as written in the foreword. this story is completed already. this time i waited with posting until i was done lol

i'm gonna go back to DC, SB and CitD soon. work has been stressful and this was something light i wanted to write. it's 90% just sunggyu raising pups haha :') so lots of fluff with some romance slowly building up towards the end

hope you guys will like it ^^ 4 parts to go!

It was supposed to be a short run, just to let his wolf roam free and maybe hunt down something to eat. Sunggyu found something else instead. His ears caught weak, high-pitched whines when he was running through the nearby woods. He immediately stood still and listened. It sounded like cubs calling for help. Sunggyu pondered about ignoring the noise and going the other way, but his curiosity (and worry) won in the end. The alpha headed into the direction of the cries. He needed a few minutes, but then he found their location. They were in a hollow space beneath a big tree - a small den that had obviously been created by someone else. Sunggyu stuck his head and upper body inside to catch a glimpse of them. It was dark since he was blocking the only source of light but his other senses helped him. Six pups were huddled together in the den, shivering and whining miserably. They couldn’t phrase words yet but Sunggyu could effortlessly understand they were hungry and cold.

He sniffed their fur but there was barely any scent on them. Cubs didn’t develop their own scent until they were around a year old. Usually they smelled like their mother until then. There was a faint trace of another wolf hanging in the air but it was very weak. Where had the mother gone too without leaving her children protected and warm? She hadn’t fed or scent-marked them, but Sunggyu doubted the cubs were more than a day old. They were so tiny and helpless it broke his heart. As an alpha, he was naturally protective of the weaker, especially small cubs. The little ones noticed his presence and yipped in fear.

Where is your mother? Sunggyu thought to himself. He pulled his head out of the small hole and looked around once more. No sign of a desperate mother coming to save her pups. Did she abandon them? His heart clenched in worry. Sunggyu threw a glance to the entrance of the den where the pups were still calling out for their mother. Who would have the heart to leave their newly born litter behind? He had left his old pack long ago but Sunggyu was sure that an act like that was punishable by death in some packs. Other packs exiled the mother when she committed such a crime.

Sunggyu searched the area nearby for a trace of the mother, always sticking close enough to have an eye on the tree. He was sure that he caught the mother’s scent to the east, but Sunggyu was reluctant to leave the cubs completely alone. There were other predators in this forest, some who wouldn’t hesitant to slaughter a helpless pup. They would be an easy prey, blind and deaf as they were. Sunggyu sighed. He was hungry too and needed something to eat, but he didn’t have the heart to turn around and leave.

The wolf headed back to the den and laid down in front of it. He put his head on his paws and waited. At least his body would cover the hole and keep the warmth in for a while. Sunggyu waited for the mother but hour after hour passed without a sign of her. He was growing restless as the sun started to disappear behind the trees. The temperature was falling slowly but surely as well. Sunggyu really wanted to get back to his hut to eat and rest. He wasn’t used to staying in his wolf form for so long and was itching to shift, but at least it was warmer with the fur protecting him.

The pups continued to whine and whimper. Sunggyu wished he could offer them something to eat but he wasn’t an omega. He could not feed them milk and they were too young to eat a rabbit or other solid food. He was worried the little ones weren’t going to survive the night. Gaia only knew for how long they had already been like this. How long could pups survive without milk or warmth?

When it got dark outside, Sunggyu reluctantly retreated into the den. A wolf smaller than him had clearly made the hole but he managed to squeeze inside. He was careful not to squish the pups as he settled himself in the small den. He curled around them and the pups’ whines got a little quieter. They blindly moved towards his body to steal some his warmth. They even tried to find teats on his lower body but there was nothing to find after all.

Sorry, guys, I’m not your mom. He only had warmth to offer them and hoped it would be enough to get them through the night. You won’t die on me, right? I’m sure your mother will return soon, so hold on a little longer. She would be sad if she found you dead.

The next morning, there was still no sign of their mother. The cubs had survived the night, sleeping through their hunger for a few hours. Sunggyu had been unable to fall asleep when the den had grown quiet. He had constantly checked if the pups were still breathing, leaving him with no time to sleep. The alpha moved carefully as to not wake the pups and climbed out the hole again. They were quiet now that they were sleeping and that meant the chances of a predator finding them was smaller. Sunggyu still felt reluctant to leave them but he really needed to find the mother. There was no better time than now, although he didn’t expect to find her.

He ran through the forest, following the faint trace of the pups’ mother. Sunggyu was close to giving up and turning back when he found her. Or rather, he found her dead body. His heart sank at the sight of her lifeless form. Her white coat was stained with blood. Sunggyu had half-expected this but it still pained him. The only reasons for a mother to leave her child were death or abandonment. He shortly wondered why she was so far away from the den. Had she fled and died on the run, or had she tried to hunt and fallen prey to another animal instead? But there weren’t a lot of animals who could kill a full-grown were – except for other wolves.

Sunggyu hesitated. What now? The pups still need to feed or they’ll die. He had a sudden idea. The alpha felt nauseated but walked closer. He slightly turned her to bring her teats to light. Sunggyu felt bad for violating her corpse but he needed to know if she still had milk in there. He used his paws to check and, with a mix of repulsion and relief, noticed a white substance dripping out. She’s their mother. It’s okay, right?

He seized her by the scruff and dragged her along, back to the den where her cubs were dying. The end justifies the means, he told himself as he moved.  Sunggyu tried not to think about what he was doing too much. If he still had a pack, he would get another omega or female beta to feed them, but Sunggyu had no one. As far as he knew there wasn’t any pack nearby either – the exact reason he had picked this place.

The way back took much longer because the mother’s body slowed him down. He wasn’t sure how much time passed before he reached the clearing with the tree. Sunggyu dropped the corpse in shock when his eyes discovered a fox’s tail looking out of the den. Rage filled him and the wolf closed the distance between them. Just then the fox pulled out, an unmoving pup between its teeth. Alarmed by Sunggyu’s presence, the fox turned to run away but the wolf wasn’t slow and surely not forgiving. He had him before he could disappear into the undergrowth. Sunggyu grabbed him with his teeth and hurled him through the air. The fox yipped in pain before its body grew lifeless. The alpha tore at its flesh, both angry and hungry at the same time. Instead of eating it, he tossed the corpse away with a low grow. Sunggyu looked at the little pup on the ground. He nudged it with his muzzle but it was dead already. It was hard to say if the fox or the hunger and cold had killed it.

With a heavy heart, he picked up the small body and brought it back to the den. He dropped it next to the entrance. The little pup would get a proper burial. It deserved a peaceful rest and not wild animals tearing at its lifeless body. Sunggyu looked into the hole while holding his breath. He was scared of what he would see, but the other five cubs seemed to be alive still. He nudged each of them, even over their fur to wake them up. They moved slowl