A she-wolf was giving birth. One of her pups looked like the moon had come down from the sky and was in its fur. She didn't name it, because it would always be a weak pup, never fitting in. It would be called the Watcher. She immediately moved it over to the coldest spot, making sure her two other pups were warm. Hopefully it would die overnight.
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The wolf's eyes were wide with panic, the ground flying under her feet. Her fur glistened with sweat; and her sides heaved.
They were coming.
The men's shouts were harsh in her ears. The wolf knew the valleys and mountains better than the men, but that didn't help her.
She knew this valley was a dead end.
Pebbles fell down from above, causing her to look up. Another wolf was keeping pace above her, and it was running as fast as it could. The Watcher.
Then she stumbled.
A bolt of blinding pain shot up her damaged shoulder as the wound stretched and tore.
But still she ran on.
A falling rock smashed her in the face, putting a large gash there. It would definitely scar. She took a moment to realise that she had stopped, dazed, at the jagged cliff edge.
There were heavy footsteps behind her.
Too heavy to be her beloved Watcher.
She looked up in time to see the butt of a gun smashing her in the head.
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The Watcher saw it all happen. So many of their pack had gone missing; going out, and never returning. Now, the pack was afraid of going out of their dens to even get a drink from the stream.
The men were putting the wolf into the back of their car. The Watcher gazed on as the car drove along a road until it disappeared from view. They had better not hurt the wolf.
Because that wolf was her sister.
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Shaena woke, her head pounding and her shoulder aching. Her muscles screamed in protest as she lifted her head. Harsh white light blinded her for a moment. She stared, shocked. Some of the missing wolves were in cages around her.
And some...
And some...
She looked away.
Some were simply skins on the wall, sightless glass eyes staring, unblinking, for all eternity.
Tears filled her eyes, making the cut on her face sting as the salty tears ran into it. She hoped that the Watcher, her Watcher, would find them soon.
Before it was too late.
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The Watcher tore down the side of the mountain. She raced along, the gravel harsh on her paws. The car was a good 3 hours ahead, but she would not fail her sister.
She would save her this time.
The Watcher came to a halt, her heart breaking as she remembered trying to save her mother, Mayna, and other sister Timal, trying to warn them that the ice was fragile and close to breaking. But her mother told her that her job was to do as her name said: to watch. And so the Watcher could only watch helplessly as her sister stepped onto the ice.
And the ice broke.
Her sister was swept under the ice, her howl cut off as the freezing water closed over her head.
Her mother had blamed herself, dying a few days after. The grief in Shaena's eyes had never completely faded away.
And the Watcher became like Shaena's guardian angel.
And if anything happened to her... She would only have herself to blame.
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The men had stitched up her wounds. They still stung, but at least she wasn't bleeding. They had also given her some bitter tasting water, and a small scrappy piece of meat which was days old.
She ate it anyway.
One of the wolves had gone overnight. Shaena put her head down on her paws.
She was so tired.
She heard one of the men say, 'That one isn't going to make any money. No-one in their right mind would buy her. She would make more money as a pelt.'
She briefly wondered what they were talking about before the darkness of sleep overcame her.
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The Watcher sensed, rather than heard, the human who was sitting outside the building. The smell of wolf was overpowering. All the Watcher needed to do was get inside.
The man didn't have time to react before the Watcher smashed into him, toppling him to the ground.
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Shaena awoke strapped to a table; a thin, snaking cord in her arm. Struggling, she looked around. She froze. The men were talking. One had a knife in his hand. The table smelt of fear, and blood.
Oh no.
Before she could react, the man with the knife turned to her and turned the drip on.
Darkness claimed her just before the knife touched her pelt.
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One of the doors was open, the light almost blocking her view. But the Watcher could see enough to fill her with sadness and rage.
So much rage.
She must have growled, as the men were turning around. She lept onto the closest one, and her thoughts were only on what they had done to her sister.
Kill.
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After freeing the other wolves from their cages, the Watcher went back to her sister.
She was still slightly warm.
The Watcher threw back her head and howled about her grief, her loss, the unfairness of her life.
That she should have died instead of Shaena.
She howled until the sun rose, and her voice was too sore to keep going. Then she got up and walked away.
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The white wolf was stunning. Pure white fading to grey at the ends of it's fur; it's breath clouding in front of it's face.
Absolutely beautiful.
It was the one that they were looking for.
A movement behind the wolf told the girl that they were in position. She lowered the binoculars from her face.
Such a pity to kill it. But it had to pay.
It had killed her father, after all.
