The Moon Wolf

Chapter 33 (First Draft)

* Media pic of the doorway to the inner caverns.

It took the rest of the night and most of the following day for the Orthos pack to make it up the mountain side to the cave system Penn had promised was waiting for them well above the tree line. The wolves expressed a corporate sigh of relief when their tired limbs finally carried them through the rocky threshold of an enormous cavern.  The pack now had a new appreciation for what the Griffin pups had endured while passing through Mouring Cross to get to Orthos territory.

It had been the most gruelling trek of their lives. In the past twelve hours, the pack had often doubted they would make it past the tree line. But the pups had barked and yipped encouragement the whole way and Penn stood like a silver beacon ahead of them leading the pack to safety. So, they had taken courage in these small things and kept fighting until they reached the cave. They were exhausted in body and mind but grateful to have finally reached their destination.

They didn't know it, but they weren't settled yet. Penn hadn't brought them all this way to leave them in this open and exposed cavern where they wouldn't be able to keep warm let alone defend themselves if it came to that. So, once everyone was out of the elements, Penn transformed into her skin at the mouth of the cavern to give them further instructions.

The wind, which roared through the gaping entrance, whipped her knee length glossy black hair all around her limbs and torso, but even so it could not hide the glow of her moon coloured skin. She was still as spell binding to gaze on as she was in the village the night before and a sort of holy hush fell over the pack as they gazed wonderingly at her.

Penn saw that they were in a kind of daze again. She frowned. It looked to her like the climb had been too much for them. She hoped they would be able to snap out of it though because they still had a lot of prep work to do before they could settle down for the night. They would need to seek out smaller caves to live and sleep in, water sources inside the mountain that could sustain this number of wolves, and several wolves would need to go on the hunt or everyone would be going to sleep on empty stomachs. The task of feeding so many mouth was daunting to say the least.

It was a relief to Penn then that the pups were in such good shape after that hike and knew what was expected of them. She could make out some of their snouts in the crowd. They were giving her their full attention expecting orders from her. Penn couldn't help but smile inwardly. These pups had come such a long way. And she knew, with the pups at her side, she could do this. They could all survive this. 

Not liking to waste time, Penn cleared her throat and got straight to the point.

"This is only the mouth of the cave. You can't stay here. I need you to get up and move on to the safety of the smaller caves inside the mountain."

She lifted a long slender limb that shone like moonlight itself and pointed at the far end of the enormous cavern. Every eye followed the direction of her hand.

"There is an opening at that end. It's just wide enough for you to file through one wolf at a time. The cave directly on the other side is quite small. It'll only fit about 20 or 30 of you. So, those who enter first, will have to move on through to other caverns. There are quite a few. So, keep going until you can't go anymore," she instructed them.