Rhiannon crouched in the underbrush of her favourite forest clearing, waiting for her prey to come and scare out of their wits. On this special occasion, her prey just so happened to be her mate, Markus. Branches from the bush that she was hiding in poked and jabbed at her jet black fur. Suddenly, a mental image crossed her mind of the frightened look in Markus’ face which brought an impish grin on her own face. She cast her sapphire blue eyes on the horizon before her and saw her mate scampering about the clearing, obviously looking for her and howling her name. He was a pretty large wolf with reddish brown fur and dark green eyes. He was the Alpha male of their pack, making her the Alpha female, which meant they both were the leaders of the pack. He finally came up to the edge of the clearing, where she was hiding, and paused right in front of her, with his back facing her. With all the energy that she could muster, Rhiannon launched herself out of the bush and pounced on the poor unsuspecting Markus, who let out a loud, startled yelp and the two commenced in play-wrestling. After doing this for what seemed like hours, they both collapsed in the freshly fallen snow. Markus laid down next to Rhiannon who’s head rested on his back. After a bit, she started licking the snow off of his fur.

“You know one of these days, I’m going to pay you back for all the times you scared me to death,” he warned her. Rhiannon looked over at him; he was grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Ah, come on, you know you like it,” she replied with a mischievous grin. He replied to that with a play-bite to her ear. By this time, the rest of their pack came walking up to them.

“So, you finally found her, I see,” Lilith remarked, noting, with amusement, that they both were covered with snow, still. She looked the exact opposite, of Rhiannon. Her fur was a silvery white, and she had dark brown eyes. She was also the Beta wolf, which meant that she was the second-in-command. Rhiannon gave Markus an exasperated look.

“You had the entire pack looking for me?” She asked in disbelief. “You know, I do this all the time!”

Midnyght laid down next to Rhiannon and started licking her fur.

“Come on, pup, give him a break, he was worried about you,” she said as the rest of the pack laid down around them.

“Besides, Hun, you’d do the same thing if I was missing,” Markus said gently nuzzling his still exasperated mate. Rhiannon gave him an affectionate lick.

“You’re right; I would do the same,” she murmured. Midnyght smiled and licked Rhiannon on the other side of her head. She was a mid-ranking wolf, with black fur, like her Alpha female, and had crimson eyes. Right across from Midnyght sat, Lydia, who was also a mid-ranking wolf. She had black and white fur and had, fuchsia coloured eyes. Laying, next to Lydia, curled up in a ball against her, was Dementia, the youngest member of the pack, she too was mid-ranking and, like Midnyght and Rhiannon, she had jet-black fur and light-green eyes. She was Rhiannon’s little sister. Laying next to Lilith was Markus’ younger brother Armand. Like him, he had brown fur but, his eyes were light-blue. He was the Omega wolf.

They spent the most of the early morning in a lazy silence; soaking up the nice cool, crisp Idaho air. None of them moved a muscle, until a loud whinny, followed by a loud roar caused the wolves look up a little surprised, with their ears pricked forward. From the opposite end of the clearing, came two black bears chasing a zebra. I know, you are all wondering what on earth a zebra is doing in the Sawtooth Mountains, in Idaho. The answer is simple: Zoo escapee. None of the pack got up, nor were they surprised. They were used to these sudden outbursts by the two bears named Julius and Violet. They were constantly up to something. Rhiannon noted with amusement that there was a water-hose stuck on the end of the zebra named Martha’s tail. She suddenly disappeared into a huge clump of trees, confusing her pursuers.

The two bears came bounding up to the wolf pack. Violet had lavender eyes and Julius had blue eyes.

“Hey, guys, did you happen to see where Martha went?” Violet asked catching her breath for a moment.

“Hello, Violet, and yes, she went into those trees over there,” Rhiannon said nodding over toward the clump of trees where they all saw her disappear into. Without another word, Violet bounded off after Martha, while Julius stayed behind to rest and talk with the wolves.

“Do I want to know why there’s a water-hose stuck on Martha’s tail?” Lilith asked. The bear started laughing.

“Martha got it stuck there by accident and Violet’s been trying to help her get it off,” he replied. Everyone in the pack snickered.

“So, Martha doesn’t know that you two are trying to help her?” Markus asked completely and totally amused by it all. It didn’t really take much to amuse him. Julius shook his head still laughing.

At that moment, Martha came bursting out of the forest again, with Violet close behind her. Markus and Rhiannon had only to glance at the other to know what they should do. The pair then rallied the rest of the pack and the bear and told them of their plans to help Violet get the hose off of Martha’s tail.

Markus, Rhiannon, Lilith, and Lydia were to go ahead of the zebra and bear, while, Dementia, Julius, Armand and Midnyght were to remain behind and help Violet chase down Martha. Rhiannon led the others to her favourite hideout in the forest and there they crouched, ready to attack.

“What are you guys up to this time?” a voice whispered from behind them, which nearly gave them all a heart attack. They turned their heads to see a panther grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Lucian! You nearly blew our cover!” Rhiannon hissed. “We’re trying to help Martha get the hose off of her tail.” She then briefed him of their plan, which he offered to help with and they accepted it with extreme gratitude. When Martha neared them, Rhiannon thumped her tail as hard as she could three times as a signal for the blitz and out sprang the four wolves and panther like Tigger coming out of a canon and pounced on the zebra. Violet, Julius and Lucian pinned Martha down, while the wolves grasped the hose within their jaws and pulled on the hose until it finally came off.

The two bears and panther let go of the stunned zebra and the wolves dropped the hose and laid down.

“How did you get that hose stuck on your tail?” Lucian asked. The question, it seemed, to be going through everyone’s mind at the same time. Martha, still a little stunned, blinked as if trying to remember.

“I really don’t know,” Martha replied after she found the will to talk. None of them were surprised that she couldn’t remember. She was a very accident-proned zebra, and had a memory that lasted about as long as football season; it’s short and is gone before you know it. There was an amused silence that followed. Violet, at this point, had lost interest and was grabbing berries off of the nearby bush and was eating them. The long silence was then plagued by Violet’s infernal munching. Everyone in the group focused their attention to Violet who looked quite a sight with her mouth all purple and full of berries. She finally looked up innocently still eating.

“What?! I’m hungry!” She exclaimed. Markus tried so hard to hide his extreme amusement. Unfortunately, the task proved harder than it was so he started laughing. Like I just said, he was a pretty laid-back wolf who was very easily amused by virtually everything. Immediately, everyone joined in. Martha, Lilith and Lydia joined her at the bush and feasted on the berries. The rest were enjoying their lazy winter morning. This time, Markus was licking the snow off of Rhiannon’s fur, while Rhiannon and Lucian were eating the snow. Midnyght was play-wrestling with Dementia. Armand was teaching himself how to toss snow at people with his tail and Julius was listening to the Denver Broncos play against the Oakland Raiders on his portable radio. He was a diehard Broncos fan and always rooted for Elway. Of course, little did he know that Elway retired in ’98 and Jake Plummer was the new quarterback for them. Occasionally, Markus, who was also a Broncos fan, would ask him what the score was. He, of course, knew that Elway had retired and was rooting for Plummer. At this point, Violet had stopped eating the berries and started throwing snowballs at everyone. One snowball that was intended for Midnyght, who ducked at the last minute and hit Markus square in the face. Rhiannon started laughing her head off and started eating the snow off of his face, which was purple from the berry juice which was all over Violet’s paws.

Markus then declared a snowball fight and they all started tossing snow at each other. Julius stayed out of it but, kept giving them details about the game, play by play, down by down, whether they wanted to hear about it or not. Their fun game was suddenly interrupted by a loud whinny. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to see who made the whinny. Standing before them, was a Rocky Mountain Mustang. The mare had black hair, white mane and tail and a white star on her forehead. She had a look of pretend-hurt on her face and mischief gleaming in her light-blue eyes.

“I can not believe that you guys thought that you were going to have fun without me,” she said, shaking her mane and stomping her hoof on the ground in mock anger.

“We’re sorry, Aurora, you can join us now if you like,” Martha said kicking some snow in her direction. Aurora huffed.

“Too late for apologies now,” she said impishly. “It’s payback time.” With that she dug her hooves into the snow and sent a huge tidal wave of snow at Martha, covering her up with snow to the point where you could hardly recognize her. Rhiannon snickered and tossed some more snow at Martha with her tail and invited the mare to join her on her and Markus’ team, which consisted of Violet, Lucian, and Dementia. The mustang grinned and joined in. They then declared war on Lydia’s group and they proceeded to kick snow at each other, until they got tired and sprawled themselves on the ground. Markus rested his head on Rhiannon’s back; as did Midnyght. Once again the silence was interrupted by a loud munching sound. Apparently, Violet had pulled out a bag of peanuts and was stuffing her face.

“You’re eating AGAIN?” Lilith asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that? The berries weren’t filling,” Violet protested. Lilith rolled her eyes. Markus, Rhiannon, Aurora, Julius and Lucian looked at each other and snickered.

“Speaking of peanuts, I’m kind of hungry myself,” Rhiannon declared. Violet tossed a bag of cashews at her and the wolf caught it with her mouth and ripped the bag open and started eating the nuts.

“How are the Broncos doing, Julius?” Markus asked. The big bear grinned. He loved talking about the Broncos and football.

“They’re up 21-3 and it’s officially halftime,” he replied. Violet suddenly jumped up scattering peanuts everywhere, including on Markus’ face, making Armand, Rhiannon and Lucian laugh their heads off.

“Swell,” he declared shaking the peanuts off of him.

“Why don’t we watch the rest of the game at our place? We just got cable and a widescreen television!” She exclaimed jumping up and down. Markus turned to Rhiannon.

“You want to?” He asked her. Rhiannon turned to the others who didn’t really seem to mind and nodded. The group then decided anonymously to watch football with Julius and Violet, which made Violet very happy and she started jumping up and down again.

“Yay! I’ll go and tidy up the place!” She shouted and bounded off sending a huge tidal wave of snow, completely covering Rhiannon and Aurora. This time it was Markus’ turn to start laughing. The black wolf shot her mate an evil look. She crawled up to Markus and stood and violently shook all of the snow off of her fur and sending it on Markus’ fur completely covering him with snow. This of course made everyone laugh even harder. Rhiannon grinned and Markus stuck his tongue out at her.

Another splosh of snow their way indicated that Violet had returned from cleaning up the place, so they all got up and followed the bears to their den to watch the 2nd half of the Broncos and the Raiders.

“You know what we should do?” Rhiannon asked Violet as they walked into the cave and settled down in the living room in front of the television. “We should invite Gabriel and Hector to come and watch football with us.

“You’re right! I’ll go and call them!” Violet exclaimed and bounced/ sashayed over to the telephone and picked it up and called the Grizzly Bear and the Elk to come over to Violet’s. When she was done with that she started making refreshments, Rhiannon helped. By the time it was all said and done, halftime was over and third quarter was well under way and Hector had arrived and told them that Gabriel was coming with Roslyn, his good friend the Meadowlark. Hector was a shy grizzly bear who liked the Oakland Raiders, Janis Joplin and playing football and hackysack . He had tanish brown fur, like most grizzlies, and had blue-grey eyes. Julius got up to make room for Hector and sat down in his recliner. They watched as Brooks’ pass was intercepted by Champ Bailey who took it in for a Denver Bronco touchdown making everyone who was a football fan ecstatic.

Martha stood at the entrance to let them know when Gabriel and Roslyn would arrive. When they did, Martha let out a loud whinny and Violet jumped up and scampered over to the entrance to the cave and led them to sit and watch the game. Roslyn, who was perched on one of Gabriel’s antlers, flew over and perched on Violet’s shoulder and chirped a greeting to everyone. Rhiannon and Gabriel were discussing the important game highlights. The entire afternoon was spent watching football. During halftime of the Texans vs. the Titans, Roslyn changed the subject to Christmas.

“Who’s turn is it to host Christmas this year?” She asked hopping from Violet’s shoulder to Julius’ shoulder. Martha shook her head as did the rest of them.

“I think it’s Aurora’s turn this year to host Christmas,” Lydia said. Aurora looked up from the television, suddenly confused. Midnyght filled her in on what the conversation was about.

“ Oh yeah, that’s right!” She said getting the majority of what was going on. They then started on the plans for Christmas. Antoinette was to cook to main meal, Violet would make the appetizers, Aurora would make dessert, and Roslyn was in charge of decorating. By this time, the game was over and everyone was participating in the conversation. Martha, Rhiannon, Markus and their pack would help with the decorating. They would invite Phaedra the lioness, Antoinette the giraffe, Charlotte the penguin, Lucretia the Doberman Pincher, Lavender the Snow Leopard, Melusine the golden retriever, Larry the armadillo, and Evelynne the Tiger. Violet jumped up with excitement, to get the phone to invite everyone. Little did she know that Lydia was taking a nap right behind her. She tripped over her and skidded right into the phone stand, knocking the phone off of the base, and hitting Lydia in the head with it.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the two. Rhiannon and Lilith went over to Lydia and Violet who were tangled up on the floor. It was a really funny sight to see.

“Are you two all right?” Rhiannon asked trying her hardest to cover her extreme amusement and not to just burst out laughing.

Violet was still stunned from the blow she took to the head and Lydia was clearly NOT amused. In fact she was ticked off at the clumsy bear for waking her up from her nap. Lydia looked up at them and glared.

“Do I LOOK all right to you?” She asked in a really loud voice. By this time, Lucian, Markus, Midnyght and Julius joined Rhiannon and Lilith. Upon seeing them, Lucian erupted in laughter. Rhiannon gave the panther a swift kick in the ribs, which made him stop.

“Honey, did you want me to call them?” Julius asked as if it were completely normal for Violet to be sprawled on the floor and to nearly give herself a concussion. Violet finally found the words to speak.

“Yeah, could you please?” She asked him untangling herself and apologizing to Lydia for tripping over her and waking her up. Everyone decided to spend the night at Violet and Julius’s and in the morning they were to go to Aurora’s to start with the Christmas decorations and such. Outside it was starting to snow and the wind was picking up a little but, no one was concerned for it frequently snowed a lot in Idaho.

The next morning was Christmas Eve. Violet was in the kitchen making coffee and Rhiannon and Markus and their wolf pack were out hunting rabbits and deer. Julius and Lucian were sitting in the living room talking and Hector was out fishing. By the time Rhiannon and company came back, everyone was up and about.

“It looks like we are snowed in, guys,” Rhiannon remarked, giving Violet and Aurora the rabbits that she killed. Markus, with the help of Lucian and Julius, dragged the two deer that they had killed over to the kitchen.

“We are?” Violet asked. They all nodded. Aurora and Roslyn decided to take a look out the cave’s entrance. When they came back they had the same news as the wolf-pack and Hector. At that moment the phone rang. Julius went over and answered the phone, while the others were helping Violet cook breakfast. It was ready by the time, Julius hung up the phone and made his way to sit down in the living room to eat because the dining room was too small and there were a lot of animals there anyways.

“That was Charlotte and she said that the only animals that are coming are Lucretia, herself, Lavender and Evelynne. The others are too snowed in to even try to come out,” he said sombrely. The bad news brought the uninvited guests of gloom and depression to the table.

“When did she say they’ll come over?” Violet asked in between bites. Julius shrugged.

“She said that they’ll come over as soon as she can help them get out of their homes. I don’t know how long that will be,” he replied. “Most likely it will depend on how long it will take to dig them out.” Rhiannon and Markus exchanged glances. It was clear to everyone at the table that they had an idea.

“Julius, when breakfast is over, call Charlotte and tell her that me, Markus can help her dig everyone we invited out of their homes,” Rhiannon requested. Julius nodded and Lucian piped up.

“I’ll help you as well,” he said. Elated, Julius went over to the phone and called Charlotte back and told her that Markus and Rhiannon and their pack and Lucian would be there to help her dig their friends out of their homes so they could spend Christmas together. Julius hung up the phone and walked over to the panther and wolves.

“She welcomes your help and says that she’s currently at Phaedra’s,” he told them. Without another word, the wolves and panther finished their breakfast and raced off towards Phaedra’s living quarters. When they got there, the penguin was almost a third of the way done and Phaedra was getting impatient. Rhiannon walked up to Charlotte and gently placed her paw on Charlotte’s shoulder.

“Hello, Charlotte, we’re your relief service,” the wolf declared grinning. Charlotte smiled with relief and stepped back and the wolves and panther dug into the snow, finally clearing a path for the lioness as well as making it so that she could see out. She was a spunky, young lion with green eyes.

“Thanks, guys, I thought that I’d never be able to get out. Not until spring at least,” she said. They all turned to Charlotte who was catching her breath for a moment.

“So, who do we help next?” Lydia asked who was getting wired up.

“I believe we are close to Antoinette’s place,” the penguin said pointing with her flipper towards where she lived. Charlotte was a graceful penguin who loved to dance and sing. She had light purple eyes.

They all took a breather for a short time and got up and headed, then, to Antoinette’s place. They then dug her out.

“Thank you,” she said smiling they got her cooking stuff out as well and they went back to the cave and Antoinette and Violet and Roslyn started cooking Christmas dinner. Charlotte stayed behind to warm up. The others went back out to finish getting the rest of their friends out. Their first stop was to Larry the armadillo’s. He came out completely and totally disoriented. Rhiannon had him climb up on her back and she carried him off to Violet’s. When she came back they headed towards Evelynne and Lavender's place. They came out and offered to help them get Melusine and Lucretia out as well. Larry the armadillo was one of the pranksters of the group. In fact, whenever Lucian, Rhiannon and Larry got together there was HUGE trouble. He had green eyes. Lavender was a really fashion sensed Snowy Leopard but was into sports and had a spunky personality. She had lavender eyes. Evelynne was a white Siberian Tiger who was the quiet one of the bunch. She was into decorating as well and had light blue eyes.

“Thanks, guys,” Evelynne said gratefully. They eventually got everyone out of their homes and they then headed back to Violet and Julius’ cave. They were nearly halfway there when they ran into a cheetah looking for food.

Rhiannon walked up to the cheetah with a smile.

“What brings you up here to Idaho?” She asked. The cheetah looked up and blushed.

“I just escaped from the San Diego Zoo and am looking for food,” he explained sheepishly. Rhiannon grinned. Martha had escaped that very zoo a coupled of years ago.

“You are welcome join us for Christmas if you want to come,” she replied. That brought a big smile on his face.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“Rhiannon, and these are my friends and mate: Markus, Midnyght, Lucian, Lydia, Lilith, Armand, Dementia, Evelynne and Lavender,” she explained introducing him to her friends. “What’s yours?”

“Xavier,” he answered, looking up for the first time. His eyes were a rich onyx colour. They then got up and went to Violet’s place. Along the way, they asked Xavier questions as to how he escaped, apparently the hole that Martha made in the wall was still there and he wasn’t the only animal to leave. Apparently, he knew of Martha and her reputation there at the zoo. As they neared Violet’s cave, they were greeted by a bunch of different smells. It smelled of freshly cooked venison, mashed potatoes, chocolate fudge, and Lefsa.

Rhiannon padded into the kitchen to help with the cooking. Violet of course was licking the bowl that was used to make the fudge with her paw. Her face was covered with chocolate. Of course, she was sitting in the middle of the kitchen and getting in everybody’s way but she didn’t care. She was licking the bowl. Antoinette was also making brownies and was about to give it to Violet but she realised that the bear was still occupied so she gave it to Rhiannon. Pretty soon Violet, Midnyght and Rhiannon were licking the bowl. Of course when they were done Rhiannon was still hungry. Midnyght noticed this and eyed her suspiciously.

“What’s with you, pup? She asked. “You’ve been eating a lot lately....both of you are.” Rhiannon looked down and shrugged. Violet was too busy eating one of the brownies to pay any attention.

“Is there something you need to tell me?” She asked. Rhiannon buried her nose between her paws, she then looked up at Midnyght.

“I can’t,” she said finally. “Not until I’ve told Markus.” Midnyght’s eyes went wide. She then turned to Violet who was starting to get on Antoinette’s nerves asking her for more brownies.

“All right! Fine take these brownies and do whatever you like with them! Just get out of the kitchen!” The giraffe finally shouted. The bear grinned and grabbed the plate of brownies and took off into the living room with them. Rhiannon and Midnyght started laughing and rolled their eyes. They then turned to Martha and Charlotte who were having issues with mashing the potatoes. Midnyght tried hard not to laugh and Rhiannon smiled and walked over to them and grabbed the cord with her mouth and plugged the mixer in which they weren’t prepared for and it sent the mixer onto the floor and covered everyone within a ten inch radius with potatoes. Rhiannon tried to keep her composure as she walked over to the penguin and zebra who were stunned and covered with potatoes.

“The reason why you were having issues with the mixer before is that you didn’t have it plugged in,” she explained fighting the strongest urge to burst out laughing. “I plugged it in.” Martha looked up at Rhiannon and blinked.

“You did?” She asked. Rhiannon responded with a nod. Luckily, Roslyn and Antoinette had a feeling that this was going to happen so they made more potatoes, because you can never have too many potatoes up in Idaho. After Rhiannon, Charlotte and Martha washed up, dinner was ready. There was hardly any room for everyone in the dinning room so they all gathered in the living room to eat supper and watch the Packers versus the Cardinals, as it was Monday night. At halftime the score was, 21-3 and the Cardinals were winning. That’s when they decided to open presents. Rhiannon took this moment to gently nudge Markus with her nose. Markus paused from tearing open one of his presents from Gabriel, to look at her with a questioning glance. His mate moved closer to him.

“Honey, it seems as if we are going to have a bigger pack,” she whispered with a childish grin on her face. The wrapping paper dropped from his mouth and he calked his head to one side.

“Why? Did another pack kicked another Omega wolf out again?” He asked, obviously confused. Exasperated Rhiannon picked up the pillow that Antoinette and Roslyn made for her and with her mouth whacked him upside the head with it.

“No, you dork! WE, as in you and me, are going to be parents!” She practically screamed in his ear. At that moment, the entire room fell silent and stopped what they were going in complete astonishment. It was as if time it self had stopped moving and froze in complete surprise as well. Markus’ green eyes widened.

“You mean you’re---pregnant?” He stammered, still shocked. Rhiannon nodded.

“That’s usually what the phrase ’about to be parents’ means,” she responded. Markus grinned and gently licked her with affection and she simply smiled and licked him back. As if suddenly remembering a long kept secret, Violet jumped up and started squealing.

“THIS IS SO COOL!” She exclaimed practically squashing the two wolves in a huge hug. “WE ARE GOING TO BE PREGNANT BUDDIES!”

Julius replied to that with a snort.

“I thought that we weren’t going to tell anyone just yet!” He yelled at her with an exasperated look on his face. Violet gently put the now frazzled wolves back down on the ground and cast her mate a pleading look.

“I’m sorry but, I just couldn’t take it any longer!” She apologized with a pout. “Besides, it’s Christmas.” Julius smiled and patted her on the shoulder as if to say: It’s ok, honey. Finally, the others had finally found their voice.

“So, you and Rhiannon are pregnant,” Melusine said. The wolf and bear nodded at the same time. The entire room then erupted with loud aws and they all congratulated the two and the fathers. They then returned to opening their presents and Markus looked over at Rhiannon who was helping her sister Dementia and friend Lucretia open their gifts. He couldn’t believe that he was going to be a father. He was excited and a little frightened by that concept. Rhiannon finally looked over at him, when she was done. She padded her way towards him and nuzzled him.

“You ok?” She asked softly. He nodded.

“Yeah, I’m just nervous,” He replied. “What if I’m a bad father?” He looked genuinely worried at his mate. Rhiannon smiled and gave him an affectionate lick on his face.

“You’ll make a wonderful father; why else were we destined to be mates?” She replied nuzzling him. Markus chuckled at that thought. The game came back on, when the others were finishing up opening the presents. Gabriel, Hector, and Julius turned the sound back on.

“Wow, that Plummer, he’s something else isn’t he?” Markus remarked. The response was nearly half of the room nodding their heads in union. Martha looked confused.

“I didn’t know that football was about plumbers,” she said. “I thought it was a sport.” Markus paused and looked over at her with a funny look on his face. Rhiannon buried her head in Markus’ fur.

“Martha, I wasn’t talking about the guy who fixes toilets for a living,” he explained. “I was talking about Jake Plummer. The former quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals.” Martha nodded, finally getting it.

“Oh!” She ejaculated. “Doesn’t he play for the Denver Broncos?” Violet and Rhiannon BOTH buried their heads in Markus’ fur.

“He just said that, Martha,” Rhiannon said finally. “He used to play for the Arizona Cardinals; he then moved to Denver and became THEIR quarterback.” It looked like Martha didn’t get it for a bit. After a few minutes though, she finally caught on. Everyone chuckled and went back to watching the game. It was fourth down and 5 and the Packers decided to go for it. Favre threw a pass to Grant who took it forward for the five yards that they needed for the first down. This, of course, bummed those in the room who were going for Arizona out. But, when Favre was dropping back to throw, one of the Arizona linebackers sacked him, causing him to fumble the ball, which Arizona recovered and took in for a touchdown, making the score 35-3 and in the middle of the third quarter. They watched the rest of the game, which Arizona won 49-10 and they all talked for the rest of the evening and long into the night, which they all agreed to spend the night.

In the morning, they helped Violet and Julius clean up. The others headed home, except for the pack of wolves. They didn’t often spend much time at the bears’ place, because they were most likely to either hang out at wolves’ den or outside. Dementia grew tired of wrestling with the other wolves by mid-afternoon so she collapsed next to Rhiannon and was taking a nap against her. Rhiannon had a contented motherly look in her eyes and face and she knew that whatever the future changes that came to the Sawtooth Mountains, she knew that she’d always have her family, which was the pack, and her friends. Finally, she nuzzled up against Markus and fell asleep to the sound of his voice. They of course agreed, wholeheartedly that it was indeed the best Christmas they ever had.

~*Rebekah*~*316*~