We left nothing, but our paw prints in the snow

Chapter 32

Chapter 32:

The humans were preparing for a hunt. They were holding their death-sticks and the air was filled with the smell of excitement and blood-lust. I felt sick to the stomach.

Without thinking, I ran back to the pack.

Mate. Pack. Those were the only things on my mind.

I followed Mate's scent until I found him, lying with Pup in the snow. He was keeping her warm, thank goodness.

When Mate saw me, he jumped up, “What's wrong?”

I almost crashed into him. I needed him in this moment. But I couldn't give in to those feelings. I had to make sure the pack was safe. “They're coming.”

I watched him as his psoture went from alert to scared. “We need to move them.”

I agreed, and he could tell. We moved as one. Our heads tilted skywards at the same time and an almost identical sound left our lips. It was a depserate howl. Desperate, and unbelievably scared. The pack must have sensed our urgency, because they gathered much quicker than usual. They arrived, sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs. Each one who arived instantly started howling with us, howling for the rest of the pack to join. When we were all gathered there was nothing else left to do.

We fled into the oncoming night.

Only later would I realise that Pup had stayed behind.

Pup

I had come to emotionally replace my birth mother, with Mama, as I called her. The alpha female of a pack and the mate of a young male wolf. Suddenly she had become the centre of my world.

Until we took that sheep.

Being that close to the alien humans, I was forced to admit that that was where I belonged. A calling had been created, deep inside me. I had left everything behind, to bring Mama away, and I had stayed with her, because she was safety, something I had never really had since my real mother died. I don't know what it was that had created our relationship, maybe it was my spirit, that had always felt so young and wild. But Mama had taught me to mature, and now I realised that I had to go back. Not only because that was where I really blonged, but because I had to stop them.

I was gifted with human speech, one could say. I could tell them. Tell them what wolves really are. That they were a kind, loving species and lived in packs. The packs were just huge families, or small families, depending. And they were only fighting to survive, just like humans.

And I had to deliver that messagge. I knew that Mama would never truly understand, because, as much as she was to me, she was still a wolf, and wolves weren't as complex as humans. And I had to accept that I was one of the humans.

So when a band of hunters came storming into the part of the forest that I stood in, with their guns and torches, I stood my ground. I didn't flee, like every instinct Mama had put in me told me to.

And the male humans looked at me, their anger at the wolves momentarily forgotten. What they saw, would be a beaten, scratched, almost naked, shivering human girl, of about the age of eleven. I wasn't that sure any more myself.

And in this moment, I had to tell them.

My voice was croaky, and human speech felt weird, even to myself. “Stop.” That's what I said to them. Speaking had never been my strong suit. And Mama had taught me a new kind of speech. One of the body and subconscious noises.

Human body-language didn't break any of the rules she'd showed me.

They were all tense, and I could see they were thinking, and clearly confused. They were torn between their blood-lust and their instinct to help an aparently broken young girl. That's what they thought I was. I could see it in their eyes. And they were trying to act calm.

Mama was right. There was no such thing as a lie.

A man approached me. He was young, I think. Early twenties, maybe. I couldn't be sure. “What's your name?” he asked me, approaching carefully.

Two names came to mind. Both my mothers' names for me. But Pup was what the wolves called me. The humans would always only be allowed to know my human name. So I responded, “Skye.” It's funny how I had almost forgotten that name.

“What are you doing here, Skye? These are dangerouse woods. Don't you know of all the wild animals that roam these forests?”

I wanted to bite and scratch him. But I surpressed that and said, “Yes, they're standing right in front of me.” The words didn't feel right in my eleven year old mouth.

He was clearly confused, so I explained.

“You're hunting wolves, but the wolves aren't the wild animals, you are. And usually you wouldn't roam this part of the forest.”

Every single human looked confused.

“Wolves are the most beautiful creatures that I have come to know. They took care of me, when you beat me, simply because I wasn't what you wanted me to be. Now you want to kill them for trying to survive. You're killing their food, and for what reason? So then they have nothing left to do but come after yours. It's only fair. They are innocent, and beautiful, and you have driven them away.” I paused, observing their reactions.

“Good, they're better gome!” someone from the crowd yelled.

I wanted to kill them.

“You're better gone,” I whispered, knowing full well that these beasts wouldn't be able to hear. They were all half deaf. I looked sadly down at the snow. It was covered in paw prints. Over to my left was a disturbed part where I had been asleep minutes earlier, where the alpha male had kept me warm. I decided to share this with the humans.

“And you have ridded this part of the world of one of its greates bueaties, with nothing to remember them by but the pawprints that they left in the snow. And those will be gone come spring.” I single, retched tear escaped my eyes and rolled down my cheek. I wish I was more like Mama. Maybe her body could spell out crying as plain as can be, but she was incapable of shedding tears. And humans were blind as well as deaf. They needed everything shouted right into their faces to grasp it.

What had I done?

“And they're gone now, so you can put away your guns and your angry emotions and all go home.”

The humans couldn't see any reason to hunt something that was no longer there, and I could see they wanted to leave this cold winter and hug themselves warm inside their houses. But they also wanted to take me with them.

But I didn't want to be touched. When humans touched me, they hurt me.

So when they came forward to get me, I too, fled into the night.

Finally I had calmed myself down enough to face the humans again, and so I ran on legs made strong by Mama, to the humans. And I walked, upright, into the village, until they spotted me. And this time I let them lead me away.

And when they decided I was sane, I would stop them from hunting the wolves.

They left nothing, but their paw prints in the snow.