WolfLore: Vocatio Papilionis

Chapter 1

7 moon cycles passed, not much happened except Oak being his cruel self.

Juniper soon gave birth to a litter of his pups, Squirrel, and Mouse. The Pack slowly returned to its usual routine, we did the daily patrols of our territory and we kept hunting for our meals. But while the pack was so quick to forget our father and siblings' death, Luna and I were not. Even Fallow was recovering from it, she was just as happy as Sparrow, or Oak, when Juniper's pups were born.

But we can hardly blame the pups! I kept telling myself. The pups were innocent, and yet, I looked into their eyes from across the clearing and see the cold, amber eyes of Oak.

I always tried to distract myself from it. They were just pups; how could they do any wrong? But I couldn't help but have a feeling that something was going to happen.

Luna came to me one night, she looked me in the eye. Her gaze was full of sadness and pain.

"Papilio- I-I can't do this anymore!" She sobbed and threw herself at my chest. I didn't know what to say, we just sat and sobbed together, under the trees, in the clearing. If only we could see the stars better! Unless... maybe we can!

"Look here," I whispered to Luna. "I might just have an idea. Follow me!" I beckoned.

We padded out of the camp, into the lush forest. We continued to walk through our territory until we reached the edge of the forest. Out here, there are giant rocks, that stretch out for almost the whole length of the forest. Out here, you could see the stars.

"I'm not sure about this Papilio," Luna stated. "We're still only 7 moon cycles, we shouldn't be so far away."

I could see why she was worried, if we got in trouble, who knew what Oak would do to us? Well- It's only Oak's rule that pups shouldn't stray from the Dawn Ledge until they're 10 moon cycles old. It's not like it's in the Wolf Lore.

I told Luna that too.

"He can't stop us from watching the stars. After all, our brothers are up there, and so is our father!" I squeaked. "And, listen, if we get in trouble, I'll take the blame." I smiled; Luna's eyes glowed mischievously.

"Ha! Sure! Like I'd let you get all the blame for such a heinous act against his mighty Alpha-ness!" Luna giggled.

I laughed to. I never thought I would laugh about Oak, but here I was. It made me feel relaxed and care-free at the time, knowing that, for once, Luna was happy. I didn't think that I had seen her smile since the incident.

It was relieving, sitting under the stars, not worrying about Oak being a harsh, forbidding leader. Just us, two sisters watching the sky and imagining a kind life.

We didn't go back to the clearing until morning. We hoped to be able to sneak in without being noticed while everyone was asleep, or at least Oak.

But- no- the Starry Skies Pack was not on our side that morning.

"And where have you been!" Oak growled from Dawn ledge, he spat out the word 'you' like it was a rotten piece of prey.

"We went out hunting." I lied.

"LIARS!" His eyes glowed with rage. "You were out of CAMP!"

"And why would we be in trouble for that?" I queried, deliberately trying to annoy Oak.

"MY RULE SAYS SO!"

"What rule? The one that says we aren't allowed outside of camp? Where does it say that in Wolf Lore?"

Grrrrrrr. Oak's eyes seemed to flame up. I was generally scared at this point. Maybe I took it too far. But I kept going.

"Strong never forbade us from leaving. If we wanted to leave the camp, we were allowed to when we were 5 moon cycles!" This was an attempt of calming, but as you can guess, it obviously riled him up more.

"Strong is no longer YOUR ALPHA! I AM! You know what, if you think Strong was such a good alpha, maybe you can join him!" Oak paced towards us, eyes pools of rage, teeth snarling and ready to fight.

Then he leaped. Luna and I cowered against each other. Everyone came to watch the spectacle as I closed my eyes. I waited for the searing pain, the feeling of teeth in my throat, but it never came.

I opened my eyes. What I saw was horrific, Oak's teeth were stained with blood. Who took the blow! It took me a while to identify the bloodied body in front of us. When I did, I froze. Grief filled my mind; fear took over my body and I froze.

It was Flower. Flower took the death bite and saved mine and Luna's lives.