Alpha Without a Pack...

Chapter 66

                                              Sidney (wolf)

Something woke me from my heavy sleep, and had me on high alert as I scented the air. I couldn't detect an immediate threat, I could smell and feel everyone in my pack resting peacefully, but something had definitely woken me. The sun felt warm on my fur as I stood and shook the snow from my coat, surveying my sleeping pack and the somewhat frozen elk carcass. Nothing seemed out of place and my instincts were not screaming danger, there was only curiousity as I scanned the trees. A soft whine had my ears perking in the direction of the sound, it had not come from any of the pack. 

A flash of fur caught my attention in the distance as another soft whine called out to me, begging for me to follow as a familiar longing stirred inside me. I remained silent as I glanced once more to the sleeping pack, there was no scent or sound of danger here. With one last glance at the sleeping males I slowly and silently slipped deeper into the trees to investigate, following the friendly call and flashes of fur. I caught the slightly familiar scent when I crossed their trail and whined a soft greeting to the shadows as three males slowly approached, cautiously aware of me but I felt no need to attack them. 

These males knew the dangers and were strong enough to survive them, the scent of them made me want to get closer, and their body language showed they posed no threat to me. I whined softly as I bounded forward and crouched into a play bow as I let my tail wag to them in greeting, the smallest of the males was quick to copy my actions in an ancient dance of our ancestry. The largest male watched us silently as the third male pinned the smallest to the snow in a display of dominance over him. I turned my attention to the larger male and sniffed nuzzles with him, my tail wagging low in friendly greetings. He seemed to have strong blood and I would need to have a good father for my pups to help grow my pack, but he would have to prove himself worthy first.

 I let a flirtatious croon rumble out of me as I rolled in the snow, encasing the spot with my scent, advertising my availability to mate. Then I turned my tail to the large male, taunting him to try mounting, then springing away to do the same with his two companions. The smaller male was over eager to try mating and I growled slightly when he tried to mount me without permission, he had made a foolish move to leave his back open. The other two males turned on him and his death came swiftly as they snarled and snapped turning their attention to each other. This was what I wanted, I curled my tail beneath me and sat down to patiently await the outcome, the winner would be worthy to father my pups. The fight was bloody and slower than I liked, neither male willing to back down but also unkeen to eliminate the other competitor entirely.

 I was starting to lose interest in the fight when I was flooded with panic and worry from my pack, I sent calm back at them as the third male finally got in a good attack. I crooned in encouragement, he was the stronger fighter, soon he would prove his worth to me. When the largest male finally fell I stood and trotted over to give the obvious win to the third wolf as he stood proudly over his fallen comrads.  I licked gently at his wounds as he stood tall and proud in his victory, before returning my affections happily with licks to my ears and muzzle. We played and cuddled before I turned my tail to him to allow him to mount, before he could a volley of snarls pierced the silence, and then I felt their fury.

                                                   Gavin

When we'd woken to the sound of distant snarls and screaming yelps only to find Sidney gone it had caused immediate panic. There was a brief wave of calm that followed, coming through our link to her, she wasn't hurt and she wasn't too far away. Then came the realization that she wasn't alone and everyone was on her trail out of our little campsite in a hurry. Why hadn't we guessed she'd go running into more trouble, just like the crazy she wolf she was. It was Colton and Emmett at the head of the group, running full out as the rest of us pushed to keep up with them. The snarling only got louder the closer we got and suddenly all snarling died in the air, leaving nothing but silence.