Silver

Chapter 1.

The wolf pup's belly felt as if it were being raked with a thousand claws. She could remember nothing but pain and fear. She could not remember any happiness. All she could feel was a cold wind and a hungry belly. She could not see or hear anything. She could only smell and and feel. She felt cold hard stone beneath her and smelled the scents of blood and death. She whimpered and pushed herself forward. She knew only one thing. She needs food.

Milk was her first thought. But there was no milk. The milk was gone. Different food. But what? She felt something beside her. Something lifted her. She felt terror sweep through her and she wiggled. But the animal kept going. Soon she was set in a pile of soft grass. She whimpered. Then she felt warmth again. She was pressed against something warm.

There was milk. She suckled but it was different. This was not what she had drank before. But she didn't whine. There was food. As she was able to think again she remembered something. A voice whispering to her. She did not know then what It meant but she knew it was important.

Silver

Silver

Silver woke with a start. She shook her fur and stood. She looked around her makeshift thorn bush den. Her deep blue eyes shone in the sunlight streaming into the den. She had had that dream multiple times and she hated it. It was her memory of waking up after the terror of her first night of life. A fox had picked her up and cared for her until she was a month old. She had known that she was not a fox. She was different. The fox had taught her to speak, to hunt. But she did not belong. She ran away.

Now she was a year old strong silver wolf. Not a beaten up starving pup. But no matter how many times she told herself she was strong, she felt lonely. That night was a vivid memory. She remembered every detail. Her mother, her siblings curled up next to her. She shook her head. She couldn't dwell on it. She had to stay alive. She had to hunt.

As she stepped out into the sunbathed forest, birdsong went through the air. The leaves were lush green and the grass had grown around her paws. Squirrels watched her from the tree branches. It seemed like a perfect day.

Silver padded silently through the forest, stopping to sniff the air every once in a while. She found nothing. Just when she was about to turn back something caught her attention. A beautiful howl went through the air. Excitement spread through her as she realized it was e howl of a pack wolf who had found an elk herd. She always enjoyed following those and watching them. Not because she wanted the left over meat, although she did take some if there was, but because they intrigued her.

Silver broke into a sprint and moved towards the howl. She stopped at a row of bushes.

She wiggled underneath them and clawed away branches so she could see out into the field in front of her, getting a thorn in her paw in the process. She used her teeth to pull it out, wincing. She licked the blood off. Then she crouched and watched the pack intently.

A caribou cow snorted nervously and stamped its foot. A calf was standing up against it, trying to hide. A young gray wolf sprinted as fast as he could into the clearing, leaping a the caribou. Silver snorted. Some of the young male wolves never used their heads. He was probably a few months younger than her. His Amber eyes were wild with excitement.

That is until the cow dodged his inexperienced leap. An older brown wolf ran into the clearing, about five wolves on his tail. One stopped next to the young wolf. Her gaze was hard and stern. Her smoky colored fur had mud covering it from the frantic sprint to catch the cow before it was too late. The young wolf bowed its head shamefully. The she-wolf just barked something at him and continued with the chase. The young wolf seemed to know he wasn't part of this hunt anymore. He trailed after them at a slow pace.