Howl of the Wolf

Chapter 22: Getting Ready To Evacuate

*Sakura's POV*

Raven had told me to carry her pups on my back during the evacuation. But for now, I am making sure all the pups are fed and drank enough water. I motioned for the pups to follow me as I walk over to the food pile. I find an elk leg and rip chunks of meat for each of the pups. I made sure the meat was big enough for each of the pups and would fill them up enough.

I look back over at the elk leg and saw that there wasn't a lot of meat left on it. I decide whether or not to eat the remaining meat of the bone. I looked back into the food pile to finalize my decision. There was half of an elk chest, three hares, two pigeons, six squirrels and six mice. Everyone in the Pack has to eat all of this now because we can't carry this and the herbs and bedding that Jack and Mia assigns to us.

I decided to eat the rest of the meat on the elk leg and once all the pups finished up eating. I put half of the newly born pups onto my back. I told the rest to stay where they were. I walked up steadily up to the Alpha's den. I walked quickly towards the watering hole and picked the pups off my back. I nudged them towards the clear water as a signal to drink up or you are going to get dehydrated. I went back down to the rest of the pups and put them on my back, doing the same thing that I did for the first half. When I got the last pup off my back and got him to drink the water, I took a few full gulps as well.

I walked back down the hill with the pups following me. I walked them over to the food pile again and waited there for their parents to pick them up. I tense up as a little paw taps mine. I see one of Raven's pups with one of Jack's. The one that is Raven's pup has brown fur and green eyes and the one that is Jack's pup has black fur and bright blue eyes. Both with a concerned expression on his face.

"Could Cass stay with me and my litter?" He continued, "He gets mistreated over in his litter and I don't want anything to happen to him during the walk." I thought about it for a moment and decided to take his little friend. I nodded and I saw both of their faces light up. I see the fur on Cass' back shift and my eyes flick to the movement but saw nothing, just black fur. They ran off to the rest of Raven's pups. I sat there silently for a few minutes, waiting for the pups parents to pick them up.

*Dean's POV*

I sat protectively near my litter and Cass, glaring as Cass' litter walks away with Jack. I glanced back over at Cass when his litter has walked far enough away. I see Cass looking down at the ground, deep in thought. I see some light reflect off his eyes as he looks towards me a small bit but then he looked away again. I nudged him gently to get him out of his head.

I look up as I see Sakura walking towards us. She is carrying some moss in her mouth but set it down when she got close enough to all of us. She lays down on her stomach and pick us up one by one and put us on her back. I made sure that I stayed next to Cass and Sam, I also made sure we were in the middle. I convinced Charlie to separate us from Nadare or I would push her off.

Nadare is at the end of Sakura's body, Charlie is next to her, Sam is next to her, I am next to him, Cass is next to me, and Gomi~Baku is next to him. Everyone on Sakura's back is laying on their stomachs to prevent falling off. I tense up for a second when I feel something press up against my right side. I look over and see Cass pressing up against me. His head laying between his paws. His eyes looked up at me and I see fear in them. My face soften up as I feel my heart being clenched.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I spoke quietly so no one else is disturbed by my question.

"I don't know." He continues, "I feel like something bad is going to happen on this trip."

"If you're scared of falling off of Sakura, don't worry. I would catch you before you even slip off and if I am not able to catch you in time, then someone who is walking on either side of Sakura would catch you." I give him a small, comforting smile to tell him nothing is going to happen but deep in my mind, those words he said keep echoing in my mind.

I feel the muscles he has against my side become less tense. He tilts his head up to me and gives me his own small smile. I press up against him as well to make sure I can tell if he is slipping. Whatever space that was there is now gone. I look to my left and see Sam looking at me and Cass. I mouthed the words, 'Shut up Sammy.' That made him smile more and I rolled my eyes. I look back at Cass and see him with his head laid between his paws again, but this time, he has his eyes closed and he is still smiling. I feel my lips twitched up into a smile as I see the peaceful scene before me.

I saw his eyes fluttered open as Sakura started moving forward. I feel him tensing up against my side and hearing light panting. I brought my paw up and put it up against my side. He looks at me frantically, the whites of his eyes showing.

"Dean, I think something bad is going to happen. I don't know but I know something bad is going to happen." I feel his side starting to shake and see tears close to coming out of his eyes. I scoot closer to him so my paw can go over his shoulders. I feel his body relax but the shaking didn't stop. Cass buried his face into my side and I feel tears soaking my fur. I moved my paw up and down his back soothingly in hopes that it will calm him down.

Slowly the shaking and tears stopped, I could still tell he was awake. I lay my head gently on his head comfortingly. He pulls his head away from my fur, tears soaked the fur around his bright blue eyes.

"Everything is going to be fine and if something goes wrong, our parents will protect us and Sakura will run to safety." I smile comfortingly. I don't want him to panic but what he said shook me to the core.