The darkness covered Raven like a blanket in the chilling cave, she slept there every night with the whole pack cuddled close. She wanted nothing to do with the devious wolves that had become her pack mates, so she slept alone in the farthest corner from the entrance. She was usually the last to wake up but this morning, she found herself one of the first to arise. Her black coat made her invisible to anyone who looked in her direction and she stealthily climbed over the other bodies that lay scattered in the deep den.

            The sun was still hidden below the horizon yet Raven could see perfectly fine; she blinked a few times and yawned. She had been living with the wolves for over a year now and had grown to despise most of them. She had a bigger build than any of the other females in the pack, which benefited her greatly during fights. She had a few scars on her side and legs from defending herself when pack members ganged up on her. She was talented in fighting and hunting and the pack greatly appreciated her after a while.

            “Hi Ray.” A masculine voice said Raven turned her attention to the one responsible for speaking her name.

            “Hello Jael.” The black wolf mumbled, Jael was a deep burgundy color and his eyes were a piercing blue like Raven’s.

            “What are you doing up so early?” He was one of the few wolves that treated Raven as an equal.

            “I couldn’t sleep any longer.” She sat down and glanced up at Jael.

            “Same here. I’m going hunting would you like to join me?” He smiled kindly.

            “Sure.” Raven stood up and followed Jael out into the hunting grounds; the   brisk morning air was like spikes in her lungs as she ran beside him. The pair slowed their pace so that they could try and catch a scent. Raven was craving rabbit and had been for days, she had only eaten fish for the past two months because they were the easiest to catch. Jael was as good a hunter as Raven and they could take down basically anything that crossed their path.

            Raven’s nose tingled taking in the many scents of the dense forest. She could smell a rabbit near by and her mouth watered. She grunted at Jael to stop, and he turned to look at her, “Wha…” Raven sprang from her haunches and pounced on top of a snow-white rabbit. She snapped its neck and placed it in front of Jael, with a satisfied look on her face.    

            “Not bad eh?” The she-wolf smirked.

            “RAVEN!” A shrill voice rang out from back at camp. The two wolves glanced at each other and Raven sighed.

            “It’s Luke, he probably wants me to run another stupid errand for him.” The black wolf dragged her tail as she made her way to the one who had summoned her. She was able to have a few moments of joy, but was dragged back into her life as a slave in a short moment.

            “We can hunt again some other time.” Jael said, hopefully.

            “Yea maybe.” Raven sighed, Jael was truly her only friend in the whole pack but she had no desire of wanting to mate with the male wolf. She was a mollack after all, meaning she was not 100% wolf. And was obviously considered lesser rank and the only reason she was able to fight and hunt freely was because of her great strength.

            “Raven where have you been?” Luke’s stern voice caused the black she-wolf to snarl.  

            “I was just hunting.” She sheepishly mumbled.

            “Did I tell you, you could go hunting?” Luke growled. Raven remained speechless; she thought it idiotic to respond to such a question, “Answer me!”

            “No you didn’t.” The alpha male glanced down at his slave and swatted her across the face. She fell to the ground, hard. Instinct told her to stand up and face her opponent but obedience kept her pinned to the dirt.

            “I want you to go fetch me something from the human pack nearby.” Luke said gruffly.

            “But I…fine.” Raven decided it was best that she stick to following orders. Her furry cheek stung from Luke’s powerful paw swipe. She began walking away from her leader and he turned in the opposite direction as well. She lifted her head; not allowing what was left of her dignity to fall away. Jael was nowhere to be seen and Raven sadly made the journey through the woods to a nearby human village.  

            A huge sign was a few feet before the entrance of the town and Raven squinted at it, trying to make out the odd human lettering. As hard as she tried, she could not even guess what the sign meant. “Whatever.” She shrugged and stealthily crept behind one of the old dilapidated homes, she could smell a variation of things. Some of the scents were confusing and new to the wolf dog.

            Her black pelt and muscular build would not be able to disguise the fact that she was part wolf. Her fur bristled when she heard footsteps, crunching in the deep snow. She sensed two human pups near by running and throwing snowballs at each other. She had no intention of scaring them away figuring if she did that their mother or father would come out and threaten her.

            “Hey.” Raven spun around, growling. “It’s just me, jeez Ray don’t have a heart attack.”

            “Shut up Jael, do you want them to find us?” Raven said aggravated.

            “Those humans? Pssh, come on.” Jael walked ahead of Raven and she followed, he was leading her behind a series of houses. “This place is crawling with dogs.”

            “Yea…” Raven sighed, remembering her mother who had let her live, condemning her to a life of slavery. The she-wolf scrunched her face up, trying to hold back tears that she had kept inside for a year.

            “You ok?” Jael asked, concerned. He tried to get a good look at her face but Raven made sure he couldn’t see.

            “Can we hurry this up?” She said, clearly annoyed that Jael would care about her well being.

            “Um yea, I think there’s a butcher who lives around here.”

            “What’s a butcher?”

            “He cuts up animals into little pieces for us to eat.” He said bluntly. A chill went down Raven’s spine; she wanted to avoid the evil man, known as the butcher, as much as possible.

            “Can’t we get Luke eat something else?”

            “Ray come on it will be quick and he loves the butcher’s meat.”

            “M’kay fine, but if he chops us up then I blame you.” Raven snarled Jael chuckled.

            “Is someone afraid?” He asked, glancing at his friend.

            “No.” She growled and tackled him, pinning him so he couldn’t move. “Where is the butcher?”

            “Well if you would let me up,” Raven stepped off of Jael and allowed him to stand up, “It’s the third house on the left of the street.”

            Raven sprinted ahead of him and slipped into the chilling house. She could smell frozen meat and a human nearby, he didn’t notice her enter into his shop so he continued chopping up a chunk of beef. Raven silently snuck into the back room and she noticed another creature in the back corner of the room trying to yank down a heavy slice of red meat. The black she-wolf noticed that the animal was a dog that was a darker shade of gray with jet black paws. 

            “What do you think you’re doing?” Raven said harshly, the dog jumped in fear, she spun around growling.

            “I’m trying to get dinner because I’m starving.” The gray dog, by her smell and voice, was obviously female.

            “Mind if I try?” Raven suggested. Without waiting for a response she stepped in front of the other desperate female and tugged aggressively until the meat fell to the ground in a huge heap.

            “Thanks…HEY!” When the dog bent down to pick up the meat, Raven swiped it and scurried out of the freezer. Full of fury, the smaller gray dog sprinted after the black wolf/dog.

            “Jael!” Raven said while still running away from the shop. “Oof.” She hit the ground hard and the meat fell into a snow bank a few feet off, the red dog now stood on top of her snarling.

            “That was mine.” She stepped off Raven and picked up the meat, “Thank you very much.”

            “Pssh fine, take it you’re too weak to get anything by yourself anyway.” Raven said as the female turned her back.

            “Raven we need that meat!” Jael said. “Wait…miss.” He chased after her and stepped directly in front of her path.

            “You can forget about having this.” She said walking around him.

            “Please, we need that for our pack leader,” The gray dog continued walking, “He will kill us.” The female dog stopped and sighed. She dropped the meat and turned around facing the two outsiders.

            “My mother isn’t going to be happy about this but…just take it.” She nudged it away from her paws.

            “Well thank you.” Jael smiled, “I didn’t catch your name, miss.”

            “Riley.” The gray dog said.

            “Riley?” Raven spoke astonished.

            “Yea that’s my name.”