“Searching Endless”

In the depths of the woods a wolf pack waits and watches. The highest members of the pack here are growing angrier by each passing second. Two dogs have trespassed on the territory they have so clearly marked. They were obviously out to kill the new litter of pups the alphas had just birthed. The pups were defenseless. They had an extreme sense of vulnerability that screamed at wolves everywhere. Their dead siblings explained that thoroughly.

 Last season, the alphas’ litter had been gruesomely murdered by one of their rivaling packs, so ironically nicknamed ‘The Crimson Fangs Pack’. This pack, nicknamed ‘Muzzled Waters’, had held a grudge ever since. They desperately sought revenge, and here it was, walking straight into their vision. These intruders were most probably from the same pack, out to kill the new pups this season. And this group from the Muzzled Waters Pack would use their own bodies as a blockage before they allowed it to happen again. They’d been caught off guard once. It would never happen again.

The two of the leaders of the group stepped up to the plate first. A gray male named Falco along with a brown shaded female named Kylee. They pounded out of the trees, accusing the stragglers dead in the eyes. The male intruder looked somewhat familiar. The female, they weren’t sure they recognized. It didn’t matter. They snapped at their heels. Saliva dripped from their lips. Snarls were resounding against the trees. As the two strange canines took a few steps back, Falco howled out his heart, calling to the rest of the pack still hidden in the trees.

They answered dutifully, taking up the same call but in a different tone. This time, they howled out for an attack to be carried out. A trio towards the middle shoved their way to the front and showed their jaws with pride. “You’ll get a kick out of this, mutts,” The one to the right said. He was a dark male who’s eyes seemed to burn. The huge streak on his back only further dominated his appearance. The male, Cicada’s, voice sounded rustic and overly scratchy, not too pleasant at first. The female dog fought the immediate urge to shudder.  A black colored male named Vortex, to Cicada’s right, seemed ready to pounce. On Vortex’s right, there was yet another male wolf. Although he, Kono, stood still and quiet. He glared at the two dogs, watching their every move.

The female dog squared her shoulders, attempting to ready herself for the battle at hand. Though, when she took a jab with her snout towards a group to her left, her mate barred her way. “No,” He said firmly. “Go home.” The female seemed astonished. She couldn’t understand why her loved one would want to undertake this alone. Surely, he could never survive. She stood there, still in shock, watching her mate slash and attempt to tear at the wolves’ pelts.

“Look at the girl! She’s just standing there!” whispered one of the females on the sidelines of the attack. She was a beautiful, sandy colored wolf named Jewel. “We’ll get her easy!” Jewel continued menacingly. The aggressive brown male next to her, Beyran, snarled in agreement and the two raced to the helpless dog’s side. Jewel got a mean shock when the male dog came to knock her from under the muzzle. The two behind the now unconscious female, Beyran, joined now by Kylee, looked at each other with questionable glances, however, they advanced.

The female dog attempted to step up. She even had to push her mate a few inches to do it. She pawed at Kylee, the female still standing, and went for the throat of Beyran with her teeth. She missed with her claws but she nailed it with her fangs. Beyran growled viciously, jumping vigorously in a mad attempt to shake the mutt off. “Get off me, you dumb stray!” He yelled. Kylee beside him caught the dog’s leg, and in turn made her yelp sharply and lose her grip. The sheer bite strength of Kylee on her leg nearly crushed into the bone. Luckily, she let go to try and offend again.

But this time, the dog got knocked out of the way by her mate. “I said go home, Kay!” He shouted recklessly. The female dog, Kay, shouted back, “You can’t get rid of me that easy, Caden!” Caden decided the only way to ensure his mate’s safety was to push her away. Using his body, he forced her into the tress on the opposite side of the wolves’ territory. “I told you to run. Now, run!” Kay was about to make another protest, but Caden snarled to cut her off. “It’s not an option, Kay.”

Kay was heartbroken at Caden’s harshness, but deep down she knew he only wanted to protect her. And so, she left him. Her heat beat sped up faster than Kay thought she could handle. Every moment she brought close and spread her legs to make the running motion, she could hear less and less of the snarls, growls, barks, and insane howling going on behind her. She remembered the blood. The images flashed through her mind. It sickened her. The only thing that kept her going was Caden. She hoped he’d be okay. She prayed he’d come back home. And when he did, she’d be ready and willing to give him the biggest cuddle anyone around Nome had ever experienced.

As she reached the town she called home, she panted heavily. She sat down by the post office and nearly had a heart attack. She had run so fast, it seemed as if her legs had decided the pace without even thinking to ask the rest of her physical body. She didn’t care. She didn’t mind. All she worried about now was Caden. Shouldn’t he have beaten the wolves and come back by now? Was he even safe?

A familiar husky passed by the troubled dog just as she decided to lie down and rest her aching body a bit. “Jenna?” She said between gasps for air. The husky turned, her eyes widening ever so slightly as she trotted over to Kay. “Kay! What happened to you?” She asked concerned, noticing her leg. “You sound tired, and your leg is bleeding! Shouldn’t you rest?” Kay shook her head. “I’m fine, I was just running too quickly, too far. Have you seen Caden around?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, Kay, I’m afraid not. Why is something wrong?”

Back at the battle grounds, blood lay everywhere. There wasn’t one inch of ground that didn’t have the color red spewed all over it. Caden was passed out, on the floor. He was so close to the brink of death, the wolves had originally given up with the thought he had passed. Upon closer inspection, however, they soon discovered he still had a faint pulse.

The beta of the pack shrugged. “What do we do with him now?” He asked. He was an indifferent character who’s name suggested danger. He was called Shark, and he watched the group out of task. Caden had come out of his tiny coma now, though he kept his eyes like slits so as not to be seen awake. A female, the second in command of the hunting group, a beautiful brown wolf called Chyna, answered the question with another question. “Shouldn’t we take him back?” Shark spoke. “That’s absurd! Why on earth would we do such a thing? We attacked those dogs in the first place to keep them from killing our pups!” He never truly felt such anger; he did it to be seen as sympathetic.

There was a pause as Chyna considered. When she responded, she said, “True. However, this is just a dog, as you have said. We, from afar, thought they were one of the Crimson Fangs. However, I’m very doubtful that they would allow a dog into their ranks. Especially since they are obsessed with power and purity of breed.” Shark nodded, taking this in. Eventually he said, “Oh alright.” He took a look around and noticed Kelcey, a strong, tan female, standing idly. “Kelcey, come and carry this brute! Let’s all head off with our kill from earlier and take this dog prisoner!”

Kay had been pacing back and forth for the next few days. She had kept by the post office for the first day, but after some persuasion from Jenna to get some rest, Kay had gone off somewhere else to walk around. She had barely gotten the sleep Jenna wished her to, and Kay didn’t care to shut her eyes anyways.

After almost three days without taking a rest, her whole body nearly shut down on her. She took refuge in one of the alleys near the telegraph building and breathed a gaping breath of air. She settled down by lying on the cold floor. She was in almost complete darkness as the twilight enfolded the narrow place, and before she knew it she was asleep. Her dream, however, was anything but relaxing.

In a misty forest, Kay found herself walking endlessly. She couldn’t see a thing. She couldn’t even know where she was stepping. Though, her paws seemed to do so mechanically. It felt as if she’d walked this path a million times. And that was the only reason she didn’t bump into a tree or tumble head over paws into the ground. Granted, she found herself almost about to trip a few times, but since she wasn’t controlling all her own movements, some part of her could sense the impending fall and brought her back to the correct balance.

She didn’t like the place she was in now. It was dark. The moon was nothing but a crescent in the sky. There were no stars to accompany it. The clouds covered everything. The mist hung all around her like a shroud of shadows, and at every turn she swore she could hear a scream or a desperate cry. Her body posture shrunk after each step. Her back was entirely arched. Each step became smaller as she struggled to keep herself as close