Puppy Paws

The Pack in the Woods

I decided not to try for 3 votes last chapter because it had been a week and no one else had voted :(
But that's okay. Here's the next chapter! Make sure to leave a comment on things I can improve or things you like! 😘

I dig furiously in the snow where I am until there is a good sized hole below me. Then I jump in it and brush snow on top of me with my snout, paws, and tail, until I can't be seen from the outside. I hope. Those eyes scared me out of my wits. They were peering through the underbrush and seemed utterly focused on me. Maybe when the owner of them sees that I'm gone they'll leave, and then I can get back to...Um...
Suddenly a sharp pang of despair pushes through my heart. Get back to what? Starving? Freezing? I can't survive out here alone. Did Master realize that when he left me?
My thoughts are interrupted by a cracking sound coming from in front of me. I hold my breath, trying not to lick my lips. My back paw twitches and some snow comes down from my covering, falling onto my behind. The cracking gets closer. There is a snuffling, like that of a dog trying to track something down.
And then I don't hear anything. I lay completely still, not wanting to miss a sound. Nothing. I tentatively lift my head from the hole and break through my covering. I look around. Just snow. Just trees. I slowly get up from my hole and shake. No sign of the eyes and no paw prints from whatever animal that was.
Then something bursts out of the trees to my right. I snap my head around and yip in surprise and then in fear!  A huge black wolf with bright, intense yellow eyes comes bounding out of the bushes and turns toward me. He moves eerily quietly. Then he starts to come closer. I spin on my paws and run. The wolf follows at an amazingly fast pace. 
I don't think I've ever run this fast before in my life. I don't think I've had a reason to.
The wolf is gaining on me. I stretch my neck out to see ahead. My paws are blurs beneath me. My breathing is labored. Still the wolf gains. And suddenly I am not touching the ground anymore! The big black wolf has me in its maw. I'm dangling by my scruff. I'm exhausted.
Everything goes black.
_________________________

I open one eye. A cozily lit room comes into focus. The den? My eye closes.
"He's awake," I hear someone say.
"Where'd ya find him, Carazo?" a different voice murmurs.
No. Not the den.
I heavily open both eyes and the cozy room swims into view. I turn my head to try to see the creatures that were talking, but my view is suddenly blocked by a woody smell and a soft leafy branch placed on me. I shake it off and heave to my feet in confusion. Where am I?
"Hello, little one," a big deep voice like Master's says from behind me.
"Master?" I whimper, whirling around. It is the wolf.
"Bah! There are no Masters here. Here there are only free dogs."
The wolf parades around the small space. The walls are made of packed dirt. The ceiling is dirt too. I look down. The floor is coated in green branches.
"W-w-where am I?" I ask, shaking from head to tail.
"Don't worry small one. I don't bite dogs. Or any animal that the pack doesn't need as a matter of fact."
"The pack?" I question. Were there more wolves?
My stomach gurgles. I haven't eaten in almost two days.
"Hungry, are you?" the wolf inquires in amusement.
"Y-yes, your highness," I reply, trying to be as submissive as possible.
"It's Carazo. Let me bring the rest of the pack in. They've probably caught something by now."
I wonder where the rest of the pack is. This is a large circular den, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere to go or to even get out. Carazo pads around me and goes over to one side of the den. He looks up.
"Lady Rosa, bring them in to meet the new one!" he barks.
There must have been a hole in the top of the den over there, because a split second later a mass of fur falls through the top and lands with a grunt on the floor. The rest of the pack follows. In a minute, the entire pack is lined up in front of me, trying to look dignified with snow in their fur and leaves in their tails. One of them has some sort of animal hanging from its jaws. Carazo  stands to the right of them.
The part that shocks me is that none of them are wolves. They are all dogs, like me.