my excuse for taking so long: college.

"talking"

'thinking'

The clouds up in the sky were still gloomy and dark. The roars of thunder could still be heard, and flashes of lightning could be seen from afar. Aleu could feel the beads of rain drop on her creamy fur coat, as said coat absorbed the liquid and making it press against her skin, making her body colder and heavier. The latter however didn't stop the female wolf. As she raced down the forest, passing by every incoming tree, branch and rock, huffing and puffing heavily. Her mouth open, her tongue sticking out. With her eyes on the prize combined with the determination to catch her prey, she was an unstoppable force.

She rushed through, side stepped, ducked under, jumped over, and zoomed by any obstacle that came in her way. When she got close enough to her prey she lunged at it, digging her sharp teeth and fangs into the deer. The caribou cried out in pain, just at that moment a thunder clap erupted from the heavens, making the sight an epic ending for such a catch.

The animal fell, now dead, its cut too deep and vital, from so much loss of blood, the creature's life was now gone. Aleu relaxed, catching her breath. Looking up at the dark gloomy sky the sun's rays just barely poking out. Truly it was a sight to behold. Usually it would snow more then it would rain. Aleu loved the rain, well, she loved not being out in the rain. She loved being inside, snuggled up with her mate and cubs warm and safe from the cold rain.

A smile ran up her cheeks as she couldn't wait to get back home to her family. She loved her new family, she loved Legolas, she loved her babies, she couldn't want anything else. Her status as clan leader had improved over the following seasons. Her hunting skills evolved tremendously, thanks to Legolas. Her plan on sparring the young calf was going well, no objections from the clan or any of the other animals in the forest.

She shook her head and got back to reality, picking up her meal and headed the opposite direction from which she came. The rain was starting to pick up, the sounds of the rain drops colliding with the earth was getting heavier and louder. 'I better hurry back, and fast.' the alpha thought.

Legolas' attitude hardly changed at all now that his rank reached alpha level. From what he was told by his grandfather Nava, he was destined to become his successor, but when Aleu came along, that all changed. Well, until he became her mate of course. So in a way, it was all fate. The other wolves were somewhat jealous of him. Some even tried to attack him out of rage, simply because he was handed each rank instead of working for them. This was not all entirely true, in fact, it was the complete opposite.

Legolas worked his claws to the bone to get where he was at. He had witnessed countless deaths and gotten loads of battle scars during many battles and wars with other clans. All of which were hidden under his groomed red fur. Legolas' ears perked up as he heard something coming near his den. He looked around to see if the cubs were still there and as it turned out they were sleeping by the corner of hay, 'good' he thought smiling. He stood up and poked his head out of the den, scanning the area around him for any incoming intruder. He gazed far into the woods, seeing a figure moving towards them. 'Aleu? No, its been too early even for her to have a catch at this time. And with a storm like this, I can imagine she would have trouble.'

Aleu trotted as fast as she could to her den, the storm wasn't going away anytime soon. Just then she started to smell something. She stuck her nose in the air and sniffed. A familiar scent struck her nostrils, eyelids popping up in surprise, she pondered trying to figure out who's scent this belonged too. 'it couldn't be….could it?'

Legolas exited the den, looking back and taking one last look at his children before he left. He approached the oncoming figure to get a better look. As he got closer and closer he could see that the figure was a canine, but the question still remained, who? His silhouette still being covered in darkness in the woods, the black sky added on top made it even harder to make out the details. Legolas had no other choice but to approach further. And so he did, taking one tiny step further 'this could be an enemy, can't be too careful…' one thing was for sure, this wasn't aleu, it was someone else, one he'd not seen before. "outsider! Identify yourself-," Legolas stopped in his tracks, gasping at what he was seeing before him. "It's you!"

Aleu continued sniffing, following the trail of the familiar scent. She could tell she was getting closer, and closer. "I remember now. There is no doubt about it, its him. I better hurry home and tell the others..." she let go of her catch, this was no time for eating, this was serious. "I can't believe he's here."

to be continued...