The Things Unsaid

Chapter 1 -A sister alone-

-Mint's POV-

Her fur bristled in alarm when Juniper felt the same emotion. The two sisters had always had a special connection, closer than any other wolf had ever had. It seemed that they were two halves of the same whole in their own way. Mint sniffed the path ahead of her cautiously before leaping across the monsterway after the monsters had all passed.

Juniper yapped playfully before tackling Mint once she was across the monsterway. The two tumbled into a heap of claws, gray fur and amber eyes. Seeing as they functioned as one and the same, each wolf knew what the other was thinking. The she-wolves extricated themselves from each other and readied themselves, each one grinning wildly.

Three seconds exact passed and the sisters dug their powerful hind paws into the soft dirt to set themselves into a bounding leap to begin the race. Amber eyes carefully paced and watched each and every leaf, branch, twig, or tree trunk that passed them at their breakneck pace. Lashes of gray represented their tails steering them in the right directions.

They both rushed to a stop as they finished with a tie. Each wolf panted heavily while their lungs worked on catching the much needed oxygen that they had starved themselves of. Both wolves sides heaved, and after a moment, they brushed sides with a smile and settled for a slow walk back to the camp.

Each wolf hummed to herself quietly. Little did they know, a camouflaged hunter keeled in the grassy foliage behind them. Juniper stopped, suddenly, with her ears raised in alarm. She resembles a rabbit, of sorts, with her abnormally long ears perked to their full height. She yapped sharply and pounced on her sister, efficiently knocking her several inches away.

The gunshot rings out loudly. Mint watches, frozen from horror and fear, as a crimson blotch appears on her sister's chest, right in front of her front right leg. Juniper growls, collapses and her form convulses while the life force leaked from her. The lithe form of the hunter holds his sharpshooter in one hand while whistling to himself satisfactorily, walking over to look at her sister's body.

His eyes narrow when he sees her amber eyes glaring at him. His sharpshooter falls from his paw, onto the grass while his throat bobs nervously. A string of nonsense that probably would be curses in the human language, escape from his mouth when he grits his teeth. The hunter kneels next to the dying wolf and lays a hand on her fur, stroking it gently.

"I'm sorry," He mutters aloud while focusing on the dimming eyes of her sister. "I truly am. You looked like someone else... Farewell, and may you sleep in the stars with Lupus."

Something akin to wonder passes through the dying wolf's eyes. Juniper opens her mouth slightly, and the hunter forces his forepaw into it. She bites down, hard, with her canines, causing the hunter to grit his teeth, and his head ached severely as memories swamped him. The last wishes of the wolf swam through his mind, two simple words, three syllables. Protect her.

-Hunter's POV-

A moment after the wolf's soul had passed, he gently removed his arm from her jaw. Sadness flitted in his eyes. He was a servant of Lupus, and Lupus' sacred animal was the wolf. If he decided to turn to the Council, then he could easily be put to death. The most heinous crime you could do was to kill your patron's sacred animal.

However, there was an unspoken agreement with all wolves and men. If one was to kill a wolf, then he or she must place his or her forearm inside of the wolf's jaw, so as if to share the pain. Among lycanthrope's, anyway it was the tradition to do so with your prey. It honored their spirit, let them know they would serve a greater purpose.

The last wish of the dying beast made him think, then. Protect her, who was the her that had been mentioned? A piece of the wolf's soul, a sliver of her identity, remained in his mind. She urged him to search her memories. His heart constricted when he found that the wolf had been the Beta female. Her younger sister would take up the role now, and he guessed, with the conviction of mixed feelings from the wolf, that her sister was who he should protect.

A crunching noise to the right of him rendered him motionless. His hand clenched uncertainly, trying to decide if he should retrieve his rifle, which lay mere inches away from him. Hunter finally decided against it, and carefully looked over his shoulder. Stone growled in his mind, suddenly, to duck. Without asking questions, Hunter rolled out of the way just in time to avoid having being shredded by the razor sharp claws of a heartbroken she-wolf.

The wolf snarled at him with tear stained eyes that glistened violently. The healed puncture wounds on his arm ached suddenly, with a ferocity that surprised him. His heart fluttered somewhat and he swallowed past the lump in his throat. The she-wolf wept over the body of her sister silently, with the regalness only a wolf could hold. She licked her ear before pressing her muzzle into hers in a farewell.

The wolf seemed to glow then, in a literal sense. Her fur puffed out, her eyes blazed, ears forward and tail curled over her back. She snarled at him with teeth fully bared, hackles raised. Stone, his wolf, took this as a challenge and tried to pry his way into the control panel of Hunter's brain.

He resisted, instead watching the she-wolf warily. Hunter, not wishing to hurt another sacred animal, did the only thing he felt he could do: Surrender. He dipped his head, lowered his eyes and flattened himself to the hard, muddy ground. The she-wolf, Mint, he realized once Juniper's memories served a purpose again. The wolf seemed taken aback by his gestures.

Her eyes clouded over for a mere second, and her face looked surprised and fearful as she watched him. Hunter felt the spirit of Lupus coursing through his veins as she allowed a sliver of herself to take form inside of him. Mint cowered for a moment, and then her ears perked curiously. Her eyes rolled inside of her head, then, as Lupus told her something before whisking the piece of her, and Juniper, back to the stars. Mint collapsed with faint pants.