Left To The Wolves [On Hold]

Chapter 3

I sit back down and watch as they both circle around and stare at each other menacingly. They at least backed up farther away from Bri and I, so hopefully I won't get too much blood or guts on me. I sort of move in front of Bri, so she can't see what's going on, because she doesn't need to worry about this right now. She needs to worry about birthing her pups.

This isn't the first time someone has challenged Shadow. It's only happened once before, when a lone wolf came into our territory and challenged him. They immediately started fighting, and in only a matter of minutes, Shadow had his teeth sunk into the other wolf's neck. It died almost instantly. That was my first time witnessing a wolf fight, and I was honestly shook. Shadow had tried coming near me after wards, and I shied away from him. When he realized I was scared of him, he rolled over on his back and bared his neck. I had already realized before then that that was a sign of submission, but in this case, Shadow was showing me he wouldn't hurt me.

Lucifer made the first move, and Shadow was quick to counter attack.

The fight goes on for a few minutes before Bri starts whimpering, and her cries start to get louder with each passing second. I look to her to see why she's crying, and she's tossing and turning and panting really hard.

She's going into labor.

I immediately try comforting her in any way possible, but I have no idea what to do. The fight between Shadow and Lucifer is still intense, and so is Bri's crying. The other wolves are all outside the cave, watching in anticipation to see who'll win. I know they don't like Lucifer, so I know they're hoping for Shadow to win. He's getting old, but he's still the best leader this pack has ever had (that I've seen. Technically, he's the only leader they've had while I've been here, but still).

If Lucifer wins though, he becomes leader of the pack.

Minutes later, Shadow gets his teeth into Lucifer's neck. Lucifer almost immediately goes limp.

He lost.

He's dead.

Shadow leaves him there and one of the other wolves drags his body out of the cave and out of sight. Shadow walks up to me and licks my face. I chuckle and scratch behind his ears as he lays down across my lower body.

Then, Bri yelps and I remember that she's giving birth. Shadow of course hears it too, and he gets up, lays by Bri, and starts licking her ears as a form of comfort. I think. Bri's cries get louder as the babies get closer to being born. Shadow continues trying to make Bri feel as comfortable as possible, and the other wolves crowd around Bri. They all watch and wait for the new members of the pack to be born.

After a long hour, five pups are born.

I smile at the sight of Shadow as he helps lick the pups clean. He's a huge softy at heart, that's for sure.

We decide to sleep early, since we know Bri needs the rest. She lays around her pups, creating a circle of warmth and protection for them.

***

The next morning, I wake up feeling weird.

Something's not right...

It's still dark outside, and I can barely see the rest of the pack. They're all still sleeping. I start thinking maybe I just had a bad dream and am about to lay back down, but then one of the wolves picks his head up and sniffs the air.

I immediately know it's Shadow, since he always sleeps closest to the entrance of the cave, and I know for sure something is wrong. He continues sniffing the air for a moment before he gets up and stalks out of the cave. None of the others get up, so I decide to and follow him. He's standing just to the side of the cave, and I crouch down beside him. He looks over at me, licks my ear, and then goes back to staring at the trees.

What does he smell?

Suddenly, a huge wolf, just a tad smaller than Shadow, steps out from behind the tree. Immediately, they give each other vicious growls and leap at each other. I take a step back out of fear and watch as they fight. This other wolf looks strong and intimidating, and he also seems young, which is most likely why he is so quick on his feet. But this wolf doesn't seem to be very interested in fighting Shadow. Every chance he gets, he looks back at me. Shadow keeps going at him though, adamant on winning. Suddenly he's running toward me at a very fast speed, and before Shadow or I can react, he's on top of me and snarling.

I whimper and try to find some way to free myself, but the only way I can think of results in death.

For me.

So I lay completely still and not even two seconds later, the wolf starts clawing all over my body. I scream as my body is pierced by claw after claw, and then he also bites me here and there.

It feels like it lasts for an eternity as the wolf continues his assault on my body. Pools of blood appear on the floor, and that's when I realize this is how I'm going to die.

I manage to hear another growl through all my screaming and then Shadow appears on top of me instead of the other wolf. I continue screaming as blood pours out of the wounds all over my body, and Shadow frantically tries to lick all of my wounds, in hopes it would save me somehow. I manage to weakly smile and reach my hand out to scratch behind his ears. He lays next to me, and then the rest of the pack is all surrounding us.

"I love you guys," I whisper, and the last thing I hear is a pack of wolves howling up at the night sky.