*Rated T for zaidi mature content, some sexual references are mentioned, wewe are warned!*

Kate woke Humphrey at the crack of dawn as promised and then she fell back to sleep; the night had been full of mixed dreams and emotions about mating and she had not slept well.

Humphrey ate a quick breakfast and got everything he needed ready for the day's hunting lesson with Garth. He walked to the mouth of the cave where the golden hues of sun were beginning to glimmer on the rim of the eastern ukuta of the valley. He looked back at Kate peacefully sleeping, her eyes closed, her body moving with every breath she inhaled. He smiled, looking at her while she slept made him remember how beautiful his mate was, and how they would always be perfect for one another. He turned and left the cave as the first rays of sun began to peak over the eastern rim, maybe he would be the one waking Garth today!

When he got to the pango of his brother and sister in laws he found Garth already prepared and about to leave. "Why Humphrey you're on time! I didn't even have to come and get you!" "Yes Kate woke me but she went back to sleep, tossed and turned all night, been a lot on her mind lately," Humphrey said. "What's nagging at her?" Garth questioned, "you know, just the usual girl stuff, why?" "Oh because..." he dropped his voice to a quiet whisper, "Lilly's been doing the same thing, asked me last night when we would be having pups and making a family!" "What?" Humphrey exclaimed quietly, "Kate is doing the same except I don't know anything about mating and have no idea what to do!" Garth was taken back, "you can't be serious Humphrey! All of us handsome Mbwa mwitu loups know how to do it!" Humphrey glared at him and cleared his throat, "I'm an Omega, we are not really supposed to know that sort of stuff," he alisema darkly. "Oh I'm sorry, forget that sometimes, listen I'm going to take wewe to see my Dad, he knows all about that stuff!" With that the two left the pango and headed for Tony's.

Tony was a complicated mbwa mwitu in a lot of ways. Mysterious and feared kwa even some of the members of his pack. Tony was rough and crusty around the edges most of the time but deep down he had a moyo of gold; part of which was transferred over to his prodigal son Garth. He had raised Garth from puppy hood, trained and taught him everything he knew. Early in his life Tony and his mate were separated kwa a horrible accident while hunting. Tony never told Garth about the fate of his mother; he knew that he would soon have to do it. Tony as well as Winston knew that he was in fact not getting any younger. He is about 3 years older than Winston; and zaidi then ever he feels the weight of a lifetime worth of fighting, hunting, and leading a very large pack on his aging body. The disc in his back was messed up when Tony tried to jump over a coolly after a fleeing caribou and he had fallen and twisted it making it pop out; now the disc would pop in and out of place whenever it liked. A twig snapped; Tony turned his head toward the opening of his den. Humphrey and Garth were standing at the entrance.

Tony cleared his throat, "my boys! what brings wewe here on this fine autumn morning? I thought Humphrey needed to learn how to hunt Garth?" "Well he does but he came here to ask wewe about something else," alisema Garth. "Sir..." Humphrey spoke a little louder "I was going to ask wewe about mating, Kate wants pups and I have no idea what I have to do?" Tony's eyes widened and a sly grin etched itself onto the corners of his mouth. "You really want to know do you?" Tony asked him gruffly, Humphrey nodded smiling too. "Okay I'll explain it to wewe then!"

What followed was a clear explanation on the mating ritual and how Humphrey was to do it. He listened intently to everything Tony alisema to him. "Now do wewe have any questions?" Tony asked, "it ain't easy at first trust me, wewe never manage to make the goal the first time, wewe will try multiple times before wewe are successful. Mbwa mwitu loups have actual "mating seasons" which come only once a mwaka and depending on the nature of Kate it could happen any time." "But what if I miss it?" Humphrey asked. The old mbwa mwitu chuckled, "believe me kid, you'll know when it happens!" Humphrey laughed a little too, he never understood how easy mating would be; he never had anyone but Tony to tell him. "The disc in my back is beginning to howl at me so right now I'd fancy a nap, wewe boys better get on with hunting lessons, I think we are going to be in for a possible famine winter kwa the looks of it." Tony then nodded his head and retreated back into the depths of his den.

The siku continued with another successful siku of hunting lessons but the word 'famine' that Tony had mentioned in the pango had bothered him. What did it mean exactly? Even Garth did not know that answer. Whatever it was it concerned him and he would ask Kate that night when he returned home.