Wolves Life: The will of Nature

CHAPTER 1: THE FAMINE

One sunny fall day, River, the lead wolf of the hunters, was resting on a rock by the waterfall. The waterfall was providing water for the entire aurora pack. The leaves rustled, the pups played, the sun shined... but now was not the time to think  about those things. Diamond, her subordinate, paced towards her. "River, what will we do about the lack of deer in the forest?" he asked. There was less food in the area lately, which concerned the entire pack... and it was her responsibility to find a solution. Sometimes she wished that she could be one of the lower ranking hunters. They had to do nothing but take down some prey. She, as daughter of the alpha, had been obligated to be a leader. She didn't know why this had to be. Couldn't one of the other wolves be the leader of the hunters? she thought. "Umm... River?" Diamond uttered. "I don't know what to do," River stated.

Meanwhile, Willow, the alpha male, was climbing up a small hill. This hill is where he lead the pack from, where the wolves came to seek guidance. He was a great inspiration, and kept their spirits high. However, at this particular time, he was failing to keep their spirits high. The herds of deer who lived by the creek were disappearing for unknown reasons. Could it be, he pondered, that the pack is losing faith in their leader? They had no food, and even he was starting to get weak. All the pack had to live on were rabbits and foxes and other little snacks. Those could not uphold a pack of this many wolves, and dissent was growing. It was any alpha male's nightmare. He howled to get the packs attention. One by one, the many members came to the hill, from hunters, to scouts, to pups, to caretakers. "So, I know that there is a famine affecting us all, but we can-" It was at this moment that he realized that he did not know what to say, what to do. But it was then at that moment that he realized it. It was as if an angel itself had whispered into his ear. It was a perfect idea. A beautiful idea. "We can get our scouts to find what is taking our deer, whether it be bears, fires or god knows what, and then..."

"Then we will have warriors." Olive was a young wolf at one summer old, yet he was always bold, fearless, and ruthless, even as a pup. He was always wanting to have action, have adventure. However, even though he had been seeking it all his life, he had never found it until then, when those words came out of the alpha's lips. Those few words spoke volumes for the juvenile. He knew his own excitement at the announcement, and through that had known himself that he would be the best fit for leader. There is no way he won't pick me... Olive thought.
"These warriors will be picked when the culprit is found, they will chase them down and save our pack." Olive could only hope he was picked.                         

Autumn stalked the bushes. "I don't see anything..." he said to himself. It was late at night, so late that the inky black darkness penetrated any light, and only crickets and mice were awake at that hour. However, the scouts were working overtime in the past 4 nights to help get back the pack's food supply. Yet, with twelve wolves stalking the area day and night, nothing had been found.

Then, suddenly, he heard the snap of a twig coming from southwest of there. "Smells like another wolf, not from the aurora pack though," he whispered. Silently he crept up in that direction, as if he were near a mother bear's cubs and trying not to get noticed. "Is that deer I smell?" he asked himself. "If so, I have to bring it back to camp. We're starving!" he heard whispers from the woods. "This area has lots..." "...we don't know if there's another pack here..." "...I've got another meal for us..." He approached cautiously, knowing that he was not a welcome visitor. "Hold on... there's another wolf who is stalking us, I'm gonna get him."

He quickly turned and ran away, not even knowing which way the pack was. He heard footsteps from behind him. He could smell his own fear like a great pile of deer carcasses. He was panicking so much he could only think in short sentences... Help! Where are they? They aare getting closer... I'm gonna die! He saw glowing eyes following him. He could only see an outline of a wolf before he suddenly felt one pounce on him, and he blacked out.