Ice Wolf

The Alfa (4)

Kummatz growls and his ears flatten against his head. His nose scrunches up and he bares his teeth. He arches his big black body, fur spiking along the ridge of his back.

I am extremely terrified when he lunges at me, his huge wolf body smashing into mine. I fall into the snow, it's cold biting into my skin. But in that moment I wish it were only the snow that was biting my skin.

Kummatz's dagger-like teeth pierce my flesh, and I can already feel the warm blood rushing out of my arm.

I let out a wail and try to push him off, all of my strength going into pushing this huge wolf off of me.

And then my strength isn't needed. Kummatz's weight is no longer on me. I open my eyes, which I hadn't realized were closed until now, and look to see why Kummatz isn't attacking me anymore.

I see Senara and Kummatz in a tooth-and-claw battle. Senara is on top of Kummatz, biting his neck and struggling to hold him down.

I jump up and look around, my eyes laying on a tree branch lying in the snow. I snatch the branch up just as Kummatz overtakes Senara and they bite, growl, claw, and lunge at eachother.

I can hear Triumph's frightened whinnies behind me, but my mind is rushing so fast it seems it will fall out of my head.

I swing the stick and hit Kummatz smack in the head, giving Ara the opportunity she needs. Senara repeatedly attacks Kummatz until he finally scampers away.

I rush over to Senara to examine her, checking to see how serious her injuries are. She is bleeding badly along the ridge of her back, and she has some long scratch marks on her neck. Her leg appears injured, possibly broken.

She doesn't seem fazed by the wounds, and she immediately starts licking my arm.

I Stand up and walk over to Triumph, thankful that the branch he is tied to didn't break. I untie him and lead him over to Senara.

She whimpers as I lift her onto the horse's back. Although she is heavy, I somehow manage to set her over Triumph's rump and then mount up in front of her.

The ride back is long and painful. My arm starts hurting almost immediately and I can hear Ara whining behind me.

When we finally reach the cottage, I realize that I didn't think this over very well. Who knows how my parents will react to me bringing a wolf home.

I think over all of my options:

I could hide her in the barn and attempt to fix her wounds myself.

I could hide her in the barn and tell my older sister, Maria and see if she could heal her.

I could tell my parents and have my mom fix her.

Then I think of all of the problems to the options.

I have no idea what I'm doing, and would most likely kill her trying to fix her.

I don't know if I can trust Maria to not tell, plus, I don't know if she can heal her.

My parents might freak out and my dad would probably shoot her.

I sigh, trying to decide which option is least risky. Every possibility has a high chance of her dying, but I should probably just tell Maria and ask her to help. The problem with that is, I don't know how well I can keep a secret. I hate lying, and would hate even more to break my parent's trust.

Despite my gut feeling, I decide to just tell my parents. Hopefully they will understand.

I slide off of Triumph and help Senara down. I struggle to carry her to the barn, lying her in a pile of hay.