Wyoming
On the first day of spring, the sun shone in streaks of blacks and grays until it sat in the sky like a plump man at a feast. The rays of light stretched over the forest like fingers to awaken the forest from its cold slumber. Slowly, at first, there was only the birds building their nests then the animals on the ground began to stir. Down in the creek, fish took huge jumps into the air to catch bugs flying low to the water's surface. This is how the morning went, very relaxed and peaceful.
About a mile or so from the creek a russet male wolf was about to set out from his den for an early hunt. But before he made one paw step out the den he turned to look at two sleeping forms. The bigger form was Raksha, a sand colored female. The small black thing sleeping close to her stomach was his daughter. She had all black fur except for the grey around her muzzle and the white spot of fur on her chest born just two weeks ago. Sadly, the other three died from the cold before they were a week old.
"Akela?" Said a voice from further back in the den.
"Yes?" He answered his mate as he shook those memories from the mind. Akela hadn't noticed the squeak his cub had made or the stirring of his mate waking up.
"Something troubling you?" Raksha asked as the cub began to suckle.
"Just thinking about the cubs that didn't make it," was all Akela said.
For a moment Raksha wore a sad expression. It wasn't easy losing cubs in the wolf world. Most cases, the mother would die of a sad heart or sometimes go mad with the grief.
Raksha sighed then said, "We cannot dwell on this Akela. It is not healthy and we still have one left."
"I know, " he replied sitting as a short silenced filled the air. "Have you found a name for her?" He asked looking at his blind and deaf cub. He had left the naming to his mate since she always had good names to give.
"I was thinking Shikyo after one of my great ancestors," she said with a smile.
"An odd name," Akela said thinking it over.
"I know but she even has the black fur and white markings like my mother described in her stories." Raksha didn't know a whole lot about her great ancestors, except one was named Shikyo and she possessed some kind of power to fight evil. But her mother never bothered to say what that was nor when did her ancestor lived. And of course Raksha was going on old legends told from farther back than she would ever know.
"None the less, I like it," Akela said as he stood up to leave the den. Like his mate, he had heard the stories of old. According to the stories told as cubs, man from this country went to war in a foreign land. They fought over power and control of their people, which the wolves could never understand. Because of humanity's self destruction, animals had developed a natural fear of man over the years and avoided them when they could.
"Well I am off," said the russet wolf and turned to leave the den. He wasn't planning on coming back until the afternoon in hopes of a stag or something other than squirrels.
Setting out in the early morning, Akela's russet fur glistened under the sunlight while the chilly air that still lingered bit at his sides. This didn't bother him none as he made his way to the Gathering place where his pack usually go for meetings. Today, he was only taking five or six of his best hunters with him.
Lost in his thoughts, Akela remembered when he first came to this forest no more than a year old. It was plagued by a small band of rouge wolves that calmed these lands belong to them. Ruling by force and violence, they killed those who opposed them as an example of their power. In a last attempt to rid the forest of their reign for good, Akela and several others banded together to win back the forest. Thankful for the training he received from his father, Akela was able to go up against the leader and successfully kill him. Akela, on the other hand, lost an eye and suffered a broken leg.
Realizing he had reached the Gathering place, Aklea lifted up his head and let out a long howl to the morning sky. Then he patiently waited for some of his hunters to join him. In the meantime he looked around the small but open meadow surrounded by oak trees. Like the grass they stood on, their leaves where just as green and lushest.
Suddenly there was a rustling noise coming from the bushes to Akela's left. Before he could say a word he saw six pelts all in different shades of reds and greys emerge from the bushes. From the different sizes, there where two males and four females that would be joining Akela.
The first to speak was Rust, a dark reddish-gray male with some white around his stomach and brother to Akela. Before the war with the rouge wolves, Akela was captured from his home in the north and relocated further south by humans. When his family heard of the news, Rust followed him here and joined his brother in the fight against the rouge wolves. Now he was his beta and uncle to his daughter.
"Well so much for me sleeping in today," Rust said with a grin.
"Then you shouldn't have came then," Akela answered seriously.
"I know but picking with you dear brother is so much fun."
"It isn't when you're the leader of a hungry pack. Now are you guys going to help me hunt a stag or what?" Akela said half loosing his patience with Rust before turning to the other five. Kar, Ora, Trinity, Isa, and Nora shook their heads in unison.
These same five were also the ones who fought beside him during the battle but was separated from them when he was injured. It wasn't long before humans came stumbling about and found him. He then was taken to an enclosure surrounded by an electric metal fence to recover. When he was better, Akela was released into the rest of the enclosure where he befriended the wolf accused of being born a demon; Raksha. Falling in love, Akela decided to take her away from the humans once he was strong enough to hold his own.
"Maybe this time we can catch something," Kar said.
"Yeah instead of rodents," Ora added in.
"Well if we keep standing here we won't catch anything," Akela said and began walking towards the valley. His hunters right behind him.
Making himself invisible as much as possible in the tall grass, Akela crouched very low to the ground until his stomach hairs barely touched the Earth. Though he couldn't see them, Akela's friends where scattered somewhere among the bushes, waiting for the right moment. Waiting for the herd of deer to come closer before making a move. They made sure to stay facing the direction the wind was blowing so their scent couldn't alert the herd.
Finally, after several long minutes, Akela saw a young buck stray from the grazing herd. Its antlers where small but lethal if the pack wasn't careful. When the moment was right, he signaled the others with a simple tail movement. Quietly and slowly the pack zeroed in on the buck. There was a soft snap of a twig somewhere out of Akela's view. He hoped the herd hadn't noticed but he was wrong. All heads turned in the direction the noise had came from. All noses sniffing the air for danger. The next second they were galloping away into a thicker part of the forest, startled.
"After it!" Akela snarled and jumped from his place in the grass into a full out run.
The hunting group emerged from their posts and ran after the herd already putting their plan into action. He saw his brother and Kar where already advancing on the buck. Ora and Isa where on its left flank while Trinity and Nora the right. Akela was bringing up the rear, teeth bared and ready to strike when Ora snapped at its legs. The stag made a startle noise and staggered some. But by the time it righted itself the rest of the pack fell on it. Biting and clawing repeatedly to confuse it more. Then is was his turn and pounced on the stag's hind quarters. It gave a dangerous kick, but thankfully Akela had aimed a little higher. Finally the stag and tripped over its on feet and fell tot he ground hard. It did not get back up.
Rust and Isa where already crushing the windpipe while everyone else kept the stag from moving. Giving its last breath, the stag went lifeless and the hunt was over. But what played on Akela's mind was what gave them away. The noise had not come from them but from another creature.
"Does anyone know who made that noise?" He asked through crimson lips.
"No, but I would like to bring the kill back before we are forced to give it up. This is our first deer in three months and Raksha needs it more than ever!" Trinity said.
All agreeing with Trinity, the pack was soon dragging the dead deer back to their camp to share it with the others.
But the feast didn't come at first. There was commotion and panic among the members. Apparently while they where away the pack had been attacked by coyotes and foxes. A wolf's worst enemy on any given day.
"Be quiet all of you!" Akela yelled over his pack. They had been so disorientated that it took a lot of dominate stand offs to force most into submission and listen to reason.
"Now tell me from the beginning what happened. One at a time," Akela said sitting with all eyes on him.
"We where abused by a band of coyotes and foxes shortly after you left," said a wolf from the back.
Akela looked at everyone of his pack mates. Some had minor injuries while some where a little more sever.
"We put up a fight to our best ability but Willow got the worst of it," said a female closer to the front.
Willow was an elderly wolf in her seventh year of life and the pack's nursemaid at times. Dieing a warriors death, Willow fought off the intruders trying to harm Raksha and her new cub. Because of this Akela was forever grateful and in debt for her sacrifice, even in death. Looking around him now, Akela saw the ground was littered in carcasses including Willow's.
"We will give Willow an honorable death passing. As for the bodies, bury them somewhere away from the borders," Akela said before standing up. He needed to see his mate and cub was safe. "Isa guard the kill until tonight. We will eat and remember Willow the way she was under the moonlight," then he rushed off to his den.
Before Akela could take two paw steps inside, Raksha had pounce on him with her hackles raised and teeth bared.
"Raksha its me!" Akela said too startled by his mate's reaction to even think about announcing his presents first.
"Oh Akela I thought you where the enemy!" Raksha said getting off him. She had heard the fighting right outside the den and and wasn't chancing anything.
Getting up Akela nuzzled his mate and child, "Thank goodness you two are ok!" He said relieved as Raksha returned her affections also relieved he was unhurt and well.
"Where's Willow? She was defending the den when we where attack," Raksha said looking into Akela's good eye.
"She died. We are paying our respects tonight with the stag we killed as a feast in her memory," he said sitting across from her.
"Then tonight we will remember her," she said at last.
When the sun had set and the moon had risen, all the wolves in the territory had gathered around their leaders' den. The stag that was killed earlier was now placed in the spot where Willow had died. Raksha and Akela stood at the entrance of their den, while their cub slept safely further back. Each pelt that night held a piece of the moon's light on their backs as they continued to morn. Then Akela recited the words his grandmother taught him as a cub and thus breaking the silence.
"It is believed when a wolf dies their spirit returns to the first ancestors of our kind. They are spirits that had lived long ago, died, and are now finished with life. Though we cannot see them they are all around us, watching and guiding us along the way until our final resting place. Their home in the sky is called by many names, but for centuries we have called it Paradise. This journey home can be a tricky one if a soul was to become lost and confused by their death. To guide them, our ancestors have past down the Ancient Voices of Old."
Then he stopped and looked at every member, "So I ask you all to raise your voice to the sky and sing in a tongue older than man itself. And guide our beloved friend and sister to her rightful place."
Moved by his words, each wolf lifted up his or her head to the moonlight sky and sang in Willow's memory. For a long time they sang until it was in the middle of the night. Then they began eating the stag, at first in silence then into joyful talk of Willow. But none grew tired or sleepy until the early morning. By then everyone was yawning and falling asleep where they where. Except for Akela of course. He was paranoid about the attack yesterday and the noise he heard during the hunt. Something just wasn't right. What made it worse was the news one of his members was just now telling him.
"Akela yesterday I heard one of the foxes chanting something. I was waiting for a right time to speak with you alone," said a grey female.
"Well what is it then, Kyra?"
Sighing Kyra repeated the words she heard:
"Beware of the three that carry thy Father's name!
When the time comes, he'll be restored.
And reclaim what was lost to him!
First attack is a warning to all his enemies.
The second will be thy death in the night!
Even when you think your soul is safe!"
The message made Akela's hackles raise and put him on alert.
"Tell no one of this message," Akela said standing up. His sudden movement made Kyra flinch and automatically submit for which she was the Omega.
"Then my maw is shut," she said getting up off the ground a few seconds later. With this new information, Akela did not want to scare his pack even more and decided to keep it quiet until he could figure things out.
