The Wolf Pack , Book 2: Island Wolf

Chapter 16: The forest

The next morning, they swam away from the island that had been their home for a short time. Snowypaw glanced back over her shoulder, viewing the island they had spent the last few months on for the last time. She felt deep sadness about the events that had happened while they where there. This was the island where they come to after losing their pack... and they had lost both her father, and one of her best friends. 

Her side hurt, still painful from the hunting disaster. She recalled the day so well... and yet it seemed like it had been ages before.  She felt much older, much more mature than she had that day.

They swam all day, and the sun began to set. Snowy glanced around nervously. She didn't feel very safe swimming at night...

"Hey, there's a big rock over there we could spend the night on," she suggested, trying to seem casual about it. To her relief, her mother nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea," Coralheart agreed. 

Star and Shadow caught some fish, which they ate, and then spread themselves out on the rock. Snowy found she was more tired than she had expected. She fell asleep almost instantly.

                          ---------Several weeks later----------

Snowy trudged tiredly up onto the beach. The sand stuck to her wet paws. She made her way over to a stone, and collapsed almost immediately. She closed her eyes and sank into a dreamless sleep almost immediately.

                        ----------Several months later-----------

Star, her mother, Snowy, and Shadow trudged through the forest. Star had gotten quite used to the routine- wake up, walk all day, stop shortly before sunset, hunt, sleep, wake up the next morning. They all were tired of it, although none of them complained. Star could feel her mother losing patience and confidence, and she secretly shared her worry-if they couldn't find a pack to join, or at least a place to stay, in the next month, well... winter was right around the bend, and the thought of traveling through unknown woods in the winter was not appealing.

She also hoped they would find a place to stay that night. The sun had almost set. Above the trees, the horizon glowed orange, pink, and blue. Star estimated they only had around an hour until darkness fell.

                     -------------

Shadow alerted them of a den a few dozen yards off to their right. Coralheart blinked, hard, several times and then spotted it too. She wondered why she hadn't seen it first. She had been staring in that direction, but all she had seen were trees and dirt. It must have just been the meager amount of light.

Coral volunteered to take the first watch. The others agreed, and Star went off to hunt while Snowy and Shadow snoozed in the den. Star returned with a dead deer. Everyone else crowded around and ate, but Star didn't seem to want any. Shadow nudged her, but she still didn't take any.

Eventually, they all settled down and went to sleep. Coral paced back and forth, squinting in the darkness. She sighed. It was a cool night, and the breeze was cool and soothing. The warm earth surrounded her like a pillow. How nice it would be to sleep....

                     -------------

Coral's eyes flew open. She was resting against the earth. She picked herself up. Had she fallen asleep on duty? She was both annoyed and embarrassed at herself. She was a wolf of three summers, not a newborn pup...!

Then she tensed. From somewhere off to the north of them, she heard a wolf's howls in the distance. It was a beautiful song, one of happiness, joy, and being whole again. What shocked her, though, was the tone. She had heard that voice, since she was a young wolf, before she had even had a mate. 

Finally, she got her senses back, and shook Snowy and Star awake. Their eyes widened. Snowy's had tears in them. Shadow was already up and staring in the direction it came from. All of them were wondering how it was possible.

"How....?" Snowy whispered.