The Moon Wolf

Chapter 3 (1st Draft)

The pups slept contentedly that night while Penn kept watch over them. Despite the fire in the evening and the light smoke that filled the cool evening air, nothing suspicious happened overnight. Penn had made several trips around the secret gully between dusk and dawn but didn't find anything amiss. It was a relief. She'd been worried all night that her impulsive decision to let the children have a fire might have backfired on them all.

As dawn arrived, Penn stretched and let out a wide yawn. She would be able to sleep easy for a few hours in the early morning knowing that their fire had gone undetected. Cassidy and Jackson stirred shortly afterwards, and when they did, Penn settled down to sleep as soon as she saw them transform into their fur.

The two oldest pups kept vigil for a few hours in the wee hours of the morning while Penn slept. It was something they'd worked out after the first week of their escape when Penn was sure they were far enough away from Codax that she didn't have to be on alert every minute of every day.  Cassidy and Jackson had proved to be vigilant guardians. So, Penn slept with comparable ease for a few hours each morning while they kept watch.

Right now, Penn certainly needed the sleep. They were about to enter the hardest leg of their journey - Mourning Cross - and Penn would need all her energy and instincts in order to help the Griffin orphans get through to the other side alive. The trail was treacherous. Even adult wolves would think twice about crossing it alone, let alone with eighteen children in tow.

It wasn't even fair to call the pass a trail. A trail implied it was used at regular intervals and was marked by a footpath of some kind. However, Mourning Cross was more or less a hazardous rocky stretch about ten thousand feet above sea level, which ran between two snow-capped mountains.  Half the year the whole area was buried under several feet of snow and entirely impassable to anything without wings.

It was October now and the the risk of snow was very real. It would be one of many dangers Penn and the pups were likely going to have to face as they left the treeline and began the difficult climb up the eastern slope of the mountain. But, the dangers ahead were still to be preferred over the danger behind them. With thoughts of Codax on her mind, Penn fell into a restless sleep.

A few hours later Cassidy gently shook Penn awake saying, "It's time, Penn."

Penn blinked. She wished she'd had a better sleep. She felt groggy and sluggish.

"The children are all ready to go," Cassidy informed her in a quiet voice.

Penn huffed as she stretched out her back and her legs before shaking out her fur and having a quick run around their little campsite to sniff out if anything suspicious or dangerous had been sneaking around while she'd been asleep. There was nothing out there though. They were still alone.

Sure they were still safe, she gave a bark and led the children through the old pines to the stunted and sparse black spruce that sat like a collar along the grey granite of the mountain. This early in the morning, with a good sleep and full bellies, the children were in very good spirits, and followed Penn without delay. They even manged to keep up with the pace she set despite how steep the incline had become the nearer they got to the treeline.