Howl’s calling
Luz’s eyes opened hazily, only to realize that her eyelids had been covered with snow. She raised her head and shook her head hard to knock the flurries out of her vision before she looked around the tiny cave that she was sharing with Amity. She was still sleeping next to her; her warm body was helping to keep hers warm and vice-versa. In fact, she could've sworn that she felt her heart warm up as she rubbed her head against her for a moment before she painfully got to her feet—her legs so cold that she was almost numb.
She cautiously sniffed the air, though not smelling any other wolves—only fresh air and the bright light from the sun.
So she very slowly made her way to the entrance and looked out. The whole world was covered in white from the thick and heavy covering of snow. The sky was a clear blue with barely a cloud as the sun shone. However even the light didn't make anything warmer—if anything, it only made her feel colder.
As she walked through the deep snow, that was already up pass her knees, she knew that flapjack must be worried. She went back into the cave to see how amity was doing.
She had already come to and was looking around her.
'Oh, hey,' she said tiredly, tilting her head slightly as if she had been drunk the night before and was waking to a nasty hangover. 'Why is the sun so bright?'
She rubbed her head against her again and told amity, 'It's morning. You know we should head back. The others are probably wondering where we are by now.'
She sighed as she got back onto her shaky feet. She had stopped bleeding, and shook her head as cocky as she always did. Luz shook her head as they both cautiously ventured out of the cave. And soon the two of them were making their way back to the den where the rest of the pack was.
'Amity?' she asked cautiously. 'What are we going to do?'
She didn't need to ask her what she meant, but she still asked, 'I mean… about belos…'
'I'll take care of it,' she told her. She rolled her eyes. 'You mean like how you did last night?'
She glowered at her as she took a few paces ahead and she had to jump a few steps to catch up.
'Hey!' Luz told her coldly. 'Don't blame me for what happened!'
'I could've handled it,' she said stubbornly.
She shook her head. 'I don't know why I put up with you,' she told her irritated.
Amity turned back to her and demanded, 'What's that supposed to mean?'
'Oh, look!' she called, looking up at the sky in an effort to distract amity. 'What are those?!'
It worked, she looked up, but of course there wasn't anything there. She laughed as she ran on ahead, she could hear amity growling behind her. But she wasn't as fast as she normally was due to her injuries so she wasn't able to catch her; but she was still able to put up a good race back to the den.
When they got there, they could see edric pacing back and forth around the entrance in worry. As he heard them coming he ran to greet them.
'Sister!' he called. 'Luz! Where on earth were you both last night?'
'Nowhere,‘Luz lied as they came to a stop in front of him.
'Did you hear it?' he asked at once. 'I could hear belos’s pack going crazy, they were howling and calling for a fight. They were practically screaming for blood. We had thought that they came after you both and…' that was when he noticed that Amity’s beautiful green fur was still matted with dried blood.
'Mittens,' he groaned, 'You didn't try to fight them did you?'
'Keh,' she snorted as she walked past him. 'Don't know why you would think that.'
'Mittens!' he called, but the head wolf turned away without a second look.
Edric shook his head. 'Damn it… she’s 20 and she thinks that she can do whatever she wants.'
'Wait, what?' Luz asked him startled.
He turned to her in surprise. Yeah amity is 20.
Luz looked at the dark mouth of the cave. 'I had no idea. She always seemed so much more…younger and wild…'
'That's because she is wild,' Edric sighed as he looked at her. 'And you're one to talk about wild.'
'What?' she asked, wondering what on earth he meant.
'Nothing,' he said shaking his head. 'But look, none of that is important now. Maybe you can tell me what happened?'
She hesitated for a moment before she asked cautiously, 'Promise not to tell the others?'
He nodded and she quickly told him what happened last night. Everything from following Amity , to when they escaped and were forced to hide in some random cave until it was all over. 'Honestly,' she said as she finished with a huff. 'I don't know what she was thinking going in there all alone last night! She would've gotten killed.'
'But you attacked, belos…‘edric croaked in awe. He hadn't said a word the whole time, but now he was sounding like he never heard anything like this before in his life. 'None of us had been able to get a bite out of him except for Amity or hunter. Maybe we should consider you being in charge.'
She blushed and was about to tell him off when she heard sobbing. She looked up to see flapjack running out to greet her. 'L-Luz !' he cried and almost tackled her again. 'Why do you keep going away on me like that?'
Her anger had faded as she rubbed her face lovingly against his and even took a little nip at his ear. 'I'm alright,' she told him truthfully. 'I just needed to make sure that Amity was being kept in line?'
Flapjack blinked in confusion before he led them back inside, asking over and over again what she meant. But as she and edric trailed behind he told her softly, 'Hunter and amity always means well, but they also has a tendency to get us into trouble just as many times. You need to be careful. Because I have a bad feeling that one day he's going to get us into so much trouble that we might not be able to get out of it.'
Luz only nodded, but she also had a feeling that it was far too late for that.
*Two weeks later*
Things had been surprisingly quiet for the next two weeks but the three pups were growing fast. Their eyes were open and were already stumbling around on their tiny legs, trying to get around. The eldest pup riki was very curious and sniffed around, trying to get a glimpse of everything in the den, and more than once, he tried to sneak out through the entrance. It was clear that he was going to be just like his father when he got older—something that they all groaned about.
As for the middle Shiro —he was much more laid back. In fact, he reminded her of a great deal of gus —just the thought of her friend made her heart ache—he was much happier being a bit of a momma's boy and stuck close to her most of the time. As for their one daughter, was very sweet and loving… and absolutely adoring the attention they gave her as she walked around, wanting to play.
Luz had practically fallen in love with Yuki and Flapjack had become something of a big brother for her. 'Ok,' he told her as he got down low next to her. 'You creep along like this,' he instructed and he showed her how to move. Once he got close enough to his 'prey' he cried out, 'And then you jump like this!'
And just like that he dove on top of a dozing Hunter. As he wrestled around on top of him, Yuki watched with polite puzzlement until…
'Would you get off?!' Hunter barked and sent flapjack flying. 'You're almost full grown! You think you would act like it.'
Luz shook her head fondly as she nuzzled her nose against Yuki's and told her, 'Don't worry. You'll get used to this very soon.'
Yuki let out a little yep and began teetering back and forth to her mother, clearly hungry for milk. Luz watched her as she went to flapjack who was shaking out his red fur. Hunter was right… he had clearly grown up a great deal since the day she met him. He was now so large that she couldn't pick him up in her mouth anymore and his thick coat had grown in nicely.
Though still much smaller than the rest of them, he was still considered a pup… and he still considered her mother.
'Mom!' he called to her as she looked up at him.
'I'm coming!' she answered. She would never forget what he asked her the night after she and hunter returned. When they were all starting to fall asleep, he curled up next to her as he always did and asked her softly, 'luz… can I call you mother?'
At first, she had been so startled that she was sure she heard wrong. Her? A mother? She was about to say no when she saw the hopeful look shining in his brown eyes and she stopped. He was just a pup… he needed someone to take care of him until he was able to look out for himself didn't he? So, ignoring her better judgment, she put her nose against his and said alright. While she did feel bad for his parent's deaths… and when Lilith had died filled her mind and she felt her heart bleed. But she did her best to raising this kid.
She walked out to see one of the few sunny days they had in weeks with flapjack by her side like always. Luz had long since lost track of how much time it had been since she became a wolf; all she knew was that it had been a few months since then and that it had been awhile since they seen or heard from belos’s pack. Luz prayed that it would stay that way until they returned to the forest in the spring… something she was looking forward to. She was tired of these cliffs and missed the feeling of soft ground under her feet.
She sighed as she looked over the ledge to the winter-covered trees below. Listen to her… she hardly sounded like herself anymore… with every passing day, memories of her human life were slowly fading away. She missed her family and her old life so much that it hurt…
Her friends probably thought that she was long dead by now… perhaps they thought that the wolf they saw that day in the house that day probably ate their friend. She wondered how they were doing…
Flapjack leaned his head over so that she couldn't miss it and asked, 'Mom? Is something wrong?'
Luz shook her head. 'Nothing, son,' she reassured him. 'I'm just thinking about a lot of things.'
'Like what?' he questioned happily taking a playful bite at her ear. She moved her head back so he missed.
‘Flapjack ,' she scolded, slightly irritated. 'You aren't a pup anymore. And Hunter is right, that is starting to get old.'
He put his head down before he asked, 'If I'm not a pup anymore then why can't I go hunting with you guys?'
Luz sighed. She had secretly told edric , and later Emira, the truth about Amity’s stupidity, and ever since, they had been expecting some kind of attack to happen. Thankfully, it has been unusually quiet.
Though according to the others it has been too quiet… they didn't trust it at all. Luz nudged her nose against flapjack’s side once more head and said, 'I know it's hard,' she told him truthfully. 'But we have to be patient. Once the humans leave, we can go back to the wood…'
And here was more proof that she wasn't herself. When did she start referring to them as 'the humans' even in her own mind? Was she even human anymore? Well, no… that much was obvious as she flicked her tail around… but was she still human inside? Every single day she spent out here running her feet raw on the hard stone and deep snow, struggling to get enough food to fill her stomach… which was becoming harder since the pups would soon stop drinking their mother's milk…
But still… was it possible that she was starting to enjoy this new life? Could she actually be happy here? Flapjack was now looking at her questionably and she quickly asked, 'So what are we going to do today?'
At the change of subject, he immediately asked if he could go hunting with them all this time but edric had come from behind them.
'Not now,' he said and they turned to see him coming towards them. Flapjack pouted and demanded when he could. 'Once the snow is gone with the humans we'll go back to the wood and you can hunt with us there,' he answered simply.
Though when flapjack continued to look upset but luz asked, 'Besides, we need you here to protect Owen and Ava’s pups. Who else could we trust with something as important as this?'
At the cooing in her tone, flapjack’s ears perked up slightly and went running off to see how the pups were doing.
Luz laughed at his playful energy and she began to follow… when edric stood in front of her, stopping her. 'I hate keeping him trapped here, but with what happened after that meeting with you and amity with belos’s pack, I don't want to take any chances. He's still young and doesn't know how to fight.'
'I know,' luz sighed as lowered her tired head. 'And I know I've asked this before, but is it really too much to hope that they just gave up and won't come after us again?'
He gave her a look that clearly said that he thought she was naïve and answered, 'We both know the answer to that. It's some kind of plan I know belos … probably trying to get us to drop our guard, but I have to admit that taking this long is not like him. You know, sometimes I think that it just might be safer if we go back to the woods now and take our chances with the hunters.'
Luz stared at him long and hard, knowing what he was about to say. 'But I don't want to risk it…'
She looked up at the overclouded sky. They still had weeks to go before winter was over… they would still be here for a while…
'Oh,' edric said suddenly as if he just remembered something. 'I also wanted to tell you something… Owen and Ava have been talking about leaving.'
She looked up at him, though not completely surprised to hear the news. She had learned that once a pack has to many pack members, some would leave and become leaders of their own packs. Their own pack was becoming very large and it was becoming very hard to feed everyone.
'But they say that they want to stay until something is done about belos,' he said sitting back on his hind legs. 'I have to say though, it would be a good chance for them. Sure they'll have to wait a little longer… their pups are still young, but once they're just a little older, they're sure to leave and start their own pack.'
'And what about you?' she asked him. 'Are you tempted to do the same?'
Edric thought that over for a moment. 'No… I want to stay here… it is my home after all… but I do want to start a family of my own someday…' he got a dreamy look in his eyes.
Luz laughed. 'And I'm assuming that you're thinking of viney?'
He froze at the mention of the female wolf, but he didn't deny anything. 'Yes,' he admitted. 'But strangely, every time I ask her to bear my pups, she says no!'
Luz shook her head exasperated and suggested, 'Maybe you should start off by telling her how you feel?'
'But I do!' he cried, still not getting what she meant. 'I want her to have my pups someday.'
Luz felt the need to hit him, but it was hard to do that with paws. She rolled her eyes… men… no matter what species they were, boys, they were all idiots.
Just at that moment, Amity emerged from the den, barking that it was time to get some more food. 'I swear!' She cried angrily. 'All we've been eating are mice! If I ever see another mouse, then I'm going to lose my mind.'
'You mean you have one?' Luz asked as she flicked her tail in her face in a teasingly way. She took a snap at her, and she laughed, knowing that she always cranky when hungry.
'Alright,' she said teasingly. 'I'll get Emira and we'll go looking for something to eat. Maybe if we're lucky we can find some random deer…'
But as she went into the cave, Amity kept staring after her. When edric noticed he sniggered as he bumped up into her. 'So… you like her don't you?'
This time it had been Amity who froze and took a snap at him. 'Mind your own business!'
Edric laughed as he almost danced out of reach.
'Is something funny?' called viney voice. They looked up to see the two girls coming out of the cave.
'You know,' Emira said walking towards them, staring from one to the other, 'I don't think having pups was best for someone like Ava. She's going crazy resting in there. She wants to go out with the rest of us, but she can't leave them for too long until they're off of milk.'
'She'll be back and hunting soon enough,' edric reassured her. 'We just have keep pulling double duty until then.'
Both of them watched as the females went running off ahead of them and edric sighed as he started behind them. 'Oh, why is it that everyone seems to get a mate but us?'
Hunter grumbled behind him, but it sounded suspiciously like, 'I couldn't agree with you more.'
________
During the hunt.
Luz spotted a pack of wolves fighting with a bear over a deer carcass.
Luz was already amazed by the strength of the pack as they fought off the bear, but what really got her attention was what also got the attention of the pack: a distant howl from a wolf perched on a distant peak. The wolves heeded the call at once, abandoning the kill to run to the faraway wolf.
Luz staring after the pack for a long moment, and began to follow them.
“Luz, don’t go! They’re not your friends!” Everyone called after her, but Luz didn’t stop. Her lupus instincts drove her forward as she zeroed in on the oddly familiar silhouette.
Why? Why do I keep followin’ them? the young lupus asked herself. What is calling me?
“Keep going, everyone!” a purple wolf at the front of the pack ordered, and the others picked up speed as they ran through the woods.
Luz pushed herself to go faster too, and soon she began to catch up with the pack.
“That puppy…” a mint wolf who ran right next to the purple one murmured.
“Leave her.” the purple one told them. “She won’t catch up with us.”
Luz gritted her teeth speeding up. The heck I won’t!
“I stand corrected.” the purple one commented as Luz drew closer still.