Survivors The Path Of The Pack: Thunder's Journey

Prologue

"Sweetheart, would you please calm down?" Bolt's mother barked softly, lying on her stomach.

Bolt, a small black and tan German Shepherd puppy, sighed as her mother frowned at her. She plopped onto her rump with a wrinkle curling onto her muzzle.

Bolt's mother smiled fondly, "Thank you. There's no need to be upset–"

"Yeah!"

It was her litter brother, Snip. He had the same bushy black and tan fur, triangular ears, and mud-brown eyes.

"Yeah," he repeated, "there's no reason to be upset." In Bolt's opinion, he was a lot more stuck up than her.

"Whatever!" Bolt snapped at her litter-mate. She shuffled away from her small family to sit alone.

'We're the only family you have!' Well, I don't care! Bolt thought grumpily, I want to play, not sit here and be boring...

Bolt's mother padded over to lie down beside her. Bolt tried to move away, but her mother gently grabbed her scruff and moved her back. Snip jumped into their little pile, nearly kicking Bolt in the face.

"Watch it!" the pup snapped.

Snip rolled his eyes before comfortably plopping down between his mother's paws.

"Story!" he yipped.

"Ugh, not another one!" Bolt groaned, putting her paws on her ears to show how much she didn't want to hear another story.

The puppy's mother huffed, "Don't be so rude, Bolt. Of course, I'll tell you a story, Snip."

Bolt snorted. Whatever...

Bolt's German Shepherd mother curled her and her brother closer together. "Alright," she started, settling her head on her paws, "there was once a dog named... Lily."

"That's a stupid name," Bolt muttered, but her mother-dog and brother weren't listening.

"Lily liked to laugh and play and have fun with her siblings. But when she became a big adult dog, her parents and her litter-mates had moved on. Each going their separate ways."

"Aww, Lily's sad now, isn't she?" Snip whimpered, lowering his ears and turning his back to his mother-dog.

Bolt growled in frustration, stamping one tan paw down, "We've heard this story alr–"

"Yes, Snip," Bolt's mother-dog said softly to Snip while shooting Bolt a glare.

'Why can't you be innocent and curious like Snip?' Because I don't want to turn out stupid, lazy, and some longpaws plaything! Bolt thought in boiling fury as she curled herself into a little ball.

"Anyways, Lily went around for a while and eventually went into the forest. She went on with no specific location in mind. She was just... padding restlessly. Until finally" –Snip leaned over his sister in anticipation, though he already knew what was coming– "she came across a pack of dogs."

"Yay!" Snip yipped, dancing in a small circle.

"She hasn't finished the story yet!" Bolt growled matter-of-factually.

Snip flicked his ear at his sister, squinting suspiciously at her, "And what about miss 'I-hate-hearing- stories?' Hmm?"

Bolt stuck out her tongue and turned back to her mother. She only blinked at her. She huffed, "Well, you started the story. Now you have to finish it!"

Bolt's mother smiled and continued, "The pack of dogs were first offensive against her. Then they became calmer. And finally, they accepted sweet Lily. She had found her dogs."

Snip turned expectantly to his sister, "Now can I celebrate, you whiny puppy?"

Bolt's throat gurgled as she started to growl, but she stopped as she heard a familiar bell sound. Bolt's mother quickly climbed to her paws and started to nudge Bolt and Snip toward the sound.

"It's mealtime, my pups. The longpaws will give us food. Thank the Forest Dog," their mother barked, pushing them into the longpaws' home.

Bolt watched as her brother nuzzled a longpaws foot and as her mother sat at the foot of a wooden chair.

If I was Lily, I'd have sucked it up and stayed alone! Bolt thought in swelling pride. I'll never need a pack nor want one. I can survive on my own!