Continued from my first fanfic "A wolf's Struggle (Part 1)" If you haven't read that one yet, please read it before you read this one.

"Come on everyone! We're pushing them back!"

"Look at em' all run! They're no match for us!"

"Don't you stupid coyotes ever dare mess with us again! You'll all regret it!"

"Ha ha! Can you believe it Patrick?! We just whipped a group of coyotes that outnumbered us 2 to 1 and we still have more fight then them!"

"I know Yak! I knocked 3 of them on their asses so fast they didn't even see it coming to them!"

"I'm proud of you boys. You both fought bravely and strongly. We all fought like a team and a family. And it's this strong bond that will never brake us!"

Then every wolf let out a proud howl!

While Patrick was out cold he was having a dream about the coyote attack. But instead of it being a major loss he dreamed the exact opposite. He dreamed that they were able to defeat all the coyotes and everyone made it out alive and almost unscathed! He also dreamed that they all made it to Jasper and continued on their usual migration pattern. He also dreamed that the news of the attack circulated through the forest like wildfire and the pack gained almost a celebrity status and influenced many other wolves to join the pack, which would help Patrick make many new friends and live out a long and happy life. But then the image of his new life soon disappeared and all he saw was darkness. Patrick soon realized that his eyes were closed and when he tried to open them a blinding white light stung his eyes. It took him some time to get used to the light, but when he did he could see the image of a female wolf surrounded by the light. Patrick's first thought was that he was dead and was looking at the guard to the gates of heaven.

"You're awake!" Said the female wolf "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

Patrick was slightly confused. "Am I dead?" was all he could reply with.

The female wolf chuckled. "Not really. But you sure gave it a good try. You're lucky we found you when we did."

Now Patrick was really confused. "Who's we? What do you mean you found me? Where am I? Who are you?" There were a million questions racing through his mind at that point. The memory of the attacked hadn't hit him yet.

"Calm down" Replied the wolf "I'll explain. I was leading a hunting pack yesterday when we found you're body in a rocky gully. We realized you were still alive so we brought you here. We're in the recovery cave in my pack's territory. You realize you were attacked by coyotes?"

It soon made sense to Patrick and he remembered everything that happened. The attack, the last words from his brother, the chase, and the fall. He was silent for some time. At last the female wolf spoke up.

"You're very lucky. No wolf has ever escaped or lived from a coyote attack!"

Patrick then remembered what his father and brother told him about coyotes. "I know." was all he could say.

The female wolf seemed to understand what Patrick was feeling. "Where's your pack?" she asked.

Patrick's eyes opened up and those final words from his brother started echoing through his mind. "Get out of here! It's too late for us, but not for you! Save yourself!" The images of his friends in pain also entered his mind and a tear rolled down Patrick's face. The female wolf saw that this was upsetting to him and immediately knew what had happened. She wiped the tear from Patrick's face.

"I'm sorry." she said. 

Patrick was able to bring himself together. "I owe you my life." he said.

A small smile appeared on the female wolf's face. "My name's Sara. What's yours?"

"Patrick." he replied.

"Stay here, I want you to meet a few other's." and then Sara left, but a few minutes later she returned with 3 other wolves. 

"See guys. He's okay." She told the others. The 3 wolves were in shock.

"These are the other wolves that helped you." she said to Patrick.

"This is Niju, Sumac, and Nuk." she said pointing to each one.

"Hello." replied Patrick. "Thanks for your help."

Then Niju spoke up. "I can't believe you survived a coyote attack! How did you do it?"

Patrick shrugged "I have no clue." 

"Oh, maybe he no appealing to coyotes!" stated Sumac.

"Don't be stupid!" said Nuk "Maybe the coyotes thought he was dead."

Nuk and Sumac then started arguing about who was right. This amused Patrick remembering how he and his brother Yak used to get into similar arguments as pups. At last Niju sighed and led the arguing wolves outside. 

Sara laughed "You'll have to excuse them. They're not the smartest wolves, but they mean well and they're good friends."

"I know what you mean." laughed Patrick remembering how he thought the same way about Yak when they were pups. "So how long will I have to stay here?" 

"Well you don't have any broken bones and your wounds are bad, but with the proper treatment they'll heal soon. You'll be walking before you know it!"

This was very uplifting news to Patrick. He was sure that he would have a broken leg and wouldn't be able to walk. It almost made the aches worth it. Just then two adult wolves walked in. One was a male with a light gray coat and the other was a female with a coat as white as snow.

"It looks like your making a full recovery!" said the light gray wolf in amazement. "We've never known of a wolf that has escaped or survived a coyote attack."

"I've noticed." said Patrick. He was starting to wonder if this would become common news.

"Allow me to introduce us." said the gray wolf "My name's Nava and this is my mate Pirta. We're the leaders of this pack. What's your name?"

"Patrick." he replied.

"It's great to meet you Patrick." said Pirta. "I hope you're feeling okay."

"Well I do have several aches, but it's nothing I can't handle.

"That's good." said Pirta. She then made a mistake. "Where's your pack?" She suddenly saw Sara who was behind Patrick frantically moving her paw left and fight in front of her neck. Pirta was confused, but when she saw how upset Patrick became she knew it was something Patrick didn't like to talk about.

Nava then spoke up. "You know Patrick if you don't have anywhere to go you can stay with our pack."

Patrick was surprised. "You'd let a complete stranger live with you all?"

"You can tell a lot about someone from what they do and say. And you seem to have already made friends with Sara. And after what you've been through, I think you've already proven yourself." said Nava.

Patrick was delighted. "Thank you!"

Nava and Pirta then began to walk out of the cave. "You'll love it here." said Pirta "Won't he honey?" she then said to Sara. Patrick then looked at Sara in confusion and surprise.

"Oh yea I forgot to mention." said Sara "I'm their daughter."

Patrick was at a loss of words but then was able to say "I think I can see the resemblance." Sara just laughed.

After a few days of healing Patrick was able to walk without his joints tightening up from pain. There were few other wolves that helped him re"Well now that you can walk," said Sara "I think you'll now be able to really see where you'll be living." Patrick was thrilled. Ever since he first arrived he had always wanted to see what his new home would be and look like, but his wounds had really limited him. Now he would finally be able to see if he would have a happy life in this new place. He then started asking Sara a few questions, one of them he really needed to know.

"So do you guys move around a lot or do you stay in one place?"

"Well we usually stay in one place." answered Sara. "In fact we normally stay up in Alaska near the Bering Strait! The only reason we're down here is because there has been so much more snow than usual falling that most of the animals have moved to find more food. It was only a matter of time before we had to do the same."

"Really?" said Patrick who was intrigued. "How long have you been here? and how long will you be staying?" 

"We first got here in the beginning of December, but just to make sure that there'll be food when we return we'll be staying here until the end of March."

Patrick was wondering if them leaving would tear apart any friendships like it had as a pup, but when he saw how many wolves that were in the pack he started to think it wouldn't matter! As Sara showed Patrick around she also introduced him to other wolves. Patrick was surprised at how friendly they were. He had never made so many new friends in just one day in his entire life! He already had a feeling he would like it here. At the end of the day Patrick was talking to Sara about the "tour."

"Thanks for showing me around."

"No problem. So what do you think?"

"I definitely think I'll like it here. There's lots to do, lots of awesome wolves, sure was better than my old pack."

Sara was hoping that since the topic came up Patrick would be okay about being asked about his old pack "What was your old pack like anyway?"

Patrick should have known that mentioning his old pack would bring up a question like this because he was still haunted by what happened. But he knew he couldn't let it bother him forever so he tried to regain himself.

"Well," he said with a deep breath "I always considered myself a lone wolf because we were migrant so we had to move a lot and because of that I never was able to make many friends except with a couple wolves that were in our pack. And there weren't many of us so..." Patrick tried to continue on but just talking about his pack brought back so many memories, especially the attack. The emotions were to much for him and he started to weep. Sara felt so stupid for asking.

"Sorry I asked." she said 

Patrick was able to regain himself. "It's okay, it's not your fault. I need to learn to get over it anyway. Hopefully talking about it now will make it easier in the future." He was remembering what his brother told him about how always saying goodbye to other wolves made it easier to do so. 

"I hope so to." said Sara "I always hate seeing friends cry."

"Friend?" asked Patrick.

Sara just smiled "Well it's getting late, I better be getting home soon. See ya later!"

All Patrick could do was smile back.

After staying with the pack for a few weeks Patrick was already well known. Everyone knew him as "The wolf that survived a coyote attack." but the fact that it still bothered him also spread fast so everyone knew to keep their mouths shut about it. One day he, Sara, Niju, Nuk, and Sumac were at an area where the river ran through a thick area of the forest. They were about to play a game that Patrick had told them about.

"You guys sure you want to play this?" asked Patrick

"Yea! It sounded like fun when you were telling us about it!" said Niju. "So what do we have to do?"

"Okay, well it's sort of like a spy situation. 4 of us will be the guards and the other one will be the one that has to hide from them and make it to the "safe zone." When the game starts the guards will be in the safe zone and let the one that hides run out to the other end of the play area. Then the wolf that hides will let out a howl to let everyone know he's ready and then the guards will try to track him down. The one that has to hide will have also have a rock, branch, or whatever that he has to bring back to the safe zone with him. If you let one of the guards get it you lose and you have to be one of the guards and the one that got the item gets to be the one that hides. If you get spotted you can still try to lose whoever saw you."

"Sounds like fun!" said Sara. "Let's play!"

"Slow down." said Patrick. "We need to set some things up. First we can only play in a specific area so we need to set up boundaries and a safe zone. We also need to decide who will be the one that hides.

The size of the play area was decided and the other side of the river was chosen as the safe zone. Then there was still the issue of who would be what.

"Oh! Me want to be one that hides!" said an excited Sumac.

"Shut up! I should be the one that hides!" argued Nuk.

"You both are idiots! I'm the smartest so I should be the one that hides!" argued Niju.

Sara and Patrick rolled their eyes and then Sara said "You guys are being so stupid. It's Patrick's game so he should be the one that hides and don't bother to try argue that!"

The 3 wolves knew she was right. "Fine." They all said disappointingly. 

"Alright," said Patrick picking up a rock "this'll be the item that has to be brought back to the safe zone. Give me a couple minutes and I'll let you guys know when to start." and with that Patrick took off. A few minuets later a howl signaled it was time to start. After about 15 minuets Patrick was already running for the safe zone with Sumac giving chase. 

"Oh, you wont get away from me!" he shouted. At first Patrick was having fun but suddenly the chase he was in started to bring back the memory of the coyotes chasing him. The images from that day once again entered his mind and the stuff Sumac was shouting started to sound as if the coyotes were right behind him again shouting the same things. Then without thinking he started to run as if that same chase were happening all over again. Sumac was surprised. "What got into him?" he said to himself. After gaining a lot of distance Patrick ducked behind a bush. Sumac just ran right past. Patrick started shaking, everything was coming back, the attack, those last words, the chase, he felt like he was in that same position again and he thought he could even hear those same voices. He was on the verge of crying when he suddenly snapped back into reality.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself "I'm not being chased by coyotes. I'm playing a game for Christ's sake! I'm safe now. I'm living a new life. Stop thinking about it!" 

After calming down he was finally able to get up and continue the game. When he rounded a corner he could see the river. "I'm home free!" he thought. He started running and just as he was about to jump the river he saw something in the trees out of the corner of his eye and without warning Sara had jumped down on him and pinned him to the ground. 

"Thought you were going to make it huh?" said Sara laughing.

Patrick saw that the rock landed a couple feet in front of him and Sara hadn't noticed. Then a smiled appeared on his face "I haven't lost yet!" he said. Then he sprang up and bolted for the rock, but Sara did the same and both of them started wrestling for it. Then they both had their paws on it, but when they looked up at each other at the same time their noses touched! When they realized this they were frozen, they didn't know what to say or do, they just sat there staring at each other. When they looked down they noticed that their paws were touching as well. After several seconds of silence Patrick let go of the rock and said "So uh, I guess you won." with his and Sara's noses still touching. Sara stepped back. "I guess so." She said smiling. They were both blushing. Neither one of them had this feeling before. Just then Niju, Sumac, and Nuk appeared. 

"Did you get him?" asked Niju.

"Yep." she said. "Now it's my turn!"

"Well lets play!" said Nuk. "This game is fun!"

All Patrick could do was smile.

About a week later Patrick and Sara were at the water hole taking a drink. Ever since the game they played they started spending more time together and started talking even more. They even started to develop closer feelings for each other. 

"So what do you want to do later?" asked Patrick.

"Well I heard that around this time of year there's always a big meteor shower. I think it would be cool to watch!" said Sara.

"Sounds cool to me!" replied Patrick. "So i guess it's a date."

"I guess it is" said Sara. Just then her father Nava ran up. He looked like he was in a frantic hurry.

"Sara, Patrick, you two must come quick! We've just found another wolf that was attacked by coyotes!"

They were both surprised. "How is he?" asked Patrick.

"Almost as bad as you were!" replied Nava. "He's in the recovery cave right now."

Then the three of them took off to check on the wolf. "I hope this guy's okay." thought Patrick.

When they arrived at the recovery cave, Pirta, Niju, Nuk, and Sumac were gathered around the injured wolf. They all seemed to be talking to him so it was apparent that he was conscious. 

"Here he is." said Pirta to Sara and Patrick. When Patrick and the injured wolf saw each other they gasped.

"Yak!?" exclaimed Patrick.

"Pat!?" replied Yak. 

The brother then embraced each other in a big hug and started to cry. Everyone was surprised. "You two know each other?" asked Nava.

Patrick wiped the tears from his eyes. "Yes! He's my brother! He was with me when our pack was attacked by coyotes!" He then turned to Yak "I thought you were dead!"

"I thought you were dead too!" replied Yak.

"How'd you live? And how'd you escape?" asked Patrick.

"It wasn't easy." explained Yak. "First of all the coyote's thought that since we were all wounded and tired it would be funner to take us prisoners. When we got to their camp we met a few other animals that were also prisoners and they told us that it if we wanted to live we should do what they said and not try to act smart with them. Of course there were some that didn't believe this and tried to resist and kept mouthing off. What the coyotes would do with them is take them to a cave and just beat the hell out of them! The other prisoners also told us that the coyotes would never kill anyone instantly. They preferred to teach their victims a lesson by beating them and usually they'd beat them so viciously, but just enough so that you didn't die from it, which is why it was best to just do what they told us to do. After just a week in that hell I decided I wasn't going to die there so I started making a plan to escape. I told the others, but most of them didn't want any part in it."

"So what did you do?" asked Patrick. 

"Well I had to wait a while to pull it off so I could talk about it with those that were going to help me. What we did was that one group of prisoners would pretend to run off with the coyote's food, while at the same time another group would cause a rock slide on one of the nearby hills. Most of the coyotes ran off to check  on both events and when most of the guards that were watching my group took off I snuck off hoping that no one would see me. Unfortunately one of them did see me so I had to hightail it as fast as I could. After what seemed like forever I knew I was losing energy so I hid behind a tree to catch my breath and when the coyote that was chasing me appeared I grabbed him by the neck tackled him to the ground and started choking him. I didn't want to risk him killing me or him going back to the others and telling them about me."

When Yak started to talk about his kill he started to cry. Everyone understood why.

At last Patrick spoke up "So I guess were both lucky as hell, huh?"

"Yea," said Yak "wish I could say the same for the others."

Patrick was confused. "Others? What do you mean? We're the only ones."

No you don't understand!" said Yak. "The others! Our pack! They're not dead! They're alive! All of them! And I know where they are!"

Patrick was in disbelief. The pack he thought was dead has been alive all this time and they've been prisoners to coyotes all this time! He couldn't imagine what they had to deal with. He was at a loss for words and all he could do was try and think about how his pack was doing and what they had to go through. Finally he spoke up. "Where are they?" he asked Yak.

End of Part 2. Stay tuned for Part 3!