Small Paws, Big Pride

Chapter Three (a)

Diamond's eyes widened once again. This time, however, it was filled with astonishment and worry. I myself had been so shocked I just stood there, rooted to the ground like an apple tree. I could tell Star was anxious too. As the leader, the stress and pressure were heavier than a bag of boulders.

"Bring me to the guard post right away!" he ordered. Turning to us, he added hastily, "Come with me, you two,"

We followed the guard to the other side of the territory where a small crowd of wolves had gathered around something near the borders. When they noticed us, they immediately cleared the way, leaving us to see Moon on the ground, her paw on a blood-stained gash on her side. We all hurried towards her.

"Moon!" I cried, crouching down beside her.

Star only took one look at Moon when he called two wolves in the crowd. "Get the Beta wolves and the Healers," he cajoled. The wolves bowed before moving off to find my parents and the Healers. Diamond crouched down beside me, took Moon's paw off, and placed her paw there, trying to staunch the wound.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well..." was all Moon could say when Dad, Moon and Patches appeared all at once.

"Moon!" they cried. All crouched down beside Diamond and me.

"What...what even happened?" yelped Mum. "Who did this?" she yelled, pointing a paw at everyone, even the wolves in the crowd, who shied away. Her paw landed on Diamond. "You..." she glared, "why must you do this to my pup!" she sobbed, pushing Diamond's paw off and replacing it with her own. Turning to Moon, she assured, "Mum's here. You'll be fine," just as a team of Healers turned up and pulled her away from Moon.

Dad suddenly sidestepped Dia and me. "Now, listen here, if I find out that you did this, you won't be taken nicely..."

I blocked Diamond from Dad's view. "She didn't do it," I said firmly in defence.

"How do you know?" Dad asked warily. "You've only known her for a day!"

"She was with me," I explained.

Dad scoffed. "And how can you prove that?" he questioned.

"Because they were with me," cut in Star.

All three of us turned to see Star behind us. He seems to sneak up on wolves easily, I thought.

"I can assure you, Nighty, that they did not do the evil act," Star informed Dad. There was always this sense of safety and assurance whenever Star was around. Perhaps that was why Star was the Alpha in the first place.

"Right...erm...for your safety, please proceed to the pack den," Star's orders interrupted my train of thoughts. "We need to make sure that...um...whatever did this is...er...not harming anyone else," he stammered.

"Which is...?" Diamond asked as Star ushered us into the Pack's den.

"Dia, that is what I am trying to find out," assured Star as we hurried inside.

~

Inside the den, it was very crowded. Wolves of every colour, size and age were squeezed inside the den. A group of brown wolves were fighting over a fox the hunters had killed and several guards were passing orders from Dad, Mum and Star. The Gamma lead us to a corner of the den where Black, Patches, and several other pups were sitting, each of them holding a chicken leg. Black handed Diamond a leg, however, I did not have any food.

"Umm..." I interrupted awkwardly, "where's my chicken leg?"

There was silence as the wolf pups continued chewing on their food. Determined to get a meal, I carefully examined every one of the wolves' mouths. Most of the wolves were chewing on their chicken leg, but Black appeared to be eating something else. I stared at his mouth and waited. A moment or two later, Black's mouth opened and I spotted bits of chicken between his teeth. I sighed. Black had taken my food after all.

As I stood there, my stomach pleading with me for food, a piece of chicken leg caught my attention. It was right in front of my nose, and I smelt the wonderful aroma of fresh meat. I turned to whoever was holding it. It was Diamond. She had torn off a piece and given it to me. I took the piece. "Thanks" I thanked her, tearing the piece up and wolfing it down. Diamond smiled. However, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Black scowling.

~

After half an hour, we were allowed to exit the den as the Alphas, my parents, the Gamma, and the Delta had triple-checked the territory.

"Dad, is it safe out there?" I asked, placing a tentative paw onto the ground just outside the cave.

"Yes, it is," Dad reassured me. Although I nodded and continued walking, I knew deep down inside, Dad was worried for the pack and his rank.

Later, Dad, Mum, Patches and I went to visit Moon, who was recovering in the Pack den after the Healers had cleaned her wound and bandaged it with several leaves tied together. By the time Dad and I reached there, Mum and Patches were looking after Moon; Mum was feeding Moon some meat, while Patches sat at the other side.

"Are you okay, Moon?" I asked as we approached the trio.

Moon nodded just as Mum fed her another bit of meat. To my surprise, Mum looked normal, like Moon never explained who or what caused the gash to Mum. Maybe Mum was too busy looking after Moon to bother asking her. As Dad consulted a Healer on Moon's condition, Star entered the cave.

"Nice to see you better, Moon," he smiled. Mum, Dad and the Healer all bowed at him. He nodded back and turned to face me.

"By the way, Everblaze, your parents have consulted me to tutor you on hunting prey," Star told me. I gasped in astonishment and excitement. Dad had kept his promise after all.

"Yay! Thanks!" I thanked Dad and Mum. They grinned. I faced Star once again. "When do we begin?" I asked.

Star chuckled. "Now, of course!"