“Searching Endless”

In the depths of the woods a wolf pack waits and watches. The highest members of the pack here are growing angrier by each passing second. Two dogs have trespassed on the territory they have so clearly marked. They were obviously out to kill the new litter of pups the alphas had just birthed. The pups were defenseless. They had an extreme sense of vulnerability that screamed at wolves everywhere. Their dead siblings explained that thoroughly.

 Last season, the alphas’ litter had been gruesomely murdered by one of their rivaling packs, so ironically nicknamed ‘The Crimson Fangs Pack’. This pack, nicknamed ‘Muzzled Waters’, had held a grudge ever since. They desperately sought revenge, and here it was, walking straight into their vision. These intruders were most probably from the same pack, out to kill the new pups this season. And this group from the Muzzled Waters Pack would use their own bodies as a blockage before they allowed it to happen again. They’d been caught off guard once. It would never happen again.

The two of the leaders of the group stepped up to the plate first. A gray male named Falco along with a brown shaded female named Kylee. They pounded out of the trees, accusing the stragglers dead in the eyes. The male intruder looked somewhat familiar. The female, they weren’t sure they recognized. It didn’t matter. They snapped at their heels. Saliva dripped from their lips. Snarls were resounding against the trees. As the two strange canines took a few steps back, Falco howled out his heart, calling to the rest of the pack still hidden in the trees.

They answered dutifully, taking up the same call but in a different tone. This time, they howled out for an attack to be carried out. A trio towards the middle shoved their way to the front and showed their jaws with pride. “You’ll get a kick out of this, mutts,” The one to the right said. He was a dark male who’s eyes seemed to burn. The huge streak on his back only further dominated his appearance. The male, Cicada’s, voice sounded rustic and overly scratchy, not too pleasant at first. The female dog fought the immediate urge to shudder.  A black colored male named Vortex, to Cicada’s right, seemed ready to pounce. On Vortex’s right, there was yet another male wolf. Although he, Kono, stood still and quiet. He glared at the two dogs, watching their every move.

The female dog squared her shoulders, attempting to ready herself for the battle at hand. Though, when she took a jab with her snout towards a group to her left, her mate barred her way. “No,” He said firmly. “Go home.” The female seemed astonished. She couldn’t understand why her loved one would want to undertake this alone. Surely, he could never survive. She stood there, still in shock, watching her mate slash and attempt to tear at the wolves’ pelts.

“Look at the girl! She’s just standing there!” whispered one of the females on the sidelines of the attack. She was a beautiful, sandy colored wolf named Jewel. “We’ll get her easy!” Jewel continued menacingly. The aggressive brown male next to her, Beyran, snarled in agreement and the two raced to the helpless dog’s side. Jewel got a mean shock when the male dog came to knock her from under the muzzle. The two behind the now unconscious female, Beyran, joined now by Kylee, looked at each other with questionable glances, however, they advanced.

The female dog attempted to step up. She even had to push her mate a few inches to do it. She pawed at Kylee, the female still standing, and went for the throat of Beyran with her teeth. She missed with her claws but she nailed it with her fangs. Beyran growled viciously, jumping vigorously in a mad attempt to shake the mutt off. “Get off me, you dumb stray!” He yelled. Kylee beside him caught the dog’s leg, and in turn made her yelp sharply and lose her grip. The sheer bite strength of Kylee on her leg nearly crushed into the bone. Luckily, she let go to try and offend again.

But this time, the dog got knocked out of the way by her mate. “I said go home, Kay!” He shouted recklessly. The female dog, Kay, shouted back, “You can’t get rid of me that easy, Caden!” Caden decided the only way to ensure his mate’s safety was to push her away. Using his body, he forced her into the tress on the opposite side of the wolves’ territory. “I told you to run. Now, run!” Kay was about to make another protest, but Caden snarled to cut her off. “It’s not an option, Kay.”

Kay was heartbroken at Caden’s harshness, but deep down she knew he only wanted to protect her. And so, she left him. Her heat beat sped up faster than Kay thought she could handle. Every moment she brought close and spread her legs to make the running motion, she could hear less and less of the snarls, growls, barks, and insane howling going on behind her. She remembered the blood. The images flashed through her mind. It sickened her. The only thing that kept her going was Caden. She hoped he’d be okay. She prayed he’d come back home. And when he did, she’d be ready and willing to give him the biggest cuddle anyone around Nome had ever experienced.

As she reached the town she called home, she panted heavily. She sat down by the post office and nearly had a heart attack. She had run so fast, it seemed as if her legs had decided the pace without even thinking to ask the rest of her physical body. She didn’t care. She didn’t mind. All she worried about now was Caden. Shouldn’t he have beaten the wolves and come back by now? Was he even safe?

A familiar husky passed by the troubled dog just as she decided to lie down and rest her aching body a bit. “Jenna?” She said between gasps for air. The husky turned, her eyes widening ever so slightly as she trotted over to Kay. “Kay! What happened to you?” She asked concerned, noticing her leg. “You sound tired, and your leg is bleeding! Shouldn’t you rest?” Kay shook her head. “I’m fine, I was just running too quickly, too far. Have you seen Caden around?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, Kay, I’m afraid not. Why is something wrong?”

Back at the battle grounds, blood lay everywhere. There wasn’t one inch of ground that didn’t have the color red spewed all over it. Caden was passed out, on the floor. He was so close to the brink of death, the wolves had originally given up with the thought he had passed. Upon closer inspection, however, they soon discovered he still had a faint pulse.

The beta of the pack shrugged. “What do we do with him now?” He asked. He was an indifferent character who’s name suggested danger. He was called Shark, and he watched the group out of task. Caden had come out of his tiny coma now, though he kept his eyes like slits so as not to be seen awake. A female, the second in command of the hunting group, a beautiful brown wolf called Chyna, answered the question with another question. “Shouldn’t we take him back?” Shark spoke. “That’s absurd! Why on earth would we do such a thing? We attacked those dogs in the first place to keep them from killing our pups!” He never truly felt such anger; he did it to be seen as sympathetic.

There was a pause as Chyna considered. When she responded, she said, “True. However, this is just a dog, as you have said. We, from afar, thought they were one of the Crimson Fangs. However, I’m very doubtful that they would allow a dog into their ranks. Especially since they are obsessed with power and purity of breed.” Shark nodded, taking this in. Eventually he said, “Oh alright.” He took a look around and noticed Kelcey, a strong, tan female, standing idly. “Kelcey, come and carry this brute! Let’s all head off with our kill from earlier and take this dog prisoner!”

Kay had been pacing back and forth for the next few days. She had kept by the post office for the first day, but after some persuasion from Jenna to get some rest, Kay had gone off somewhere else to walk around. She had barely gotten the sleep Jenna wished her to, and Kay didn’t care to shut her eyes anyways.

After almost three days without taking a rest, her whole body nearly shut down on her. She took refuge in one of the alleys near the telegraph building and breathed a gaping breath of air. She settled down by lying on the cold floor. She was in almost complete darkness as the twilight enfolded the narrow place, and before she knew it she was asleep. Her dream, however, was anything but relaxing.

In a misty forest, Kay found herself walking endlessly. She couldn’t see a thing. She couldn’t even know where she was stepping. Though, her paws seemed to do so mechanically. It felt as if she’d walked this path a million times. And that was the only reason she didn’t bump into a tree or tumble head over paws into the ground. Granted, she found herself almost about to trip a few times, but since she wasn’t controlling all her own movements, some part of her could sense the impending fall and brought her back to the correct balance.

She didn’t like the place she was in now. It was dark. The moon was nothing but a crescent in the sky. There were no stars to accompany it. The clouds covered everything. The mist hung all around her like a shroud of shadows, and at every turn she swore she could hear a scream or a desperate cry. Her body posture shrunk after each step. Her back was entirely arched. Each step became smaller as she struggled to keep herself as close together as possible. Her tail swished between and out her legs in a nervous fashion, and she whimpered helplessly every few minutes.

When she came to the end of her path, her legs stopped for her. It seemed she could control her own body, but her legs she could not. They had brains of their own in this strange world. She looked to her left, hearing a crow’s caw resound throughout the area. Her ears pricked towards the source where it sounded loudest, and her eyes couldn’t help but wander to a patch of ground that the mist had left untouched.

What she saw horrified her. There, on the ground in a heap of blood, was her mate. He was lying dead, cold as ice. Her legs refused to move for a while, making her take in every splitting detail. But eventually, they decided to take her closer. As she progressed to the body, Kay found she didn’t want to see a better view. She wanted to run away. She wanted to tell herself that Caden was alive and well. She wanted to convince herself that he was still out there – that this was merely his twin or some other nonsense she could grasp onto.

Inevitably, she came and stood straight over him, towering in comparison to the flatness of his corpse. She had kept her eyes closed since five feet ago, but now she found her own brain betraying her. It was screaming at her to take a look. Her own mind was beginning to turn against her. ‘Peek! Go on. You know you want to,’ It seemed to say, in the most enticing voice anyone had ever imagined. She couldn’t help herself from sneaking a glance. She had originally meant to open her eyes and shut them again at the horrific sight, but once she had let her lids slide, there was no keeping them shut anymore.

Kay took in everything. There were cuts and slashes everywhere. They were ragged tears. You could tell they were made with claws and scratch marks. In other places, especially around his neck, there were smoother penetrations. There, the blood flowed most. They must have punctured a major vein, because that’s where the crimson was gathered the most: around the smooth marks. Kay could tell that those smoother holes were made by lethal teeth. She pictured thousands and thousands of fangs coming at her mate all at once. She felt a tear escaping her eyes. Kay became frustrated with herself. She nearly never cried. It was the rarest thing. But here, in this circumstance, seeing her dead mate murdered in cold blood, it horrified her. It shocked her to the point of no return. And as the facts settled in, Kay finally broke down and sobbed.

Her legs seemed to lose their minds. For, she gained control of them again. Not for long, however, because she let her muscles go and completely collapsed at his side. She was crying for what seemed like hours. She ever left her mate’s dead side. And after a while, she found it even harder to cope with the loss. Her cheeks were wet to the skin with tears. There was no stopping the stream of water flow. When finally, she heard a crack behind her. The mist had gotten ever foggier since. She could see that around her there seemed to be some kind of force field that the mist couldn’t get through. However, the trees were covered in the thick white and gray smog. And so, she couldn’t see the wolf coming towards her. All she could see was a bright yellow pair of eyes advancing.

Her legs were too stiff. Her mind was locked tight on other emotions. She only felt the fear in a massive wave when she saw the fur and the vicious expression. “We’re not through with you yet, pup,” He said in a hideous, cruel voice. The mere hearing of it sent chills down Kay’s spine. “Get ready to join him!” He called, and as he ran towards her, a flash of sharp white yellow teeth was the last thing she saw before she blacked out and came to reality.

Kay jolted awake. Her breathing was quick and unsteady. She couldn’t find a way to calm herself. Before she knew it, she had hauled herself up and began pacing once more. So much for a good night’s sleep… that had been a nightmare. The worst she’d ever experienced. She needed to do something about it and fast. She chose to turn to the only dogs in town that she thought could truly help her. Ones who had driven through the wilderness numerous times to save lives. Balto and Jenna.

The wolf pack had gotten back to their dens. Upon arrival, however, they were forced to have a change of attitude. Originally, they had been feisty and reckless against the strange prisoner. When they came, though, one of the elder wolves had recognized this male. Astonishingly, she had known who he was and it took all the other wolves’ known self control not to burst at this fact. They had to listen to their elders. If not the alphas or the betas, they had to listen to the elders.

And so, they had set the stranger in one of their unused dens, watching him day by day. Now, at day three, the elder, an old wolf named Alda, came to see how he was doing. “How are you holding up, young one?” Caden was a bit nervous around the others, but this one he could handle. He had known her before. “I could be better,” He answered.  Alda nodded. “I understand. I’m so very sorry for the circumstances. Had I gone with the hunting party I would have been able to help. Alas, my legs are becoming old on me. They cannot support so much distance.”

Caden nodded. “Yeah,” He said with a slight tone of bitterness in his heart. “Why did they do it anyway? They were so hostile… I’m surprised I lived.” Alda shrugged, followed by a dragging sigh. “Our people have been plagued by the Crimson Fangs Pack for a while now. Last season, they killed the alphas’ newborn litter. Most of the pack has been eager to seek revenge ever since. Seeing two canines on our land, perhaps they did not think to look closer. They were blind with rage, and you had to pay for it.” She seemed to be disappointed. Her voice sounded tired and sullen.

Caden took all this in, and began to feel a real anger in his heart for some strange reason. “It wasn’t right for them to do that. What reason did they have?” Alda shook her head. “None. They did it to ensure our pack never had a future. How very wrong they were.” The old wolf managed to give a faint smile and walked out of the den. “I hope you become better soon, Caden. It’s been nice chatting with you after so long.” And with that, she disappeared out of view.

Caden sighed, a sound mixed in with a quiet growl. He muttered incomprehensible things under his breath. As another guard came to watch him, he grew increasingly agitated. Every day, he heard them talk of how angry they felt. He figured out eventually just how closed their hearts had become. They would do everything and anything to protect their pups this time.

It was wrong of the Crimson Fangs to do that… How could Caden look at dogs the same? In fact… why was here alone? Kay hadn’t come to see how he was doing. She didn’t even care. He had put his life on the line for her and now she could care less if he died in cold blood. Well, he’d show her what for. He’d make sure she understood just how wrong and vile she was.

The feelings becoming entwined into Caden’s heart over the next few days were ones of anger, vengeful menace, and no mercy. He began to let all of the feelings of the wolf pack get to him. And eventually, his mind began to push away the ones who cared for him most because of it. In his heart, he knew he should love them.  But his brain told him otherwise. It was screaming, ‘Leave them behind! Tell them what for! Do what you must to make them regret it.’

And because of that, he thought of his sister, Cali. She had forgotten him entirely. She wished she never had a brother. She wanted to be alone. He thought of his ‘mate’, Kay. She never loved him. She was waiting for the chance to see when Caden would be caught in a situation like this. One where he looked dead and good for nothing, just so she could go back home and cheat on him like the rotten mutt she was. No. They wouldn’t be allowed to treat Caden like that. He wouldn’t stand for it. And over the next weeks, he allowed himself to revel in hatred.

Kay ran as if her heart had an expiration date. She couldn’t help herself from panting as she felt the cold Alaska wind hot on her tail. She skidded to a stop right in front of the telegraph station, looking around for any signs of the ones she knew could help her. “Jenna?” She called. “Jenna, where are you?” There was no answer. Kay couldn’t stop herself. She sat down on the fresh snow and slid a tear down her cheek. From that one tear came another. And another after that. Before she knew it, she was crying in desperation, hopelessness, and fear for what might have happened to Caden.

After what seemed like hours on end, Kay heard a voice somewhere nearby. “Kay? Kay, is that you?” It was slightly gruff. You could tell that the dog who owned it wasn’t necessarily in his prime anymore. However, he definitely made the most of the youth he still held. Kay looked up, her face dry and scratchy from all the water that had run down until recently. The mutt turned her head his way, looking distressed, sullen, and irretrievable by any force but the love of her lost mate. “B-Balto?” She asked hesitantly. When she saw his figure appear, she faked a smile.

Balto trotted towards her slowly. He made very careful moves, as if each paw step that brought him closer to the sad girl would depress her even more. “Kay? It’s me. …What’s wrong? You look…” He trailed off, not sure exactly how to put the way she appeared. Kay nodded, bursting into another fit of tears. However, she was silencing herself, burying her eyes into her paws, which were still flat against the ground.

“Wrecked?” It was the only word she responded with, and she even managed to bring her wet eyes to meet his in order to say it. Though, just after, she let it drop back down. Balto laid by her, looking back with sympathy as he noticed Jenna padding not too far after him. She saw the scene and drooped her ears. Coming up on Kay’s other side, she hunched her neck to close up their faces. “Oh… Kay.” Laying down, she put her neck over Kay’s, allowing her to cry, and rubbing her own neck against the other female’s in an attempt to comfort her. A long time later, she gained the courage to speak softly, carefully, and sympathetic as ever. “Kay…? What happened? Please tell us. We can help.” A swift glance to Balto ensured this fact.

Balto nodded. “Kay, please. Let us help you.”

Kay shook her head, even as she brought it up once more. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. Her light blue eyes scorched from the contrast, and her cheeks were puffy and wet. The hairs against them were soaked to the skin. “He’s dead! He’s gone… He’s probably dead! I left him. It’s my fault. I left him and he died. I can’t… I can’t… I’m so sorry!” She stood up abruptly, screaming to the heavens in a mad fit of desperation and crazy antics. “Caden… forgive me! Please, please forgive me…” She howled out to the heavens, causing onlookers to turn in confusion. Balto brought her to a calm position. She stood there, her head down, her tail tucked between her legs. “I’m so sorry…” She whispered. It was so quiet, Jenna and Balto had to struggle to hear it.

It was Balto who finally spoke. “Kay, we’ll help you find him.” Kay turned to him with widened eyes. “No. No! You can’t.” She flipped her head back and forth from him to Jenna, backing away from them and against the walls. “No! No no no no no. All we’ll find is his corpse! I can’t live with that! I can’t see it. I’ll die. I’ll die myself…” She trailed off, standing there. She gasped for breath. She breathed heavily. She stood in an awkward stance, her neck arched, her legs separate from each other, her tail flowing in a straight, downward line.

Jenna padded towards her, craning her neck to look up at Kay’s eyes. “We’ll help you find him. He’s alive.” Kay wasn’t sure how to reply. Her eyes wandered on the snow. It was clear she was thinking about this option, going it over a million times in her head before deciding to do it or not. Most likely trying to figure out the horrors or the beauties that could possibly lie ahead. All she said after that, looking up with innocent and judging eyes was, “How do you know?”

It took the red husky a while to figure out her answer, but when she did come up with one, she stared right at Kay, penetrating through her soul in a way that no one else could quite imitate. Her sweet, gentle look would never lead anyone to believe how strong she really was. Or how much potential she really had. Balto knew. And she used her kindness now. Though Kay knew also, and so it made it all the more meaningful to listen. “I just do. You know Caden better than anyone. He’s out there somewhere, isn’t he? Don’t you have the feeling? The thought? You didn’t see him die, did you?” Kay shook her head. “Then what are you waiting for! Go find your man! And bring him home to your arms.” She gave a warm, understanding smile. And just that was enough to convince Kay that there was indeed hope.

“Yes. I’ll find him. I’ll bring him back. Or so help me, I’ll search until my paws ache. I’ll run until I can’t run any longer. And I’ll cry until there’s no more tears left. I’ll find him. I promise. Even if it means… I’ll be searching endless.”