Thistle. Maybe I am not kindred enough for you, or I just don’t seem apt for this community. I’ve had to deal with myriad attempts to fit in into other places, but it was all precarious. You have jurisdiction over me, and I appreciate that. I don’t mean to minimize your power, Thistle. I’ve made too many exceptions in your culture all ready.

‘You don’t have a permanent domicile, nor do I. We both have been meandering, but my kind of life may be too perilous for you. Where I came from, fangs and teeth were promoted. We didn’t accentuate over social matters. I don’t mean to obviate that way of life for you.’”

Later that night when she was climbing out of the pond that had no way around it, Lilly was welcomed by a loud crash of thunder and a flash of lightning followed by a heavy flow of rain. The part of her that had been dry before was now sopping and cold. The wind hustled against the grass and whipped across the fields. Being in the forest, Lilly escaped the harshness of the wild gale, but not the rain. Cold seeped into her skin, creating a sense of freezing. Shivering, Lilly briskly trotted to the edge of the creek and looked at the moon partially hidden by the stormy clouds.

The wind swept her fur in the opposite direction, carrying it away from her eyes as she gazed at the familiar object in the sky.

“Holly,” she grumbled to herself, “you may have killed my mother, but you haven't killed me yet! I am alive, and as long as I am, you are in danger of keeping your tail safe. I will return, and I'll take back what is rightfully mine. Then who will you run to? Huh? Who will you run to?!”

The rain pattered against her drenched face as she lowered her head to view herself in the creek. The drops of rain made ripples in her reflection, making her an unearthly creature. A single teardrop trickled down her nose and dropped along with the rain. She gritted her teeth and turned the other way, determined to reach home.

The world became an indeterminable blur of color racing on either side of her. Animals and plants that she passed could have been mistaken for trees and undefined objects here and there. A shallow cliff projected at the end of a group of trees, but Lilly did not see it. Unable to brace herself, she tumbled down the slope and landed in a mess at the feet of another wolf.

She couldn't find the shape right away, but she sensed him there. His brown paws were the first shape she could make out. Her eyes followed his body up to his face, a dark brown mask and ears bordering the light color. On instinct, she leaped to her feet with her fangs bared.

“Who are you?!” she demanded.

“Amak,” he replied, with almost a confused tone in his voice. His head was slightly cocked to one side, and one eyebrow was lifted as well. “Who are you?”

Lilly's tightened face fell as her muscles relaxed with ease.

“Lilly. Why are you out here on your own?”

"I didn't ask you. Besides, that's too long of a story for me to tell. I don't want to live in the past."

"Same here. My past isn't worth telling, but I'm glad to be free of those wolves!"

"Oh, well," Amak sighed. "I must be going on my way now."

"Where are you going?" asked Lilly.

"Away to the western part of the forest. I'm starting my own pack."

Lilly thought for a moment. The way to her pack was the same direction as the the western part of the forest.

"How are you going to start a pack?"

"Just find solitary wolves that want to join and accept me as their leader. I've been following orders for too long."

"Well, can I join?"

"What?" he asked, almost in disbelief that someone her age would want to branch out in a new pack.

"I want to join. You can be leader. I don't give a care who's leader. I've had to deal too much with them."

"If you want, but I'm going west. I've heard the territory out there is tough. Some youngster like you may not make it."

"Look, Amak! I've been through the mill! There's nothing I can't handle! And I am NOT a youngster!" she growled.

"Suit yourself! Keep up if you can. I stop for no one."

Lilly growled to herself. She hated arrogant males who acted as if she couldn't deal with anything. Following him, she refreshed her plan which was now laid out better than she could have imagined.

“So, alright! I've got Amak as a guard and companion while I make my way toward the pack. Little does he know that the pack is in the direction that he's going. Once I'm close enough to recognize some territory, I'll sneak away from him and get back to Holly. I'll tell my father about her plan to destroy me and have her exiled. If I'm lucky, she'll attempt to attack me again, but this time, I'll have her chase me to my father. That'll show her! I guess it's wrong to let Amak rough the wilderness to find easy terrain for me only to have me ditch him, but he would understand, I guess. It's every wolf for himself when you're not in a pack. I hope he doesn't think that I'd actually join a pack with him.”

As Amak chattered on about himself and his previous life in a pack, Lilly studied the unique designs he bore. His fur was a combination of light and dark brown, dark on the underside. His eyes were brown, as well as his markings. Such colors puzzled her. Everyone from her pack were different shades of gray.

"And now that's where I'm headed. I hear that there's safety from humans in the Western Woods. Ever been there?"

"I'm so mixed up with my directions. I don't know exactly where I've been in the last few days, except that I'm glad to be free of my original home," replied Lilly with a shrug. Her crystal eyes met with his and sparkled. A grin stumbled across his face.

They talked a while longer until they came to a loud river, rapids beating against the forbidden boulders that stood in the way. Lilly gazed upon in as if she were no longer alive. The intensity of the waves blew her away. It could have been the same river she was swept up in.

"We don't have to cross it, do we?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so. I told myself that I would not allow anything to stop me from traveling in a straight line. It's not too late to turn back, you know."

"What? Are you trying to scare me off? I've been through rivers wider than this before."

"Suit yourself. I'm going in, but just where is the question."

"Maybe there's a place upstream that allows us to cross without swimming," suggested Lilly.

Amak gazed up at the trees, then up river. Lilly followed the direction of his eyes effortlessly and found what he was looking at. A log in small diameter stretched from one bank to the other. But, underneath it were a pile of rocks, projecting rushing water that could make the one crossing lose balance.

"You're kidding."

Amak looked at her with seriousness.

"You're not kidding?!" she said with a look of disbelief that he had given her before.

"Let's go."

"I'm right behind you, dare-devil," she replied hesitantly.

They came to the log that looked even less wide than before. Lilly noted that the texture was wet and slippery. The river must have had several victims before them. Even thick branches that had once projected from the trunk had been broken.

Lilly imagined herself slipping from the log and being sliced into a million pieces by the jagged rocks below. Gazing down the path of the river from the elevated area of the log, she noted how far it stretched into the distance, flowing south-east.

Amak shouted back to her. He was already on the other side of the bank waiting for her. She had been daydreaming the entire time he was crossing.

"Lilly! Wake up! Get over here!"

"I'm coming!" she said with a grumble.

Placing on paw on the extending trunk, she felt the moist puddles of water that sat in the crevices. For a moment she tightly shut her eyes, then opened them, to make sure she was fully conscious of the event.

Leaning against the extended fore-paw, Lilly realized that she had taken her first step. Quickly, yet cautiously, she made her way to the middle of the log without ever looking up for guidance from Amak.

"Lilly!" called Amak from shore.

"Oh, settle down! I'm almost there!"

Just then a shocking wave of ice water crashed down on Lilly, knocking her over the log. Thinking fast, she grabbed hold of a small branch, not strong enough to hold her weight.

Amak was on the move, carefully moving toward Lilly as fast as he could. Grabbing the tuft of fur around her collarbone, he dragged her up to the log and onto shore a few feet away. They both collapsed on the grass, out of breath.

"You didn't trust me," Amak finally said after he had stopped panting.

"I'm sorry," confessed Lilly. "I didn't know you were trying to warn me."

"You think everyone is against you. Trust me. We're a pack now."

"I've never been able to trust anyone," Lilly said with a glare. "My world's been tossed around so much I don't know if I'm walking upside down or not. It's not easy for me just hand over my life to someone and trust them. Sorry if I snapped."

Forcing her shaking legs to stand, Lilly began walking in the given direction. Amak stood with his mouth agape while Lilly's back was turned. He had never, in his whole life, known a wolf as young as she to ever be so prudent and guarded. But there was little he could resolve.

Catching up to her, but not speaking, Amak walked by her side, surprised by the pace she kept up. His curiosity goaded him to spill questions from his mind, although he didn't want to overflow her with puzzling remarks. Where had she come from? How did she get such unique markings? Her structure and designs were completely foreign to him.

A long black stripe that began just above the point between her eyes stretched all along her back to the end of the black tip on her tail. Her eyes were blue, sky blue, but bordered by thin black liner. Although she was mainly white, black stockings stretched to her elbows, giving the appearance that she was walking through a deep trench filled with mud. Along the sides of her white chest were black lines in the shape of waves. They