furred brother a lot."
She looked at him briefly before looking forward again. "Yes. I go to him whenever I need advice, or I need him to take over while I'm gone for whatever reason.", she said.
Navare gave her a side long glance. "You trust him to take care of them? He's pretty creepy of you ask me."
Winter laughed quietly. "He may be a creep, but he's a smart creep. That's what father always said before... " She suddenly stopped. The laughter drained from her face and the recent ghosts of painful memories flitted across her eyes. The unsaid words hung in the air, somewhere between shadow and substance. Before he died...
Navare, noticing that she was no longer beside him, turned around. He saw her standing there, feet planted in the snow, and felt a pang of empathy for the white wolf. He looked back to see the others had stopped at a ridge just ahead of them. He looked back at the she-wolf and ran to her. "Winter? Are you alright?"
She looked up at him and nodded, blinking back unshed tears. "Yes. Sorry about that."
Navare nodded in return and said, "It's alright. But we need to catch up with the others. I think they've found something."
Winter looked up at the others at the top of the ridge, then raced past him to see what was up. He stood there for a minute, his inner struggle coming to an end. He was sure that Winter, at least, did not mean he or those he cared for any harm. The pain he just saw in her eyes had totally convinced him of that. Having reached this conclusion, Navare turned and ran up to the ridge to join the others.
Winter looked down from the ridge to the open field that spread out before her. A heard of at least twenty deer dotted the half snow-covered ground. She was still a little shaken up about the sudden reminder of her parents death, but she couldn't let that get to her now. The hunt was on.
Erak cleared his throat and the others looked up at him, waiting his instructions. "We need enough to last us for some time.", he said. "We'll go for the oldest and those with injury. They'll be the easiest to catch." They nodded in understanding and he continued. "We'll have to split up into two groups. Chase and Juno will come with me. Navare, you're with Winter. The three of us will attak the herd from the front. You two will circle around to the back. Wait until I give the signal, then go for your targets. Everyone got that?" The nodded once again. "Good. Now let's go."
The group split up, Winter following Navare around the edge of the clearing. Once on the other side she looked about for injured and old deer. She found two on their side of the open space. "You see them to?", she whispered.
Navare nodded and said, "Yes. All we need to do now is wait for the signal." He crouched down, ready to spring at a moments notice. Winter followed his example, her muscles tense and waiting for the moment to uncoil.
****
Twilight sat near the entrance to the cave, peering out at the forest around them. His keene eyes searching the branches and shrubs bordering the clearing. "We're being watched. I can feel it.", he said.
Jared, who was standing a few feet behind him cast a worried glance about the clearing outside the den. "Are you sure? You know, it could just be your imagin-"
"I'm sure.", the black wolf said, cutting him off. "The question is, why aren't they attacking yet?" As he puzzled over this he started backing farther into the cave. He turned to Jared and said, "Keep a close eye out for any trouble. Howl if anything happens." Jared nodded and turned back to guard the entrance.
Twilight turned and walked to the back of the cave, where the Alphas' small den was located. He scratched on the outside of the entrance and waited. A moment later, Holly came out. "Oh it's you.", she said, giving him a tired smile. "What can I do for you?", the Alpha female asked.
Twilight nodded his head in respect. "I'm sorry to disturb you ma'am, but I feel I must inform you that there are intruders hiding in woods outside of the cave."
Holly gasped. "What? Are you sure?", she asked. The dark wolf nodded. She looked down and frowned in thought. "This isn't good. Arlen needs to watch her pups, Gareth is too old to be much good in a fight, and I can't do anything in my current state.", she said, looking down at her stomach. Twilight realized then that the Alpha was pregnant. It would be too much of a risk to her pups if she were to fight. The she-wolf looked back up at Twilight. "Can you handle it if it comes to a fight? You'd only need to hold them off until Erak and the others return."
Twilight thought for a moment then gave a small nod. "We'll do our best."
Holly sighed with relief. "Thank you so much. I wouldn't ask it of you if it wasn't necessary.", she said. The black wolf nodded again and silently walked back to the front of the cave.
Jared looked at his brother as he walked up next to him. "Well? What are we gonna do?"
The black wolf calmly laid down and continued watching the forest. "We're going to sit here.", he said. "And hope they don't decide to get hostile."
****
Rose shivered again, and it wasn't just from the cold. "That black one down there just gives me the creeps.", she whispered to Jasper.
The dog nodded in reply, but said nothing. The two of them had been assigned by their scout leader watch the cave while he went to inform Kale, the leader of the whole group, about the hiding place of the last wolves in the forest. So far all they had seen were the two wolves below them that had exited the cave only a few minutes ago. A large grey wolf that looked to be the stronger of the two, and a smaller, yet somehow more imposing black wolf.
Rose sighed and leaned against a tree. "What do you suppose they're doing? Keeping watch?", she asked.
"Don't worry about it, sis.", he said, turning to her and smiling. "Whatever they're doing, by the end of tomorrow, it'll all be over, and we'll be safe." He turned back to watching the wolf... "Huh?", he gasped. "Where'd he go?"
Rose came up beside her brother to find that there was only one wolf in the clearing below. The black one had disappeared. "I knew that one was going to be tough to keep an eye on.", she said. "He just looks like one of those guys that's there one minute and gone the next. This proves it too."
"He might have just gone back inside.", Jasper said, although he himself knew that something was going on here. "I'll get a little closer and have a look."
He started down the hill, but Rose stopped him. "Wait! Are you sure that's a good idea? You could be seen.", she warned.
He gave her a cocky smirk and winked. "Hey, come on. It's me." With that he turned and silently swept down the hillside.
His sister leaned against the tree once again and sighed. "That's what I'm worried about..."
****
Jasper finally made it to the bottom of the hill and took a glance around. The black wolf still wasn't there, but the larger one was. Now that he saw the wolf up close, the dog was able to see just how strong he looked. "Man... I'd hate to be the one to take him on in a fight.", he said quietly to himself. And yet... something else bothered him. Besides the more rough-looking fur and a few other physical differences, this wolf didn't look all that different from any other husky on the streets of the town he was from.
The sudden appearance of the black wolf from the cave caught his attention and broke him free of his thoughts. The larger one looked back at the other and whispered something. The black wolf responded, but Jasper couldn't hear them well enough.
The larger one walked back and forth along the clearing, looking very uneasy. The black wolf could only take so much before it got on his nerves. "Jared, sit down!", he said. "Relax yourself." Jasper shivered at the sound of the wolf's voice.
The larger wolf, Jared, did as he was told and sat down. "Ok. You don't have to snap at me, Twilight.", he replied. "I'm just a little jumpy. Aren't you? You're the one saying that we're being watched." The black wolf didn't reply, but sighed in frustration and continued to watch the forest.
It was all Jasper could do to keep from gasping and alerting the wolves to his location. "They know we're watching them?", he thought to himself. How could they have known? He needed to tell Randy, and Kale. If they knew that they were being watched, what else did they know? He pondered these questions as he slipped away to get Rose and book it out of there.
****
Winter was exhausted. The hunt was over and had been a success. Roan had taken her hunting before, but she had always played a minor part, and never had to attack the prey full on like that. It was hard work, but she got a certain amount of satisfaction making her first kill on her own. sighing heavily in relief the group entered the cave clearing with their catch. A total of four deer. It should last them a little
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