It was seen as nothing but a white blur racing through the trees. As the wolf hastily neared its target, it was overwhelmed with a strong sense to protect. Protect Moon Shadow. Protect Twin Crescent. Protect Cassidy.
One of those thoughts stuck out more than the others.
The wolf sniffed the air. It was there. With a thundering roar, the wolf bounded over a large fallen tree that blocked its path, and gracefully landed on all fours. It had landed just at the bank of a small pond. It wasn't Moonlight Pond, but one of the many deposits of water in the forest.
The white wolf tilted back its massive head and growled at the offender.
There, posed on higher ground, with its head pointed towards Twin Crescent's encampment, was a large black wolf. The white wolf gave a threatening growl, because the other wolf was standing just outside the border that separated their two territories. The black wolf has not crossed that line, but its close proximity, and the fact that it was looking towards her encampment, still put her on edge.
You're too close, Fang, the white wolf snarled.
I stand on my land, therefore I have done nothing wrong, Crescent, the black wolf calmly retorted. It looked down at her. Blue eyes met narrowed silver. Did you know? It suddenly asked.
The white wolf made a snorting noise. Did I know what?
The black wolf stared at her before stating, For the last five years, a human has been coming into the forest, and now it is here again. It is on your side, as it always were. Did you know about this?
Upon hearing mentions of her mate, the white wolf dropped low and bared its sharp teeth. You will stay away from her!
Her? The black wolf echoed, tilting its massive head in confusion.
The sound of multiple howls cut off whatever more it was going to say. The black wolf glanced over its shoulder and growled at the interruption. When it turned back, the white wolf was gone.
After casting one last lingering look towards the human's scent, the black wolf turned and headed towards the calls of its pack.
...
When I was nervous, I would get the bad case of the jitters. The pup that was resting its head on my lap grumbled and peaked open one eye, clearly annoyed with my frantically bouncing leg.
I forced my leg to stop. "Sorry," I mumbled to the pup, and to make up for it, I ran a hand through its dark fur. The pup was pleased, snuggling closer to me and letting out a sigh in contentment.
As I continued to pet it, I had to remind myself that, in a couple of months, these pups would shed their fur and start to develop into humans. I also had to remind myself that these creatures were merely pups, even if they were the size of fully grown Golden Retrievers.
I was almost hesitant to witness an adult werewolf.
We were in what Cloud had called the Pack House. Cloud was sitting on the couch across from me with the other pups. Two of them were on the floor, playfully snapping at the other, while the other one was behind Cloud, its front paws on her shoulders. It was grooming Cloud, licking her silky black hair that had streaks of white.
"She is going to be okay," Cloud reminded me again, trying and adorably failing to look serious while a pup was insistently licking her scalp.
Hunter has been gone for I don't know how long. With one's time preoccupied, seconds rolled into minutes, and minutes rolled into hours. I'm sure that it hasn't been that long, though.
