LILLY'S POV
I looked up after I was lifted out of the tunnel and who I saw shocked me. I recognized Shakey, Salty, Mooch, Hutch, Candu, Sweets, Candy, Reba, Janice, Tony, King, Princess, Garth, Humphrey, Kate, Claudette, Runt, Stinky, and Mom, and Dad! I got up and hopped over as quickly as I could and I pulled my family into a hug as I broke down crying "I thought I lost you all." I sobbed out. Mom and Dad rubbed their paws up and down my back while they hummed a song to me that I used to fall asleep to as a pup. Kate 'booped' my nose after I pulled out of the hug with mom and dad and I poked her in her belly, a secret from our puppy hood; before I happily hugged her and I turned to Pat and said "Pearse, this is my mom and dad, Winston, and Eve, the leaders of the Western Pack of Jasper; My big sister Kate, my brother in law Humphrey, my niece Claudette, and my nephews Runt, and Stinky. "Mom dad, everyone, this is Pearse, One of the most well trained, and respected healers in Banff. After I was attacked by a bear, and shot by a hunter, he found me in this den and helped me."
Mom got that angry look in her eye along with Kate, and they both jumped at Pearse, and mom started crushing his throat while Kate went for the family jewels. "Let him Go! He actually SAVED MY LIFE!" mom and Kate stopped and got off him and Pearse grabbed his balls and could hardly breathe and mom said "Such a nice boy."
I helped him up and when he nodded to me, I said "Everyone, I was taken here by humans. Pearse is a saint. It's like Sirona and Fenrir teamed up, and made him, and sent him to this world. Please don't hurt him! All he has done, is saved my life, got me food and water, and made me a painkiller all by himself! He has done nothing wrong, Reba and Janice, don't say a word on this, I don't care how much you hate meat, the rest of us minus Shakey, like caribou." the group all chuckled and giggled at my joke and mom and Kate hung their heads low and they both apologized to Pat. He waved it off and said "It's not the first time either of those has happened to me, however it is the first time those have happened to me at the same time."
I started looking among the large group for my old friends, minus mooch, the other two, candy, Reba, janice, and Sweets; but I couldn't find them. "Is there another group of us coming from Jasper?" mom and dad shook their heads and I couldn't help but let a few tears out as I mourned the loss of my friends. "Lilly, if it helps at all, they gave their lives to protect the rest of the group." I sniffed and asked "Is the war over?" "Mom and Dan nodded and said "Yes, but the western pack dens were all destroyed and all the rest of the territory is littered with bodies. none of us wanted to settle anywhere near there."
Pat stepped forward and walked up to the pack from Banff, and he hi pawed a few of, who I assume, were his friends. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact with one girl who had dark black fur, and I noticed a fresh wound on her right shoulder. "Are you okay there? Your shoulder looks hurt." This got Pats attention and he looked at the cut and asked her "How long ago did this happen Savannah?" "About two days ago." "Keep an eye on that. If it starts feeling really painful, come see me," the then said in a louder voice so everyone could hear him "Does anyone else have any injuries that need attention?"
No one stepped forward and he smiled to himself a little and said "You all can sleep in the really tall grass beside the den because this den is only big enough for ten wolves and that space id for the pack leaders and their children." I saw Garth get a big smile on his face and he said "Thanks." pearse looked at him and said "This must be the famous Garth. Strongest Alpha of the entire united packs of Jasper, and Lilly's ex." ge got a bit of a nervous look on his face and took a few steps back and said "I wouldn't say I'm the strongest Alpha, and she dumped me."
"Pearse, leave him alone. Just because we broke up, doesn't mean, we aren't still regular friends." I then carefully hopped over to him and I noticed he was a lot skinnier than before I left. "You've lost weight Garth." he nodded and said "When the war broke out, the caribou fled, and it became really hard to find food. I've been living off of mostly rabbits, and squirrels with the occasional caribou."
Pearse stepped forward and said "I have a small deer in the den but, it's only enough for two or three wolves, we need a few volunteers to come with me to go hunting." three wolves stepped forward and he said "I will take these three hunting with me, until we get back, I am putting Lilly in charge." he then walked out with the others.
Then, all eyes turned to me, and I got nervous, but with a few deep breaths, I calmed myself down and I said "Okay, everyone, let's go over to the tall grass and make a temporary bed for you all. You're going to want to sleep in groups for warmth. Late fall is here, and the nights are bitterly cold. The smallest groups I will allow will be groups of four. I know that mating season is really close, if it hasn't already hit some of you girls already, but I am pretty sure that the rest of the pack would appreciate it if you didn't mate tonight despite the urges. Sorry everyone" they nodded respectively and Claudette moved beside me and said "Here aunt Lilly, you can lean up against me, and I will help you walk." I giggled and kissed her forehead before putting my bad leg on her neck and we all started making our way to the tall grass.
Once everyone found a spot to bed down, they paired up into groups of four and they laid down, making a flat spot in the grass. Once that was done, we went back to the den and saw four large deer laying in front of the den. "Dinner is ready everyone. Dig in." I hopped around the large crowd that ran by me like a blur, into the den and i went with pat to the back of the den to finish up the rest of breakfast.
Pat and I finished up the deer and he dug a hole in the den and buried the bones for later, so the den wouldn't smell like rotting bones. When everyone was done eating, all that was left of the deers were bones and bits of fur.
Several wolves drug the bones away from the front of the den and buried them before going off to the grass. Tony, Garth, Mom, Dad, King, Princess, Kate, and Humphrey came into the den and we sat down and started talking about different things. "Lilly, how did you get here?" mom asked. "I was getting a drink of water from the stream when I suddenly felt something sharp suddenly hit me in the butt, then I saw some weird colours for about thirty seconds before passing out, then waking up in a small, dark box in the back of a truck. When the humans let me out of the box, I ran as fast as I could, I found myself here, I started asking around to see if anyone knew how to get me back home, but no one did, so I looked up and saw a flock of birds flying south, so I started walking in the direction they were coming from, because I know that they fly south for the winter; and it started getting dark, so I started looking for a spot to sleep when I accidentally came across a bear that wasn't in the best of moods, and I got this from the bear," I said pointing to the claw marks on my ribs. "I took off running , only to be shot by a hunter, which is how I got this on my shoulder, I hopped into this den and passed out, and woke up to Pearse saving my life." I then gave his cheek a little peck, making him blush heavily.
Dad looked at pearse and asked "Pearse, what made you leave Banff?" he looked over at king and said "Because King is an asshole. And a bit of a crybaby." we all laughed and King replied "I am not a cry baby or an asshole!" pearse responded "you came to me with a thorn in your paw and when I just poured a tiny bit of water on it, to get the dirt off, you screamed out in pain and started crying. When I pulled the thorn out, it sounded like someone was being murdered, and you passed out from it. Crybaby. You're so demanding, you have to have everything go your way, because if it doesn't, you have a big fit."
King looked away and gave pearse the middle claw, and we all busted out laughing, minus him. I asked mom "How did the whole war actually start because I know that we share our food with the east." she sighed and said "it started because you were missing. We searched the whole pack territory and the east, they tried to help us find you, but when we crossed into banff territory by accident, we were attacked by Banff, and we retreated back to our territory, but several wolves followed us and attacked us on our territory, which was an act of war. We gave King a chance to apologize to us, but he held his tongue and demanded we apologize for trespassing on his territory, which we did apologize for, but he refused to return the favour and he declared war on us, and that is how it started. You have been missing for over three months."
I went wide eyed and I started crying and she said "Honey, it's not your fault. You had no say in it, your father and I were just looking for you. We just wanted to find our baby." I wiped my eyes and said "Mom, Kate and i are the same age." she giggled and said "But you're younger, and you will always be our baby. No matter what. You could be Tony's age, but we will still call you our baby." I rolled my eyes and said "Whatever."
After talking and joking around for a few more hours, we turned in for the night. I closed my eyes as I fell asleep knowing that my family was still alive and doing well.
