Legend

Chapter 2

I awoke to an upset stomach and got up as the smell hit me; the smell of death. My father still hadn't moved. I knew he wouldn't, so I nuzzled him one last time before trotting back towards the bush I had hid in yesterday. The pains in my stomach had increased as the time went on, I let out a yelp. I crouched as I tried to see why I was hurting.

I heard a rustling In the leaves near me and a moment later, a mouse came scuttling out. At the sight of it, my mouth started to water and drool dribbled out of my lips. I had never caught my own food before. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

I trotted behind the mouse and it moved faster. My instincts kicked in and I chased after it, pouncing. I landed a little too short, hitting my nose on a tree. I yelped as pain shot up my snout, from my nose, blood leaking out of it. The mouse ran off before I could try catching it again. I slumped in defeat, whimpering at my hurt nose.

As I sat there whimpering, I smelled something. I sniffed the air, following the scent. It wasn't long before I came across a rabbit burrow, I was smelling the rabbits hiding inside. There was one that was an adult, too big for me to take down on my own, so I lay down in front of the burrow. Whenever it peaked its head out, I let out a low growl.

I was a pup still, and not a very old one at that, but it still was scared as it cowered back down. This went on for hours, I was lucky as there was a small puddle of water I could drink from.

The hours turned to a day and the day turned into two. I was growing impatient and I even tried snatching the rabbit a few times only to nearly get my eye clawed out.

Finally, on the third day I noticed the rabbit had stopped peeking its head out and when it tried, it smelled weak of defeat. I got up slowly and eagered. My mouth started watering at the thought of food. The rabbit stuck his head out one last time and I grabbed it, sinking my small teeth into its neck. It let out a soft squeal and weakly kicked before going limp. I carried its heavy body out, then tore into it.

I had finally made the pain in my stomach go away as I ate and moved on. I found a river, drinking greedily, as I haven't drank anything for a few days, save a few mouthfuls of puddle water.

I lay in the afternoon sun, lazily dozing off. The sounds of the birds chirping, leaves rustling as squirrels flitted about, made me relax. I didn't even worry about thinking what had happened. It was almost like it was just a dream, the morning was and the day before.

I heard a commotion from across the river and perked my ears up. "I told you there's nothing out here. None of the others found anything yesterday, and we won't find anything now," a voice said, a bit frustrated.

I froze as panic overtook me, the events of the morning and the previous day coming back to my mind. I started to shake with fear and when two wolves pushed their way through the thistles, I backed away quickly. Could they be the ones who had attacked?!

Despite the fact I tried to be quiet, I let out a whimper as I hid in the hollow of a tree. "There! Didn't you see that pup?!" The wolf, on the left, said.

"I did, by all I hold dear, you were right! Here, let me, it seemed scared," the wolf, from before, said.

I started trembling as he crossed the shallow river and onto my side of the river. He cautiously approached me and another whimper escaped me and I cried out. I knew my mother was most likely never going to find me if she wasn't already dead, but I couldn't help myself. I let out another cry and a howl that echoed around us. The wolf put his ears back at the sound of my helpless cries of fear.

"Scar, this isn't any use! You were so set on bringing half the pack out to look for something, something that you didn't even know what it was that you felt the need to find. Why don't you get over here and get her?! You're the Alpha and I respect that, but I don't feel right about this. She has a bad smell around her," he said as he wrinkled his nose.

"Fine, Boris, but never question me again," Scar said, in a growl, as he slowly crossed the river. As he cautiously approached, I could feel my heart racing and I tried backing up more only to feel my rear end connect with the tree. I yelped as I stepped on a stick and got my paw stuck. I panicked even more and tried shaking myself free, only to twist my paw.

I yelped again, when I tried to put my paw down. The wolf named Scar, let out a low whine as he gestured towards my injured paw. I lay down, I couldn't run away. Slowly, he dragged me out of my hiding spot by the scruff with his teeth and I trembled even more. He nuzzled my paw and licked it where the stick had cut it when I twisted it.

As the strange wolf slowly cleaned me with his rough tongue like my mother used to, I relaxed. He gently twisted my paw back to how it was supposed to be and I was able to put it on the ground again. He turned away and I whined. nuzzling his leg.

He turned back and stared at me as I nuzzled him, whimpering. He pushed me back off his leg with his big black nose. I folded my ears back and tugged on his tail with my little teeth, causing him to yelp. I let out a growl and ran back towards the rabbit burrow and he followed me.

I swiftly ran past the rabbit burrow, back to the stream and my old home. When the two wolves saw the scene there they stopped dead in their tracks. I crawled towards the body that was my fathers and nuzzled it, letting out a whine. I looked to the two wolves who were still looking at what they saw. I felt sad again and cried out to the sky with a long howl before squeezing under my father's leg once more, feeling safe like I had when I first found him.

The wolf, Scar, slowly came up to me and gently pushed me away from everything. "What are we going to do now, Scar?" Boris asked, softly.

"We can't leave her here, so I suggest we take her in and make her a part of the pack, give her to someone who will be willing to take her on and love her," Scar said. He picked me up by the scruff and carried me back to the river, where he crossed it. "We pray to the Divines she never remembers this," he added.

I couldn't tell how long Scar carried me for, but it was night again when he finally set me down. I looked around me and saw wolves everywhere! I immediately backed up and hid under Scar and let out a whine.

A wolf, this one a female, came running up to Scar and she nipped him in the shoulder. I let out a low snarl from under him as I fluffed out. She jumped back and looked down where I was.

"It's okay, little one. It's okay," Scar said, as he licked my ears.

"Scar, is this what you've been searching for? Why did you bring such a young pup back? You didn't steal her did you?!" she demanded.

"No, calm down Caroline. Of course, I didn't steal her. She's an orphan. Just be glad you didn't see what I did," he commented, his eyes turning dark for a moment. "She's scared. I think she is what I've been searching for, and good thing too, the snows will be falling, soon, " he told her.

After a while, I had calmed down, slowly crawling out and looking around curiously. I spotted a few pups that were about my age and tilted my head at them. They bounded over and playfully yipped at me. I did the same back to them and I chased them before they then chased me. One tackled me and we playfully fought until I pinned him underneath me.

"Alright, that's enough for now, can you speak?" Scar asked me.

I nodded my head and he asked me my name. "Angel, my name is Angel," I struggled to say.

"Do you know how old you are?" Scar asked.

I tilted my head as I thought, "Hmmm. My mom said it had been two months since I opened my eyes." I managed to say. It was the most I had ever spoken and it was still hard to put my thoughts into words.

"Very impressive, you seem to understand what I say, but, I can tell you struggle with speaking. You're further ahead than you should be, but still have some setbacks. Let's get you settled in, you can sleep with me and Caroline, you must be exhausted, little one." Scar said as he nodded to the other wolves, who slowly cleared out, going back to what they had been doing.

Scar picked me up by the scruff, carrying me into a large cave. There were many others here, but Scar carried me to the back, through a tunnel and into a smaller cave. Caroline had lay down, as Scar entered and set me down she tucked me under her bushy gray tail.

I yawned, settling in. Laying with Caroline wasn't the same as laying with my mother. Being beside her was even stranger because I realized then how comforting the sound of my mother's heart beat had been. I lay awake, listening to the strong, steady rhythm of Caroline's heart beat, slowly falling asleep as her warming presence lulled me into a sleep.