The Pack

Chapter Fifteen

When Eclipse saw Luna limping over to him he immediately ran to her. He licked her face, muzzle, and neck, and he nuzzled her until she finally had to nudge him off.
"I was so worried," he whimpered, "I thought I was going to lose you, after what happened to Timber back there."
Luna closed her eyes and shuddered.
"Eclipse," she whispered, "there was some sort of creature back there, something that I had never seen before. I killed it, but it gave me this in return."
She lifted her leg for Eclipse to see and he winced as he saw the blood surrounding the deep hole. He licked the wound and Luna grimaced. He looked up at her, and his eyes were tight with worry.
"This is the same wound that Timber has in his shoulder. I'm so sorry, Luna. I should've been there to protect you."
"It's okay," she whispered, "You probably would've gotten hurt, too, if you were there."
He lowered his head and didn't say a word. Luna nuzzled his face in gentle silence.
Then they heard paw steps and they both looked up to see Misty with Timber limping along behind her.
Luna immediately noticed that he seemed weak, but her heart told her that he would pull through.

She walked forward with Eclipse right beside her, almost hovering over her. She touched Misty's snout with her own affectionately.
Misty was almost like a sister to her now, even though they hadn't known each other for a long time. It was hard to believe that they had been strangers hardly half a moon ago.
Misty lowered her head in submission, but her ears perked up when she saw the wound on Luna's leg.
"Are you ok?" she whimpered.
"I'm fine."
Luna glanced over at Timber.
"Are you ok, Timber?"
Timber shrugged and winced as he did so.
"I'll be fine. I'm just a little sore... but it'll wear off, I'm sure."
Misty turned her head to give him a pointed look.
"You're not a little sore! You're in the most pain I've ever seen you in! I'm just glad I was there to help you!"
Her tone was sharp, but it wasn't angry. It was reprimanding, like a mother scolding her pup.
He smiled weakly and leaned against her.
"Then I guess I'm glad I have you."
Misty licked the top of his head gently. Then she turned to look back at Luna.
"What happened? What hurt you and Timber?"
Luna shook her head. Her expression suddenly seemed distant and puzzled.
"I'm not sure. It's dead, whatever it was."
Misty gave her a confused look, but she didn't ask any more questions. She could tell that Luna was exhausted, and she didn't want to agitate her with more questions.
"Well, I'm glad it's gone, whatever it was. You can't imagine how worried I was when I saw Timber fall and when I didn't see you following us. I can't lose any of you," Misty murmured.
Luna nodded and touched Misty's cheek with her snout.
"You're not going to lose any of us. Not if I..." she hesitated and glanced at Eclipse before continuing, "... not if we can help it."
Misty, Timber, and Eclipse smiled gently. Timber yawned and Luna grinned, her face tired and worn.
"I think we all need to rest. It's been a busy day," she said.
The rest of the pack nodded once in agreement. They walked into a small thicket with Eclipse leading and Misty at the back.
When they were all grouped together, Luna and Timber laid close to one another. Eclipse and Misty circled around them until the two wolves were completely shielded from the outside world.
Eclipse licked Luna's ear and she grinned wearily.
Misty whispered to Timber and Luna could feel his tail thump happily against the ground by hers.
"You know, I'm glad I found you guys," Misty whispered, "because there's no way I would've been this happy otherwise. Sure, we're still figuring things out, but you haven't let me down once... and for that I'll always be grateful."
Timber nodded.
"I feel the same way. Our old pack was nice, but they didn't care about us as much as you two do. We were just extra mouths to feed, because we weren't the best there, besides the alphas."
He continued on in a voice filled with content and gratitude.
"You both treat us as if we were family, even if we aren't the strongest or fastest wolves around. I'm so lucky to have alphas as strong, friendly, and smart as you two are."
Eclipse and Luna smiled.
"And we're lucky to have you both as pack members. We wouldn't be the wolves we are today without you two."
Timber smiled and Misty's tail started to wag. Then she yawned, putting her head down on her paws.
Luna saw this and she did the same thing.
"We really should get some rest now. It's been a trying day for all of us."
Eclipse nodded before putting a paw over her side.
Timber leaned into Misty until his mouth parted and light snores filled the air.
Everyone followed this pattern until the pack was fast asleep.