Wolves of the Falling Stars Book 4: The Return

Chapter 2

"Golden Flower! Are you awake yet?" came a soft, yet also stern voice from the opening of the den that the young pup was resting in. She opened her eyes and blinked at the sunlight filtrating through the den. 

"S-Sorry! Getting up now!" she exclaimed. Another day of oversleeping! She was surprised that she hadn't gotten kicked out of the pack yet for it. It was an adjustment waking up at the break of dawn now that she no longer lived in the luxury of her parents' den, where there were no such rules.

The golden she-wolf stretched her aching limbs, sore from training, and finally headed outside to greet the wolf who had been tasked to train her. It was a tedious job, she realized. The other wolves had been raised on pack lore and taught proper pack etiquette from the time they were pups, but she was learning everything for the first time. 

It must be a pain for Copper Rock to teach me everything from scratch, Golden Flower thought, but there was no other choice. There had been a gap in pup births the past year, leaving Golden Flower as the only wolf-in-training at the moment. With the rogues' threat of eventually returning, Golden Flower needed to be trained properly, before they arrived.

Copper Rock narrowed his eyes as Golden Flower approached.

"That's the second time this week," he said.

"I'm sorry," Golden Flower murmured. "My family never made me get up so early..."

"Let's not make a habit of it," Copper Rock said.

Copper Rock was a fairly good teacher, Golden Flower thought. He knew when to be stern, but he was, for the most part, kind and friendly. Not to mention intelligent. Every new task came with a lecture of the origins of said hunting pose or fighting tactic. Copper Rock was certainly the brains of this pack.

But there was something strange about Copper Rock, Golden Flower had noticed, as soon as she had arrived. Already she was reaching his height, with much promise of outgrowing him. Copper Rock's ears were floppy, like the alphas and Golden Flower's mother. His physique was much different, and he was nowhere near as large in size as the other wolves.

This was no surprise, Golden Flower guessed, because early on into their training, Copper Rock had shared with Golden Flower the story of the pack's origins. Once completely dominated by wolves, it had been his parents that had entered the wolf pack and dramatically altered it. Golden Flower had asked if this was bad. Copper Rock would not give a clear answer, but he did assure her that it had been fated to happen, according to the past alpha.

A strange pack, for sure, Golden Flower thought, but it was one she was thrilled to be a part of. That was if there wasn't something nagging her in the back of the head about Copper Rock. His appearance, while not identical by any means, reminded her of Hazel Branch.

Once or twice, she had considered asking him if he had any relation to her mother, but Golden Flower knew it wise to keep her mouth shut. Her parents' desire to keep their identity secret had to be for a reason. It was the least Golden Flower could do for them, considering she had run off and even faked her own death, something that probably caused her family great pain.

Still, she had almost slipped the question a few times, desperate to learn more. Her mother had to be related to these dogs somehow. Perhaps she'd just have to find another tactic to discover the truth.

"I suppose you should eat some breakfast first," Copper Rock said, breaking Golden Flower out of her trance.

"Sorry. I'll make it fast," she said.

Copper Rock accompanied her as she ate a freshly-caught rabbit. With not many other wolves her age, Golden Flower mostly kept to the side of Copper Rock, though she didn't see this as entirely bad. He was her trainer, after all, and she was still getting used to the all of the wolves in the pack. She had mostly learned everyone's names by now, though she always seemed to forget the names of Small Fox's pups.

"Mother! Bring me some deer meat!" came a cry from a nearby den.

Copper Rock rolled his eyes. "Shining River," he murmured.

Golden Flower was well acquainted with the stuck-up she-wolf. She was mate to Feather Wings, a perfectly normal and kind wolf. In fact, Golden Flower sometimes wondered why the gray wolf put up with his obnoxious mate. Though perhaps Golden Flower was only seeing Shining River's bad side because she was pregnant.

"Those pups will be spoiled when they're born," Copper Rock murmured. "Not only will they have the blood of the past alpha, but with Silver Snowflake, our beta, being their grandmother, it seems like those pups will be royalty."

"Do bloodlines matter that much in this pack?" Golden Flower asked.

"In a way, yes. More so to the wolves that actually care about it. If it concerns alphas or betas, then yes."

"So a wolf like me could not be alpha or beta?" Golden Flower wondered.

"That's not true. Just look at our current alphas. Both dogs. No wolf lineage. Your lineage may not have come from this pack, but you're already doing well in training. I wouldn't sell yourself short," Copper Rock said.

"Thanks, Copper Rock," Golden Flower said. It was nice to hear, considering she spent most days wondering if she'd be a good enough wolf. She was still adjusting to the pack life and all the changes it brought, but so far, she was enjoying her time and looked forward to the future.

"Speaking of training, we should probably head out to do some," Copper Rock said. "We've already had a late start. We'll have to stay out a little later. Good thing the sun is staying up longer."

Golden Flower nodded. The sun had melted away the remainder of the winter snow. It was Golden Flower's first spring, and she was always amazed by the green plants and blossoms springing from the ground, not to mention, prey was plentiful as Copper Rock had told her.

"This is one of the best times to practice hunting," he said when she had first begun her training.

As Golden Flower headed deeper into the woods with Copper Rock, she smiled. It felt good to finally be a member of a pack. The life she had always wanted was finally becoming hers.