The Woodlands

Chapter 1

Jasper

The sun peaked out over the horizon, ready to wake all the sleeping Woodland wolves. The early morning air was cool and crisp. The sky a cheerful blue. Birds sang happily in the swaying trees. It was a perfect day in the Woodlands. Jasper and a few of his friends were already up and out hunting.

"You take the left," Jasper whispered to one of his best friends, Alex. "Nick, you take the right." He took the middle. He stalked the deer and focused. Jasper, Alex and Nick were the youngest and best hunters in the pack. His pulse was drumming in his ears as he edged forward in complete silence. The deer's head shot up and he froze. Jasper could feel it, the deer was about to run. Using the telepathy Makar his uncle, the Alpha, taught him he could tell them to attack. So he did. Now! he projected.

They all lunged at exactly the same time. The deer turned and tried to run but they were swift and it was an easy kill. Together they dragged the carcass back to the pack. When they showed it to Alpha, he only seemed mildly impressed.

As if he could do better, he thought to himself as walked back to his den. His den was the one on the left Alex's den. One of the closest ones to the Alpha's. Ever since alpha turned six he was less friendly. Jasper didn't know why, but honestly, he didn't care about it. It was just one of those things that catch but never give a second thought to.

When he got back to his den, he found his mother awake and sitting like a guard outside of the entrance to the den. His mother's name was Venus. She used to be in the Woodland guard. As a matter of fact she was, right before she met Jared, Nero's personal guard.

Jared was Jasper's father. He was Nero's youngest brother. He was fighting in a recent war against the Wolves of the Cloudy Mountains when he was killed by a human. The humans eventually drove the Cloudy Mountains Wolves away which ended the war.

The den was quiet and the only sound was the the soft breathing of Jasper's two younger sisters, Terra and Grace. Seeing them made him a little more calm and so he laid down next to them. He could feel his eyelids getting heavy, and with that, he slipped into a dream.

It was a normal morning and he was walking to Alex's den to get him up to go hunting. The dim grey light of dawn hung in the air. When he got to Alex's den however, there was a shift.

It seemed to suddenly get colder and quieter. When he walked up to entrance he stepped in a puddle of something. He looked at his paw, it was covered in blood.

Oh no, he thought as he walked in. The walls of the den were glistening with blood. That's when he saw the bodies of Alex and his parents. Just then the edges of his vision became blood red. He slowly turned around.

There standing in the doorway was Nero. His white fur was stained dark red with blood. His eyes had a murderous gleam in them. He had a devilish smile on his face.

"Hello nephew," he said in a strangely dark tone. "I always knew it would come to this." Nero laughed a little. "You foolish cub," he spat. Then without warning Nero lunged at Jasper.

Jasper woke with a start. He saw Terra and Grace staring at him with startled expressions. He took a deep breath.

"Same nightmare again?" Venus asked caringly from outside.

"Yeah," Jasper replied going out to sit next to his mother.

"You really need to get that taken care of," she said.

"But how?"

"Talking to people about it."

"Then they'll think I'm crazy."

"Find someone who won't think you're crazy."

"Hmm, I'll think about it. But right now I think it's about time to eat, " Jasper said turning to Grace and Terra who had started to calm down. "I bet I can beat you there."