Through a Wolf's Eyes

Chapter Three - Trapped

I killed him.

I don't know how long I stood there, hoping for the slightest hint of movement. For the red wolf to get up on his paws, shake his blood-coated fur and breathe. But there was nothing. He was dead, and I am responsible for it.

Howling in the distance shook me out of my thoughts. There was no time to waste, so I forced my shaking paws to stumble forwards. I grit my teeth when I felt my strained and tired muscles, once again reminding me of the act I had just committed.

I am so sorry, I thought as I passed the lifeless body of the red wolf. If there is a next life, I will definitely repay you. As I slipped through the undergrowth, I allowed myself to look back one more time, before dashing off to proceed this seemingly never ending chase.

I had almost reached the pack's borders when a lone, resonant howl filled the air of the forest. It was a mourning howl; the pack must have found their fellow wolf. Shame took over my mind, almost forcing me to turn back and receive the punishment I knew I deserved. But I kept running, since it was what I always seemed to do.

When I finally crossed the border, I sniffed the air for any sign of the rogues. When I scented nothing, I figured that they were still busy with going around the territory. Finally, after five days of non-stop running, I had managed to create some distance between us.

Unfortunately, I could not stop for too long to celebrate. I was still injured and exhausted, if I were to dawdle for too long, the rogues would easily gain on me again.

The sun had already started to set, and I was becoming wary. My senses had returned for the most part, but they were still weakened because of my physical state. Staying out in the open during the night would be too risky, so I had to find some sort of shelter. I slowed down a bit, and kept my eyes open for an abandoned badger's den, or a cave, or at least something that would keep me out of sight.

The sun had now completely gone under, and I found myself into a narrow, circular clearing. A branch snapped on my left, causing me to drop low on my hinges and scent the air for a possible ambush. I was met with the sweet aroma of rabbit and I could not stop my mouth from dripping with saliva. I crept a few steps closer to the source of the smell while my stomach growled in approval. Surely, a small snack break wouldn't do any harm, would it? I slid through the bushes, stalking my prey. A few metres in front of me, I could spot the blurred outlines of two pointy ears. I stalked closer and closer, and when my nostrils were almost filled with the sweet rabbit smell, I lunged forward, sinking my teeth into the rabbit's fluffy...metal? Wait, what?

I dropped the strange object on the ground in confusion. What is this, I thought. On the outside, the object was covered in rabbit's fur and even looked like one. But instead of being filled with tasty meat, there was only metal. I smelt the weird thing again, clearly picking up a rabbit's scent, although on second thought, it didn't smell so fresh anymore.

I was not able to examine the object any longer, since I felt something bite into my hind leg. It was a sharp and slight sting, almost as if I was stung by a mosquito. Suddenly, my paws couldn't carry my weight anymore, and I slumped on the ground. My eyelids became heavy and my breathing slowed down. I couldn't feel any of my limbs anymore, I wasn't even able to twitch my tail.

A small whine escaped my mouth when I heard more branches snap, footsteps drawing near. The rogues? No, they wouldn't use such pathetic tricks. Neither would the pack wolves. But then who would...? My question was answered when a sharp, cosmetic smell reached my nose just before I blacked out.

Humans.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up, was that I couldn't move. I tried to get up, but found myself restrained by heavy metal chains around my legs, stomach and neck. Even my snout was muzzled by leather straps. Whoever did this knew what they were doing, since even if I were to shift to my human form, I would still be chained and probably have broken some bones in the process.

The second thing that caught my eye was the metal bars that surrounded me. I looked around the room, it was more like a warehouse actually, and noticed other cages were lined up with mine, although those seemed empty.

Across the room, several humans were huddled together around a rickety table. One of them was talking to a phone, speaking loud enough for me to overhear the conversation.

"Yeah", the man said, "we've got two of them. A young adult male and a female pup."

Two? I scanned the cages again, only now spotting the trembling patch of grey fur two cages on my right. She really was just a pup.

The man on the phone kept going.

"Hmm, the pup has just an average grey coat, probably going to the farms, that one." I had heard of the farms before. Wolves had always been experimented on, since we have a faster healing capacity than humans, but the farms were simply wolf hell. Females were forced to carry pups which were immediately taken away to be experimented on. I already pitied the small creature next to me. She was too young to even understand what was going to happen to her.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about the male we caught." Me? I pricked up my ears.

"I don't believe we should sell 'm to Barry as usual. No, he's got quite a nice coat. Sand coloured fur, almost golden. We could earn quite a few bucks if we sell 'm to the right people."

I had always cursed my fur. Not only could someone spot me from miles away, many traditional wolves did not appreciate coats such as mine. Wolves used to have natural colours, such as different tints of grey, brown and black. But the last few centuries, wolves had appeared with rare and unique fur colours. You had sand coloured wolves like me, white ones, patched ones and even spotted ones. Most traditional packs despised these unique fur patterns and event went as far as killing pups at their first changing. But maybe for this time, I was lucky to have my golden fur. At least I would not go to the farms, but that still didn't mean I was safe.

"So when will you be arriving?", the man continued.

"Okay, see you then", he said and hung up the phone. When he turned to sit back with his fellow humans, he locked eyes with me. It took every ounce of self-control to not start growling when a smirk formed on his face. But I still could not suppress the satisfaction when he was the one to break eye contact first and sat down on one of the chairs.

When I turned my gaze back to the cages on my right, I was met with a pair of amber eyes.

Hello, a quivering voice said. I froze and stared back at the little grey wolf. Did this pup just speak to me through a mental bond? But that's impossible. Only family, mates and pack mates could form a bond. I had only just met the pup; we didn't even speak.

Uhm, hello? Can you hear me?

Yes, I can, came the voice now with more enthusiasm. Her little tail wiggled a bit when we locked eyes.

I am Fay, she said. What's your name?

I kept silent for a little while, my instincts telling me not to reveal my identity. But when I saw that spark of hope in those little eyes, I could no longer hold back.

My name's Noah, I said.

Hi, Noah. I'm... I'm scared.

Yeah, me too.

The little pup wriggled around a bit and managed to sit closer to my cage. It seemed that her restraints weren't as tight as mine.

What's going to happen to us? She asked.

Images of those hellish farms flashed through my mind. I knew I should have just told the truth, so the pup could at least prepare herself, but my heart would ache at seeing the freight in those amber eyes of hers.

I don't know, I lied.

Oh, she said. Can I ask you something?

Go ahead.

I am tired, and I want to sleep. But I can't... not with them.

I will watch over you, so go to sleep. You will need your strength.

Thank you, she almost whispered and curled up in the corner of her cage.

Sweet dreams.

Yeah, sweet dreams.

To be continued...