SilentCreekPack {Origins}

Chapter 1

The middle of Summer, near the end of June. Morning breaks on the territory of The Silver Legion, a North American pack renowned for its size and immense power.  Just above the brush a man, once standing tall, bent below the bushes and took the form of a wolf. Just as he did so, he came face to face with an unhappy wife.

"What have I told you about shifting out in the open!?" A voice scolded harshly in a whispered manner, as a calico she-wolf pawed out of the shadows to meet him.

"Hush, Tsuma." He replied curtly. "There is no one out here besides us." Tsuma narrowed her eyes, curling her tail around her hindquarters as he past her by to return to their den.

"So what of the men?" She whispered urgently, following him closely.

"Long gone. Their scents are old." The male wolf uttered before padding tiredly away from the open forest. Tsuma rose to her hind legs and took her human form as well, glancing about for a few heartbeats before she returned as a wolf. "Epsilon, are you sure?" She growled anxiously.

"I know how to properly guard a pack, Dear." Epsilon teased. "I'm not alpha just because of my Bloodline, you know." Epsilon replied jokingly, to his mate's question.

"Ha! What Bloodline?" Tsuma smirked, challenging him playfully. "If it weren't for my mother liking you so much, my father would have popped your neck." She huffed as she pinned him, and rested a soft paw on his skull.

"Aha, your father never did like rogues, he has quite the reputation with them." He said, shuddering as he remembered his first encounter with Tsuma's father as a juvenile. He rolled out from underneath Tsuma and pressed the flat of his skull to hers. Both of them flinched as a howl echoed in the distance, and they cocked their ears at the sound. They glanced at each other with worried expressions momentarily, and immediately raced back to the headquarters, where they met a very unwelcome sight; The Fallen Stars, an enemy pack of near equal size who'd been after the Silver Legion's portion of the territory for generations. A large male cornered Tsuma, while two females attacked Epsilon. As he barked and bickered with them furiously, Tsuma saw another she-wolf slip by him and into the alpha's den.

"Kai!" Tsuma cried out, slashing the male across the face with an unsheathed paw and leaping over him when he had fallen. She weaved and dodged between various pairs of battling wolves to reach her son. Upon arriving, she realized she had cried to soon. Inside the den, a little crunch was heard and a loud yelp followed. Epsilon, who had just barely eluded another enemy, rushed to Tsuma's side and stopped when he noticed that she had paused. Just that same moment, The tan female who had entered the den, scrambled clumsily back out yelping, with a slate and black pup clenched onto her tail, by nothing but his little jaws. Tsuma watched with a smiled as the pup held on relentlessly, and Epsilon soon padded up beside her. "He's your father's grandson alright."

"Damn straight." Tsuma answered with an almost evil chuckle. "Kai! Release!" She called out. The pup, upon hearing his mother's call, let go of the she-wolf and flounced over to Tzuma and his father with a tiny bark as soon as he'd rolled to a stop. Tsuma offered him a soft lick, then nudged him over to Epsilon, who then clutched his son in his jaws and darted out into the forest. Resting Kai down for a brief moment, he took a few steps over to a dark cave. "Bali!" He called out, his thunderous voice echoing throughout the cave. Two lucid eyes opened in the pitch black, one being a bright amber-gold, the other a dark hazel and frosted over. "Can you keep watch over him for me?" He panted. "The Fallen are at it again."

There was silence as the eyes slowly closed and opened, a pair of nostrils patiently huffing a cloud of hot air toward the alpha male. "Thank you." Epsilon huffed as he nudged Kai closer to the cave and returned to the battlefield, to defend his pack. Kai trotted fearlessly up to what eventually showed itself to be a massive black bear. He gazed up at it with a happy bark, wagging his tail vigourously. The bear blinked slowly, leaning down to the wolf pup and offering a gentle smile.