Epilogue

"Dare?" His voice was distant, like a dream, but coming closer and I smiled. "Dare!"

He whistled with a long warbling that made me giggle sleepily and Chance lifted his chin from my breast, his ears twitching at the sound. It was dark there, in our den beneath the pine boughs, and warm and dry despite the cool spring rains outside. I'd found my mate shortly after my morning bath and we'd played together before retiring for our afternoon nap.

I stretched as much as I was able and sighed before pressing my face against the wolf's neck, extending my tongue and licking at his coarse fur. I bit him gently, causing the wolf to jerk his head with annoyance and I pushed at him then. I needed to get up, it was getting on towards evening and I needed to bathe and eat. My Master was calling.

Chance resisted, finding no good reason to move, and I growled softly and then barked, pushing him again and he finally relented, crawling out of our nest on his belly so that I could follow him. I groaned slightly, pushing at the heavy branches and getting a small shower as the rain that had collected there fell onto my bare skin. I shivered and frowned, looking up as if I might blame the tree. Chance regarded me with his warm, golden eyes and if a wolf could be ever be said to smile, my mate was smiling at me. He was patient with my clumsiness however, and gentle, and as I emerged he stayed close, watching over me. My protector, my mate.

I stood up slowly, stretching once again and feeling my back slightly sore. I touched myself, my swollen belly as I felt the pup inside me restless now with all that motion. I was some seven months pregnant, maybe a little more or less, and grown large now. Chance imagined it was his offspring inside me and I wouldn't have told him otherwise even if I could. It wouldn't matter in any event, I was his mate and ripe with pregnancy and he understood that much at least. I hadn't been sure if he would at first and I was pleased to notice the small changes in his demeanor.

Chance had become much more attentive over the winter, staying close to the house. Too close, I thought, and I'd watched my brothers carefully to keep Chance safe from them. He brought me food, rabbits mostly and I'd eat only as much as I needed in order to satisfy him, then I'd let him have most of it. The winter had been very long and cold and my mate needed that food more than I did. We spent much time together, but only during the short days. I wasn't allowed to stay outside overnight anymore; my Master was equally protective of me.

"Dare? Where you at, girl?" I heard him, my Master's strong voice calling me.

He'd returned home from his work, patrolling the forests and mountains around and including the reservation. It was how he'd found me and saved me. My Master had an affinity for the land and that had made him welcome with the Native Americans, especially those who adhered most closely with tradition. Men like White Cloud and Red Crow, who was White Cloud's son and my Master's friend. It gave the man a great understanding of who I was and what I needed. When I recalled my despair of the previous summer and autumn especially, I felt ashamed and it seemed to me sometimes that Fate had been far more generous than my weak faith deserved.

I crouched to give Chance a soft murmur, a deep throated sigh of reluctance as I embraced him and said goodbye. He licked my face and pressed his nose between my breasts which were just beginning to grow firm with milk, a quick sniff and brush of his tongue and my lover was off, padding away slowly. There was a bounce to his step and he was beautiful like that, enough so I forgot what I was doing and just watched him disappear like a ghost into the shadows.

"Hey!" My Master's smiling voice found me a minute later and he was following a path most humans wouldn't have been able to see. But he wasn't like other people. My Master was very comfortable outside and I stood up slowly, smiling and looking down the gentle slope at his approach.

"It's chilly. Are you cold?" he asked a moment later and Master was touching my face, the way he liked to, and I turned my head to lick at his fingers.

I shook my head and glanced up at his green eyes, flecked with gold. His baby was kicking in my belly and I took my Master's hand in mine and put it there, lifting my eyebrows to ask if he could feel it and the man laughed and smiled. He was like Chance, the both of them so similar that I had a hard time telling them apart. That should seem impossible, I know, but it's true nonetheless, they were of a kindred spirit my Master and my mate and I was equally happy with both of them.

"He's pretty busy, huh?" The man stroked my stomach and looked around. "Where's Chance?"

I shrugged, looking over my shoulder in the direction the wolf had gone.

"Okay. Let's go home," Master nodded. "No running, Dare. Stay with me for a change. You have to start slowing down."

I barked sharply and laughed at that. I was slowed down and I felt like I was terribly fat, swollen all over with my pregnancy, and I still had a couple more months to go. It had been nice for a while, but now I was anxious to have my baby and be done with it. To see the child I'd been carrying inside me for so long. I was still in good shape though, strong and physically fit and not as large as a lot of human women would be at seven months, I was sure. The doctor told me I looked more like five months. He couldn't complain though, my baby and I were perfectly healthy and I hadn't even had any morning sickness, except for my cravings for wild turnips. I'd eaten too many of those once and had myself a good tummy-ache for two days afterward.

"Put this on. It's getting cold," Master said and he was draping his jacket over my shoulders, the shiny green one with the soft flannel lining.

I didn't need it. My body was much more tolerant to heat and cold than most people are. I couldn't say why, perhaps it was just that I was used to being outside and naked, or maybe I really was changed. Like my senses, how I could smell things that most humans wouldn't notice, or see and hear much better than I remembered as a girl. My new Master was aware of it, but it didn't change his mind about things like keeping me warm and dry in the rain. I had a baby now too, so I didn't argue and shrug his jacket off like I might have done otherwise. I wanted to walk with him and he held my hand, which was a very human thing and I liked it.

I paused at the edge of the wheat field close to our home and it was overgrown now with weeds. I needed to pee and the man waited patiently for me. He was wet now, we both were, but especially my Master as I was wearing his jacket and so I decided to run the last little bit, knowing he'd follow quickly and get inside that much sooner. I smiled at him over my shoulder in the twilight and barked loudly, telling my brothers I was coming and I could hear my Master shouting behind me, but I was going to be a bad dog and I giggled, holding my belly as I moved easily over the soft earth, following a trail three years old to my eyes.

I ran into the house, wild eyed and happy, hardly breathless but for my excitement as I dropped the jacket onto the hardwood floor, and very nearly leaped onto the bedding I shared with the other dogs. I was playing and very much like a child, smiling and pushing at Bandy as I forced myself between him and Barley, pressing my hands between his legs and he was so warm. They growled playfully, sniffing and licking at me and Bush was there as well, rising from his place on the floor and the rawhide toy he'd been chewing. He scented my legs and then upward to my sex, finding Chance there of course, and he shoved his large snout between my thighs with a deep throated growl.

"I'm going to start using a leash on you soon, girl." Our Master entered a few minutes later, wet and muddy and shaking himself off.

"Mmmm..." I gave him a soft whine from my throat and giggled as my brothers scrambled to greet him.

"Outrun by a pregnant woman..." he was trying to kick off his boots and fend off the dogs as they vied for his attention, " ... Anybody finds out about that and ... Hey ... Come on, guys! Down ... Down!"

I watched as my brothers wrestled with our Master, lifting their bodies so he could grab them by the throat, pushing and pulling at them and they loved that game. They were so large, all of the dogs, and strong, but so was the man, and it was great fun to watch them roughhouse. They'd nip at him and try to grab his hand, not biting hard at all of course, but just playing and trying to knock him down. Our Master laughed and he was breathing hard, teasing the dogs and grabbing at their flanks, or the loose fur above their tails, pulling at them so the dogs would turn their heads one way and then the other. But he was outnumbered and my brothers always took advantage of that, eventually wearing our Master down until he was forced to sit and wrestle and shove them away.

I might have tried to help him, but it was nice laying on those thick warm blankets, on my side and turned slightly so my chin rested on crossed arms, and my legs were askew, my sex exposed. I was biting my bottom lip and giving our Master 'The Look' as he called it, the one which told him I wanted him inside me. I'd had Chance all day, letting my mate have me twice, and now I wanted my Master the same way.

"Ahhhh ... shoot..." He was laughing as he sat down beside me, the dogs calming somewhat and content to sit around us.

I reached for him, pawing at his wet shirt and urging our Master to turn and come closer. We'd done this before and it was nice. I undressed him slowly, hardly moving my body at all as our Master sat close. He was cold, even after playing with his dogs, but so strong, so full of life that he didn't show it. He was a proud man that way and handsome, even a dog like me knew that. He had a strong face and a square jaw and his eyes were dark and pretty and green. He was a man of nature, of the sort who belonged outside and understood the world we live in, not just the things we put upon it.

I tossed his wet clothes aside and when he was naked I brought him to me and I was his woman then. I'd come to understand that I couldn't always be a dog, not for him. He was my Master now, but different than my old one. He had his own ideas and his own needs and he'd explained them to me carefully, looking for my agreement but not forcing me into anything. It was my choice and at times like this I was content to be his wife as well as his pet.