My Love but Not My Mate

Chapter 24

‘...’ – speech in wolf form

“...” – speech in human form

Chapter 24

   The whole pack, including Blake, was now running its way west through the straw like grass of the plains; however dad had insisted we at least find some sort of stream, a sort of tributary off the main river, and follow it as long as it seemed to head in our general direction.

   Blake seemed so much lighter on his feet now that he was more accepted into the pack but he was still cautious when he found himself closer to Jasper. He bounded over to me and fell into my pace which wasn’t as fast as the others but they had all slowed down so I wouldn’t fall behind.

   ‘I think I’ll take your dad’s advice and keep away from your brother, as long as he steers clear of me too.’

   ‘I think you can assume that Jasper will do as he’s told, especially as his dad is now in charge. Maybe we should disappear for awhile, like Jasper said, then you two wouldn’t be around each other and I won’t have any excuses to shout at anyone.’

   ‘Let me think about it,’ he requested, to which I nodded and we continued running.

   It took most of the day to reach our most western camp, and by the time we reached it we were all tired out and hungry; luckily for us, there was a herd of deer on the way and so I took a small group of us to re-track our steps and kill a few large bucks (if we could) and help drag them back for everyone to fill up on.

   ‘And to think I didn’t believe you would be able to do all that still,’ Blake complimented after my successful attempt at leaping onto the back of a doe.

   ‘As I keep telling you, I can handle things fine. But it does look like I can’t even jump even a foot in the air.’

   Letting the others pull the carcases back to camp, much on the insistence of Blake, I meandered my way through the grass and back home with all but a few memories of this delirious place. There was a lot I had allowed my mind let go of, but there were still a few very personal memories that I knew I would always remember and keep close.

   Now back among my family, I settling down with my favourite part of a deer and shared it with Blake (I had taken mine off a rather large deer), while I watched some cousins of mine on the other side of the clearing this camp was situated.

   ‘Would you like to explain to me who some of your pack are?’ Blake hinted as I nibbled away at some muscle.

   ‘Yes. Sorry, I still forget that you only know about two of my pack by name.’

   ‘That’s alright,’ he assured me.

   I grinned, blood coating all around my nose and muzzle. ‘Well, that brown greyish wolf sat close to Jasper is mum, her name’s Seffa if you ever need to call her. And mum’s sister, Acaila, is the reddish wolf opposite and her daughter is Kera.’ At hearing her name, my female cousin lifted her head and turned her ears towards me. ‘Mum is one of two and so is dad, as are many of the older wolves, but so far me and Jasper are the only siblings among my pack. I’m sure there’ll be more after awhile.’ I chuckled, as did Blake but then I saw a twinkle in his eyes that he was thinking of us. ‘Can we please have this one first before you start thinking of more?’

   Licking away between his claws, he mumbled but then repeated himself when I conveyed I hadn’t heard a word of what he had said. ‘Yes, of course. There are many siblings in mine; your pack is so strange to me.’