The leader of the white wolves watched as the members of his pack worked together and he couldn’t stop thinking about the wolf he sent away about a month ago. The other white wolves said so, and Kris himself admitted he had been too reckless sending Luhan away like that, and he  worried a lot about the blonde wolf. Were the brown wolves treating him well? Was he feeding accordingly? Kris couldn’t know.

He didn’t want to go over there and ask to see Luhan though. He felt like it would make him seem weak, and, since he was a leader, he shouldn’t look like he regretted an order or punishment. So instead he went to Xiumin and told him that, if the man wanted to see Luhan, he had his approval.

Xiumin got really excited about it and he called Lay to go with him. They would check on him, see if Luhan was fine, and then Kris would be able to rest his thoughts a bit.

><><><><>< 

Even if a bit more than a month passed already, the routine was still the same: Luhan would be wandering from one den to the other night after night and he thought he would get tired of it, but he ended up getting used to sleeping in both caves.

Luhan was also experiencing a lot of mood swings lately, so he could be happy in one moment, and then yelling at Sehun and Kai one second later. Sometimes he would cry for hours, sobbing heavily for no concrete reason, and he knew he wasn’t being easy to take care of.

Even so, his relationship with Sehun was only getting better, and the young wolf was becoming even sweeter and more caring to Luhan as time went by. Kai, though a bit hesitant due to his situation with Kyungsoo, was doing his best to take care of Luhan as well.

The difference between them was the way they did it. Sehun took care of him in a loving way, and Kai in a more dry and distant way. While Sehun would caress and talk to his tummy for minutes straight, Kai didn’t seem to be interested in connecting with the puppies that way.

Everyone could notice that ever since Kyungsoo started ignoring him, Kai became very quiet and gloomy, almost never talking to anyone anymore. Also, Kai was shy most of the time and he didn’t really know how to speak with something that wasn’t even born yet. Sehun told Luhan that this was the way the man acted, but the blonde still felt hurt by Kai’s apparent indifference.

He was feeling particularly down that day, when Sehun came jumping into the den.

-I got a surprise for you. – Sehun told him happily. - Close your eyes.

Luhan was a bit hesitant, but he closed his eyes, waiting.

-Surprise! - Lay and Xiumin shouted.

Luhan frowned when he heard those voices and opened his eyes, out of breath. He nearly jumped on his friends, and he would have, if he wasn’t feeling so heavy at the moment.

-Not that I didn’t like the surprise. - He smiled widely, hugging them. - but what are you guys doing here?

-We came to check on you, of course. – Xiumin answered.

-And I need to check on your babies. – Lay completed. - Your belly doesn’t look like it grew much for the second month…

Luhan glanced down to his baby bump.

-It looks quite big to me… - He said, a finger playing lightly over it. - Was it supposed to be bigger?

-A little bit, yes. – Lay answered, pulling Luhan by the shoulders. - May I?

He asked and Luhan allowed him to rub his hands and press them here and there over his belly. He didn’t press hard, only his fingertips brushed against his skin, but it was enough for him to have a notion of what was going on inside. Then the healer came closer and pressed his ear against it, so he could listen.

Even if normal wolves could have giant litters, wolves like them usually had two or three cubs per litter, not less. And there were cases, even if rare, where four or five cubs were born at the same time. Only one cub was too little, so Lay checked again, frowning.

-What’s wrong? – Luhan asked worriedly.

-There’s only one. – The healer answered, trying to feel the belly again.

-Only one? – Xiumin asked. - Are you sure?

Lay nodd