I took a deep breath, trying to detect anything dangerous besides the scent of my prey before I carefully peered around the clearing in the forest. I was carefully using a large fallen tree as cover to hide my silver fur as I approached my prey, my four paws allowing me to move silently in the damp grass. After a few moments I was satisfied that the deer drinking from a small pond was the only animal of significance in the immediate area and I was now within striking distance.
It was risky for a lone wolf to try and take down a deer, but the pack was hungry. By the time I left to get my pack members, the deer would already be long gone. So here I was, making sure I was down wind of my prey and inching closer to the deer as silently as I could.
Although the deer was young, I was barely an adult wolf myself. I had only recently stopped growing, so I had to be extra careful due to my lack of experience. After making sure that there was no other animal present in the clearing, I focused my silver eyes on the deer. The fur on my muzzle shifting slightly in the breeze as I prepared my ambush.
The deer lifted it's head suddenly and tensed up, it had heard something I believed to be a rabbit somewhere off in the forest as it ran along. Luckily the noisy creature was on the opposite side of the clearing to me and didn't give my location away to my prey. I stood completely still with the patience that most ambush predators employ while I waited for the deer to go back to drinking.
Finally the deer relaxed as it decided that the noise wasn't an immediate threat to it's life. It bent its back head down to continue drinking. Sensing my opportunity as my prey was distracted, I choose that moment to suddenly charge at the deer.
The moment it sensed my sudden movement the poor animal attempted to flee as it realized I was there. But I was much to close for it to be able to start running, let alone get away. I rather easily jumped on my prey's back and sank my teeth into the deer's spine, snapping it and causing the animals legs to stop moving and collapse.
The deer fell in a heap as I rolled off of it to avoid being injured by it's fall. I quickly darted to the now frantic animal that could no longer defend itself and used my sharp teeth to tear it's throat out and end it's suffering.
A minute or two later the poor animal took it's final attempt at a breath and stopped moving as it's heart gave out. Knowing that it was now safe to make noise again as the hunt was over, I threw my head back and howled to alert any nearby members of the pack that I needed assistance to drag my kill back to the pack den. I was right near the boundary of our pack territory and it was a long walk back to the den after all.
"My goddess Eva." A grey wolf with a white muzzle said a few minutes later as he exited the trees and examined my kill. "How in the world did you manage to take down a deer by yourself?"
"Patience had something to do with it but it was mainly due to luck Henry." I replied to the Gamma of my pack. "I happened to find a lone deer that was distracted in a clearing that had cover so I could sneak up on it. I managed to break it's neck on the first try and now I just need help to bring it back to the den."
"No kidding." Came my Gamma's reply. "Jace and Ken are on their way, once they get here we can drag it back together. Well done Eva."
I felt my heart warm at the praise from my Gamma. I may only be a young wolf, but I was quickly earning my place in the pack as a tracker and hunter. I wondered if one day I could manage to rise in rank to that of Gamma or Beta female, or maybe even Alpha female. Although that is probably just a fantasy.
A few minutes later a brown wolf and a grey and white wolf emerged from the trees. After a few orders from Gamma Henry, the four of us started to drag the kill back to the hungry pack members and the packs pups.
About 3 months ago, wild game had suddenly started to disappear from our pack's territory. Although the Alpha and Beta had done everything they could to find out who or what was responsible, all they could discover was that whatever was taking the wild life was not a wolf and left behind a burning, powdery smell. So any prey was welcome these days.
After two and a half hours of everyone dragging my kill through the forest, my muscles were burning and we finally arrived at the Shallow Rivers pack den. Our pack's history spanned many generations, making us the oldest pack that we were aware of.
As we arrived we were met by Alpha Pierce. My Alpha had a quick discussion with Gamma Henry before address the rest of us. "Well done on successfully tracking and taking down a deer on your own in these trying times Eva. I know the lack of animals to hunt has been hard, but it's times like this when I'm reminded of how our pack will pull through these hardships thanks to the effort of all of our pack members." He congratulated me as his mate, Luna Kate, arrived at his side.
As was traditional, the Alpha and Luna were the first to eat and everyone waited until they were done before coming and filling there stomachs as well. Once they were done most of the pack helped to strip meat off the carcass and take it to the growing pups.
Even after everyone had filled their belly's we still had enough meat to last us for at least a week.
After I was done I started to make my way to the pack den. But was suddenly stopped as a small brown pup ran over to me doing a barrel roll in the middle of his uneven sprint, as he somehow managed to lose his balance on the flat ground.
"Eva, Eva, Eva!" He shouted excitedly after he managed to right himself and continue his charge in my direction. Unfortunately he forgot that he was supposed to slow down until it was to late and he crashed head first into my legs.
"Did you really manage to take down a deer by yourself big sister?" The pup asked me while his eyes were full of amazement and wonder. Although I wondered if some of that look was contributed by a small concussion.
I chuckled fondly at him before replying to his question. "Yes John, although it took fours of us to drag the deer all the way back to the pack den."
"You are amazing." John informed me matter of factually, which earn't him another chuckle and a bath as I started to clean him with my tongue.
I call John my little brother even though we're not related my blood. To be truthful, I'm not even sure who my parents are. The Shallow River's pack found me as a young pup, alone and on the edge of their territory. So they adopted me and the entire pack helped to raised me.
I found John when I was out exploring near the edge of our territory. It appeared that another pack of wolves had gotten close to the border of our territory with the intention to cross into our lands. They only just managed to cross the border when something attacked them. We're not quite sure what it was, but it claimed quite a few lives that day and left the same burning, powdery smell behind. From what we could discover it seems that the pack ran off in a panic as they tried to evade their attackers and accidentally left little John behind.
After I'd found the week old pup under the body of what I assumed was his birth mother, little John was adopted into the Shallow Rivers pack just as I was. Although I decided that I wanted to be responsible for the life I'd saved, it was decided at the time that I was to young to be his foster mother. So I ended up with a little brother that I love dearly. Everyday he continues to grow and make me proud.
"There were strange scents around the territory today." John said in a desperate attempt to distract me from his bath.
"How would you know that little brother?" I asked in a curious tone.
"I heard Beta Nathan talking about it." He told me quite proudly.
"You really shouldn't eaves drop John." I growled at him disapprovingly. "If the Alpha and Beta think that it's something we need to know about then they will tell us. But eavesdropping on them or anyone else will only get you into trouble. Do you understand?"
"Yes big sister." Came his reply as John dropped his little head and put his tail between his legs. Regretful about being told off, not that what he had done wrong.
"Good boy, now go run along to the other pups, it's getting late and the sun will go down soon." I told him.
After making sure that John joined the rest of the pack pups safely I headed into the den and found my favorite spot next to a boulder to settle down in. It had been a big day and I was ready to let sleep claim me.
I let sleep carry me off to the world of dreams where I dreamt I was chasing rabbits under a clear sky with a fully grown John dashing about madly. He even had his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth as he ran. However as always, the dream had to end as reality came back to claimed me.
When I woke I instantly knew that I'd slept to long and something was very wrong. The sun was shinning brightly outside, letting me know that I'd managed to sleep through the night and then some. Which was unusual for me.
As the fog of sleep lifted from my mind I heard the sound of many wolfs growling, which alerted me to the presence of danger in the pack den.
I darted out of the den in a rush only to find our pack facing off with another Alpha, Beta and their warriors. It appears that the Shallow Rivers pack is being challenged for our territory. Judging by the stand off currently happening the newcomers hadn't been here long.
The opposing Alpha was a large brown and black wolf with scars running all over his body. Bits of missing fur only adding to the menacing aura that he managed to project even though his body language was relaxed.
Alpha Pierce, Beta Nathan and Gamma Henry were were sitting 20 meters away from the rival Alpha and Beta with their warriors proudly behind them.
There were no sign of the elderly or pups, they had all been evacuated to safety already. Which I was silently thankful for. I made my way over to join the rest of my pack mates that stood behind Alpha Pierce, ready to fight for our pack if need be.
"What do you want?" The voice of Alpha Pierce ran clearly throughout the den, full of power and demanding answers for this insulting intrusion on his pack's territory. It made all the wolves present except the Rival Alpha cower in fear.
"Your land, your females and your pack." Came the reply in voice that was slow and sounded bored. The menacing aura the rival Alpha projected managed to come across in his words as pure evil.
"I am Alpha Tim and humans have destroyed my territory, so now I'm taking yours. Do you wish to challenge this claim or will you step aside like the coward you are?" Alpha Tim's voice shook while he spoke, like he had something stuck in his windpipe. Even so, he still sounded incredibly dangerous.
"I gladly accept you challenge." Alpha Pierce declared. "The winner claims the rights to both packs and their territories."
"Agreed." Came the evil sounding response from Alpha Tim.
Both wolves approached the center point between the two packs and waited for Beta Nathan to give the signal that the fight had commenced. They didn't have to wait long as Beta Nathan didn't waste any time and gave the signal.
Alpha Pierce lunged forward immediately going straight for his opponents throat, but Alpha Tim proved to be a lot quicker and jumped on the smaller Alpha's back. He latched on and started biting anywhere he could reach as Alpha Pierce tried desperately to shake the rival Alpha off.
After a few more seconds Alpha Tim was dislodged from Alpha Pierce's back and landed on his own back. He flipped over and stood up almost immediately. It was clear the Alpha Pierce had come out of the first round as the loser.
The two wolves charged at each other again. This time instead of going for the throat, Alpha Pierce dropped down and let the momentum he'd built up carry him on and tripped Alpha Tim up. Somehow managing to knock Alpha Tim off of his feet.
He got back up without losing momentum and charged at Alpha Tim. He was almost at the enemy Alpha when Tim suddenly kicked his feet out and and lifted Alpha Pierce clean into the air to land hard on his back.
Before Alpha Pierce could recover, Alpha Tim was at his throat growling at Pierce to submit or die. After a few seconds Pierce bared his neck to the new Alpha showing his submission.
Our new Alpha let Pierce go and turned to address the pack. "I am your new Alpha. My name is Alpha Tim. I may run things a bit differently from your old Alpha but if you don't like it then you can try to leave. But be warned, if you're caught trying to escape you will be killed on sight."
"Now the males of my new pack will hunt for us and defend us when needed. Only the Alpha male may mate and all of the females will be required to present themselves to me when I want them." This statement from Alpha Tim sent a shock wave through the packs and caused many growls. There were many mated pairs in this pack and this Alpha seemed to think he could just take all the females for himself. Mated or otherwise.
Gamma Henry stepped forward. "With all due respect." He started towards his new Alpha. "If you think that you can come in here and simply take the females away from their mates then you are asking for trouble."
Alpha Tim looked at Gamma Henry for a minute before asking. "Does this mean you are unhappy with your Alphas decisions?"
"Yes it does Alpha." Gamma Henry said while keeping his eyes lowered in a sign of respect to his new Alpha.
Alpha Tim didn't respond. He simply calmly walked over to Gamma Henry before suddenly seizing the unprepared wolves throat with his teeth and ripping it out. Gamma Henry fell over and proceeded to die in shock at his new Alpha's feet.
"If anyone else has a problem with how I do things then you're more then welcome to join your friend." Alpha Tim said calmly while watching the packs reactions.
"This pack no longer has mates and all the females belong to me. If that is all, I would like some of you to show my warriors around the territory, the females and children of my pack will arrive later today." Alpha Tim informed us before walking away.
Everyone in the pack was stunned at what had just happened. Plus if there were more wolves on the way then our territory wouldn't be able to support us all. Hell, it was barely supporting our pack before adding another entire pack to the amount of wolves here. I had no idea what this new Alpha was thinking, but I wasn't going to stay around to become his play thing then starve.
That afternoon close to another 50 wolves emerged from the trees. That means that with both packs combined there was over 250 wolves currently in Alpha Tim's pack.
The Alpha would have to expand his territory dramatically if he wanted all of his many wolves not to starve. "He'll simply let the weaker wolves die of starvation." The small voice that had always been in my head informed me. I had to agree with it this time.
When the female wolves from the Alphas pack arrived the pack pups were separated from their parents and put under the watchful eye of the pack nannies from Alpha Tim's pack. The pups family's were no longer allowed access to their own children. This included John.
"This is horrific." I thought to myself. "I can't even get to John, what am I going to do?"
I was a promising tracker and hunter with a bright future ahead of me. But now I'm just expected to lie around and be a breeding machine for this new Alpha? Hell no. I'm getting out of here and I'm taking John with me.
I couldn't help my pack if I was pregnant and starving, but I also couldn't take more wolves with me because the chances of getting caught went up dramatically. It nearly broke my heart to decide that I had to leave my pack mates behind. But I vowed that once we were free I would figure out a way to free my beloved pack from this sadistic Alpha. Nothing was going to stop me.
I waited until it was late into the night and all the new wolves had settled down. I could even hear some of them snoring. I knew that if I was going to escape then I had to do it before the new wolves became familiar with the territory, so I put my plan into action that very night.
I snuck out of the pack den as quiet as a whisper and made my way over to where the pack pups had settled down for the night. Unfortunately when I got there I saw not one but six wolves awake and guarding the pups. It was like they knew that the wolves of the Shallow Water's pack would try to grab their pups and make a run for it.
I got as close as I could to the group of pups being guarded by the watchful sentries, but I was no where near close enough to be able to dart in and grab John if the guards were distracted. I waited there for two hours while trying to find a weak point I could use to get to John, but before I managed to think of a way to get him out I heard movement back at the den where everyone was meant to be sleeping. Knowing that I only had a matter of minutes until someone may realize that I was gone, I had to make the hardest decision of my life.
I turned and ran silently into the forest. Vowing that I would return for John once the security around the pups had lessened. However right now it was certain death to try and take him with me, at least he would still be alive under this new Alpha's rule for the moment.
In order to mask my scent trail I traveled down several streams that traveled through out territory as well as zig zaged a bit to confuse anyone that might be tracking my scent. I wasn't travelling slowly, but I was being careful not to make much noise as I made my way to the territory border.
A couple of hours later and I was nearly at the Shallow River's pack border, nearly free of Alpha Tim and his influence. I was so close I could taste it, until a form pounced on me so fast that I could only see a charcoal coat and hear the growls.
"This is it, I'm dead." I thought as I attempted to fight back. But even though I was willing to fight for my pack, I was no warrior and the wolf on top of me was going for the kill. Even though I was fighting back, I was almost instantly overpowered by Alpha Tim's wolf.
The wolf managed to get its jaws around my throat before a male voice asked me gleefully. "Any last words deserter?" He was anticipating the kill of one of his pack mates with a huge amount of enthusiasm.
I was honestly too afraid to answer him. Not because he was about to kill me, but because our scuffle had woken up the bear we were fighting next to and he still hadn't noticed. Even though the fight was over.
"Nothing to say? Goodbye then." The wolf told me, obviously still not realizing that he'd pissed off a bear.
The wolf opened his mouth to get more power into the killing blow he was about to deliver, but was instead swatted away by a very angry bear. The bear follow the unfortunate wolf as the focus of it's anger, it seemed not to see me as I lay still.
As the charcoal wolf tried to recover to fight the bear I stood up as best I could. Two of my legs had been seriously hurt in the scuffle, but that didn't stop me from running towards the over the border as fast as I could. Away from the bear and the charcoal wolf.
A couple of hours later and I was reduced to limping along in my desperate haste to get as far away from the Shallow Waters pack territory as I could. My front and back legs on my left side trying to tell me to stop. But I couldn't, I was too afraid that Alpha Tim will send more wolves after me.
I limped along until I came across a beautiful pond about half a kilometer away from where I was. I was so thirsty I wanted to run to the pond, but I almost immediately encountered the scent markers of another packs territory.
My mind was screaming at me for water, the urge was stronger than the need to be wary of the scent marker. So I limped to the pond and collapsed on the ground before lapping up the fresh water.
I'm not sure how long I was laying there, drinking and just resting as my consciousnesses tried to pull me into slumber so my body could heal. But I knew that I'd been there too long when I heard growling off to my right.
A completely white wolf with a black crescent moon on it's left shoulder emerged from the trees. The first thing that struck me as off about the wolf was it's size. It was massive, at least twice the size of me and far bigger than Alpha Tim.
I bowed my head and showed my neck in submission to the much larger wolf who's territory I was invading.