Shadows of wolves

Chapter 4

I woke next to the river. All seemed peaceful, birds in the trees singing their morning songs. I still found this place strange compared to the north. The trees where taller, more birds of all sorts and it was much warmer. I stretched and stood up lazily. I was in no hurry to go back to the pack.

The sun shone through the forest making me want to lay back down and sleep. My stomach growled in protest to the thought. I ran lightly back to the pack clearing, there was no point in delaying longer.

I slunk quietly into the clearing, going straight over to my brother. The other wolves were sleeping still, but I knew that Thunder would be awake. "Sister you return," he spoke turning to look at me. "What has brought you from your loneness?" it was not an insult.

"hunger and wonder," I answered, sitting in front of him. "do you also find living in a pack strange?" Thunder made a deep growling, coughing sound.

He was laughing? "Yes sister it is strange, but it is also comforting,  every member looks out for each other. We are like that of a family in a pack, no longer wanderers." It was the most content I had seen him in my life. Maybe this was the best place to be, around other wolves that watch your back and only ask you do the same for them.

"Shall I wake the others to prepare a hunt?" I said wanting to change the subject. My brother nodded his head before standing up. Talia who was sleeping pressed to Thunder woke up immediately. She stood and rushed to Thunder's side. I woke up Storm and Cara, both rose and followed me over to Thunder, who'd already woken Skylar and Rex.

My brother left the two older wolves to take care of our territory and to remark it again. I was to go hunting with Cara and Storm, while Thunder and Talia took watch on the borders. We headed south-east to rich grazing grounds where herds of elk and deer where fat and slow. It took a fair amount of time to reach the grounds, but when we did it was a wonderful sight for any hungry carnivore.

There where at least five different herds spread out on the grazing plain in front of me, every animal was fat and most does had a young fawn jumping around them. I had seen elk and deer before but not in such great a number in one place. the grazing grounds was a large plain with high green grass. to our backs and left side was the forest and in front and to the right was open plains that led to the mountains. I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of snow peas as well as the scent of the herds. Time to hunt.

"There is an elder deer over there that is laying down. Storm cut it off from the rest of the herd as soon as we are in position, make as much nose as you can so the herd thinks there are more of you. Cara wait to the right of the deer and when I startle it, it will be up to you to get a hold of it, if you can't then case it towards the woods and away from it's herd," I ordered the sisters. Both understood what they were to do and stalked away craftily.

I gave the deer a wide berth and spied where Cara was waiting. I stuck to the darker coloured grasses, moving in on the deer. I was ten meters away when I heard Storms snarls and howls, spreading the startled herd quickly. Or target pick it ears on in storms direction giving me enough time to close the distance greatly making it spring up and head in Cara's direction, it's attention on me as I chased it.

Right on call Cara jumped on the deer but she couldn't pull it down. She had a grip on the deer's shoulder and held on tight as it tried to get her off while running, but it only slowed itself down. I raved up on the left side of it and jumped at the deers throat, success. I broughtmy jaws down hard on it's throat, crushing the wind pine. Cara let go and quickly jumped out of the way as the deer came down.

Storm loped over to us, her tongue lolling out of her mouth happily. "It is easier with another wolf hunting with us," she said settling down to eat with us. I got first bite at the deer, so I tore at the flesh of it's shoulder. The taste filled my mouth and made my stomach growl.

~~

After we ate until a were full we dragged and hid the carcase in a hollow, under a tree, we ran lazily back to our pack boarders, it was nice to run freely with other wolves. I spoke with the sister as we ran, they were Skylar and Rex's only surviving daughters, they had five brothers worth their own packs spread far away in the east and west, Talia was not related to them at all, their mother had found her and adopted her in the spring. They themselves were three cycles old, but liked to remain with their parents.

I told then of the short time I had lived in this world and what dangers I had already faced a well as the misfortune my dead siblings met. they listened to my story intently and expressed their happiness of me and my brother's arrival into their pack. they did not give sympathy for my dead siblings because there was no reason to mourn those they didn't know, had they given sympathy it would be hollow and make me seem weak for accepting it. I was starting to understand their ways of speaking.

Time seemed to have slipped away and we reached the den before I knew it. our pack elders were sleeping again, but Thunder and Talia were still gone. We woke Rex and told him where the carcase was hidden. He woke Skylar and trotted off in the direction we had come from.

I was about to slink off again when Storm called me over and invited me to sleep next to them. I would be hunting with these wolves for a long time and if I understood them better than we would be stronger as hunters and as a pack. Stayed and slept in between the sisters and I remembered sleeping like this with Thunder and Snow as well as our siblings as pups, curled up at our second mother's side. I closed my eyes and just before I drifted off to sleep I also remembered how long the days in the north went for in the summer and it was the opposite in the winter, it wasn't like that here, strange.