in winning when its just for fun, right?" she looked at him with her loving eyes. " I loved being here, it was quiet and just.. distractless." what if I had my pups here when the time came she thought to herself watching a snowshoe hare run from down below the hill.

Her mind was so busy she didnt even hear Mikael talking to her or asking her questions.

Mikael watched her as she observed a snowshoe hare run down the hill. He tried talking to her, but she wasn't listening, so he resorted to nuzzling her until she broke out of her trance. Finally, she snapped out of it and returned to reality by nuzzling him back. "Em..." He started, but stopped as he didn't truly know the words as for what he wanted to say to his love. "Em... I..." He looked up at the sky before taking a breath and looking right at her and spat out what he wanted. "Em, you're a beautiful wolf, and an incredible mother. You raised Star and Dove so well, despite the setbacks caused by Lilac. And now that I've been their dad for some time now... Em, I want to finally become your mate and have my own pups with you. I... I know you may have your hesitations, but Star's going to be two and Dove's turning one herself and..." He looked down, not knowing the words to say to her now that the cat was out of the bag. "I know it's your decision, so I'll leave it up to you."

Em was shocked at what he said " baby.. you think I'm even ready for that? I know they are getting older, but its winter. The pups wont survive. Even if we do find the food I need to keep them healthy" then sighed " And what will Alpha say about it? I want him to understand what our decition is. I dont want to make him mad." she pawed the ground nervously with her paw, hazing out once agai.

"I know, I know, not now, but later. And yeah, Hunter wouldn't approve since we're not the Alphas but..." Mikael looked down, feeling embarrased about talking about it to her. "I've been by your side raising Star and Dove, and off of that I've been thinking a lot about having our own pups. But... gah why can't we have our own pups and not be the Alphas?! I don't know what to do now." He lied down and placed his head between his paws. "I just want you to be happy, and I know that Lilac wasn't a good dad for your pups, but I want to prove to you that I am a good father for your pups.

Em sighed as she thought about it " Babe.. I will talk to Hunter about it. If he dissaporves of our being mates and having pups, then you will just have to be the stepdad of sorts. But they will always love you." she changed her possition so that her head was on his back " I want to have pups with you too, but it just may not work. "

They were gone for most of the day. Now turning dark and Em was getting tired " Mikael, we have to get back.. we have been here all day.. Hunter will be really mad we were gone for so long and will question it. If he does, let me handle it."

She stood up and shook the snow off of her. " Come on, lets go"

Mikael nodded and they walked back, with Mikael feeling bad that they were gone for so long, and that his conversation with Em about having pups with her went poorly. Hunter's never going to approve of this. Mikael knew that Hunter wouldn't bend on the rules, as he would tell the one asking him to make an exception that he would have to make an exception for everyone. He was dreading that talk, almost knowing the result for when he asked the question. They made it back and found Star and Dove hanging out with Clay, Makayla and her daughter Othello; Eric and Abby were fast asleep. "Where were you two? You were gone all day!" Dove asked, unsuccessfully trying to climb on Mikael's back. "Yeah, where were you? You weren't up to anything, were you?" Star said, looking at Mikael, who avoided her gaze out of embarrasment.

" Im sorry girls. But that is our buisness only. " Em said walking past them " come along, Mikael" she said heading right for the Alpha's den. " Alpha? Can Mikael and I discusssomething with you, please? Its really important." this is gonna get me punished severly. she thought as she gave a wintery sigh. " Its about me and Mikael, sir..." she let the words float in the air.

Em then looked at Mikael before looking at the Alpha " Sir... Mikael and I were gone for a while today and we desided that Miakel and I wanted to start a family together. But I wanted to get it through you first before we go on with it. Hes not gonna let it happen... even though I used to be Alpha....

She could hear whinin gcming from behind her, and she knew it was Mikael. " Babe.. I need to talk to Hunter alone.. its for the best. I'll see you out there soon"

She then looked back at the Alpha " Alpha... I.." but she never finished what she wanted to say. All she heared was something she wouldnt ever expected from her Alpha.

Hunter stared at her and she stopped talking. "So, you wish to have pups with Mikael, but neither of you are the Alphas." Daria walked over and sat down beside Hunter, and after Hunter relayed the question to her, she was suddenly very interested in the conversation. "Normally, I would never approve of it, in fact, I would chew you out for even thinking of the idea, but, there has been something that has been going on for some time, and maybe you can help us." Em looked confused but Daria was sullen. "You see, Daria and I are the Alphas, but we don't have pups ourselves... Daria's first litter were all stillborn, while she only gave birth to one pup for her second litter, who died only a few days later..." Daria shed a tear as she remembered her previous two litters. "I do not know why, but it seems so far that Daria has issues with delivering healthy pups. But maybe you and Mikael can help with that. I will allow you to have pups, as long as Daria and I can have one of them and raise the pup as our own. I know this is an odd request, but if Daria continues to struggle, then we may not have offspring to call our own..." He nuzzled Daria to try to lift her spirits. "So Em, those are my conditions for you and Mikael to start a family. The decision is yours."

" Alpha.. I.." Em stuttered as she, yet again, was shocked at what her Alpha said. She refused to look at him in the eyes " I understand the condition, sir. But I will talk to Mikael about this and I promise I will have a decition by meal time the following afternoon. "

SHe walked out of the Alpha's den and walked to where Mikael was at and pulled him to the side, away from any ears.

" Babe... he said yes... but on one condition. " Em looked at Mikael in the eyes before telling him " The condition is that if we have pups of our own, that we give one to Daria and Hunter. I feel so bad for them. I cant say no, baby. What do you think? I told Alpha I would tell him our desition by meal like tomorrow afternoon."

Mikael's heart skipped a beat. Hunter... Hunter is okay with us having pups?! And... he's asking for us to give on of our pups to him and Daria? "Em..." Mikael started, before a smile was painted on his face. "Of course! If it means that we can have pups together then of course. Hopefully we have more than one pup for our first litter together... once we get there, obviously. But yes, yes I agree to Hunter's condition." Mikael's tail wagged back and forth quickly, with Mikael licking and nuzzling Em excitedly.