Chapter 1
It was spring yet again, but Rose couldn't hunt with the pack. The older members had already brought the young members on a hunting trip, getting enough meat for the whole pack with their kills. Rose didn't know about this beforehand. Nobody had told her about it, let alone invited her to come. When Rose asked about it, the other wolves had changed the subject.
Nobody wouldn't say it directly, but Rose already knew why they didn't want her to hunt with the rest of the pack. Rose was the leader, a figure who was idolized, and revered. Someone who all the cubs looked up to. They were family, and yet the members of the pack always seemed to treat her so delicately. They kept their distance, yet they always stepped in front if anyone seemed to threaten them.
It wasn't too hard to figure the reasons behind their actions. They wanted to keep her safe, because of their respect for her. It was nice, to feel that so many had wanted to keep her safe from harm, though strange. After all, she had known them for much longer than she had been the guardian. Still, keeping in one place had started to feel suffocating.
She had known that walking out of her home would worry her packmates, but it would only be for a short while. It was worth it, in any case, to get out to the rest of the jungle. It was so deep, and so large, that every new walk into it brought her new experiences. Strange bugs with iridescent wings, frogs smaller than her nose, and colorful birds that moved so fast that their wings became a blur. Every creature that was in the jungle was so wonderful and interesting, and she didn't understand why her packmates couldn't see the beauty of it all.
As she walked, she noticed a particularly unique scent cutting through the thick, humid air. She didn't know what it was, but it was definitely something foreign. A new animal, completely unique and different from anything that she had ever encountered. It wasn't too far from her, only a little ways north.
Rose stalked through the the woods, the scent thick in her nose. She listened carefully, blocking out the sounds of the life surrounding her. The birds, the insects, and the monkeys blended into background noises as she took careful notice of the softer sounds.
In the distance, she heard the screech of a young creature.
As she ran towards the sound, she could smell the animal. It was a smell unlike anything she had encountered before. There was also another wolf close to the creature, one she had never met. The smell that wafted forth as she was running told her that the other wolf was female, but she didn't know what pack she belonged in. There was also the smell of death close to the young creature. Despite Rose's better judgement, she charged forth. Hunting to eat was one thing, but killing young cubs was out of the question.
When she had ran up close enough to see the creature, the other wolf was already running away. She had to let her run away, as she didn't want to initiate any kind of conflict, even though she had many questions for her. The other wolf leaving did benefit her though, leaving her alone to investigate this new animal. The animal was crawling from the entrance of a cave out to the sunlight. Deeper within the cave, the smell of death wafted close towards her. It was of a dead human, and it was strong enough to coat everything with it's scent.
The animal was young, but it was difficult to tell just how young. The smell led her to think that the animal was probably male. There was no hair or fur on him leaving him completely bare to the elements, the sunlight hitting the soft pink skin. The paws were more a lot like monkey's hands, yet only on the top part of the limbs. The bottom half of the animal's limbs seemed as if they had no point. The creature was a complete puzzle to her, and he amazed her every time she had looked at him. She wondered what the other wolves would think if she brought him to them.
The creature was still making noises, crying out loudly in distress. Rose guessed that these cries were what drew the other wolf to him as well. He didn't seem to be injured, so Rose guessed that he was hungry. It made sense- a creature like that couldn't hunt anything or even climb a tree on it's own with those stubby legs.
Rose sniffed the animal closer to get more information. As her nose lightly touched his stomach, he started to giggle. Rose realised she was wrong. This wasn't a unique creature at all. It was nothing but a young human. She thought that the scent of humans was only due to the death of one, but it clearly wasn't the case. She was shocked, she had no idea that a young human would look so strange.
Humans had been terrifying to her packmates, with their weapons and nad other monstrous contraptions. They had killed her species before, and other animals in the jungle as well. She held no resentment or fear towards them, but respected their feelings. She was also wary towards them as well, especially since she had only seen fully grown humans before.
With a pain in her heart, she realized that the dead human and the living child might have been family. It could have been his mother or father, and the little child would have never known. There wasn't anybody around to care for him, human parents or otherwise. She couldn't help but think of her own family, and her parents. How her parents cared for her, and kept her away from danger. She huffed to herself, realizing she had to make her choice. She needed to decide between the approval of her pack, and the safety of the young human.
