The Packs of the Arctic Circle

Chapter Three: Darkmoon

(A/N Hope you enjoy this chapter!)

*one week later*

  Shadow sighed, rolling around in the mossy nest. "Hold still or you might hurt yourself," a white wolf huffed sitting a little ways away. "Aurora, I'm fineee," Shadow whined. The she-wolf rolled her eyes. "You had quite a fall. I don't know if you should be moving around so much."

    "Really, I'm okay. Can't I just walk around?", he begged, staring up at Aurora. Aurora bent down, sniffing Shadow. "Very well." Shadow jumped up with a triumphant howl, charging out of the den and into the open cave. Glances were cast from around the cave. "So, there's the little pup we rescued," said a voice from behind Shadow.

  He whirled around to see a large grey wolf with piercing blue eyes staring down at Shadow. He puffed out his chest, falling backwards on his haunches in the process. "I'm not little at all! I've taken down huge snow hares before!", Shadow boasted. The larger wolf chuckled.

   "Wonderful- you'll make a great addition to our pack. My name is Storm, the alpha of the Darkmoon pack. What is your name, pup?", the grey wolf barked. "My name is Shadow! Do you know where my friend Hazel is?", Shadow said, staring around. "You got her too, didn't you?", Shadow asked, concern in his eyes. Storm shook his head. "I'm sorry, Shadow. The only wolf we found was you. I'm sure your friend is looking for you right now though."

   Shadow sighed, tail drooping slightly. "Don't worry little pup," a new voice piped up, with an accent much different than a wolves. Shadow turned, then gasped. "A fox!", he woofed, in awe. "I thought foxes were evil!!", Shadow said, both fear and awe tingling through his body.

   The brown fox snorted, his yellow eyes gleaming, not with anger, but with amusement. "We're not all bad. I happen to be the beta of the pack, mind you. Name's Dusty," the fox barked. Shadow dipped his head to both the alpha and the beta, respect and excitement filling his body. "At least he's got some manners," Dusty said, licking a paw.

   "He's a natural born pack member," said Storm, eyes gleaming with approval. "Let's show him around, and get him something to eat." Shadow bounced excitedly, all of his worries forgotten and put behind him.

     After being shown around, Shadow was worn out, but full of excitement. He'd always dreamed of being part of a pack! Sure, being with Hazel and their mothers were fun, but this was awesome! He'd be able to run on the hunt with his packmates, chasing down prey and enemies. After the hunt, he could eat in the cave with his new friends, chatting about fighting moves. The thoughts filled him with joy and excitement, and soon he didn't even feel tired anymore.

   A wolf walked up to him, setting down a rabbit. The wolf was about Shadow's size, and was brown and white with deep green eyes. "Hey, you must be the new recruit everybody's talking about. My name's Haze, what's yours?", the wolf said, tilting his head.

   "My name's Shadow," Shadow said, taking a bite of the rabbit. "I'm a trainee. And judging by your size, I'm sure you'll be made a trainee soon, too," Haze said, swallowing his bite. "That'll be awesome!", Shadow said. He tilted his head, thinking for a moment. "What do trainees do?"

  Haze licked his lips. "Well, we get trained by our trainers. We practice hunting, and fighting, and running- and sometimes we even practice climbing the Tree. If we're lucky, sometimes our trainers take us out on patrols or missions." "Woah," Shadow woofed. "What's the Tree? Is it just a... tree?", he asked Haze.

   "Kind of... the Tree is the tree in front of the cave. It protects us, provides food and shelter, and it's great for sharpening your claws for battle- and playing on. Some of the older wolves say that it's 'sacred', but I doubt it," Haze explained.

    The two chatted for a while more, but soon it was time to sleep. Shadow was sent to sleep with the other pups, Loki, Apple, and Ebony, who were friendly, but talked too much. Soon the other pups were asleep, curled up next to Shadow. He let out a long sigh, snuggling closer to the pups. As he drifted off to sleep, the thought of Hazel never even crossed his mind.

(A/N I hope you all liked this chapter! It'll get more exciting soon, I promise, lol. Remember to:

VOTE, COMMENT, AND RECOMMEND THIS STORY TO OTHERS.)