Silver

Chapter 3

Silver let out a breathe. She stared down at the torn up body of the wolf. She heard leaves crunching behind her. She turned her head and saw Fang staggering to his feet. She bent her head low, her tail between her legs in fear. She was a lone wolf. What would the pack wolves do to her? She glanced around the clearing and what she saw surprised her. Two dead lone wolves lay on the ground, but none of the others were there. Windy growled.

"Hush," Storm snapped. Fang raised his head high looked down at her. He limped over to her. She crouched down. She didn't want to fight.

"You are a lone wolf?" Fang questioned.

"Yes," Silver answered weakly.

"Where are you from? All lone wolves have heritage from packs," he asked.

"I... I'm not sure," She answered.

"Didn't your mother tell you? Or was she one of the proud ones, refusing to admit she had pack blood," he snarled. Silver bowed her head, feeling as if a knife had cut her heart.

"My mother was killed... By..." Her voice faltered and she looked back at the wolf she had just killed.

"I understand," he said. Silver wasn't sure he did understand. His eyes were like icicles stabbing into her soul, studying her, looking at her with no care to wether it hurt her.

"You are strong. Healthy for a lone wolf. What have you done that makes you like this?" He asked, looking intrigued. Silver glanced at the rest of pack. They didn't seem to know what to make of his reaction.

"I don't scavenge. At least not often.." She answered carefully. She had always wondered if had anything to do with the fox. She didn't want to mention that though. Fang narrowed his eyes suspiciously and nodded. Then he turned back to his pack.

"We will take this wolf to camp. But be careful. I wish for no more injuries," he flashed her a threatening look. She shrank back as the pack wolves surrounded her.

"And someone help carry the caribou," he ordered. A few wolves broke away and moved to the prey. As they walked through the forest, no one said a word. She felt so scared she thought she might die. A pack camp? They might kill her! She knew there would be many more wolves at the camp. There could be five more or twenty more. She would only know when they arrived.

When they arrived Silver wanted to turn and run away as fast she could. But the wolves pushed her forward when she tried to stop. There were wolves everywhere. It was a lively, joyful looking place, but Silver felt as if she were walking into a death sentence. The camp was a low area in the forest. The sides were to steep to climb up except on one area. Trees and bushes surrounded the top so that you couldn't reach the edge from the outside. There were three dens. One was a large burrow in the corner. The other two were made of large bushes. They were side by side across from the burrow. The ground was grassy and soft under her paws.

A single large oak tree stood in the middle of the clearing. Its roots stretched out towards the sides of the clearing. A few older wolves were lying beside each other in between the roots, the sunlight sparkling on their elegant furs. They looked at her curiously but didn't seem to particularly care.

"Birch!" Windy squealed suddenly. He leaped onto a white she-wolf who looked his age. Birch toppled over as he landed on her.

"Hey!" She protested. She shoved him off and stood. "Hmph!" She grumbled shaking her fur. Windy barked in amusement. Storm came up behind and cuffed him around the year.

"Come on," she growled, some amusement in her tone. "Leave your mate alone!"

"Hey!" He yelped embarrassedly. "We're not mates!"

"Yet," Storm said, a twinkle in her eyes as she followed Fang toward a smooth low rock at the edge of the clearing.

"Come Moonpack!" He called sharply. Wolves emerged from the dens. Pups yelped in protest as a couple of she-wolves squeezed out of one of the dens. Silver's heart ached at their sounds. She remembered her own siblings. She recalled the only words she had heard her mother say. Bracken, Midnight, Mist, and Silver. They had all been names. She knew Silver was her name so the others must be her litter mates' names. The brown she-wolf had to turn and pick up a gray pup and carried it back into the den.

"Why is there a lone wolf?" A little tawny pup squeaked. His eyes were wide and he looked terrified. She felt fear burn through her pelt. Why did they have to be scared? She wouldn't hurt them. If they thought she were a threat they might harm her.

"Hush Eagle," his mother snapped, herding him back into the den. She guessed that must be where pups and their mothers slept.

"We have found a lone wolf," Fang called over the pack when they had all gathered. He nodded towards Silver and the wolves surrounding her. Uneasy growls sounded around the clearing. She wished she could just disappear into the ground.

"She has not threatened us," Fang pushed on, an annoyed tone to his voice. "She has saved my life during an attack from other lone wolves. She killed one of her own to do it." Silver hated that. She shivered. One of her own? They were nothing like her!

"We will welcome her," Fang said. "And she will stay with us as a guest." Silver snapped her head up in surprise. Howls of protest rang through the clearing.

"But she's a lone wolf!" A she-wolf snapped, jumping to her feet.

"She does not belong in a pack," an old male grumbled. He stood and shook his scraggly brown fur. "We have never done this! What reason is there to now?"

"You owe her your leader's life!" Storm retorted. Silver felt relief that there was some support.

"Let the lone wolf speak for herself!" A wolf called out somewhere. Everyone fell silent. All eyes were on her. She glanced up at Fang. His eyes narrowed, but he nodded. She took a deep breathe.

"I-I don't want to cause trouble. I won't stay long..." She said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Then it is settled," Fang said. He looked down at her. "We must call you something. As lone wolves have no name, we shall give you one."

"Wait! No! I have a name!" Silver squeaked. Several curious eyes drifted toward her. She lowered her head.

"My-my mother called me Silver," she said. Fang nodded, though his eyes narrowed into a cold glare.

"Very well. Silver. You will all welcome her! If I hear that someone dishonored our guest, I will be disappointed." He called. With that, he leaped off the rock and silently slipped into the burrow.