Chapter one.
It was a rusty, metallic aroma permeating her senses that first brought the wolf to the light of consciousness, nose twitching curiously at the scent, while her large body remained curled on its side. At the back of her mind, fatigue weighed heavily; as if her body ignored her mind's plight for reality. She wrestled with it for mere seconds before she succumbed to the exhaustion once and again and welcomed the darkness into open arms.
The second time, her body shifted in her sleep and the unforgettable scent exploded her mind into wakefulness. Human was a difficult smell to forget. A hiker in passing, a curious human walking unto unfamiliar territory, a hunter... Either way, humans remained a force to be fearful of. They revered themselves as top of the food chain and the most intelligent species to walk the earth but they were flawed beyond belief. She had heard of compassionate humans, but had witnessed the horrors they could bring onto defenceless animals in a moment of power. They held weapons of great terror.
At this unsettling thought, her fur bristled in fear and anger. She wanted nothing more than to flee from the scent, but the more she moved on the bed of hay, the more the disgusting smell permeated the air until she could no longer smell the metal of the cage around her.
The wolf whined pitifully into the air, the only other noise that of metal shuffling around and a droning noise that reminded her of the crunch of gravel beneath her paws. Her body failed to do more than shift directions, for her legs remained numb, and the darkness reared a bout of claustrophobia like a small animal peeking out of its hidey-hole into false safety as a dangerous predator lurked by. The reminder of fresh meat tugged painfully at her stomach, digging her further into a pit of dread.
A growl rumbled forth from her throat, wariness settling uncomfortably upon her mind like a thorny bush scraping at open wounds. Her instincts roared at her to escape her prison but with the feeling in her legs returning slowly, she was too weak to push herself up. With one last heave of effort, she sighed, resting her head upon her paws.
She had no choice but to wait and see what fate had in store.
"Marcus you idiot, you'll catch a cold like that! Where are your pants?" The winter season was only just arriving with a light sprinkling of snow every now and then, but Marcus remained unaffected; his exuberance a powerful motivator to rise early out of bed that morning and stare longingly at the sunrise that peered through a dusting of light grey clouds on the horizon. From his wooden porch, the middle-aged man had an enviously beautiful view of Yellowstone and its glory. He surveyed the fleeting light – disappearing for a short time behind a particularly large cloud – before turning to his wife and the amusing state of her wrapped up in more clothes than necessary.
"I've only just gotten up Kathlene, calm your fluff!" He chuckled sheepishly at her glare, before returning to the shelter of their hut to retrieve his outdoor wear for the day. Returning to the porch, he gave her a cheeky slap on the behind before hopping playfully down the wooden stairs to land safely on icy grass. "Don't you know what day it is?" Marcus may have been a total dope, but he'd been married long enough to know that beating around the bush only ended with a shoe to the face. At her suspiciously wolf-like growl, he laughed and rummaged around his person for the small grey digital camera he carried for mornings like this.
"You've been keeping your mail from me, dumb-wit!" To anyone else the add-on would be nothing short of an offense, but Marcus knew his wife only saved the nicknames for those she had a particular fondness for. "Spit it out!"
As the blonde followed after his tracks into once yellow-green grass, Marcus started on his photography. He had an endearing habit of sending the pictures off to his family back home in Canada, who would write to him every other month of their wellbeing. Though all he talked about were his wolves, the man would always attach sly riddles to his photography to reassure them of his own affairs. This way he was free to live his life in the wilderness as he pleased.
"Akai!" Marcus said as if it explained everything.
There was a pause where Kathlene stared at him in pure bewilderment, looking at him as if he'd gone mad, before she sighed and hung her head in defeat. "Whatever you say," The blonde murmured, jogging ahead of him to catch her first site of the wolves for the day.
It was mad, humans living so openly in the wilderness amongst wolves, but Marcus had spent the majority of his young life studying zoology and before he knew it, he was living amongst his favourite animals, hoping to learn their behaviour for the benefactor of science. But as their studies reached new heights and more curious humans moved in on them, their numbers had decreased – the number bordering the possible line of extinction – and sadly for Marcus, he was of the few left willing to put his life aside to save them. One thing he learned was that no matter what studies proved, humans would always live in fear of wolves, ignoring evidence laid out in front of them, and remaining in the old ways of calling them bloodthirsty and vicious.
The greying man followed his suddenly eager wife up the small hill, stopping to catch his breath – apparently he wasn't as fit as he used to be – and caught sight of a flash white amongst the brown-speckled leaves lower down the hill. From this height, one could make out the extent of the forest and while it looked small from above, the amount of cover it gave was immense.
The couple crouched low, Marcus acquiring a zoom on his camera for a closer look. He grinned at two specks of glowing yellow that peered up at them from the cover of the mass of foliage. It seemed they'd been spotted already, not that Marcus had been aiming for any subtlety at their approach, but years of research geared him with the knowledge that one should not approach wolves that they should come to you on their own terms. Otherwise you're asking for a bloodbath. Maybe that was where humans acquired their slanderous name calling from; someone had been stupid enough to approach a wolf. Go figure. Another reason his wife was the only person he could tolerate. Humans were idiots.
"Kiba," Kathlene, leant against him for warmth, whispered in surprise. Marcus took a moment to glance up from fiddling with his camera to bemusedly spy the white wolf approaching them at a slow pace. Surprising, indeed. The pure white predator, appropriately named 'Kiba', was never known for his approach to anything other than wolf and prey. While he tolerated them and never openly showed aggression, something in the back of Marcus' mind told him they'd not quite won over the alpha's trust just yet.
As the wolf gained closer, stopping only every other moment to sniff the air around him, Marcus wondered momentarily if this particular wolf was smarter than he looked. Something in the look of his approaching gaze unsettled the man deeply. About a metre away, Kiba paused before settling on his haunches before them. Kathlene had tensed against him, but made no move to approach the predator or retreat to the safety of their shared hut. But Kiba spared her no interest; it was Marcus who held his gaze the longest and though it sent a shiver up his spine, funnily enough he sensed no challenge. The wolf's body language showed nothing but open curiosity.
"I think... he knows," He felt stupid saying it after it had felt like nothing but truth in his mind, but yellow eyes never faltered from his own – something of a breakthrough.
His wife nudged him sharply in the side; eyes shooting fearfully between her husband and the wolf she knew could pounce and break her neck within a second. "Knows what? What the hell can he possibly know?! We've been here all of two seconds!" Her voice came out in a sharp whisper, more fear than anger or desperation. Truth be it, she was too scared to comprehend the situation to its true extent
"Akai," Marcus replied nonchalantly, as if saying the first thing that came to mind. Coincidently, it was the other thing on mind other than Kiba's piercing gaze. The man shifted a second as the white wolf's head cocked to the side. The motion seemed inquisitive, but Marcus gained the feeling the wolf was pushing him on to continue.
"This is no time to be mumbling gibberish, Marcus!" His wife hissed again and froze as yellow eyes turned to glare at her. She gulped audibly.
"Akai isn't gibberish, honey," His focus was to regain the wolf's attention, but he was also affirming something that was bugging at the edge of his mind. "Akai is... well, I didn't tell you because I wanted to surprise you," Yellow met blue once again. "But Akai is the new wolf we're having. It's a female." It was meant to be a whisper, but when white ears swivelled his way, he knew he hadn't fooled anyone. The wolf jumped to its paws, shocking Kathlene so bad she fell on her backside, and threw its head back in a strange howl. Though beautiful to hear, the wolf song was unfamiliar, and Marcus felt a different kind of shiver run through his spine. Kiba twirled in a circle, his howl growing louder before it was suddenly joined by three more in the distance, ringing through the air in a powerful song.
Kathlene picked herself up and stared in horror, ears ringing at the intensity of the howl. Marcus had explained one night they'd sat up to gaze at the full moon and listen to the howls all around, that wolves sang in different tones and pitches in ways that expressed different emotions and meanings. She'd learnt a location howl, defence howl, even a howl that expressed a wolf's one true emotion at that moment in time. The difference she'd felt each time; running through her veins, up and down her spine; her skin littered with goose bumps.
But this one was different. It expressed joy, eagerness, sadness, anger, and relief all at once in an explosion of emotions. They both felt it, but what threw her off the most was that she felt it inside herself, as if she was howling along with this beautiful wolf, screaming her heart into the air. One precise feeling hit them both at the same time.
Marcus pulled Kathlene behind him as he rushed back toward the hut, the howl following them home, until he pushed her inside and slammed the door behind the pair of them. He waited, even trying to pant quietly to listen around them for Kiba, almost believing the alpha had chased after them like a predator after prey. The howl suddenly stopped, and Kathlene, bemused at the swiftness they had arrived back home with, settled herself on the edge of their shared bed and stared at the door.
Deceit. She was sure that was what she had felt amidst the sudden encore of feelings. She didn't even know wolves could feel that way, but there was no way that had been her. What reason had she had to feel deceived? Marcus hadn't left her for another wolf-loving woman, her family hadn't suddenly stopped sending out word of their love and worry, hell, the wolves hadn't moved on for better territory. It was alarming. But what alarmed her more was when Marcus suddenly pulled her to the floor to curl into his arms.
The blonde nudged him, shortly reminiscent of her nudging him while he blabbed gibberish down in the clearing. Something about the wolf knowing something? She had no idea but whatever it was, it was also the reason they were curled into each other in fear of their own lives. She nudged him again when he continued to stare ahead of him, blue eyes flashing every now and then as something she'd come to know as amazement. It baffled her even more.
"Say something, Marcus." You knew it was serious when there was no name-calling going on. "Marcus, spe-"
"Do you know why I wanted to surprise you?" He suddenly spoke, the following silence permeating the air thicker than water. Kathlene could hardly breathe at the intensity in his words. She shook her head and he sighed before shifting her closer to him, taking at quick glance toward the small window higher up on the wooden, circular wall before looking back toward the door. "These wolves... I know you haven't been here long enough, but have you ever wondered why you've never seen any cubs, or when another pack does come down they barely stay long enough to cause any trouble, or why the number of wolves is dwindling?" She caught the growing anger in his eyes and chose to nod her head instead of speaking.
But as her moment of confusion passed, she suddenly caught the words, fumbling with them in her muddled head before suddenly it clicked. "You said a female earlier on didn't you?" Her eyes widened in fear. "But how did it-"
"I don't know," Marcus knew she was ignoring her usual annoyance at him cutting her off in favour of the situation. He loved her all the more all of a sudden. "I've lived with these wolves for three years now, and not once have I ever witnessed such a level of understanding!" He paused to take a breath. "It was like he knew every word I was saying!"
Of course, Kiba had understood every word he was saying.
Though he usually put his curiosity of the humans living in his territory aside, Kiba had recognised, after a long time of studying them, that they were no threat to his pack or territory. They looked after themselves, caught all their own food, and even kept their cleanliness as a high priority despite the lack of running water around their encampment. This baffled him for a while, and he was certainly wary the first time Toboe had ran up to check them out.
This earned the sneaky Omega a good nip on the behind for his out of line behaviour, but Kiba's curiosity didn't cease there. On his own terms, he approached them, and discovered even after turning his behind at them after a quick sniff, they never once came too close and instead observed him, his pack and his territory from a distance.
So one day during night time – as the human and his mate slept, and his pack rested after a good feed – the Alpha sniffed around the strange housing. From then on, every other day he would sit outside the closed entrance (leaving his scent marks on the sly of course) listening to the light snoring of the pair. This was also how he gained the sudden knowledge of another wolf. Human interference may have been how he'd gained most of his pack members, but two years had passed without anymore additions and the news of another intrigued the white wolf. He was suspicious at the human male's eagerness, which led him to the biggest step forward.
He languidly approached, sat down on his haunches in confidence, and then proceeded to stare the other male out. Though at first he had to give it to the human for not backing down, he was more intrigued that it knew what he was thinking.
"Kiba!" Hige leapt out at him, ploughing into him so suddenly, a startled yelp escaped his jaws. Realising his mistake the Sub jumped off the downed Alpha's form and rolled onto his back in an act of submission. "Don't bite me, don't bite me, don't bit- EEP!"
The appearance of Tsume was enough to please Kiba as he let his Beta get to work disciplining the younger wolf. Pulling himself up, the white wolf checked himself over for wounds before returning to his earlier task.
"They have a female!" He growled, no longer paying the Sub any attention. Both sets of eyes shot to him in confusion, Tsume's narrowing as he played with the words and meanings in his mind.
"Erm, yeah. I have seen the human y'know!" Tsume grunted, allowing a baffled Hige to roll back to his paws.
"Yeesh, when you said you didn't like them, I at least thought you'd been paying attention. Daaamn, you're slow."
Kiba snarled at the pair, unsure who annoyed him more at the moment before choosing to pounce upon a distracted Sub and nipping at his ears.
"I'm sorry~!" He wailed in distress.
"I know that you idiots! I meant a wolf! A female wolf!"
It took a while for the message to kick in. Tsume recalled Kiba's partially distressed howl moments before, and pieced the situation together quickly. "You're lying." The grey wolf growled in challenge, settling himself in a stance that signified an attack. The Alpha and Beta growled at each other, prepared to battle when unexpectedly Toboe flew out from the shrubbery, a large stick in his jaws which he promptly dropped on Hige's head, whom was still squished under Kiba's form.
"Damn runt!" His muffled howl went ignored.
"Look what I found! I'm gunna take it up to the humans, cause that lady human always goes lookin' for sticks and I dunno why but I found a huge pile and- oh, hey Hige, what are you doing down there?"
Though he remained largely unaware of it, the Omega's sudden arrival had broken the leering tension. 'Peacemaker' indeed, Kiba deflated, and once realising Hige whimpering beneath his form, stepped slowly off, temporarily making peace.
"Mr. Alpha here says he's seen a female. Though he has yet to prove it." Though Tsume was still growling every now and then, his body language was more submissive, and therefore no threat to Kiba's mood. The Alpha eyed all three of his pack, settling on his haunches before them. Toboe dropped to his belly before even he knew what he was doing.
"The humans are bringing her in! Even though it's their damned fault in the first place there are hardly any!"
Toboe whined at the flash of another female wolf in his thoughts, and suddenly all thought of play had vanished from his mind. Even the usually bouncy Hige had settled to lying on his side as only Tsume felt high enough in rank to think of sitting the same level as the Alpha. Though Kiba remained unbothered, he was always wary of any rise to challenge.
"Enough moping," The grey wolf grumbled. "When are they bringing her?" Kiba, a suddenly devious glint appearing in his eye, shrugged a shoulder, a surprisingly human gesture before returning to all four paws and walking back the way he entered.
"Why don't we go see?"
I don't know how this turned out so well but I hope everyone likes it just as much as I do OTL.
Aaannywho! This is basically an introduction to the events that will play out. I have yet to explain many things; the wolves, how Mister Marcus got a female when they're supposed to be rare, how they're living so peacefully with them in the first place. It needs a lot of work, but I'll get back to that eventually.
Thanks for reading! :3