Wolves of the moon - Lost home

✧Chapter 18✧

Swift took his paw out of the pond and shook the water off. It came out completely clean and he turned to Mist, who was gazing in the direction of her incoming friends. The three started talking and Swift sat down by himself. He watched his surroundings, the blue sky with a spotted cloud pattern, the thin stream of water surrounded by small reeds, the bracken ferns growing on the sides of the hollow. The trees were changing, their leaves started turning to beautifull shades of red, orange and yellow and the winds have gotten colder and more frequent. Red-leaf was soon to come, taking control right after sun-warmth.

Swift turned around, catching a glimpse of Alpha's vicious smile. Rain, the wise old wolf, hated him and Swift started to slowly understand why. He didn't have any respect to Storm in her last moments and even after her death, he seemed to only care about himself, he supposedly caused Wind's death and who know what more he could have done. Rain was the oldest living wolf in the pack, now that Storm, his mother, was gone and he saw much more than Swift did. The brown wolf hunched over and looked at his paws, questioning his actions toward Dawn.

He heard pawsteps coming closer to him and gazed up. Mist was standing over him with a hopeful, forgiving smile. She must have noticed that Swift was upset and came to help him. He tilted his head to the side curiously and she nodded towards her friends, signaling him to follow her. He stood up and paded after her. Thunder was looking at him with a brave smile and Hawk, while still looking skeptical, pulled closer to his small friend to make a place for him to sit. Swift stopped in front of the group and looked at them. Mist sat down beside Thunder.

„Come on, sit down with us," she invited him with her velvety voice and Swift, not wanting to seem dissrespectful and ungrateful, sat down next to her.

„Why do you want me here with you, guys? I wanted to attack you, didn't I?" he asked, still confused by their invitation.

„Since you apologized, we decided we could try to turn over the leaf and become friends," Thunder said with his usually confident voice.

„Did Mist tell you about what happened?" he continued asking them questions.

„Yes, she told us everything she knew and even visited Dawn in her den to ask for more details. You just lost control and made a little mistake, we understand. Everyone should be forgiven for something they didn't mean to do," the small red wolf answered again.

„Oh... Well, thanks! I didn't expect that from you actually. But I guess you're even nicer than I thought. I'm glad Dawn was there with us to offer you to join the pack," he said, genuinely surprised by their generous actions. These wolves must have went through something tough that made them really close and helpful to others.

Rain came out of Dawn's den and padded up to them.

„More wolves means more hunting. Would you mind going hunting with Swift again? I'm feeling tired, I should probably get some rest," he asked.

„Yeah, of course, why not," Thunder answered and stood up, ready to set out. Mist and Hawk both nodded and pulled themselves up with Swift doing the same a moment after them. The group started walking to the enterance but Swift stopped to turn to Rain, his friend.

„Is Dawn alright?..." he asked, concerned for his cousin's safety. He felt extremly sorry for what he's done to the wolf that helped him get to his feet after Wind's death. Dawn always cared for him, even when he didn't treat her very well. She was filled with positive energy and believed there was a drop of good in everyone.

Rain nodded, looking into his eyes. „Her injury is all patched up. Right now, she's resting in her nest and wanted me to tell you that she forgives you. I'm going to give her some water to drink," he told him. Swift nodded.

„Could you tell her that I'm thanking her for her forgiveness?" he asked.

„Sure, may Moon bless your hunt," Rain padded away to the pond and Swift ran after his new friends.

The forest was filled with a cool chill as it was changing it's appearance with the arrival of red-leaf. Some of the leaves have already fell from the trees and were now dried up on the ground, crunching beneath the group's paws. Mist spotted a deer that was eating the grass, not noticing the wolves at all. Swift snuck up on it, Mist and Thunder next to him. Hawk was against the wind, so the animal couldn't smell him, while the others were almost immediatly spotted.

The animal started running away and the chase was on. The three wolves chased it towards where Hawk was hiding and Swift outran it, making it stop. The deer turned around and wanted to run the opposite direction but Mist and Thunder stopped it dead in it's tracks, ready to attack it if something went wrong. They had the animal right where they wanted it and suddenly, Hawk jumped out of the bushes, pushing it down and pinning it to the ground with his weight. He swiftly sank his teeth into it's throat, instantly killing it. All four wolves celebrated their catch.

„We caught a deer!" Mist said excitedly.

„Good job guys! You all did well," Swift congratulated them.

„You and Hawk did the most job, we were just there as back up," Thunder said. He was the smallest of the bunch and his short legs certainly couldn't run as fast as the others, but what he didn't have in height and speed, he made up in optimism.

By the time they dragged their catch to camp, it was already dusk and everyone seemed happy when they saw the giant deer. Dawn was sitting beside Rain in the clearing and ran to the four as they entered.

„I was scared for you guys, you were out for a really long time! But now I see the reason. Wow, this deer is humongous!" she said and greeted Swift with a lick that he returned.

„I'm sorry for what I did again," he whispered to her, looking at her patched up shoulder.

„It's fine, at least I have a cool scar now!" she answered, her gaze filled with happiness.