Concealed Compassion

Chapter 10

Shadow woke up to the sun rising over the trees that surrounded the camp. No one was awake. He slipped through the piles of sleeping bodies and headed for the camp entrance. He knew that Red was on guard duty last night, so he waited until she wasn't by the entrance. Once she was gone, he walked through the quiet forest. Light filled the forest as the sun rose higher in the sky. The stars hid against the light, and the outline of the moon was barely visible. The river came into view and he went over to it. He took a drink and sat there for a moment, staring at his reflection. It was quiet here, with an occasional bird singing or rustle of the bush from the wind. The silence was broken when he saw a wolf approaching the river. Shadow crouched down and hid in the undergrowth. A small flash of white showed through a bush. The hopes of seeing Evergreen were pushed to the surface. But he saw an older wolf, a little younger than Dawn by the looks of it, who had the same pure white fur as Evergreen. She was pretty, no doubt. But it was not Evergreen. The eyes, the fur, were similar in every way. He watched as she took a small drink from the river and stared into it, murmuring to herself. She looked tired and in pain.

Out from behind the female wolf came another wolf. She looked exactly like the wolf standing at the river. Evergreen! Shadow ́s hopes were raised at the sight of her. He finally was able to see her in the real world rather than the dream world. She was even more beautiful. The light from the sun dropping into the trees below shining onto her fur.

Yet, her eyes showed that she was troubled. Her fur was matted as if she hadn't washed in a while. Shadow wanted to leave but his paws wouldn't move, as if he were glued to that spot.

"I can never understand why your father did what he did. I gave him love and I cherished him and what do I get in return? Nothing. He cheated on me and had another pup. You and your siblings were the best thing that happened to me. I thought that you were the best thing that happened to Owl. I guess that Rock and Honey were, rather than me and you and your sister and brother," the older white wolf's voice grew more angry as she thought of Owl. "And you! You shouldn't be looking out after Rock! He's your father's son! But he isn't mine! He's Honey's. He's the mistress of my mate's son."

Evergreen looked at her mother with a look in her eyes that he had never seen before. "Minnow, what Owl did was horrible. But we shouldn't blame Rock for it either. Plus, I know what Mia felt when she was cast out-."

Minnow looked at her daughter as she stopped talking and stared at her in astonishment. "What do you mean by that?"

Evergreen shook her head and made eye contact with her mother. "It's just, I can understand what Mia went through, that's all."

Did Evergreen just tell a white lie to her own mother? To keep us a secret? Shadow was amazed at her bravery to standing up to Minnow. As she stared at her daughter for a moment before walking away from her. Evergreen stayed where she was. Shadow moved out of his hiding and showed himself to her.

Evergreen's face turned from sadness to happy at the sight of him. "Shadow?"

He didn't know what to say so he just smiled at him. She jumped the river and rubbed her cheek against his. Her sweet scent flooded him as he breathed it in.

"What are you doing here?" Shadow asked Evergreen as she pulled away. "What happened?"

Her face went back to sadness. "All you should know is that my father cheated on my mother and had another pup with her."

"I'm so sorry. That's horrible. But on a good note, I have been promoted to master," Shadow tried to lighten the mood.

Evergreen smiled at him. "Good. Me and Rain and Storm should be masters soon as well."

The bush on the dog's territory rustled beside Shadow and they both jumped. Without a word, Evergreen jumped the river and ran towards her camp. Shadow sadly watched her go.

Dusk came through the bush and looked at him confusingly. "Who were you talking to?"

"No one. What are you doing here?" Shadow tilted his head to one side to study his brother.

"I was looking for you. Beta has asked me and you to go hunting."

*****

After Shadow and Dusk get back from hunting with a mouth full of food, they go their separate ways. Dusk heads off to Marigold and Shadow goes over to Beta and Alpha to report, who were in deep conversation.

"Is everything okay?" Shadow questioned.

The two looked at each other before looking back at him. "The cold is going to set in soon," Beta started, "Alpha and I have agreed that we need more hunting patrols to help stock up the food pile. It means that we will need to send out only two or even one dog out to bring back food. I sent you and Dusk out to see what you would bring back. Good job."

"Thank you, Beta. Should I go out again?" Shadow felt pleased by the praise but also felt that he didn't do good enough.

Alpha shook her head. "You've done enough for today. Go to sleep."

Shadow dipped his head to the two and went to a quiet place in the clearing. He laid down beside the large juniper tree, watching his packmates moving around. I'm the distance, trees waved with the wind. The moon seemed to take forever to rise above the horizon. And sleep felt as if it would never come.