Wolves of the Moon #1: The Paws of Darkness

Chapter Six

Spirit stared in shock, and took off running a moment later.

"Guys!" she cried out, miserable. "Guys!" When she got to the hollow, Silhouette and Blaze where in battle stances, River was making herself small with fear, and Cloud was just stirring.

"I found a dead pup!" the silver wolf panted. "Come and see!" She rushed over to the devastating spot, and showed the others the wolf pup who was a misty gray she-wolf and smelled like the Fire and Light Pack. Her once bright eyes were cloudy and filled with extreme fear of whatever had tortured her. The tiny pup's fur was caked with blood and dirt, and the once-soft pelt was matted and hardened in place.

Spirit let out a weak whimper at the sadness and horror of the fact that someone would kill such an innocent pup.

Blaze's eyes were slanted in fury as her eyes seemed to glow dark green with anger. Her hackles were bristling and standing on edge, making her look like she was bigger than she really was. Blaze's paws shuffled on the coarse dirt, her outstretched claws telling Spirit that she wanted to attack someone.

"Daybreak," the red-brown wolf murmured softly, apparently overwhelmed by all the rushing feelings. Despite of her raging mood, her head hung low and she let out a soft whine.

The rest of the wolves, including Spirit, were furious that anyone would be so brutal to murder such a young pup, about one week by the look of her.

"Blaze," the light gray she-wolf barked gently. "I'm sorry." The she-wolf blinked her dark green eyes, and shook her ruddy coat.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

"Uh, guys, I hate to break this really sad moment but shouldn't we not focus on getting revenge and fighting but who did it?" Cloud advised, breaking the thick silence of sorrow. Spirit couldn't help jump a little, shaking her mind out of her miserable, depressing thoughts. The fluffy white wolf, usually carefree, was actually being smart! This was a great achievement! Things were finally turning around, if at least a little bit.

"Yeah," River barked for the first time since arriving at the spot. "We should follow the scent on the pup to try and find out who killed her." Spirit sat down decisively.

"I am not going near her," she growled. "I'm sitting vigil." Blaze soon joined in, while Silhouette approached the deceased pup with a sour and disgusted look. Nevertheless, face showed respect

"Ugh, I guess I'll do it," she groaned. "For the sake of the pup." The midnight-black wolf scrunched up her muzzle and sniffed the area around the entanglement of brambles and thorns. Reluctantly, she pressed her nose into the caked, filthy pelt and instantly her head shot up.

"What? The scent reeks of no pack. But that's not possible!" the young black wolf cried out, and Spirit jumped up. The silver-gray wolf's eyes were wide and filled with fright and hostility.

"Rouges," the young she-wolf snarled. Her fur bristled as it shone in the moonlight. She bared her teeth, which were thorn-sharp and gleaming white.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Cloud exclaimed, seeming to be oblivious to the well known fact they were now running straight into a dangerous situation because of one word, rouges.

"Wait guys," River whispered. Her narrowed jade eyes looked around thoughtfully, her gray coat swishing back and forth with every movement. "I can smell something." She lifted her muzzle to the air and closed her eyes as she looked for a trace of the scent.

"What is it?" Blaze asked curiously.

"Smells of smoke," she said immediately. "Burning timber and maybe some kind of tangy scent I can't recognize." River padded away, her nose still high in the air, following the smells of the wolves who murdered Daybreak. Soon they reached an area in the forest, leaves and branches of trees covering all means of sky. The clearing was eerily shaded and provided a mysterious, suspicious vibe.

"Here," River gave out a small woof. By a clump of thorny branches, there was a clump of light brown fur with blood covering most of it. The ragged tuft of it smelled like rotting carrion and multiple pups, including Daybreak.

"The wolf that has his fur on here is the one who murdered the pups! The scent is coming from every bit of it!" Spirit cried angrily, cuffing the ground with sharp claws. Who would do such a thing? Just thinking about it made the silver wolf want to brutally hurt whoever took these pups.

"If I find whoever did this," Blaze muttered softly though with an extreme amount of fierceness. "I will separate their heads from their filthy bodies, rake my sharp claws over their battered face, and with a quick swipe of my back legs, they'll be dead." She growled the last part with much force. To be honest, Spirit was absolutely astounded by the rusty wolf's violent thoughts. Although secretly, if someone killed Ice or Massif, she would have said the same thing, maybe even do it herself.

The young silver wolf looked around with bleary eyes and realized how tired she was. All the other wolves seemed to be tired too, paws shuffling the ground as they searched for a comfortable place to sleep. Eventually, they found a shaded area away from the clearing that reeked of blood. It provided shelter and piles of leaves to use as beds. Large branches of a species of tree unknown to Spirit covered the sky in an interlocking net like a huge cobweb.

As soon as the wolves got to the shaded area and laid down, almost immediately they all fell into a deep sleep. Soon, the silver wolf's mind was rushed into a mysterious dream once more.

But this fantasy was different than the others. Spirit looked around the familiar clearing she was in, searching for the mysterious voice that had guided her before, eager for news. The moon was high in the sky, like in every one of those dreams. Except this time, the she-wolf's senses knew something was wrong, and the strange wolf that had once guided her was nowhere to be found, far away from this dark place.

Suddenly, a bulky black heavily scarred male wolf emerged with a filthy young wolf that hung in his mouth. The brown pup was squirming tirelessly, trying to get out of the tight grip of teeth.

"Listen pup! You are not going back to your pathetic family! You work for us now." The harsh wolf's bark rang across the surrounding forest producing a slight echo.

"Let me go!" the wiggling ball of fur cried in a tiny, familiar voice. The brown male kept struggling, though it remained fruitless with the stone-hard grip of the larger wolf. "You can't do this because my mother told me it isn't right! Snowfall! Spirit! Snowflake! Ice! Anyone! Help me!"

The shocked she-wolf was now struck with realization as the two he-wolves started growling at each other. The tiny pup, his once soft fur matted with blood and dirt, was Massif.

Spirit felt her fur bristling with fury as the wolves faded into darkness. How could they do this to her brother? One thing was for sure, though. Massif was alive, and she would stop at nothing to save him.

Hey! How is it? _-Fantastica-_ did a lot of the last part and I just edited a bit. Give her lots of credit and check out her book Percy Jackson Randomness! Thanks for your support and willingness to read on!!!! :) Bye!!!