WolfLore: Vocatio Papilionis

Chapter 2

"Flower!" I screamed. "Flower- No! No no no!"

"How could you!" Luna growled at the same time.

Fallow and Sparrow's eyes were pools of grief. I almost missed what Oak said next, while I was watching them sobbing. Surely, they would now see what sort of Alpha Oak was.

"It was her own fault." Oak said smoothly. "If she hadn't got involved maybe she would still be here." He pretended to look genuinely sad, but no one except Luna and I were close enough to see the malevolence in his gaze.

"And now we will finish what we started!" He spoke up. "Papilio and Luna. You once recited the oath of ancestors to me as were you once part of this pack."

Shock. Betrayal. My heart was pounding, I knew what was coming, Luna did too.

"You betrayed your oath, you are traitors! Luna and Papilio, I hereby exile you from the Dawn Howl Pack!"

I looked around, at my mother, she was torn between loyalty to her pack, and loyalty to her pups, I looked at Sparrow, trying to comfort Fallow, but struggling to stay positive herself. And I looked at Juniper, shielding her pups from the hostility, the grief, of the past moments.

"We're going!" Luna growled. "You have proved that you are not a fair alpha! I hope in turn, that your hunters realise that to. Come on, Papilio, you heard what the alpha said." She nudged me forward.

I was lost for words. He's not my alpha anymore! I wanted to howl. I couldn't help but think about what we were leaving behind: Our mother, lost and grieving for not only her mother, but her pups, our aunt, recovering from the loss of her mother as well, while trying to keep the pack in order, and despite everything, I felt guilty about leaving Juniper, her pups still so young, trying to protect them and herself. No one deserved to live in a pack with an alpha like Oak.

Luna and I padded out of camp, side by side, one paw after another. I can't believe this was all for nothing!

Luna waited until we were far from the forest to speak her mind.

"I know what you're thinking, Papilio! You're wrong! We will come back, and we will right all the wrong that Oak caused. Oak is cruel, I know that as much as you do, but right now, we need to think for ourselves, just for the moment. We've been travelling all day to get away from the forest, and we need to eat."

"But I-"

"NO!" Luna said. "Papilio, this is all stuff we can worry about tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that! We will never stop trying to reveal the truth!"

She had a stronger argument than I did, but that's Luna for you! I had no way to argue back, I was out of ideas.

We found a small deer carcass and ate that. It was all we could do to fill our bellies; we were too tired to hunt. We passed out under the roots of a large oak tree.

How ironic. I thought, as we drifted off to sleep.

We woke up to strange wolf scents, fresh ones. Very fresh scents.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in the Night Walk Pack's territory?"

A/N: Hi guys, a bit of a short and uneventful chapter this time around. Really just a filler chapter. I promise they won't all be like this.

Thanks for understanding! I hope you have a day/night that's as awesome as you! :)

-Stormchaser1115