The Wolf, The Doe and The Mage

The Wolf

My soft fur brushing the undergrowth, I tasted the air eagerly. I gazed across the snow-whitened forest, searching for something, anything, for the Pack to eat. My ears perked up as I heard the rustling. I trotted forward and my kin followed on behind me; I heard the impatient huff of my father, Gamoires, as he followed. This was my first time leading a hunt, I thought. I can't let them down.
I stopped.
A sound in the undergrowth. The champing of teeth, the soft tread of hooves. A young deer.
Silently, I signalled with my ears to my packmates, and got down into a hunter's crouch. The rest of the pack dispersing to surround the doe, we crept softly through the bushes until we were within a few meters of the doe.
I peered through the undergrowth to see the deer, and stopped.
The soft, dappled pattern of her fur, the delicacy of her ears as her elegant neck bowed to chew the ferns, all made me realized how oddly familiar she seemed. She was about as old as I was, I realized. Something about her eyes made me warm, something endearing about her short white tail and spindly legs. Then I saw behind her, one of my packmates poised to pounce. I knew I had to stop him.
I leaped from the undergrowth and let out an ear splitting bark. The doe started away, and was gone in a few beartbeats.
"Koiress?" I heard a bark from behind me.
I didnt turn to look at my father.
"Koiress, you idiot! Have you got a sparrow for a brain?!" My sister Usath growled.
I flicked my ears in apology, "I'm sorry. I couldn't-"
"You let a deer go when were in the coldest season?" Gamoires barked furiously, "That could have fed the Pack for weeks!"
When I didn't reply, he turned around with an outraged huff.
"Koiress," a familiar voice rang from behind me. Arvanta, my only friend in the Pack, approached me. She was a bit younger than me, but we had been friends since we were cubs. She padded up to me and gazed curiously at me, "What did you do that for?"
I gazed back at her, her beautiful white-and-grey dappled fur glistening against the frosty silver ferns. And yet I didn't have an answer. I bowed my head in shame and walked away, leaving her whimpering un confusion behind me.

"Koiress, you're summoned by Urvorro." I heard one of my uncle's enter the hollow.
I was facing the cave wall with my nose buried in my tail. I rose my head, avoiding his gaze. It was Rordus, the Alpha's mate. He was the oldest of the males in our Pack, and by far the strongest. With a huff I stood up, my head bowed and my paws dragging. Rordus led me to the biggest cave in the den, where atop a tall ledge sat Urvorro, the Alpha. She glared down at me as I entered, and I bowed my head respectfully. The rest of the Pack filled the cave, and though I tried to ignore them, I felt there eyes boring into my pelt.
"Koiress." Urvorro growled, her low bark filling me with shame. I could sense anger and disappointment in her words as she spoke, "Son of Gamories and Irla. As I have heard, you led the hunt this morning to prove your worth in the Frostfang Pack. You were hunting down prey that would have fed us for weeks, and yet not only did you let it go, but, as your sister reports, it was you who alerted it of your kin's presence." Her cold eyes glistened, "Is this true?"
I glanced up to see Urvorro's eyes narrowed in suspicion. I gazed around the cave at my kin, my father looking angry and disappointed, my sister looking away in shame at her revealing of my actions, my countless cousins glaring at me in disapproval. Finally my gaze landed back on my Alpha.
I bowed my head, "It is."
"And did you do this on purpose?" She growled.
"I did." I shifted my paws uncomfortably.
"Why?" She snapped.
I snarled and lifted my head to meet her gaze - staring at one who was superior to me was disrespectful, but I stared at her with as much coldness as she stared at me. I thought for a second. Then a realization came to me and I bowed my head in shame once more.
"I... I don't know." I muttered.
There was silence. It racked my whole body and made me want to howl in grief and frustration.
"Koiress," Urvorro's bark echoed around the walls, "For this act of wastefulness, disloyalty and overall stupidity, especially in Whiteprint, the coldest and hungriest season for us, you are hereby banished from the Frostfang Pack."
My ears perked in shock, "Urvorro, please! Surely it can't come to that! I only-"
"One more word and we'll kill you where you stand!" Urvorro howled, "Now leave, before we make you!"
I glanced up at her, about to plead once more. But then I stopped as I saw the gleam in her eyes.
She's enjoying this, I thought, rage filling me.
My lips curled back in a snarl, "Good!" I barked, "I've always hated this place!"
Fury glistened in Urvorro's eyes, and a growl rumbled in her throat that seemed to echo around the cave. Then I realized that it wasn't just her that was growling. The Pack crept towards me, their teeth bared and their ears flattened. I suddenly realized the trouble I was in and my eyes darted for an exit, my fur rising along my spine. My kin crept closer, their claws scraping the stone floor.
"Stop!" A sharp bark filled the cave as a she-wolf jumped inbetween me and the Pack. Arvanta glared at them, her lips drawn back and her hackles risen, "Let him leave in peace, or I'll-"
I didnt get a chance to hear the end of her threat. I leaped out of the cave and pelted out through the forest without looking back.