Chapter 1
Beginnings
The small group of hunters stood poised, staring at the
unsuspecting herd of bison, a rear meal on the Alissian Plains, and with the season being SoftLeaf [Spring], the young and vulnerable children were an easy target, provided they could time their attack right.
Shifting in their positions, the five wolves' gazes never wavered from their targets. They waited for the alpha to signal the beginning of the attack.
Rapture, the alpha male, shot a glimpse at the other four, his dark brown eyes glistening in the harsh sunlight. Exious, Zed, Hex and Veil were all crouched in their planned positions and Rapture looked across further towards the bison. They seemed to be completely oblivious to their presence there.
Rapture looked back at the wolves down below him; there was movement...
Veil had set her sights on an unattended calf lumbering towards her.
The alpha felt the fur on the back of his neck go up.
'Veil, don't go for it... Don't go for it...' He thought to himself,
hoping that by some undefinable force that she would hear him.
She didn't.
Veil, still crouching, advanced further towards the calf. She moved slowly, trying as hard as she could to not give away her position, but unfortunately, she was never very stealthy, and she stepped down on a dry branch.
She froze.
The calf looked up and cautiously trotted over to the place that the crack had come from. Lucky for Veil, her position was under the shade of a great oak tree, so it made visibility very minimal. The calf stopped less than a step away from her and sniffed the air.
Rapture blinked, and on that split second, heard the unmistakable sound of the calf's squeal for help. He looked down and saw Veil's jaws on the calf's neck and a spurt of blood coming from the fresh wound.
The calf kicked in Veil's grip, and squealed again, alerting the more dangerous, adult bison to their dying calf's location.
Rapture's thoughts blurred as adrenaline took over. He remembered the other wolves, still in their positions, awaiting his signal.
He howled.
"That's the signal!" Zed yelled, as they sprang up from the long grass like insects startled from their resting places.
The three other wolves ran down from the upside of the hill, into the ravine towards Veil and the bison, soon joined by Rapture, who split off with Exious, as Zed and Hex tore off to the other side.
Hex ran down towards Veil, and abruptly stopped before crashing into her.
"Get out of here!" he yelled, then took off after Zed, who was running just on the bottom edge of a hill.
Veil looked up and saw the oncoming bison stampeding towards her. Her heart began racing and she took the calf's neck on her jaws and dragged it up behind the trunk of the oak tree.
Hex managed to catch up to Zed and both wolves galloped towards the long grass on the hill side.
"Go to the other side, Hex!" Zed yelled, facing him.
"Are you kidding! That's suicide!" Hex yelled in protest.
"Just go!" and Zed nudged him roughly in the side.
Hex looked at him, before running off into the ravine, in between Rapture, Exious and the bison. Hex ran up to the other side, just as the bison engulfed the ground he was just standing in.
Rapture and Exious let out a vicious snarl and stopped running. The bison still charged towards them, but they held firm, baring their sharp teeth and snarling.
Just as the bison were about to plough into them, Zed let out a howl, soon followed by a shaky Hex, confusing the bison causing them look around for the other wolves.
Hex was first to act, running down towards the confused herd, followed by Zed, who was startled by Hex's boldness.
Rapture and Exious ran up to the herd as well, circling around them, nipping at the bison's ankles, looking for a weak target.
Hex and Zed did the same thing, until one of them jumped and took off from the group, trampling over Hex.
Rapture, Exious and Zed all went after the wounded bison, trying at every opportunity to take it down, until it finally collapsed.
All three wolves panted, along with their prey. Rapture was first to go up to it.
"Good hunt." he said, just as much to the other pack members, as the bison.
It looked the male alpha directly in the eye, just as he wrapped his fangs around its neck, and cocked his head to snap it. The body went limp and the eyes of the bison lost emotion.
"Let's go." Rapture said, and the other two nodded, taking each a limb in their mouth, and dragging it back to the hunting grounds.
Veil let out a breath of relief as she saw the herd leave the area. The calf lay next to her and bled onto the grass, creating a red puddle.
Veil sighed to herself, "I reckon he's gonna give me a serve when they get back." she said to herself, thinking about her kill which caused the trouble.
"Veil..."
"Hunh? Hex? Are you ok?" Veil asked the dusty wolf limping up to her.
"I'm fine, just broken." Hex said with a chuckle, "I just got run over by the bison that ran off."
"Oww... You sure you ok?"
"I'm pretty sure. I reckon just broke something. Nothing too big..."
"Ok then... Did the others run off after the rouge?" Veil asked. Hex nodded, sitting down next to her.
The two wolves sat in silence until Rapture, Exious and Zed returned, dragging the kill behind them.
"Alpha! Zed, Exious!" Hex yelled, lifting one of his paws in the air and wagging his tail.
At the mention of the others' names, Veil's ears dropped, and her head lowered a bit.
"Hex! How'd you go?" Zed asked, referring to the scuff marks all over Hex's fur.
"Yeah, alright..." Hex said with a smile.
Veil looked up at the others with a smile, "Well, it looks like we got a good haul today." she commented.
Rapture looked over at her, and scowled.
"If it weren't for your useless self control, we could've avoided this whole mess." Rapture spat, earning a disappointed look from Veil.
"Hey, everything turned out fine, alpha! Look, we managed to get two kills, enough for the whole pack." Exious stood in front of her younger sister, and puffed out her chest, "There's no need to take it out on Veil."
Rapture looked at both of them, then sighed, "I guess you're right, I'm sorry Veil." he apologized.
Veil looked up at them both, "Yeah, see, you should be thanking me." she said with a sheepish smile.
Rapture looked straight at her with a shocked and angered expression, which soon turned into a smile accompanied by laughter.
"I suppose we should, then again, the only injury was taken by Hex, and he's not that badly hurt." Zed joked, knocking into Hex's side, similar to the way humans give each other a friendly punch on the shoulder.
"Guys, calm down, we can joke more when we get back to the den." Exious said, worried that the met will spoil in the heat.
"Yeah, we better get going, they'll be getting hungry." Veil said, taking up the neck of the calf in her jaws.
"Yeah, true." Zed said, picking up a limb in his mouth. Hex and Rapture did the same thing, followed by Exious, after she complained that the part she had to drag was near its ass.
The Wolves all travelled back to the den in high spirits, dragging their kill behind them.