How I Live Now

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Bones crackled in complaint as a tired, shivering Maddy found her way inside the worn, homemade sleeping bag, curling into a tight ball under the covers in order to preserve whatever body heat she had left. Pressing her frozen nose against the fur which served as a pillow she awaited for much needed sleep to finally come. Lucky for the teenager by the time she had found the way back to the Smiths' new home her parents were both sound asleep and unaware of her absence.

That day had been one of those which leave a bad taste in your mouth, this time quite literally since dinner had consisted once again of a varied range of bugs and plants Maddy had never in her wildest dreams considered edible before that day. Hunting had gone poorly over the past couple weeks-animals tended to avoid the mountains in winter-and the pack was on edge, acting like a bunch of heroin addicts going through withdrawal. Or at least that's how Daniel put it, much to his daughter's amusement.

Maddy herself was beginning to feel the effects of going without proper food for an extended period of time and she had to admit it was rather unpleasant, her stomach constantly sore, growling and twisting in complaint. But not to the point of plain maddening. Perhaps it had something to do with her past as a tame wolf, or maybe she just had better self-control than the others; whichever it was the brunette didn't really care. She was just thankful she and her parents hadn't gone off the rails as well.

Shifting from her stomach to one side her golden eyes scanned the poorly lit interior of the Smiths' new residence. Proper shelter was even harder to come by than food in the mountains so having been allowed to occupy one of the smaller caves inside the network of tunnels was more than the family could have hoped for. It was pretty close to the main entrance so it was also one of the coldest places in the den, but at least they were safe from falling snow and raging winds so there wasn't much to complain about.

Now back to hazel, her eyes rested on a worn out photograph Maddy had pulled out from underneath a pelt which served as a carpet (human things were not allowed in the pack therefore the girl had to keep very well hidden the one thing she'd managed to take with her on the journey). Four teenagers with bright smiles lighting up their faces stared back, making the young wolf sigh. In that moment she'd give anything to be with them. Hell, she even missed Jana and her attempts at bossing everyone around or her getting too close to Rhydian.

The comfort of the life Maddy had left behind in Stoneybridge seemed like a distant memory now. Some days the girl wished her parents had accepted Segolia's offer at a new life in a remote small town somewhere near the American border. At least that way she could have stayed in contact with her friends once the dust finally settled on the whole Whitewood incident. But the fear of exposure was far to powerful to allow the couple to be near civilization for a while. So they took to the wilderness.

After a few weeks of wondering aimlessly through the vast territories of Canada, most of the time just to avoid human contact, the family finally settled somewhere on Baffin Island. The plan wasn't to stay there forever, just long enough to figure out their next move, find a place they'd want to call their own and restart their lives as semi-wild wolves. After having spent so much time in the human world the Smiths realized they were no longer made for wild life. Unaware that someone else had already claimed the territory the family decided to set up camp somewhere in what they later found out was a National Park.

During a hunting trip the new arrivals were noticed by the local pack. It was Maddy who caught the attention of their Alpha after she managed to injure one of his wolves when fighting over the prey-a rabbit with hardly enough meat on its bones to feed a small sized dog. But to hell if Maddy was going to let go of the only edible thing she'd stumbled upon in two days! So she fought, against her parents' advice and the growing pain of her injured paw. She fought and emerged victor after a well placed bite to the neck which incapacitated her opponent and nearly shredded his neck.

To this day she has no idea how the hell she'd managed to pull that off and take the upper hand in the fight but her gesture saved her family. The Alpha took them in-well practically dragged them along without their consent and did threaten to kill them quite often on the road-and hardly left her out of sight since which gave Mads the creeps. The man had not said a word to her since that day-not directly at least-which added to the growing frustration.

Needless to say their acceptance was met with high disregard. No respectable wild pack wanted tames tainting their lifestyle and weakening their lines. Luckily Harlan knew how to control his wolves and all incidents against the Smiths boiled down quickly when met with the vengeful wrath of their Alpha. A couple wolves were even killed in the process-examples of where disobedience leads. However the Smiths were yet to be regarded as true members of the pack until proven worthy of the honor. Until then they'd had to put up with anything the wild wolves threw their way.

Nobody behaved with gloves around the new arrivals presenting them with the same tasks they would one of their own, regardless of the difficulty. Mostly because they were hoping they'd one day make a mistake that would cost their lives and they'd be rid of the tames for good. With the mountain pack it was learn quick or die trying. So far however the family had done pretty well. In less than three months from their arrival they'd learned how to find their way around the vast den, hunt, skin animals, make the difference between edible and non-edible plants and bugs, tell when a storm was about to hit and Emma had learned how to weave baskets out of dry plants.

Maddy's trail of thought was suddenly interrupted by a rustling sound coming from her parents' side of the room. Squeezing her eyes shut the girl awaited quietly. "Maddy? Honey?" Emma's voice was barely a whisper, groggy with sleep. It did however reach her daughter's ears despite the wind blowing relentlessly outside. Reaching out from under the covers the woman shook the teenager lightly. Not exactly willing to be questioned about her whereabouts on that day Maddy pretended to be asleep, only moaning indistinctly in complaint as she brushed her mother's hand off, pulling the covers up to her nose. The woman must have been satisfied with just feeling her daughter's presence as she didn't press further and turned back to her side of the room falling back asleep almost immediately.

Minutes later, after having warmed up at last, Maddy felt sleep creep up on her as well. Before she could count ten wolves she was already snoring quietly, her dreams trailing back to the smiling faces in the worn photo hidden under the carpet.

A/N: Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes (English is not my first language). I may have missed a few.
Hopefully this didn't appear too rushed, i was just pretty eager to publish it.
I'll be explaining more on the pack and their lifestyle as the story advances. Please review if you enjoyed it and send in any questions! Thanks! C: