Mark of the Moon- The Begining

Chapter 5

   [look to the side for a picture of Jay]

   The wind ruffled my black fur as I stalked through the forest. It was my first hunt. I was responsible to drive the caribou into the three other wolves' paws. I was quiet, looking at the caribou for a moment, before leaping forward. I howled and barked at it, driving it in the opposite direction. It started, then raced across the tundra. I leapt after it, still barking loudly.

   

   Then the others sprang. The caribou let out a noisy sound as the wolves tackled it to the ground. They tore at it's throat until it stopped thrashing. It was a huge catch, the biggest they'd had in a while. I joined my new best friend, Stealth. He looked at me with admiring gaze.

  

   "Wow!" he barked. "You did it! Your first catch on your first hunt."

  

   "But you guys killed it." I reminded him. "I just barked and chased it. That was the most boring part of the hunt." I nudged the caribou on the ground. I wondered how we'll get it home.

   "Are we going to carry it?" I asked. I started to pick the heavy creature up, but Stealth shoved me an gave me a look.

  

   "Why are you doing that? We just eat it right here. We don't bring caribou back to camp."

   I stared at him, perplexed. "But... but what about the others? Don't they need to eat too? And the pups and elders?" It made no sense to only keep it for ourselves. I felt bad for the weaker wolves of the Pack. Stealth shook his large head.

   "They'll eat later. This is too large to bring back. Just eat as much as you want and we'll catch something later." Stealth buried his black head into the  caribou and ripped out a piece. He looked at me and nodded at the caribou. I tore a piece off for me and ate it. This was better than the birds by far! I tore more and more until I was stuffed. It was the first time I was full since I was a.... a what? I couldn't remember! I thought about it. Nothing came to my mind. It was as if that had never happened and I was always a wolf. I shrugged it away. I'll think of it later.

   I waited until the rest were done. They finished and we got ready to go.

   But then a howling made us turn around. A large group of wolves came running up to us. They stopped at a snow bank at the command of their leader. My Pack turned and growled at them.

   "What are you doing on our territory?" demanded their leader, a large russet colored male. "Get off immediately!"

  

   "Beyond that snowbank is our tundra!" snarled Spiral, a male wolf in my Pack. "The one who should be staying off is you!" We walked over to the other Pack and stood face to face, snarling. I snarled at a gray female wolf who stared at me with furious yellow eyes. I raised my hackles and bared my teeth to show them I'm not afraid of anything.

   "Posh!" snarled the leader. "You are only weaklings! You cannot defend your territory if your lives depend on it! And pretty soon that is whats going to happen." He took a step forward and faced Spiral. Spiral got angry and snapped at the other leader's muzzle with his teeth.

   That started the fight. Wolf jumped on wolf in a matter of seconds. I collided with the gray female. I growled threateningly at her face and snapped at her ear. She snapped back at mine. We stood on our hind legs and bite each other hard. I took my hind leg and knocked her hind legs out from under her. She fell to the ground, winded. I grasped my chance and pinned her down. I bite at her throat and got tighter until she begged for me to let go. I did and she raced off into the tundra, her neck bleeding and staining the snow. Then another attacked me from behind. I whipped around and snapped at the first thing I saw. He yelped and drew back. I snarled and reached for him. I got hold of his fur and tugged fiercely. I shoved him into the snow and growled in his face. He was already wounded badly. I let him go, knowing he wouldn't try to fight again.

   Then the Moon Pack started to clear. They fled the battle, barking defiance. My Pack howled in triumph and I howled along with them. I kicked the snow and raised my head to the sky. I howled to show I was invincible.