Feral Blood

The Leader

The pack lands were densely wooded for the first while of our travels, yet they thinned out the deeper we got to the centre of his territory.

The scents of other pack members grew intensely stronger the further into their territory, and I felt my nature's anxiety stroke my pelt and all the hairs on my spine rose.

Fenrir, who had let the group of wolves take the lead while he stayed in the centre, walking a bit ahead of me, turned his head over his shoulder and eyed me. I shook out my fur dismissively and avoided meeting his scrutinizing gaze. No doubt he sensed my nerves.

Soon I could hear the sounds of other paws breaking branches around us or the heavy breaths of panting wolves as they approached our location with a mixture of nervous excitement. The tension in the air was as thick as an elk's antler as a mixture of brown and grey wolves began to follow alongside us.

They kept their distance while also keeping pace with us. Some growled and others whined their confusion as most eyes traveled from me to their leader.

Instinctively, I pressed closer to him. My nature had sought him out as our temporary protector if things went south and we were forced to defend ourselves. Some part of my mind was appalled at the instinctive decision,  yet I chose that that battle would not be fought today.  I had more pressing things to keep my mind occupied on.

The scents of territorial markers grew more pungent in my noise as a few wolves chose to urinate in front of us on the trail we were walking. I growled under my breath, and even noticed Fenrir wrinkle his nose and bare his teeth in annoyance.

Judging by the reception, I deduced he had failed to inform his pack of a new wolf entering the territory.

And it dawned on me; this was the reason he had covered up Mother wolf's scent with his own. So that his pack wouldn't be overwhelmed by a strange wolf with an over-powering scent of an unfamiliar wolf saturating her fur entering his territory.

I appraised Fenrir in a new light; perhaps he was less of a territorial, possessive bastard than I had initially presumed.

Suddenly the woods came to an end and we emerged into a large plain, where two dozen wooden cabins were spread out across its expanse.

I inhaled the scent of burning wood and eyed the half a dozen houses where smoke was emerging from the roofs in grey plumes.

There was one larger cabin, which reached a few stories in height and sat somewhat amidst the other cabins, where a throng of men and women were existing and staring at our approach.

Fenrir looked at me forcefully and then began to lope in that direction, the flick of his tail encouraging me to follow.

As more wolves encroached upon us, I practical pressed myself to his flank, trying to avoid the prodding noses and inquisitive sniffs that were bound to invade my space.

Fenrir eyed me before he snarled and the wolves who had escorted us began snapping and growling at any wolves who got within a meter proximity to us.

A few wolves were tackled outright and pinned until they whined their submission.

Our pace slowed as we reached a small clearing between three cabins where two small fir trees stood. Fenrir stopped and I halted beside him.

I was shocked to see a few staring faces in the form of man rather than all faces of beasts gaping at me. I hadn't expected the barbaric northern territories to have any made structures or even be seen in their more vulnerable forms.

Fenrir began to shift, startling enough to have me side stepping away from him a few feet. He towered over the surrounding wolves and me in all his bare glory, his face hard and stoic.