The Wolves of the Gems

Chapter 16

18 miles from territory border: Metal Forest Pack Territory: 1 mile from densite: Early Summer

  Chinook let out a long sigh before he delved into the story. "I was originally born into the Southern Forest Pack, but even though I was first born, my father, Fang, didn't seem to acknowledge me as his son. No matter how hard I tried, in his eyes, I was always the runt. I never understood why. Why did he push me away? Day after day?

  "Then the day came for me to prove myself. My two siblings, Hawk and Sana, and I wandered away from the den, looking for an adventure, some excitement. My sister, Sana, led us. What we didn't know was that human hunters had entered the territory. We just wanted some fun." Chinook's voice was close to breaking. Ghost walked closer to him, sending him some of her strength to continue on. "The first gunshot hit the ground at my paws. The next... the next went straight through my brother's body. He didn't even have time to yelp before he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

  "I told Sana to run, to run back to the den. When she fell behind, my fear ran wild. I don't even know what made me decide so quickly. I just turned and ran. As a hunter got closer to my sister, I jumped over Sana, my teeth aimed at the human. Only, my teeth never hit their mark. I've never felt any pain like I did that day. I hit the ground by my sister, my own blood pouring out from my side. Then I heard it, my sister's pain filled yelp, something that still haunts my sleep. When the hunters left, I somehow managed to head back to the den. Only, my father was less welcoming than the hunters. He chased me far. I never understood his anger towards me, I had tried to save them, only... I didn't. When we came to the city, it was then that I fell, unable to run any further. That was also when Forest came with some of the pack, driving him off with their numbers more than anything. That's how I joined this pack."

  Ghost nudged Chinook with her muzzle. "Thank you for telling me," she said softly, "I know it wasn't easy for you to tell me."

  "Thank you for listening," he said just as softly.

  "Anytime," she smiled, speeding up her gait to catch up with the others who were now walking in the middle of the densite.

  The buildings rose up higher in the centre and they looked like they were less likely to fall down from the rust in the beams. Young coyotes, dogs and wolf-dogs ran after one another, bowling each other over, their parents watching over them. Most canids in the pack were on the ground, but some were laying in or on the frames of vehicles.

  "You know," Silver said, breaking the small silence between the group, "this pack doesn't seem like a normal wolf pack, but more like a human tribe."

  "It was originally designed that way."

  The group turned their attention to the dark brown, tan and white dog with a red tattered collar walking up to them. "The first pack members were originally dogs, and with that they brought both rules of canines and rules of the humans. Since then the pack has grown, we don't judge other canines, whether they're a coyote or a wolf."

  "But how are you able to support such a large pack?" Silver asked.

  "You'd be surprised how much food is in the city after the humans left it; elk herds migrate through it, the underground tunnels are filled with small food," he said, joining the group, "name's Levi by the way."

  The silver fae bowed her head, "I'm Silver, and these are my companions, Ghost, Chinook and Storm Wolf."

  "Nook? I thought it was you before," Levi wagged his tail, "I'm guessing you're here because of your two friends who came in injured?"

  Chinook nodded, "do you know how bad? How bad they were injured?"

  "Yeah, I do. The fae had an injury to her chest, but I don't believe it was too serious, but the brute, he had a more serious wound, he was barely able to stand when he came in," Levi said. Silver widened her yellow eyes. "But don't worry, the coyotes are the best healers in the canine world, even though outside of here they are considered pests."

  Ghost seemed to understand the statement. She looked away from the conversation, worried about Darkness and Faita. Her eyes lifted from the insignificant spot she was looking at as a coyote and a young black wolf exited a building. Her eyes widened.

  "Faita?" She whispered to herself, running towards the teen. The others turned their attention to Ghost, quickly chasing after her once they saw the teen.

  "Faita," Silver called out catching the midnight teen's attention. Faita wagged her tail as they ran towards her. Silver stopped in front of the teen, checking over her, making sure she was okay, her eyes landing on the green herbs grounded together that had been placed on her wound. "Are you alright?"

  "I'm fine," Faita said, lowering her head, "but Darkness..." the teen trailed off. Silver closed her yellow eyes tightly, then something seemed to snap inside of her. When she opened them, they were narrowed, the black pupils turned towards Ghost.

  "This is your fault," Silver snarled, turning around to face the gun-metal grey wolf. Ghost took a subconscious step back, wary of the silver fae. Before Silver could take a step closer to Ghost, Chinook stood in front of Ghost.

  "How is this her fault?" Chinook asked as Stormcloud walked to stand beside Faita. "She turned her back on the Rogues and we've been followed by them since the start, Silver. So this is no one's fault."

  Silver closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, relaxing her tense muscles. "I'm sorry Ghost," she apologised.

  "All is forgiven Silver. We're all stressed about what happened, I'm surprised you actually didn't pin me to the ground," Ghost said, shaking the unease from her body. "And thank you Chinook, for before and now."

  "No problem, just remember you said you were going to teach me how to fight," he said, smiling at the fae. Ghost smiled back and nodded.

  "Could you two make it more obvious?" A voice weakly chuckled behind them. The group turned around to see a dark brick stone grey wolf with the same green herb paste as Faita around his neck and over some other parts of his body where small cuts were.

  "Darkness!" The group said, surprised. Even Stormcloud had a small amount of excitement in his tone.

  Silver quickly approached her brother, her tail wagging wildly, "don't you dare scare me like that again." She nudged his cheek with her muzzle.

  "I'll try not to," he said, his voice raspy, licking the top of his sister's head. Faita smiled at the two siblings, before looking away, her blue eyes becoming distant. The Storm Wolf looked at the teen, deciding that he would have to ask her about it later. Stormcloud lifted his head to the group as the dark brown and brown wolf-dog approached them.

  "My name is Forest, Alpha of this pack, now since you have reunited, we must talk," his tone saying that there was no room for argument. The group nodded and followed the wolf-dog across the densite and into a small building which used to be an electronics store.

  Forest jumped on the counter and looked down at the group. "Now, it has been a long time since we've had Rogues in the city," he said, "would you care to explain why the Rogues were chasing you? And more percificately, what was that explosion from one of the outer buildings? Also, I suggest you don't lie."

  The six wolves looked at each other, then to Chinook, who nodded, "we can trust him."

  Darkness was about to step forward, until Stormcloud shook his head. Darkness stepped back, allowing The Storm Wolf to explain what they were doing.

  In his deep, monotone voice, Stormcloud delved into the tale. "The Rogues are after us because of these," he shook his black fur, revealing the yellow-y blue gem on the muddy white collar. Forest widened his flame orange eyes as Stormcloud continued, "we are on a journey to find the rest of these gems and end the reign of the Rogues."

  The wolf-dog looked shocked, but then started laughing.