Chapter 6: Perfection Achieved.

Blood dripped from the back of the young bitch as she limped through the dark damp forest. She stopped for a while, unsure of where she was or where her friends had gone. She slowly dragged her tongue across the tear in her left foreleg, wincing as she did. The hunters and their dogs had hurt her back and her ankle but she still wasn't helpless.

"Spirit…where are you?" she wept. "Please come and find me…please."

She was too tired to carry on today, her body refused to move any further. She collapsed on the ground, lying in a pool of her own blood, crying and howling for him to find her. She was exhausted but she was too miserable to sleep, so she simply lay on the ground staring into the endless dark. She eventually managed to cry herself to sleep; she was cold, scared and alone. The pack was gone and she had no idea where. She woke up only an hour after she had fallen asleep. After spending nearly an hour she eventually managed to catch her breakfast she set off on her continuing journey to find her friends. She had been trying to find them for almost a week; her hope was beginning to fail her. As her faith began to desert her she found herself almost abandoning her search and lying down to die. The only thing that kept her going, kept her putting one foot in front of the other was the thought that she would find him. Spirit was the only thing that kept her alive. Her body eventually failed her and she collapsed on the bank of a large river. She placed her head on the snow-covered ground, as she lay on the ground she smelled a familiar animal.

"Devon. That means the pack came this way." Her heart soared.

She forced herself to stand and carry on with her journey. The river was deep and wide but at least it was flowing quite slowly. She leapt into the water, she gasped as her body hit the freezing water. The cold was so intense it burned every part of her body it touched. Every second she spent in the water felt like an hour. Her lungs burned as she breathed in the ice-cold water. Coughing, she walked out onto the other bank of the river. Collapsing of exhaustion she panted and sputtered, her body shaking violently. This was bad, the temperature was dropping, she needed to get somewhere warm soon. If she didn't dry off and get to a warm place she would freeze to death before nightfall. She weakly sniffed the air, trying to find the packs scent. She knew she needed to get moving but her body refused to listen to her. She heard footsteps approaching as she lay on her side in the cold snow whimpering. Hoping, praying that whatever was approaching heard her and would help her. A dark shape appeared through the trees, fear gripped her heart as she saw the human walking towards her.

"At least it will be quicker than freezing to death." She thought solemnly.

She shut her eyes as the footsteps stopped. She lay in silence expecting the gunshot. She felt something hit her body but it wasn't exactly a bullet, it was soft. She opened her eyes cautiously, a young female human stood over her. A blanket lay over her wet body, providing her some warmth. The young woman lifted the freezing wolf and walked back out of the forest.

"Thank you." She thought as she lost consciousness.

Nian awoke to find herself in a small room. The outside was clearly visible through the window, this made her feel better at least she knew where she was. She then turned to view the rest of the room. She lay on a large rug in front of a fire. The human who had rescued her was sat in a chair behind her. Nian had rarely seen humans and she had certainly never guessed one would ever help her. She had always been taught that wolves should avoid humans at all cost. Her father had told her "a human will kill you as soon as look at you." This human however had carried her here, dried her and given here something to eat and drink. Once she had eaten and rested she stood up and walked towards the window. The woman guessed that she was ready to leave so she led Nian out of town. Nian took one last glance over her shoulder at the human who had saved her. The young human smiled and walked away. Nian found her way back to the river and picked up the pack's scent once more. She followed the scent until she eventually found the pack. She then saw Spirit sleeping at the northern edge of the pack. She skirted the pack and ran to see him. As she walked out from behind the tree's she saw him nuzzled against another female.

"What?" She whispered in shock.

He lay against a pale grey half wolf.

"That must be the bitch from Nome, Aleu." She thought.

He looked happier than she had ever seen him. His heart belonged, had always belonged to Aleu. Even when she had been in his life he was not this happy.

Nian looked at the ground "He's happier with her, I should leave."

As she backed away she saw Spirit lift his head, he glanced around the pack. She continued to back off.

SNAP a branch snapped under her weight. Spirit immediately turned to look at the origin of the noise.

"Nian." He whispered.

She turned and sprinted back into the darkness of the forest.

"I want you to be happy Spirit and you're happier without me." She cried as she walked away.

She walked towards the small town the human woman had taken her to. She couldn't be with Spirit and she couldn't face her father and his pack. She decided to go back to the town. She scratched the door of the young humans house. The woman answered the door.

"Oh hello again." She said to the young wolf that stood in front of her.

Reading the look on the young wolf's muzzle she invited the bitch into the house. Nian decided to live with this young human; the two of them would live happily together. Eventually she would get over him and find someone else, his life was perfect now and in a couple of months hers would be too.