Howl At The Moon

A- Pack of their own

Onyx pov:

I had been walking for hours, the sky was dark and it was beginning to get cold. The air smelled of rain, alerting me a storm was coming. I had to find shelter somewhere safe and warm to wait out the storm and allow Helena to heal. Fifteen hours was already a long time to be on my paws, and I still had the little princess fast asleep on my back, adding to the weight I was already carrying. After she wore herself out, her body needed rest in order to recover in time. She had accessed way more power than she should have back there. I didn't have enough time to tell her if she used our powers combined. It could drain us both, killing both of us in the process. We needed more vessels to hold and distribute the waves of her power. Only then will she be able to withstand all of that power. Helena would need a bigger pack. She and I alone wouldn't have been strong enough to take on all those wolves back there. Had they not been full of fear, we might never have made it out alive. We were lucky that neither of their alphas was there to challenge our departure. I would have had to leave her behind, and I don't see that happening unless it's over my dead body.

They will never hurt her again, as long as I live. I should have killed them all. Every single one of them.

Helena stirred in her sleep, tossing and turning as she nestled deeply into the fur of my back. I found the perfect spot to rest as we darted into the dark and abandoned cave ahead of us as it began to rain down hard behind me. I slowly slid Helena's small fragile body softly onto the cave floor. And nestled my body around her as I began to wine in a soft tone for her until I drifted off to sleep.

When morning came and the rain had stopped, the sun began to rise, covering every inch of the land and drying up any remaining rain puddles as it spread its warm light from above, reaching even the darkest corners of the forest. I woke up to a ray of warm sunlight beaming onto my face from the entrance of the cave as the early birds in the trees above began their obnoxious singing. I rose from the ground and began to stretch, as I crept low with my head down and stretched out both my front paws before me while hunching my back end up in a downward dog position. I let out a long yawn, slowly raising my body back upward as I began shaking out my coat, sending loose fur flying in all directions. I stood there for a moment, just standing still in place as I gathered my bearings. I looked over to Helena who was still sleeping peacefully in the same spot I had laid her. She looked better than the night before and that rosy red color had returned to her pale cheeks. She will soon be well enough to travel. And when she wakes, she needs breakfast to regain her strength. So it was time I headed out and caught some.

I walked out of the cave and trotted down to the river. I remembered I had passed one about a few miles back to the left of the cave. I wasn't too sure what she liked to eat, so I figured I'd get her a few choices. As I reached closer to the river, I sniffed the air to ensure it was safe before I walked out of the tree line fully exposed. I learned a long time ago how truly vulnerable a wolf can be when he is alone in the wild. Once it was clear, I stalked closer to the water and looked into it, inspecting the water as I picked out my target. That's when I spotted it. The biggest, fattest, juiciest salmon I've ever seen was swimming upstream as it flicked its tail, splashing up water as it drew my attention. I had to catch it. He was huge, and that fish alone could fill one wolf for three days. I wasn't letting him get away. He was mine. I followed the salmon closely, walking along the edge of the stream as I stalked slowly behind it, trying not to spook it. As he slowed down, he inspected something deep in the water in front of him. I decided to take advantage of his distraction. If I was going to do it, this would be the time. I pounced on him. I extended my claws as I reached to snatch the salmon up, ripping into him as I pulled him out of the water and plopped him onto the grass beside me. He died instantly as my claws ripped into his body. Fish blood dripped down my claws and I licked them clean. Proud of my catch. But I wasn't done yet. I still needed more variety, so I continued with my hunt. I began inspecting the water again, looking for my next catch. I spotted a few more salmon and a turtle, and what looked to be a trout, but none of them were big enough. I waited a while longer when I spotted them swimming downstream together. It was a group of catfish swimming closely together. I grew closer to them before pouncing on them, catching four in my mouth and setting them aside. Satisfied with my catch, I grabbed them with my teeth, carrying each of them back to the cave. When I made it back, I rested them down on the ground before her and began to nudge her with my nose awake.

"Helena... Helena" I softly called to her through the link.

Her body began to stir as she rolled over and stretched her arms above her head, letting out a loud yawn. Her eyes opened slowly and simultaneously as they searched around, taking in their surroundings. When our eyes met, I could see her body start to calm as she brought down her stiffened shoulders. Letting her guard down. She whiffed at the air as if she had caught onto a scent before she sought out the pile of freshly caught fish piled up beside her. Her face quickly turned from sleepy to disgust, leaving me confused.

"OH!, goddess! Is that what that smell is!?" she blurted out.

Putting two hands on the ground to hold her up as she scooted backward on her butt, putting distance between her and the food.

I didn't understand what was wrong with the fish. It sure smelled fine to me. Delicious actually. I couldn't wait to dig in, but not until the princess ate first. I tried to connect to her through our shared link but she blocked me. I looked at her with sad eyes and confusion written all over my face and she just sat there. Crossed her arms, rolled her eyes, and let out a big sigh.

"Look, I got it. You want me to eat it!" Helena said with an irritated look, pointing over at the pile of fish.

(ERUUWW) I whimpered in excitement, leaping up on my hind legs.

"I just don't eat my meat raw, okay?" she said with a stern look.

I shot her an angry look as I turned my back on her and began licking my paws. My ears poked out twitching on alert as I could hear her get up and walk out of the cave. I continued my bath until she was too far for comfort and I just had to follow along. She was special and needed to be protected at all times. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Or risk losing her.

When I caught up with her outside of the cave, Helena was picking a few leaves off one of the bigleaf maple trees that stood out in front. She gathered a few of those and some sticks and broken-off branches she found on the ground. I sat on the grass and just watched her as she piled the branches up and kicked up a pile of dried-up leaves onto the branches. Humans can be so unnecessary. In the time it took her to do all this, I could have eaten twice by now.

Helena walked around picking at small plants around the area as I rolled over, stretching out my paws in the grass and basking in the warm sun. I glanced up again and she was pilling her plants on a large stone and tearing them up into tiny pieces on top of it. Had I known she wanted to eat grass I could have saved a trip to the river... After she was done, she got up and walked back into the cave. When she came back out, she had the fish I caught for her earlier tucked in her arms as she struggled to carry them over. She began scraping and cutting away at the good stuff and gathering it behind her on a single leaf. She then cut into each fish's head and chopped them off before she added them to the leaf too. Suddenly, Helena turned to me and waved her hand, signaling to me it was time to come over. When I got up, I watched her push the leaf toward me and I dove over and ate it all. She giggled when I didn't chew. And I started to feel embarrassed when I realized I hadn't chewed a thing. It's been a while since I've eaten around others. I'm not used to being in a pack. Helena rubbed some sticks together and created some sparks as she lit the pile of branches on fire. Then she placed the large flat stone on top and piled the fish and plants as she mixed them around with a stick. The smell coming off the stone smelled amazing and my mouth began to water as my stomach grew hungry again. After a while, I guess it was done because she used the cloth of her shirt to lift the stone up and sat it down in the middle of us. She separated the fish into two portions, one on each side, as she signaled me it was time to eat.

"Go on" "Eat it," she said as I waited for her to eat.

She grabbed a fist full and took a bite before I soon rushed in to clean the plate. I could barely contain myself, it was so good. I'd never eaten fish this way and it was incredible, but I didn't mind raw freshly caught fish. It was the blood of the fresh kill saturating my mouth that I loved the most about it anyway.

The proud look on her face as she made it was the same one I had when I caught it earlier and that was enough to make me happy any day. If I had to wait an hour to eat every meal just for her to have that feeling, then it's worth the wait.

Helena soon finished her meal too and it was time to continue our journey. It will be much easier this time now that she's awake. She can shift into her wolf's form and we can move much faster. I tried the link again and this time she let me through.

"We must keep moving before we lose any more daylight", I warned her.

She looked over at me.

"Alright, we can start moving in a sec. Let me put the fire out." Helena said as she began stomping on the branches, producing more sparks and only spreading them.

"Back up," I told her.

She moved away, stepping back and walking off as I happily trotted over to the fire, lifting my leg to relieve myself, and when I was done the fire was out. I caught up with her, sporting a proud look as I strode beside her, but she did not look happy about it.

"If you shift, it will be faster," I told her.

She looked annoyed but she did it. When she shifted into her wolf, her fur looked as if it had a silver gleam to it. I must not have noticed it before. Her wolf scent was potent and I now feared the dangers her scent could attract. Suddenly, I regretted having told her to shift in the first place. But it was already too late. We were walking already when a howl filled the air and both of us stopped on alert. We weren't sure which way it was coming from because the howl echoed through the trees around us. I could tell Helena wasn't afraid and that made things better. I stepped in front of her, keeping her safe as we circled, watching all areas. A gray wolf came rushing out at us full speed at me as I stood there ready and waiting. The wolf grew closer and suddenly its eyes went wide and its feet set out in front, trying its best to stop before colliding with me.

(Bang!)

We both fell to the ground. I got up immediately, prepared to counteract any of the wolf's attacks, but there were none. She just sat there staring up at Helena in her Lycan form. Mesmerized almost.

(URRRRGRRRRRRRRRRRRR)

I started to growl, showing the wolf my teeth and warning her to back off. The gray wolf snapped out of its trance and began to bow at Helena's feet, completely ignoring my challenge. I watched as she bared her neck to Helena as a show of respect, pledging her loyalty and respect to her. Helena finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"Hello, there. Do you want to join our pack, too, little one?" Helena asked, bending down to pet the Grey Wolf.

The connection was instant and I was startled to hear the sweet little voice respond back.

" You want me??... to join you?!" The young she-wolf said.

"Of course we do! Isn't that right, Onyx?!" Helena asked, making me have to lie to it.

"Yes, that's right." I lied a little unconvincingly.

" What's your name? Wolf?" Helena asked the she-wolf.

"My mother called me Spirit" she replied.

"Alright spirit, We are heading far away from here. Are you coming?" Helena asked the wolf named Spirit.

"Right behind ya" Spirit replied.

"Keep up" I sneered, before taking off ahead.

I ran first with Helena catching up beside me, trying to race. Spirit was close behind, trying her best to keep up. We kept slowing down, making sure never to leave her, which only made the journey longer. But Helena didn't seem to mind. I liked Spirit but I guess a part of me didn't want to share Helena with anyone just yet, even though I knew I had to. Just wasn't ready for it to happen so soon.