The True Rogue

Chapter Ten

Over the next few weeks we moved around our preferred summer rendezvous locations, watching as the pups quickly grew bigger and stronger.

They really were one of the most mischievous litters I had ever helped to raise, constantly finding new ways to get into trouble and terrorize the pack. More than once I had to be sure they actually returned home after an outing instead of starting a new adventure alone or cutting in to stop them from getting kicked by a fully grown male caribou.

As autumn steadily began to pass we were on the move consistently once more, traveling the territory as we followed the herds and reinforced our borders. At the western border I called to the shifter pack, giving the alpha a friendly greeting from across the river when he appeared before quickly moving on despite his sad gaze.

By winter the pups were traveling with us easily and come spring Apollo and Star had four more pups to care for.

Spring, summer, autumn and winter passed by steadily as I fully refocused on my pack, enjoying the simple life once again as I kept my check ins with the shifter alpha to once a moon instead and only giving a brief greeting from across the river before moving on.

As the spring of my eighteenth year arrived, so too did an incredible litter number of seven pups that kept the entire pack busy with plenty of mouths to feed. With six adults that are at least five years old plus myself, three two year olds, four yearlings and now the seven pups, the need for food was at an all time high.

Thankfully the herds were plentiful in number this year and as I have nearly reached my full size and truly am twice the size of the rest of my pack, I have been able to bring nearly full kills back to the den site as needed for Star and the pups.

As summer approaches Apollo decided to lead us to a new place more southwest, sticking near the river where one caribou herd has been calving often. We are careful to avoid most of the calves, preferring to take the sick or injured cows and are soon well-fed, happy and ready for the approaching colder months.

I often found myself drawn to the river, occasionally greeting the Alpha with my usual tail wag before slipping away but sometimes I found myself curiously sniffing around for a bit as I caught an intriguing scent of sagebrush and pine.

One night I sat at the river's edge, gazing across it into the dark trees before glancing up and staring at the full moon above for a few moments. Paw steps whispered across the ground behind me and I glanced in surprise to see Apollo trotting towards me. I stood and wagged my tail, lowering my head in respect to my Alpha even though I am double his size now.

He pressed his fur to mine affectionately and settled back on his haunches, staring across the river as I was before. I settled beside him and did the same, our ears pricked for any noises as we scented the wind.

Soon the rest of our pack slipped through the grass behind us and joined us, milling around restlessly as their Alpha just stared across the water. Sudden crunching caught our attention and we watched as five large wolves slipped from the trees, padding to the water and side eyeing us curiously as they quenched their thirst.

Two more stepped from the trees then and they were even larger than the others, one in a coat of reddish brown fur that I recognized as the alpha. The other was a gorgeous deep russet red color with darker reddish brown markings along its ears, neck, back and tail with a tan underbelly.

The alpha and the red wolf strode to the water's edge, the other wolves greeted them submissively with wagging tails but their eyes were fixed on us with curiosity. The wind carried their scents towards us and I smelt that same intriguing sagebrush and pine scent from before and perked up a bit.