A Golden Hope (a wolf pack story)

Day 1: Part 3

     Oh Lupus. I chased that rabbit further than I thought, and it swamps me now. The smell of another pack. I'm in Limpter territory. The smallest pack in the Woods, Limpter's eager to defend what's left of their land. And standing right in front of me is one of their wolves.

     "Are you alright?" she asks again, but I'm too distracted to answer. This wolf is little, but finely-muscled, and a very curious colour. Cream, with the slightest tinge of pink, or maybe orange. And pale eyes. She's definitely up in the ranks.

     "Yes, I'm fine," I finally say, "and I'm really sorry to intrude; it was a mistake. I'll be going now." I start limping away as quick as I can, but the wolf runs in front of me. "Wait!" Great. She's going to take advantage of my weakened state and kill me for trespassing. "Please," I say, and a note of pleading creeps into my voice. "I just chased a rabbit too far, I didn't realize where I was, and I-"

     "I'm not going to hurt you." The wolf cocks her head at me, and then sits down and curls her tail around her paws. After a moment, I sit down, too. "What?"

     "Really! I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I'm Limpet, by the way." A little shell for a little wolf. "Who're you? And what happened to your leg?"

     "Holstin. I tripped on a rabbit hole. It's nice to meet you, Limpet. " Suddenly, a thought dawns on me. "Wait. Limpet of Limpter? So you're-"

     She nods, perhaps a little shyly. "Yep. Alpha's pup."

     "Wow." Talk about not worthy. "Should I even be talking to you? And why are you out here by yourself? Shouldn't you be, like, leading a party or something?" Limpet flicks her ears, glances behind her. "Of course you can talk to me, and I was. Leading a party. I sent them on ahead when I heard you yelp. I wanted to see what had happened and the betas can be...less than accommodating."

     "Meaning they would've attacked me," I guess, and she nods. "You know how it is. Low pack, high tensions."

     "Yeah. Well." I stand up slowly, wincing at my leg. "Thanks for checking on me and all, but I should be going, and you probably should be, too." It's not her that's the problem, I just didn't expect to meet anyone so soon in my adventure. And I can't help but worry those betas will come back.

     "Don't be silly," Limpet says, looking at me with close to a pitying expression. "You're not going anywhere on that leg." That's true enough.

     "Hey," Limpet continues. "Did you end up catching that rabbit?"

     "What?" I say. "Oh, no. It got away when I tripped." She hops up, suddenly all energy. "You stay right there and rest that leg. I'll get you something to eat."

     "Really? You don't have to. And what about your pack?" My worries don't seem to be shared by Limpet; she's already striding off. "They won't miss me. See you in a bit, Holstin!" She hops over my fallen log, and her white tail is the last I see of her before it whips out of sight. With nothing else to do, I limp back over to my log and lie down, facing the direction Limpet's gone.

     Maybe this beginning isn't so bad after all. I've made a friend, I think. And she'll be back.