Wolves of the Moon #1: The Paws of Darkness

Chapter Eleven

"He's gone," whimpered Spirit, ears flattening in grief and sorrow. Her deep blue eyes expressed both sadness and murderous anger.

Once they got back to the place where they had settled, which was a hollow oak tree in the middle of the woods, the light gray she-wolf told them what they had found. Later, with her head low, she found a corner to sleep in and curled up to rest for the night. Her dreams were full of the ways they could have tortured her brother, and the silvery wolf always woke with a start which made it impossible to sleep well. The third time she woke up from a nightmare, she found another wolf beside her, watching with intent, glowing green eyes.

"Are you okay? You were whimpering in your sleep, and you kept muttering 'Massif,'" Blaze barked quietly.

Spirit shrugged nonchalantly and nodded. "Fine, I guess. Just a bit shell-shocked, that's all. But if you don't mind, can you stay over here? I want a friend with me."
"... Okay." The ruddy brown wolf rested her head on her paws and soon her breathing was steady and even. The silvery she-wolf also closed her eyes, and soon drifted into a dreamless sleep.

When she finally woke up, Blaze had gone hunting somewhere and the others were still fast asleep. Suddenly angry, Spirit shot up and surveyed them with cold eyes.

"Come on, get up you lazy snails!" the hateful she-wolf shouted loudly with a hint of a snarl. To be honest, Spirit wasn't mad at them but this stupid quest and the stupid cold-hearted rock-headed wolves who had killed the pups. Why did Massif have to be dead? She thought over and over again in her raging head. Her thoughts swirled with the thoughts of ripping apart those wolves with her own bare claws.

The other wolves jolted awake from her demand. The band of young wolves looked up, half annoyed and half worried.

"What is it? Anything wrong?" River asked. Even from Spirit's vicious tone, she seemed as calm and courteous as before. Her jade eyes were sparkling with interest.

"Yeah, what's all the racket?" Silhouette complained. "I was just about to-" Then she seemed to see the silver she-wolf's bared teeth. "U-uh, I think I'll just go find B-Blaze and help her carry the p-prey back." While the black wolf stuttered, she beckoned toward the entrance of the tree and hurriedly walked away with an extra leap in her pawsteps.

"We are leaving. Now," Spirit growled bitterly. "We have to find these missing pups. The day is wasting away, so get off your tails and get a move on!" The she-wolf's blue eyes were hardened with frustration and ill-temperedness, which was strange for the silver-gray wolf. Even River flinched at this new wolf that had replaced their happy-go-lucky friend.

Spirit looked tiredly at the sun's position. It was nearly midday and they had been walking this whole time. Nevertheless, the young wolf was pushing her friends to keep walking.

We have to find those pups. We will get to them if it kills me, the silvery she-wolf thought determinedly. Then I will kill the wolves who had murdered Massif, Daybreak, and Ink.

"Can we stop now? My legs feel like they're gonna fall off," Cloud complained.

"No!" Spirit snapped. "We are so close to the mountain where they're keeping the pups! Do you want to find them or not?" The fluffy-furred he-wolf sighed and trekked onward.

As she directed her deep blue eyes to the huge summit of the mountain ahead, the silvery wolf got even more bitter and padded towards it faster, almost running. It was closer, and pretty soon they would reach it.

"Spirit!" A woof called the wolf back to the group. She snapped her head towards them, all four panting with exhaustion.

"Fine. Let's rest," Spirit reluctantly growled.

Once they had settled and scarfed down a bit of prey, River broke the silence.

"Spirit, you can't keep pushing us forward like this," the small, skinny wolf told her. "We won't be able to make it."

"But we have to!" the light gray she-wolf barked loudly and angrily. "We need to find the pups and get this stupid quest over with!"

Spirit paced back and forward in the thick silence, her paws pounding the ground with great force. Before, the she-wolf thought that she was mad at the wolves that killed Massif but suddenly realized that her "friends" were preventing her from reaching her goal. Spirit stopped pacing and her lips curled into a snarl.

"Spirit," A stern, commanding voice interrupted the tense silence. "I know you really want to go to the mountain but you have to let us rest." Blaze's tough facade faded as she said this, her green eyes were now dull, the fierceness and determination gone.

"Please Spirit!" Silhouette almost begged. The she-wolf knew that with such a big ego, the black wolf would rarely ever do something like that. "We're so tired! We promise we'll walk in the morning. You know how much we hate this quest too! Please, just think about us, not just you.

"It's not just me who wants to get them?" The she-wolf cried out with outrage. Her blue eyes were blazing with anger and seemed unusually darker. "My brother just died! How am I supposed to not think about getting revenge! H-he was my brother." At the last sentence her voice cracked when she remembered all the comforting times she had shared with Massif.

"You know what, just go to sleep." Spirit started, venom dripping into her bark. She didn't want to deal with them anymore.

But Silhouette interrupted Spirit with fury. She bolted up, her fur standing on edge with a huge growl.

"Excuse me?" The jet-black wolf screamed. "My only best friend just died too! I want revenge just as much as you do, don't act so selfish!"

The silver she-wolf was so taken aback by this that she had no response waiting. But suddenly, there was a huge crashing noise in the bushes behind them. About seven wolves, all of them full grown, burst into the clearing.

"Hello," the lead wolf announced. He was noticeably larger than the rest and had black fur. "We are the Wolves of the Volcano, and we have come to take you to our camp." The strange new wolves closed in.

Okay how was it? Special thanks to _-Fantastica-_ and AnimeShipper4LifeXD because they helped a lot! Thanks!