Macallan’s Story
Part 1

All characters in this story are © Highland Wolf

Macallan’s hard pads of his paw batted against the soft, mossy ground as he ran through the forest in between the trees. They were all watching him; every member of his former clan had their eyes fixed on the running figure. Even though Macallan could no longer see it, he could still feel the clan leaders menacing shadow towering over him. He tensed at the thought and continued to glide through the forest.
The clan leader watched his every move as he ran further away from his territory.
“Do you think this was wise?” Asked a wolf from his side. The leader replied without turning round,
“If this wasn’t the right decision then I wouldn’t have exiled him from our clan. It is wise. But he will be back, I know him…  he will be back,”

Soon a sun-lit opening caught Macallan’s bright amber eyes and he bolted to it. He wanted out of the woods and out of the glowing eyes that stared at him. The bright sun lit his dark brown face as he burst out of the dark trees and into the open. All of a sudden, Macallan suddenly kicked something soft and tripped over it. He flew forward and saw the steep hill into the valley. He landed on his stomach onto the short, stubby grass then rolled and tumbled down the hill. Something else was beside him, bashing into him now and then but he couldn’t make out who or what it was. Eventually, he reached the bottom of the hill and landed with a thump on the valley bottom. Macallan grunted. Just as he lifted his head up, something heavy and soft landed on it and slammed it back down onto the ground. He lifted his head painfully and the weight flopped off beside him.
To his side, Macallan could see a young, light brown pup at his side.

The clan leader decided to retreat back.
“Macallan has gone now, we will head back,” He said gruffly. The wolves around him nodded and followed him. 
“Filtiarn,” A stern voice called from behind him. It was one of the clan elders; and old, dark wolf. Filtiarn was clan leader, but the elders had their way, they were the wisest and oldest. They were never afraid of him, but sometimes Filtiarn feared them. He turned round and the wolf looked into the murky eyes.
“Filtiarn,” He said again, “This is dangerous times now, and you have lost us another wolf from our clan, with wolves declining in Scotland ever faster do you really think that exiling members out of our clan will help our race here? There is no hope for a lone wolf, we need all the numbers we can get to keep our clan alive and from extinction. Do you think that Macallan’s leaving will help us? Was your decision wise?” He spoke with an edge.
Filtiarn stared wide eyes at him.
 “I know what I am doing old one, I am the clan leader,” He said shortly. There was no reply, the elder just watched him closely with a twist on the end of his frown, waiting for another reply.
“He was dragging us down,” Filtiarn snapped, “I know the consequences of kicking him out, but he wasn’t helping our clan!”
Filtiarn felt uneasy with the elders, he could feel the thick fur on the back of his neck rise in anger and in dread.
“He wasn’t helping the clan? Or was he too much of a threat to your position?” The elder croaked at him, “Hmm, Filtiarn?”
Filtiarn gave a short snarl, then spun round and marched away with the elder’s deep eyes, digging in his back.

The pup lowered his head and stared at Macallan with wide eyes. Macallan looked at it in surprise. The pup was breathing heavily, then stepped backwards, but didn’t take its eyes off him. Macallan cleared his throat, then began to speak.
“Hello,” He said to the pup, “Who are you?”
“Eh… Highland,” The pup said, then smiled, “Highland Wolf,”
Macallan smiled back, “Highland Wolf, that’s an interesting name. Nice to meet you Highland. I’m Macallan. Where are you from?”
“Uh… I don’t know,” Highland said, then lowered his head and sighed, “I don’t remember where I came from, my mother was… um…”
Highland didn’t finish the sentence, he just sank down even further in sadness and grief, but Macallan understood.
“Oh,” Macallan said. He looked into Highland’s solemn face. No mother, what about family, he must have a clan? Macallan continued to speak softly to Highland,
“No family? Where are your clan?”
“I don’t have a family, I only had my mother, we lived on our own,” Highland said, “I don’t have a clan either…”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Highland…” Macallan sighed, “Who looks after you?”
Highland looked back up at Macallan with bright emerald green eyes,
“Know one,”
Suddenly, a high-pitched gunshot blasted from down the valley and birds scattered, screeching out of the trees. Highland bounded underneath Macallan in shock.  Macallan stared down at him. There was another shot and Highland whimpered, shaking in panic.
Poor thing, Macallan thought, he was only small.
Macallan suspected his mother was shot. Macallan’s face darkened with sadness at the thought. Who will look after him? There is no hope for wolf as young as he to live on his own…
There was another shot that sounded closer that echoed through the valley and Macallan realised that they were in open ground and it wouldn’t be safe to stay long. He nudged Highland with his nose.
“Come one, lets get somewhere safe, quick!”

Macallan and Highland hid in a small den, made by a tree fallen over some rocks to create a small hiding spot. He crouched inside with Highland, still terrified, nuzzled in his fur. Macallan stared down at him and thought hard.
No family, no mother, no clan. An orphan. Nobody to care for him. He’s on his own. Who will look after him? Who will hunt for him? I can’t just leave him now…
Macallan shut his eyes and sighed. He looked down at Highland.
From then on, Macallan never left him…