Wolf's POV
In a small den in the forest…
Gentle nuzzling wakes me from my nap. My little brother is nearly my size, but he still acts like a pup when he wakes me in the evenings. We’ve been taking turns keeping watch for the damn viper cat. Its constant threats against my small pack have driven us further from the water’s edge. Hardly any prey comes through this area because of the poisonous vines that choke the life out of the trees and the surrounding plants slowly. If anything tries to eat the vines or the plants they are entangled with, the animal gets sick and dies. It’s the kind of vine only a nymph could remove from the forest. My parents told me it appeared years ago when ‘the son of the sea’ appeared on our shores. His presence here has soured parts of the forest with these poisonous vines. Is it a curse or coincidence?
My little brothers do their part nuzzling and grooming me to show their affection for their alpha. I wonder how long it will be until they want to leave this little pack or take it over for themselves. There’s still time before they try to become dominant over me, but the thought lingers in my mind. Suddenly, an image of my dead mate crosses my mind. His ashy gray fur and speckled ears bristle against my black paws in my memory. His stark gold eyes blink back at me, and I feel heavier. Heavy with loneliness and responsibility that my mate was supposed to carry with me. It’s been thirty or so moons since I watched him fall over the river's falls. His death hit me harder than the bloody death of my parents and other pack mates at the hands of the Highland Pack.
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A small whine from my little brother with cherry gold eyes like our father. His shoulders are beginning to fill out with muscle since the boys started hunting with me. My other little brother with yellowed amber eyes like our grandmother sighs next to him. His solid black ears twitch from the evening breeze. Both their coats have settled into a dark gray with white bellies like our mother’s. The day is coming when I will have to give them their names. When they have their first successful solo hunt, a pup earns their official name in our pack. My aunts, Alondra, Lia, and Elena, earned their long ago from hunting birds and rabbits. I will have to name them in my parents’ place.
Lia comes bounding into our den with a look of horror on her snout. Her cherry gold eyes look like they might fall out of her head as she paces about the narrow den area. My brothers and aunts race to calm her with cuddles. A foreign scent rubs against my nose. It stings my nostrils from the pungent fumes. It’s the musk of that viper cat wafting about. A growl rumbles through my teeth. This damn cat chased Lia out here. I will face this snake tonight or this hunt will never end. The safety of my pack is paramount. I signal my pack to run for the last time.
“Don’t come back. Don’t look behind you. Leave the lake if you have to, but you must escape this night or what I am about to do will mean nothing,” I warn as my rage kicks into full swing. I am up on my paws before my pack can say anything. This ends today.
