Chapter 2

Ghost/James

In the cold I awoke with a yelping gasp. Wetness surrounded me and the warmth that had once engulfed me was gone. In its wake, I felt wet and cold. I couldn't open my eyes and feared that Ryan and I had lived through the snowstorm, but when I budged them open for a second, and hurt myself with the extreme light, I knew something else had happened.

Beside me, I heard a few mewling sounds, like newborn pups. I tried to amble my way over to them but stumbled and fell. I huffed and tried to put my feet under me again, but they didn't want to follow my instructions. It was like I had been given control of a faulty keyboard, each key making something else happen other than intended.

AS time went by I felt myself get picked up and moved about a few times, sometimes I was placed before something warm that smelt of food and home… I didn't put too much thought into what that could have been. Time became monotonous after that, I would be moved, fed, and then moved again to relieve myself. It was rather… degrading in a way, but I knew that whoever was doing it, was doing it out of love.

When I finally was able to open my eyes, I was treated with a very… Interesting sight. I had long since found that the sound of the pups around me was connected to the scents I had picked up that read Brothers and Sisters in my head… What I saw that linked those thoughts to the sounds was a clutch of wolf pups. I was the smallest, something that brought a huffing chuckle from my throat. I used to be the tallest of my siblings before, now I was the smallest, the runt of the liter as it were.

Our mother was huge, about the size of a Clydesdale, if not bigger. Our Father was just as big, if not a bit bigger than her. Mother was dark Grey, almost black in color, whereas Father was White, whiter than snow and red of eye. A true monster of a wolf and a hundred times as deadly if I had to guess. To have lived to be so big and whole meant that he was a true monster. It filled me with a sense of pride to know that my new body came from such a union. I was internally proud that I shared my Father's colors, an albino just like him.

Our pack was rather large, six males a few hands smaller than dad laid around along with seven other females. Mom and Dad were obviously the Alphas of the pack, something that tickled me pink at the very thought. After a few weeks, and our food having completely gone now, Dad and the rest took off to hunt for more food for Mom.

My parents from before were about the same, Mom was a born leader and could make just about anyone fall in line, and Dad was a hard-ass that loved to get to know everyone. This endeared them to almost everyone they met, even those of differing opinions… It hurt to think of them, but I knew they were in a better place.

It was the sixth week after Dad left that things started getting hard for the rest of us. Mom was getting antsy and extremely hungry, not enough to eat us, but enough that she knew that she needed to go hunting. She shot the six of us a look and looked at me with a somehow earnest gaze. I knew our parents loved us, but that looked filled me with dread.

The instant she left I barreled after her, my siblings followed after me, as I had somehow installed myself as the alpha of our mini-pack. For the next day and a half, we trialed after Mom, through streams, shrubs, and fallen trees. It was on a cool afternoon that we found her. Laid out on a rock by a small stream was Mom, a large antler dug into her side and her left eye missing. She was panting heavily, not long for this world.

My siblings stumbled over and began to push at her side and suckle at her teats, hungry as they were from the long journey we had taken. I climbed around the rock and ambled up to the side of her face she could still see from. She huffed in pain and flicked her eye to me. A wine of distress at the sight of me harried my heart. I was heartbroken at the site of her, I had already seen one Mother die I hadn't wanted to see another.

As a last comfort for her, I licked her face and rubbed my jaw along her head to try and comfort her. Her pained huffs and wines slowly calmed down, I tried to soothe her the best I could, to pour my love out for her.

As her last breath left her, I liked her face one last time. I knew she loved us and had done it all for us. I would not let my siblings die because of this, I would grow strong and provide for them the best I could.

It was at that time that I heard the clatter of hoofs against gravel. I knew that sound well, both in this life and the last. Riders. I clambered up onto my Mothers corps and looked around for where the sound could be coming from when it suddenly stopped and the sound of human voices reached me. I called out to my siblings and tried to get them to listen to me, but their hunger over-road everything else as they suckled Mother's teats.

The voices then got suddenly closer, just on the cusp of the stream edge from above. Atop the ledge stood four men, three looked rather young while the fourth was at least in his forties. They were armed and armored with their swords drawn and at the ready. A Fifth man joined them, younger than the others and could not be older than ten at the most. The group of men then slowly moved down the stream bank towards us. It was steep and covered in rocks and trees, but they made it easily enough.

I eyed them the whole way, even as they eyed me speculatively and appreciatively. I knew they could kill me easily, so I did not make a move against them. My siblings simply paid them no mind in their search for food.

"It's a freak!" The far right one said, his chestnut brown hair was slightly matted and bowl-shaped in its cut.

The oldest looked indignant for but a moment at the man's comment, but replied nonetheless, "It's a Dire Wolf!" He declared. His words surprised me, I had just thought we were just huge wolves, not something so truly rare and brilliant.

The one on the right of oldest man then picked up my youngest brother and held him aloft by the scruff of his neck. I folded my ears back at this but did not growl. The man before me simply stared into my red eyes.

"Would you like to hold one, the young man asked the boy as he gently hefted my sibling to his arms. The boy cradled him firmly in his young arms and looked to the man that had given him my brother.

"With their mother dead, they will die soon enough, better a quick death than to slowly rot away," The older man said with a sigh. I soundlessly snarled at that, but he did not see as he had turned away and started walking up the embankment once more. The brown-haired man from before strode forward and yanked my sibling from the boy and took out his knife in the same motion.

"Let's get this over with then," The man said with too much glee. Just as he was about to shove the knife into my brother I leaped and the other man, who looked like the older one, shouted.

My teeth sunk into his hand, clean through the thick leather riding glove he had on. He yelped and dropped the knife and my brother. The knife clattered away and my brother landed safely among my other siblings, all of whom were now growling at the brown-haired man.

"Lord Stark!" The man yelled. I did not let go at his shout, but I did not try to tear the other man's hand off. "There are Six Pups, my Lord," you could hear the capital letter in his voice, "One for each of your children and Ward."

The man, Lord Stark apparently, looked at the young lookalike and glared slightly at me. The chestnut haired man had yet to try and move me from his hand, but I knew it wouldn't be long. So, I simply let go and growled lowly at him.

"Fuck! Fierce little prick!" The man cried while cradling his hand.

"Theon," The Stark man locked his gaze on the man I had bit, "Are you uninjured, boy?" he asked.

"I'm fine; the little bastard just got me by surprise!" I knew I got him pretty good, I could taste his blood on my teeth. I could tell that he hated me now, just as I did him for threatening my brother. The one who had called out to the Lord gave me an inquisitive look, not belittling but appraising.

"Can we keep them, father?" The youngest boy pleaded with the man. The boy took up my brother in his hands, right out of the midst of my siblings without any fanfare and held him firmly to his chest. He turned his pleading eyes towards his father and stroked my brother's head gently while doing so. It was a pathetic sight, and I will say I did laugh later at it once I calmed down.

"I don't care what you do with them!" Theon barked, he backed away from me and the boy, "So long as that bastard stays far away from me!" He snarled at me, his slightly crooked teeth giving me the impression that he had gotten in a few scuffles in his short life.

"Robb," The Stark man directed his attention to the only other young man in the group. "What do you think of this?" he asked.

"That is up to you, father," The young man, Robb, stated indifferently. I could tell by the sound of his voice though that he wished to get a closer look at us all, but would leave it up to his Lord Father to decide our fate.

"Lord Stark, if I may," The young look-alike interrupted, "They are the symbol of your house, your Sigil as it were, The Direwolf… Mayhaps you were meant to find them, as a symbol of things to come?" The young man asked. His words were fine and more thoughtful than the others, as if weighted with wisdom. I saw him to be younger than I had originally thought, but more learned and insightful than his companions.

"Then that is what shall happen. Take the pups, but know this," The Stark Lord looked into the three boys' eyes, "You, will feed them, train them, and clean up after them, and if they die, then you will bury them. Is that clear?"

"Yes Father," The three boys stated firmly. The strength with which the youngest said his words put a pause on my thoughts, but not long enough as I was soon raised up by the one who had saved my life.

"You're a runt," he said, Grey eyes stormy and emotional. They reminded me of my brother's.

"A bastard, just like you, Snow," Theon snarled at the both of us. I blinked my red eyes at my carrier before I whipped my head around and snarled pitifully at Theon. The dingy young man yelped and clambered away from us as fast as his legs would carry him. He made way to stand next to Robb on a small outcropping a few feet above us. The boy, Bran, carried two of my siblings in his arms, Snow carried me and my youngest sister and Robb carried the last two.

Once out of the ravine and onto the road I saw just how many people there had been in the party that found us. Seven other men, all of varying ages, heights, and builds, stood among the horses the Stark Lord and his sons had ridden.

I knew from then on that I would be forever attached to this family of human wolves, I could tell that they were just as wolf-like as I was human-like… This would be most interesting.