Wild Watchtower: Shield & Claw Book One

Chapter One: Meet the Pack

The long meadow grass undulated in the warm summer breeze, a green and gold ocean in which the shell-like petals of brightly coloured flowers bobbed, giving salutation to the sun overhead. The sweet scent of nectar and pollen tickled my nose, but it wasn't the flora of the deceptively dreamlike meadow that had me salivating. No, what piqued my hunger was the fauna, more specifically the herd of red deer grazing amongst the tall, swaying blades. My prey.

I rolled my shoulders, easing the tension from my body as anticipation mounted, a thrumming anticipation which kept me from dwelling on darker memories of that very same patch of beautiful wilderness. The urge to pounce out from the shadow of the great oak, to tear across the meadow and corner my next meal, was almost irresistible. But I needed to wait. My family and I had spent days stalking the herd, learning which animals were old, young, injured, or weak; the easy kills. We'd selected a hind with a deformed leg, a female from the previous year's young who struggled to keep up with the rest of the herd. She was the obvious choice, her affliction increasing our chances of success.

Provided we worked together, as a pack.

If any one of us alerted the herd to our presence before we took our positions, then we could kiss our meal goodbye. Still, it was difficult to hold back when my stomach growled. My tail flicked, the twitch barely perceptible, and my paws kneaded at the dirt under my claws. I wanted to run. To chase.

Beside me, my sister seemed just as antsy. Céillí's head lowered as she inhaled the scent of prey. Her ears flicked with every sound as she waited for our uncle's order to move out. Soon our excitement would have an outlet, and our bodies would convert pent up energy into speed. Céillí and I were the sprinters of the pack, the fastest and most nimble, and we had been tasked with getting ahead of our mark, to slow the hind's flight and give the brawn a chance to take her down. It was a task we would excel in... Just as soon as my uncle's bark-howl shattered the tranquillity.

Usually, my father would be amongst those diving into the fray, as alpha, he led by example, but on our present outing, he'd chosen to delegate to my uncle, Aonair, our pack's beta wolf. My pregnant mother rapidly approached her due date, and soon my father would be distracted caring for a den-bound female. He wanted to see that the rest of us could care for ourselves before that happened, just as he'd done every time my mother grew ready to give life to another sibling, and so he intended to hang back with her, watching from the sidelines with a critical eye. We all wanted to make a good impression.

If I could do such a thing... I rarely deserved my alpha's praise, and soon I would have another brother or sister; another cub to slip into a position above me in the hierarchy... Unless he or she proved to be an omega wolf. Then I might maintain my position for a while..

Not that it mattered either way; our social structure wasn't worth fretting over as my uncle's familiar bark finally erased the meadow's peace. My body responded on instinct, leaping out of the shadows and into the sunlight as I streaked towards the disfigured hind. Céillí sprang into action in the same instant, bounding along beside me as the herd reacted with terror. Heads jerked up and the deer scattered, catching sight of me and my sibling bearing down on them.

I didn't need to watch the rest of the herd to know how they would respond, springing away in all directions, hurtling towards the treeline in the hope of escaping the pack's assault. Only one hind's trajectory mattered to me, and when Céillí peeled off to race around our prey's left flank, I did the same on her right. Together we herded the startled deer towards open space, where our brothers and cousin could descend from all sides, and then we got in front of her, slowing her mad dash so that the stronger, larger, but ultimately slower members of the group could join the fray.

Cróga landed on her flank first, having been closer than the others. My eldest brother, my father's heir-apparent, was by far the strongest amongst us, his strength rivalling that of the pack's patriarch. His claws dug deep into the hind's rump, and his weight almost dragged her off her feet as she bucked and kicked, trying to dislodge him. The creature squealed in panic and protest, but we were wolves and she had as much chance of dissuading a lion as she had of dissuading us.