My wild - The White Wolf

My Wild - Part 6

I dodged his first couple of blows but when I wasn't looking he leaped and came down hard on my side. I yelped and Ezra and Adali leapt to my rescue while Naledi slunk off into the shadows, round the back of Nuka to where Adri was lying. She looked to me for reassurance and I barked at her to get Adri out of there. She helped him to his feet and he limped slowly away in the direction of the den. Meanwhile, Ezra knocked Nuka off me with a powerful bite in the ribs. Nuka jumped up ready to fight but without the confidence of having his pack by his side he was vulnerable. Realising his lack of support he decided he had little chance of winning this fight. He took one last look at the three of us snarling at him and ran for cover in the nearby woods. We weren't going to see him again any time soon. 

When we returned to the den I went quickly over to inspect Adri. He and Ezra both had bite wounds but I was reassured that there didn't appear to be anything fatal. I lay next to Adri and began to groom him while Adali worked on Ezra and Naledi went out in search of food. She returned unharmed with a large hare. We all ate eagerly and, once we had finished, slept for the rest of the afternoon. When I woke up, the snow was still falling and a cold wind was whipping through my fur so I got up and shook the light dusting of snow from my coat. Ezra was already up and sniffing round for the bones that we had left. I joined him and, once located, we sat down and gnawed on them. At the smell of food the others slowly blinked the sleep from their eyes and came to join us. Later in the afternoon we headed over to a nearby lake to have a drink. Snow surrounded the lake but the water had not yet frozen over. We were surrounded by forests and in the far distance there were snow capped mountains with deep caverns carved out of solid rock by relentless winds. The coldness of the water stung our teeth and burned our throats but it was refreshing all the same. I looked down at the water. It was like looking into a pool of liquid diamonds. There was not a sound to be heard as I sat there staring at the tranquil water, the mist settling around us. 

Eyes gazed at me from within the crystal waters and I noticed just how much I had changed since our mother had gone missing. Instead of scruffy white fluff my coat had developed into a soft bed of snow that lay flat on my head and all the way down my back. My eyes had turned from a greyish blue to deep hazel, like liquid conker, and my muzzle had grown long and elegant. Suddenly, Ezra's face appeared next to me. His features were much the same as mine but his coat was coal black and sleek just as our fathers used to be. His most compelling quality though was his eyes. The rest of my siblings had brown eyes, similar to mine, but Ezra had developed eyes as bright as gold. They shone like stars in a midnight sky but had a warmth to them that could melt the coldest of hearts. He stared at himself, lost in thought, as the wind rippled through his tousled fur. Eventually he turned away and wandered back to where the others were resting. Lying down, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. I gave one last look at my reflection and turned to walk back to the others. Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the leaves on the right side of the lake. I whipped my head around and snarled, waking my siblings and bringing them quickly to my side. A deep growl resonated across the silent water alerting us to potential danger, but all of a sudden the growling stopped and a dainty female wolf came trotting out of a bush nearby. She didn't seem to notice us or was just unbothered by our presence. She bent down to drink and out in the open I could get a better look at her. Her coat was a light tan with a streak of brown the colour of a ripe acorn. Her hazel flank dissolved into a black ridge of speckled fur that went all the way up to her head. 

My ears pricked up at the sound of paw prints. A lot of paw prints. Without warning, Nuka's pack emerged out of the trees on the far side of the lake. The female wolf yelped and looked in despair at either side of the lake. On one side she saw us, a bunch of scruffy adolescent wolves whom she had never seen before, and on the other, a vast pack flanking Nuka who was bending down ready to pounce and push her into the water. She thought for a second and then dived head first into the icy lake. My instinct told me to run to the other side of the world just to get away from Nuka and his pack but I was rooted to the spot waiting for the female to surface. Nuka paid no attention to us and his vast pack spread out over half of the lake and crouched down to drink as if nothing had happened. I watched intently and finally she splashed to the surface sending large ripples gradually moving through the water before ending abruptly as tiny waves on the shore. She briefly glanced in our direction and looked surprised that we were still there. This seemed to reassure her and she began swimming in our direction. She paddled hard but I could see that she was struggling to keep her head above the surface. 

Concerned she wouldn't make it to the shore on her own, I waded into the water until I was up to my elbows. The water was freezing and every movement was like hundreds of needles pricking every muscle in my body. I waded further in until my legs could no longer feel the bottom. At this point I realised that I had actually never swam before, but I seemed to be working on instinct. The water pulled me down but at the same time it was like I was floating on air. The cold of the water finally got to me and I started to see shapes floating across my vision. Every muscle in my body told me to stop and just sink down into the deep blue waters where I could simply relax. I pondered how nice that would be, to do nothing for once. Even in my dreams there was no escape. I dreamt of running. I ran and ran until whatever was chasing me was right on to me. Then I would wake shivering and panting for breath.

I was catapulted back into the present by a sharp pain in my hind leg. I looked quickly down into the water to see the blurred shape of the female wolf hanging on to my left leg for dear life. I quickly swam up to the surface with her being dragged behind me. I broke through the surface like a bullet through glass and turned to shore. Adri, Adali and Naledi were all waiting for me on the shore. Where was Ezra? I looked from side to side but I couldn't spot him anywhere. The female wolf was beginning to lose her grip and I couldn't swim for much longer. I could feel my eyes beginning to close and my head slip below the surface. I drifted in and out of consciousness and the female wolf's grip on my leg got weaker and weaker. Suddenly I felt a strong body below me, pushing me upwards. I gasped for air as we broke through the surface and I opened my eyes. Ezra was swimming strongly beside me as he dragged me to shore by my scruff. A flood of relief washed over me as I felt the soft sand once again beneath my paws. I slumped down on the sand and Ezra lay next to me. He was shivering violently and his eyes were barely open. I looked in the direction Nuka's pack had come from, but they were gone.