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Chapter 1: Waking as Wolves1,052 words
Chapter 2: Adjusting1,602 words
Chapter 3: New Friends1,011 words
Chapter 4: First Hunt875 words
Chapter 5: Pups710 words
Chapter 6: Journey to Howler's Rock1,168 words
Chapter 7: The Lunar Assembly - Part 11,484 words
Chapter 8: Lunar Assembly - Part 22,002 words
Chapter 9: Playtime and Meeting Sombra1,641 words
Chapter 10: A New Mate and Rising Threats1,167 words

Chapter 10: A New Mate and Rising Threats

With Twilight and Sombra

Twilight stood in shock at seeing Sombra, her arranged mate. Twilight knew that the wolves of the Shadowhide Pack prided themselves on strength, but this male was strangely skinnier than what she was expecting. Instead of strength, Twilight saw a deep intellect in his golden eyes that made her breath hitch in her chest. She was staring for so long that Sombra tilted his head in confusion.

"Are... you OK, miss?" Sombra asked. "Is there something on my face?"

Twilight shook her head in embarrassment. "Uh, no! I'm sorry, it's just that I wasn't expecting you to arrive to our den so soon."

Sombra gave a deep chuckle that Twilight could feel in her chest. "My father wanted me gone as soon as possible. I'm sorry if I've caught you off-guard."

"I was caught off-guard, but you are more than welcome here," Twilight said.

Following after that was an awkward silence. Neither Twilight nor Sombra said anything for a while until Sombra took a few steps closer until he mere inches from her. The fur on the back of Twilight's neck stood up as Sombra gazed intently at her.

"W-what is it?" Twilight asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing at all," Sombra said before tilting his head. "I simply wasn't expecting to be married to a she-wolf so beautiful."

That response sent blood to Twilight's ears and cheeks, making her thankful her blush was hidden under her fur. She flattened her ears against her head and looked away bashfully.

"Well, I'm sure you say that to all the she-wolves," Twilight said sheepishly.

"Not all of them, and especially not the ones in my pack," Sombra said. "Too much muscle and aggression for my liking."

"Must have been hard," Twilight said.

"It was. I had to be smarter, not madder when it came to dealing with my siblings and packmates," Sombra said. "You're not like the Shadowhide wolves, so I think we can get along well."

At that moment, the rest of the pack had returned to the den with a few dead ducks in their mouths. Pinkie ran ahead of them.

"Twilight! We're back with din--!" Pinkie Pie called before she saw who was with her.

The rest of the wolves stared at Sombra there and looked back to Twilight with teasing eyes. Rarity spoke first.

"I take it that this is your new mate, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Uh, yes. This is Sombra of the Shadowhide Pack," Twilight said. "And I guess he's my new mate."

"He's more handsome than I thought he'd be," Applejack said.

When Twilight heard that, she unconsciously glared at Applejack and snarled at her, flashing her fangs. Applejack chuckled and took a step back.

"Whoa, girl! I'm not gonna do anything, relax!" Applejack laughed. Sombra laughed at Twilight's response.

"We only just met today, and you're already possessive of me," Sombra noted to Twilight. "I must be one lucky male."

Twilight gently pushed at his shoulder with her nose. "Shut up! I'm not possessive!"

Everyone else chuckled at seeing Twilight act like this around her new mate. Starlight and Trixie walked up to Sombra and began to bounce around him.

"Hey, do you wanna play with us?" Trixie asked.

"Yeah, play with us!" Starlight called.

Sombra looked to Twilight at seeing the pups. "Did you have another mate before me?"

"No! Why?" Twilight asked in reply.

"How do you have pups?" Sombra replied. "I don't see other males in your pack."

Good thing she thought of an excuse for this. "These two were orphans from a dead pack while we were looking for new territory. I took them in as my own."

Better that he thought she was a good Samaritan rather than explain the fact that they came from a world of ponies, dragons, and magic. Besides, Sombra seemed to accept that excuse easily enough. Sombra then turned his attention to the dead ducks the pack brought.

"Well, let's not stand here letting food rot. Let's eat!" Sombra said.

No need to say that twice. The whole pack, with the new addition of Sombra, ate the ducks and had a hearty evening getting to know Sombra better to welcome him into the pack. As they ate, Twilight snuck glances at Sombra.

"He actually seems like a good wolf. Maybe being mates with him won't be so bad after all," Twilight thought.

Later that night, when the pack went to sleep in the den, Twilight laid down in the far end of it with Starlight and Trixie cuddled against her stomach. Twilight could smell Sombra and feel him moving in the den, his scent being oddly comforting to her now. Next thing she knew, Sombra had curled up against her back with his body heat radiating to her.

"Good night," Twilight said simply.

"Good night, love," Sombra said, giving a lick to Twilight's cheek.

While crazy that Twilight had gotten herself into an arranged marriage, it was even crazier that she had already fallen for him so quickly. She made a mental note tomorrow to spend more time with Sombra to know him better.

*****

Fenrir's Spine - Early the Next Morning

The ravens and bears had taken up the mantle of guardians on the mountains separating their kingdom from the human-ruled lands. One of the brown bears of the resident bear clan, Heracles, was on patrol along the hidden path through the mountains. A raven was assigned to him to act as a messenger to report back to the others.

"Things seem to be clear so far, Diomedes," Heracles said to his raven companion in the trees.

"I only pray that this passage remains hidden from the humans forever," Diomedes said.

As Heracles was about to eat some berries from a nearby bush, his ears picked up the sounds of footsteps. They didn't match the footsteps of the other bears on patrol. In fact, they didn't match any animal at all. Heracles hid behind some of the larger bushes and peered into the shallow gorge that was part of the hidden passage.

A small bunch of creatures Heracles had only heard of appeared in the gorge, creatures that weren't supposed to know about the passage. Humans, several armed individuals, were walking through the gorge. Heracles was watching them with wide eyes.

"Humans, here? They found the passage!" Heracles whispered before looking to Diomedes. "I'll try to scare them off."

Before Diomedes could protest, Heracles burst out of the bushes towards the humans. The humans all shouted in fear at seeing a huge brown bear suddenly burst from the bushes. He stood on his hind legs and roared at them to chase them off.

Diomedes next heard what sounded like multiple thunderclaps during a storm coming from the humans. Heracles fell to the ground with a thud. He wasn't moving at all. Diomedes feared the worst and flew away at high speed to get away. He had to report this. If the humans were here, then war was coming.

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