The Living Wind in the Forest

Prologue

A young gray wolf with gentle blue eyes stood up with a satisfying stretch. Swiveling her ears, she wondered what her next meal would be. Padding out into the open, she crouched, waiting for a rodent to scurry past. Sinking her teeth into the neck of an unfortunate squirrel, the gray wolf ate the squirrel respectively, knowing that it would never see its kin ever again.

This was how life should be. Animals respected one another and lived by one rule that kept the peace. Without it, animals would be ruthless and heartless.

Only kill to survive.

At this time, humans were any other creature and lived by the same rule. They were animals that hunted and built shelter. They only lived to survive. Only killed, to survive.

Many generations have passed, and humans have evolved because of one reason. Greed. They desired to be powerful and feared. With every generation, humans have changed. They thought themselves to be superior. They lived against the rule, unbalancing the harmony that leveled the animals. Days became filled with fear as the animal kingdom knew they could be killed any day, and their bodies would be left to rot.

Now, Snow's pack was one of the many targets. Because of this, they were always forced to be on the move. Hope was the only thing that gave them strength in their paws, which pained with every step. Every few days, the pack would find shelter to stop and rest. After a few weeks, they were on the move again.

Rumor had it that humans thought wind was alive in the Silverlake Forest. But there were different thoughts on the reason why. Truth is, no human was sure.

The real reason, that only she and her pack will know, is because the group was the truth to the myth. Her pack of wolves has been on the move generations before she was born; ever since humans have been capturing and killing the members of her pack. A week ago, they had settled in the Silverlake forest and would soon be on the move again. This is why no human has found the cautious wolves.

For a human, one glance at them will make your anger and frustrations dissipate. You would see the tired look in their eyes and the sluggishness of their pawsteps. You would feel pity. You would feel the unspoken fatigue and hopelessness. But, you would also feel fear. The hunger from the wolves leaves you vulnerable and gives them power from their hunger. You know these wild animals would never think to spare you to tend to their hunger. What do you do? You kill them. Shoot them. Never think of them again.

Run.

Run away.

Why? To protect yourself because of your selfishness. But, you are still connected in a way to your former home, the animal kingdom. You want to survive.