Mark of the Moon- The Begining

Chapter 2

The bright moon disappeared and dawn replaced it. I stared at the beautiful sunset as the sun rose into the sky. I sighed. It was less beautiful as a wolf, I thought.  

I got up and walked to the edge of the forest. I looked at my house for the last time, then turned and walked away. I had no use here now. I was better off wild in the forest along with other wolves. I crunched through the snow and deeper into the deiduous forest. I sniffed the air again. I scented them close. 

I walked and stopped in a clearing. Then they appeared. But this time River appeared with another dog. A black dog with a white underbelly. She stared at him with big, wise eyes. River told her something in her ear. Sne nodded and looked back at me. 

"I was told you are Jay Bird. A lone wolf who claims to be a human." she barked. 

"Yes, but my name is Jay. I am a loner, but I wish to join your Pack. Forgive me, but who are you?" I dipped my head. 

"I am Sky, the female leader of the Pack." she growled. 

"So are you?" asked River. 

"What?" I asked. 

"Joining? Are you joining our Pack or not?" River started to get annoyed. Sky nodded to show that she was okay with me joining. I already had the awnser on my tounge. 

"Yes, I am." I barked.  

"But let me warn you," Sky interrupted. "You will be an outsider until the Pack trusts you. You wil not be allowed on any hunting parties until I say, and when you do, you will get the least ammount of meat. It will be a hard time." 

I was ready to take that challenge. "I accept. Thank you so much for your kindness." Sky blinked warmly. 

"We're always looking for new members." she said. "Let's go back now. River, lead us to the Pack."

River nodded and started running into the forest. Sky ran after him and I followed. Every once and a while she looked back to see that I was still there. River stopped and Sky did also. I scrambled to a stop and gazed at what was ahead of me. Wolves were everywhere. Pups, elders, a pregnant female wolf, and the adults. They all turned to stare at us as they entered the clearing. 

"Pack! Join here to listen to my speak!" Sky called together. The Pack slowly started to gather around her. "We welcome a new wolf today! Jay will be joining us in our hunts and he will be a great wolf to have with us. But first he must go through the entering process. He will be excluded from hunts until I say. Judge him well, but no fighting. Thank you." 

The Pack started murmuring and some of the wolves even snapped at me whenever I got up. I stared at them, some sort of afraid of their power. I flattened my ears as they split up and walked away. Bird walked up to me.  

"Well, look who decided to join." she barked. 

"Yeah. Do you need to snap at me too?" I growled. "Go ahead. I might as well get used to it." 

"Nah. I don't really feel like it right now. Stop being such a grumpy tick. Besides, not every wolfwill be nasty to you. Just those jerks who wander around here." Bird turned her head and growled at a rusty colored male wolf.  

"Wow. Thanks." 

"Let me show you where you'll be sleeping for a while." Bird got up and walked off towards a droopy willow. I followed her and looked at it. "Here. Just.... just stay below the branches. This will be your den for a while." I nodded and slunk to the ground. I dug a hole in the snow to make a nest. 

"Thanks. Where are you sleeping?" I asked. 

"Over there." She pointed to a large grassy area where lots of other wolves were. Bird looked back at me. "Good luck here. It's going to be a hard moon to go through." 

"Moon?" he asked. 

She looked at me funny, then she remembered something. "Oh yeah, you used to be a 'human.' Well... it's the process that the moon goes through. A full moon to no moon in the sky, then full again. You know." 

"Oh, I get it. It's a month, sort of." 

Bird shrugged. "I guess. Well, bye." She turned and walked off. She joined a white female wolf and started talking to her. They sometimes looked at me when they spoke. They were right. I do feel like an outsider. I feel worse than when I was at school.  

School... will they notice I was gone? Will my family notice? I'm sure they will if they didn't already. Pretty soon they will come look for me. Sarah must've told them, but what if they don't believe her? What will happen if they did? They will probably send me to a science lab to be tested on. I will probably have millions of little needles stuck in me before they could ask what my name was. 

"Excuse me?"  

I looked up at a female wolf. She was stunningly beautiful- her blue eyes, her soft gray and white fur, and her small, delicate paws. I looked at her as she started to speak. 

"What is your spirit name? Me and my friend were wondering." 

"Er... spirit name?" he asked.

"It's the name that separates you from other wolves. All wolves have one, wether your a Pack wolf or not. Mine is Aqqic, and my name that you can call me is Ice." She blinked her eyes, waiting for a reply. I thought fast. 

"Nunnak." I said. "My spirit name is Nunnak. I was named after my father's littermate." 

"That's a beautiful name. What does it mean?" 

"Er... I wasn't told. My mother died when I was a pup, and my father abadoned me. I became a loner after that." I lied to her. She gazed at me with sympathetic eyes.  

"That's so sad." she barked softly."I've got to go now. Good-bye." She got up and walked back to a gray wolf. Ice told her my name. I felt a little guilty, lying to her like that. But I didn't have a 'spirit name.' 

You have one now.