Chapter Three(3)-Madness Devours

Flashback: 23 ΒΌ Miles Southwest of Arctic Circle-4 Years Earlier 3:29 P.M.

Auermoctoc PoV:

I had awoken from my nap next to my mother and father. The air around us was cool, yet still. I was a little over a year old now. My pack was moving south by about 17 miles. We were relocating due to the scarcity of food. We had decent numbers. My father looked down at me and said, "Good afternoon my son. Did you enjoy your nap? We're moving out again soon." I simply yawned and nodded my head.

I had to admit, I did feel refreshed compared to when I initially awoke earlier. My mother awoke a few minutes later and nuzzled my father and I. Even though she was wise, she rarely spoke unless she needed to, but when she did her voice was so soft. It made me feel calm and safe, no matter the situation.

Not long after she had awoken, I began to feel somewhat hungry. My mother and father had managed to save a small share of last night's meal. I looked up at my parents, and they got the message. They both nodded affirmatively and nudged me in the direction of the meat. I smiled and walked over to the caribou meat. While I ate, I thought about our journey, and how much longer we had to go. I knew we had traveled a small distance, of only 6 miles from our starting location the previous day.

After I finally snapped back to reality, I realized that I had already hit bone in my meal. I stopped gnawing immediately, and turned my attention to the two wolves that were approaching us. I recognized one of them as the pack alpha. He stood over me, and looked down with a smile.

He said, "Good afternoon, young one. I hope you and your parents are well rested. We must continue our journey if we wish to reach our destination by noon tomorrow." My father got up and walked over to us. He had a slight grin on his muzzle. As soon as he reached us he said, "Good afternoon to you, Rustodrumautec. When do we depart?" The alpha looked at him and said, "In ten minutes we will start the final half of our journey." My father looked at him and nodded. With that, the alpha departed to round up everyone else in the pack, and prepare them for the walk.

Several moments later, we had begun our walk. My mother and father were near me most of the time. Our entire group totaled 11 members, including myself. After about 20 minutes of mostly silence, we all froze as we picked up an ever-approaching scent. It was the scent of humans.

The alpha turned to order us into cover. "Everyone, progress no further, wait for the hunters to p-" He was cut off mid-sentence, when a bang was heard, along with a crack. We all stared at him as he remained still for a moment, then fell dead. We all had a look of shock on our faces. Another bang was heard and fear kicked in. We all instinctively split up. In the process, I turned my head back and did not notice the branch in front of me. I collided with it, and was sent to the ground.

When I heard a click and looked up, I found myself staring down the barrel of one of those exploding sticks. I knew what happened whenever a trigger was pulled, and feared for my life. When I thought for sure I was dead, my father charged at the human and sent him towards the ground. He looked over at me for a brief moment and smiled faintly.

As he turned around, my mother was on the ground, at the end of an exploding stick. My dad froze and looked on in a daze. My mother looked over to me with tears in her eyes as she mouthed, "I love you." I softly said, "I love you too." My father charged at the hunter, but it was too late. A loud bang was heard and my mother lied on the ground motionless. A final whimper escaped her muzzle as she faded from this world. My father had pinned the hunter down, and was at his throat. He closed down hard and broke the human's neck.

He turned to face me, but was met with the muzzle of an exploding stick. He stood there, and said one word, "RUN!" I followed my father's command and I heard an explosion as I disappeared into the thick brush. After 30 minutes of running, I came to a cave, and entered. Once inside, I collapsed on my stomach and began sobbing, weeping tears of pure sadness.

After I finally finished crying, I picked up the scent of more wolves. Curious, I followed the scent, only to find that it led deeper into the cave. After a few minutes of traveling, ran into, what I thought to be, a furry patch of moss. But as I looked up, I realized that it was an adult male wolf with a dark gray coat. He looked down and smiled warmly. "Well who are you little one?" I shrunk back a bit, still scared. He then motioned for me to follow him, so I did. When we entered a larger section of the cave, I was greeted by more wolves. The wolf who had found me spoke out, "Everyone, be hospitable, we have a new arrival."