finally moved forward, pulling off their share of the meat. 

Geona grabbed a piece off for Aleu and placed it in front of her before taking a piece for herself. “Here, Aleu,” the light-gray she-wolf coaxed. “Here’s some deer meat for you to eat.”

“Uh,” Aleu tried not to look at the bloody mess of meat that was placed in front of her, but it was difficult not to. “No thanks, Geona. I . . . I think I’ve lost my appetite.” 

“Huh?” Geona said with a tone of surprise, her mouth covered in spots with dark red. She swallowed half a mouth full of meat before speaking again. “What, are you new to hunted meat too, Aleu?”

“It looks disgusting,” Aleu murmured. She didn’t want to offend any of her newfound wolf friends, so she spoke in a low voice. “Not to be rude or anything, but I’ve never had deer meat before.” She nearly threw up, quickly covering her mouth with one of her paws. “I’m sorry, but it just looks horrible to me. How can you eat that?” 

A familiar voice chuckled near Geona; it was the black wolf Juniper, who easily chomped on a strip of meat. “Oh, is this not what you’re used to, part-wolf?” She cackled again, causing other members of the Clan to begin to take notice; Aleu’s ears dropped as did her eyelids in shame of Juniper’s words. “Sorry there’s no dog food here, but there’s no way you can survive out here without eating fresh kill! You should just give up while you still can!”

“Enough!” White Feather stood up with a howl, silencing the defiant dark wolf. “Juniper, there’s no need to tease Aleu. She has been raised elsewhere and is not used to our customs yet. If she wants to join us, we should give her some time to get used to the way we do things here.” Aleu perked up with a smile; she was glad to know that the Alpha was on her side of the matter, as was Geona and several of the other wolves she had befriended within the past couple of hours. “Anyway, she’s still a pup, not even a year old yet. All wolves have to learn how to get used to real meat somehow. Give her time, Juniper.” 

“Why should I?” Juniper barked angrily. “She’s not even a pure-blooded wolf! Why should we give her a chance when she reeks of tame dog more than untamed wolf?”

“Because . . .” White Feather paused with a sigh before continuing. “Oh, I cannot keep this hidden any longer! The reason we should give Aleu a chance is because your Alpha happens to be part-wolf as well.” 

Everyone, even the rebel Juniper, gasped in shock. No one would have ever thought that White Feather, a she-wolf that was truly magnificent and a perfect follower of the Great Aniu in every single way, was born as a hybrid herself.

“White Feather,” Aleu stepped up curiously. “how is that possible? You look so much like a real wolf, . . . and yet . . . I just don’t understand how this can be, ma’am.” 

The white Alpha nodded. “I know it’s hard to believe but my words are true; I am only half-wolf by birth, but I have been raised only in the ways of the lupine since . . . for as long as I can remember.”

“Why didn’t you tell us, my Alpha?” Geona asked. “I’m sure we wouldn’t have judged you any differently, especially since you brought us all together.” 

“I-I . . . I was afraid,” White Feather admitted, her head fallen towards to ground in humiliation. “When I was nearly half a year old, I learned that my mother was of pure wolf blood, but although my father could easily be pass for a wolf, he was a tame dog – a husky.”

Aleu gasped in shock. No way! She’s got husky blood in her too? Wow, she’s . . . she’s just like my papa! No, wait . . . she’s just like me! 

“I learned from my mother that the mixing of wolf and husky blood was a taboo in our society,” White Feather continued. “but in the end, my parents remained together and completely in love with one another, even if it meant total banishment from the wolf community. After my father left with my brother, my mother left me and my other sister in the care of her twin brother, Kamik, who also happened to be the future Alpha of his birth Clan. He knew of our forbidden blood and knew that his Clan was against hybrids, but the love he had for his sister made him want to protect us; we were all he had left of her, for we learned she and our father had perished the night we were given to him.” A tear slipped down her white cheek, staining it dark gray. “Although I was related to the future Alpha and the actual Alphas of the Clan, my sister and I were still teased quite often for our breeding, even though we looked as much wolf as they did. What was worse was that the older wolves who had once looked up to our mother for her importance when she was younger now cursed her own children, despite the fact that I received my mother’s looks and kindness and my sister was such a independent soul like she was. One day, I couldn’t take the torture anymore, and I ran away without notifying my sister or my uncle knowing where or why I was leaving them.”

How sad, Aleu thought as she listened to White Feather’s story. Papa was a half-wolf too, but he lives in a human town . . . She let out a quiet gasp. If Ebony and her other husky friends could make fun of me for being part-wolf, I wonder how life must have been for him before I came along . . . 

Oh, I wish I could ask him . . .

“While I ran, I thought my breeding was so unfair, especially since I had never noticed that I was anything different from anyone else,” The Alpha spoke some more, continuing to weave her tale. “Once I officially left my uncle’s territory, I left my birth name and everything else about my past with him as well. I wanted to make a place in which others like me could live in harmony and acceptance of each other’s differences, and the only way to do this was to start anew with a new title; I christened myself as White Feather – an independent she-wolf that was floating away from the ones that had once made me the object of harsh persecution. I didn’t know if there were others like me out there, other wolves that lived with impure blood and other difficult situations that made them feel outcast from their families, but I met a lone purebred wolf –” The white wolf turned to the dark form of Oak and gave him a gentle smile. “and he didn’t judge me for one moment about my mixed breeding. I felt comfortable around him, and together, we allowed several other wolves to join our Clan, which we called the Runaway Clan. We found our cave and made it successful, especially when I welcomed a litter of three pups inside my chamber. It was after that day that I began to find abandoned pups in the woods and in rivers and took them in as my own sons and daughters.” 

That’s so nice of her to do that, the quarter-wolf sighed. I guess that’s what Boris did for Papa. He did tell me that he took care of Papa when he was found abandoned in town as a pup . . . I wonder why Boris felt that he, a snow goose, had to take care of my father, a hybrid?

Maybe it was because at the time . . . no one else would . . . They might have been afraid of his wolfish looks like Juniper was afraid of my husky blood . . . 

“I realized that the Great Aniu had blessed me with this loving gift to accept everyone, no matter what breeding they are,” White Feather concluded. “and that is why I felt it was necessary to me to lead this Clan to creating a place without prejudice.” Suddenly she lowered her ears, turning her attention to Juniper with a piercing glare within her yellow and. “Now, Juniper, I know your birth parents raised you to execute those without pure blood, but I ask you this question: Would you dare lay a clawed paw on the one that saved your own life, even if that one is a half-breed wolf?”

Juniper, stunned by the question, lowered her head in shame, realizing that her Alpha was indeed correct. Although she would usually attack with rage on such a subject, she could not bear to do so right now. “No . . . no, I wouldn’t.” Her pride broken by the white wolf’s words, the black she-wolf shook her head. “I couldn’t attack you, my Alpha.” 

White Feather’s ears went up a bit. “I thought so; and I would never attack anyone unless it would affect the safety of my family – the large family that I have made here with you.” She smiled softly as she took a breath. “Now, let us continue our meal. I have a feeling that tomorrow will bring us many new experiences . . . and that the arrival of this new yearling will make us learn more about who we are.”

As ordered, the other wolves began eating once more; just the speak of breeding and prejudice between wolves and wolf-breeds made them more famished than before. Even Aleu, despite her previous hatred of the foul-smelling meat, was beginning to hunger for the deer that was in her reach. Her mouth was wet with saliva, much to the giggles of her newest friend. 

“Go ahead and try it, Aleu!” Geona nudged the meat closer to her reach. “It may take a while for the flavor to sink in, but you’ll begin to like it.”

“Okay . . .” She gulped at the sight of the raw meat. “Here goes nothing . . .” Aleu took a deep breath and gripped her teeth over the meat, trying not to gag on it while she began to savor and experience the new flavor of venison within her mouth and chewed the new source of nourishment. “Mmm . . .” she mumbled as she swallowed the meat and licked the blood from her lips. “Mmm, it’s good! Somehow, that wasn’t as bad at I thought it was. It’ll still take some getting used to, but I think I’ll start to like it.” 

“I’m glad!” Geona answered back as she reached past Aleu for another piece. “Feel free to get some more; it’s available only for a little while because it’s still fresh and it rots quickly if not eaten.”

“Okay,” the light gray-brown quarter-wolf leaned to a nice chunk of deer and tore it off on her own, using her teeth. It was messier