Belated author's note: Wow. I am ashamed to admit how much time has passed. I am also a bit taken aback by the fact that I still have so many loyal readers. I do not plan on abandoning my stories, though I am a bit embarrassed to see a few stories I forgot even existed—and therefore I have no idea where the story lines were going. This story, however, is not one of them, and holds a truly special place in my heart. It started out as an original, did you know that? Maybe I can finally finish a story of mine soon, eh? Anyway, University is over, but work consumes me more than I hoped it would. I am getting back into writing again, however, and so I hope, with all of your guys' hope and patience, we will be able to feed off each other and I won't let any of you down.

Thank you all for reading these treasured pieces that hold bits of my soul.

Now that so much time has passed, however, I am a bit disturbed by my lack of finesse and writing skills from years before. I will be rewriting and/or editing previous chapters, so please bear with me, and thank you for your time, love, patience, understanding, and curiosity. 3

Thank you for your love of wolves, and fanfiction, that so matches my own.

I do not own the names of these characters. Hopefully a little of their personality will be my own.

Wolf Wind

Ch. 2

Betrayal heavy on her heart—muscles taxed and overused from days of non-stop agony, Serenity belatedly realized that perhaps the Moon Goddess was not on her side as she hunkered low to the earthen floor, a growl rumbling deep and reverberating past her empty belly. Crystal blue eyes locked with those of the hyena before her, even as her mind shied away from the knowledge that it was, indeed, a hyena she peeled her lips back to snarl at.

A hyena here—this deep in the mountain forest.

Giving her overused wolf-self a quick shake, Serenity pushed distracting thoughts to that farthest corner of her mind and locked all else away. She was Wolf, and would depend upon instinct alone. It had never once failed her in the past.

The hairs along the back of her neck prickled, and suddenly all the hairs along her spine were on end as wolves drew nearer. She dared not turn her back on this enemy, however. She had already been wounded once—the sting and blood at her shoulder was proof of that. Still. Her wolf did not like being sandwiched between two potential threats.

The hyena before her moved, and the Wolf in her took over. With a deep growl-turned-snarl she attacked just as savagely, white ears pinning to her skull. She fought tooth and nail, staying low to the ground—refusing this enemy any opening that would ultimately end in her premature death.

She had made it this far, she was not going to die because of another gnarled root in her path!

Snarling fiercely as the hyena's fangs bit sharply along her foreleg, Serenity felt the next growl tremble over and through her being like thunder. Greatly angered at the lucky yet only superficial wound, she darted toward her predator-turned-prey and sank her teeth into the fur around its neck, biting down until she could taste blood. With her strength greatly diminished, all she could do was clamp her jaws shut tightly about its neck and hold on as the hyena jerked and twisted, attempting to loosen her fangs and dislodge her. Limbs flopping none-too gracefully in her exhaustion, Serenity closed her eyes as she focused the last of her strength and adrenaline into crushing the hyena's windpipe. She didn't dare let go for a second now that the remaining strength she had found seeped out of her.

The hyena fell, the sounds coming from its wheezing throat gruesome and wet sounding. Turning her attention elsewhere, Serenity picked up the sounds of those around her locked in similar battles, and only then did she realize the thunder rumbling through her was not solely her own doing. Fearsome fights brushed across and near her—wolf turned against hyena. The cacophony resounding around them was deafeningly brutal. The scent of blood permeated the air and danced with the scent of pine on the wind, almost as if both belonged there. Serenity's attention was finally brought back to her prey when she felt the hyena below her go limp, and dully she listened for the heartbeat that wasn't there. She rose shakily to all fours after releasing her grip on her downed enemy, eyes wide in her wolf's face as she took in the scene around her.

There were so many fighting. So many…

She didn't know why she heard the sudden warning that lit the air; it should have been impossible to hear anything with the noise surrounding her poor, weakened senses. She heard it, however, as if the white ears atop her head were meant to hear it, and an echoing warning buzzed through her veins as she dropped to the ground and rolled a moment before a body collided with hers, laughing and growling and snarling above her as it attempted to repeatedly bite towards her vulnerable throat. A whisper of a whimper escaped her wolf form as Serenity twisted and wriggled and kicked, attempting to dislodge the hyena that sickeningly was attempting to strike at her the same way she struck at the body of the hyena lying by her side. Dark lips curling, Serenity bared her teeth at the body on top of hers. She already resolved she would not leave the land of the living this day. It seemed she would have to prove it.

Finding a hidden reserve of strength from somewhere deep within, Serenity used the momentum of the hyena above her and with a deftly placed kick, flipped it over and away from her body. She was on all four paws and tackling the hyena not a moment later, eyes bleeding with the force of her determination and rage. She would not die here. She would not die yet.

The sun had finally slipped beneath the horizon, the chilly night air breezing past Serenity's pale fur. Simply breathing in the night air brought Serenity renewed strength. She bounced and spun around her new prey angrily, feeling the night calling to her. What first started out as a dip in a serenely cool lake at night blossomed into the rush and electricity of moonfire in her veins. She knew the outcome of this battle in that moment. Ceasing her play and prowess against her prey, Serenity displayed calm and calculated patience as she waiting for the correct moment—and snapped the neck of the hyena swiftly and with great precision. She was not to be bested this night.

Not, at least, by the likes of them.

The moonfire that crackled and snapped along her once-exhausted extremities reached out as if in a pale-golden glow, and wrapped its blanket over all Wolves present. A howl rent the air, followed by another, and another. Serenity had to snap her gaping jaws shut in order to prevent her own victory from rising through the air, up toward the moon. She couldn't allow her wolf to draw any more unwanted attention—not while she was in another pack's territory.

The fight was almost over. The hyenas were mostly gone, either dead or retreating. Serenity glared at the foliage they disappeared into, instincts warring with reason and a large part of her strained to give chase. The threat was not gone. She was in no condition to go chasing trouble, however. Right now, she needed a reprieve, and rest.

Safety.

That warning sounded again—a deep male baritone. It was too late in coming, however, because a body suddenly collided on Serenity's back, and as she twisted in shock and terror as a sharp-toothed snout closed tightly around her throat. She froze, pale eyes wide as she tried to draw in breath, and couldn't. Anxiety grew thickly within her, and she whirled to stare at the wolves at her back and wondered in horror if her enemy was wolf, or hyena.

Then a deep, rage-filled howl split the air, sending every hair along her furred form on end before a large, white wolf barreled toward her at an alarming speed, allowing Serenity to simply close her eyes as the strength and power of his aura and intent washed over her.

His intent to kill.

Shaky wolven limbs about to give out, Serenity ducked her head down and prayed it would be over fast. She was not prepared for the massive amount of muscle to knock her slighter frame completely on her rear. She was not prepared for the giant yelp that left the jaws that had been clamped down around her throat as it was grabbed by the scruff of its neck and bodily thrown, releasing her.She was not prepared when air returned to her lungs, and shocked realization hit deep. Dazedly, Serenity turned her head toward the hyena's great fall, and blinked at the entrails spilling from its gut. Its leg twitched and agonized screams left the cavern of its snout, and Serenity blinked again, certainty finally crashing down around her and covering her like her coat of fur.

Her brother… was not happy.

Two wolves we next to her suddenly, and Serenity was too exhausted to do anything more than simply tense at their proximity. They were the same two wolves from before. She tiredly turned her gaze up to the red-brown wolf next to her, feeling smaller and more pathetic than she had in a long time, but he seemed more intently interested in the female brown wolf that appeared limping at his side. The way the two were sniffing each other over and checking for wounds, Serenity catalogued them as mates.

Turning to look up at the sable wolf at her side, Serenity wondered why a part of her felt too shy or uncertain to look up into his deep blue eyes. Heart doing a small flip, she chanced a glance up at him when she felt him take a step forward, his shoulder brushing feather-soft across her own, as his gaze narrowed and attention seemed riveted toward where her brother was finishing up with the hyena whom dared attack her. Turning her neck to follow the sable's gaze, Serenity watched as the hyena's back leg gave one final twitch, and then the large white wolf that was her brother lifted his bloodied snout and howled. The sound sent shivers up and over her skin, and her heat gave an odd squeeze at the familiar sound.

The sable's very blue gaze was on her. How she knew, she couldn't tell, but when she turned to look at him he seemed to stare down at her, assessing, before he threw his head back and howled in answer. The feeling in the very air shifted and twisted around her. Then all the pack was there, howling their triumph and defiance to any enemy who might hear. It was electric, the sound and feeling of a pack that was whole. Serenity felt a persistent pulling of her heartstrings and lifted her head and closed her eyes. She wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to be a part of this pack.

But she still would not allow herself to voice her own victory howl.