The scent of blood filled the crisp, winter air. Three brothers stood around their fresh kill; a deer. Kota began licking his chops. Of the three he was the biggest, although not the oldest. His gluttonous eating habits greatly contributed to his size.

Mifune growled. "Patience brother. We must wait for the others."

"They had better hurry up." He scoffed. "I'm starved."

The youngest began fidgeting in his spot. Tokala wasn't the strongest of the three, but he wasn't weak either. He was however, impatient. His eyes gleamed with hunger.

"Patience, Tokala." The leader growled, admonishing his brother of his place.

The smaller shied away. "I'm sorry brother, I'm just hungry."

The white wolf shook his head. "I know, so am I, but what kind of leaders would we be if we ate without the rest of the clan?"

Mifune himself, was getting a bit annoyed with his bothers. However, being leader of the clan, his calm temperment needed to always show. And no matter how tightly knit his relationship with his brothers was, he wasn't going to be rude to the other pack members.

"Good point." The youngest brother stood, circling the perimeter of the kill.  On top of his hunger, he had a gut feeling that somebody was stalking them. He began to growl absentmindedly while his brother looked on.

"What is it Tokala?" Kota began. "What's the-oof!"

In moments, the brown wolf was thrown into the snow by a powerful paw. He struggled to onto his feet, gasping for air. The attacker had knocked the wind out of him. 

Mifune whirled around as he heard his brother recieve the blow and gasped. He thought he smelled the foul stench of a bear, and he was right. The black mass sood above his brother with saliva dripping from it's fangs.

The alpha sprang, the thought that the animal could kill him with a single swipe erased from his mind. He latched onto the bear's ear, only to be knocked from its head. Kota still hadn't gotten up, and Mifune was beginning to grow uneasy. Why wasn't Tokala helping him? The answer hit him when he saw his youngest brother in the monster's jaws, his body hanging lifelessly.

"Tokala!" He shouted. He launched himself again, digging his claws into the bear's eyes. Blood spilled onto the ground and the creature let out a deafening roar, dropping the wolf into a crimson puddle.

Kota had finally managed to regain his footing, and attached himself to one of the bear's ankles. Infuriated by the attack, it clamped its jaws on Kota's tail and jerked its head, pulling almost his whole tail from his body. He cried out in pain, just as the beast thwacked him in the head, tearing his ear and raking a claw over the wolf's eye.

Finally, Mifune aimed himself at the bear's throat, drool flying in all directions. Kota shook off the pain from the remainder of his tail and tackled the beast, knocking the mmurderer onto his back. Finally, Mifune had a chance to break a blood vessel in the bear's throat. The grizzly let  out an ungodly noise and convulsed before finally, it lay motionless.

Mifune's breath escaped his body in short, ragged gasps. Kota's body shook as he stared at the white wolf. The two brothers crept toward the spot where their fallen brother lay. His tongue lolled out of his mouth, and his body was contorted into a ninety degree angle.

Mifune gazed at the ghastly sight, his throat burning and his eyes stinging. His youngest brother was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it.

~~~~~~~~

The white wolf sat on the cliff's edge, staring at the scene laid out before him. A fresh blanket of snow had fallen during the night. Sighing, he climbed wearily to his feet, crestfallen and tears in his eyes. His paws fgell heavily on the ground before something much smaller than he collided into him. He stood, unmoved, but the other was sprawled out on her side, gasping for breath.

The black and white malamute seemed terrified when she first saw him and quickly scooted away from him. He was rather amused.

"I'm-I'm sorry!" She stammered. "I didn't mean to-"

"Calm yourself." He said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The female cocked her head. "You're not?"

The wolf chuckled. "Of course not."

The female still seemed pretty wary of this wolf, but she decided she shouldn't be rude any longer. And she needed to learn more about the stranger  "So...What's your name?"

"Um..Mifune." He said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "And yours?"

The malamute smiled weakly. "Aska."

Mifune smiled. Maybe. Just maybe, she'd be the one who could help him feel better.