‘Fine. But be careful and stay safe until we get there.’ I took a deep breath and wondered if I should shift into my human form. But decided against it. My human form was smaller, but it lacked advantages my wolf form had for traversing down the steep hill. I pressed myself as close to the ground as I could get and inched my way down the hillside. I made sure to use all the trees and bushes as cover and the gods smiled at me as the wind was blowing towards me. It made the scent of all the unknown wolves hit me, but my scent was blown away from them. Just as I was about to crawl into the cave, I caught the scent of a wolf I thought I recognised. I couldn’t place it and I tried to hone in on it. Then I snapped out of my thoughts and focused on the task. I managed to get into the small cave without being noticed. I was grateful the first snow hadn’t come. My red wolf stood out like a sore thumb against the white snow. But in a forest with fall colours, I blended in. Inside the cave, Cadence and Jon were huddled at the far wall. Their eyes were big and full of fear as they watched me enter the cave. As soon as they saw it was me I could see them relaxing. The cave was too small for me to stand in and it was cold. I did my best to manoeuvre myself inside, keeping quiet. I turned around so I was facing the entrance and backed up to let my body press into the boys. Even though they had on jackets, the coldness of the cave and them sitting still for so long had them shivering. I shared my body heat and comforted them with my presence.
‘Are the two of you okay?’ I asked the boys in a mind link.
‘Yes,’ Cadence answered.
‘Better now that you are here,’ Jon linked.
‘The others are coming and will take care of the wolves outside. Until then, I will protect you. Stay close to each other and me to keep warm and stay quiet,’ I told them. The small cave would work to our advantage. Even if we were discovered, the wolves outside couldn’t rush in all at once. At the most they could come one at the time. I could defend our position against one wolf. ‘I’m with the boys. They are safe but cold and scared. No one saw me. We are staying put,’ I linked Finlay.
‘We are on our way,’ he told me. It felt like hours. I was focused on the scents and the sounds from outside. Ready to attack at any sign of an intruder. At the back of my mind, the familiar scent was gnawing at me. I knew I had scented the wolf before, but I couldn’t place it.
‘I can’t wait for the first snow,’ Cadence mindlinked me and Jon.
‘Same here,’ Jon replied.
‘Yeah? What is the best thing about the snow?’ I asked to keep them going and keep them occupied with happier thoughts.
‘When you take us out into the woods. It’s always fun and you always pack hot cocoa and treats,’ Jon said without hesitation. I smiled internally at the answer. It was nice to know they liked our outings and picnics. The thought of having picnics with the pups triggered the memory I associated with the scent. A picnic table covered in snow and an offer of coffee and sandwiches. I reached out to Finlay, Martin and Sam.
‘It’s the Rolling Hills pack,’ I linked them.
‘That is attacking?’ Sam asked.
‘Yes. I scented their Gamma. It took me a moment to place the scent, but I’m sure it’s him,’ I told them. We hadn’t heard anything from the pack since our meeting with them. Finlay told us that even at the joint pack gatherings, they stayed clear of him.
‘They must have become desperate,’ Finlay linked. ‘Now we know it’s not a loosely put together group of loner wolves. Make sure everyone knows it’s a pack that is attacking and adjust the tactics.’
‘Yes, Alpha,’ we all answered.
‘How are you holding up?’ Finlay linked me in our private link.
‘We are doing good.’
‘It’s taking us longer to reach you than I thought, but if we are fighting a pack it makes sense. They have trained together and are working as one. Just hold on and don’t do anything stupid,’ he told me.
‘I won’t. And the same goes for you.’ I continued my wait. I could sense Cadence and Jon mindlinking each other. It was good they kept their mind off the situation and I appreciated them leaving me out of their conversation so I could focus on listening and scenting. There were still a large amount of wolves outside. But they seemed to keep to the forest floor below the hill, most likely thinking they were alone and the steep hill would keep them hidden. Then something changed. The first growl I heard I took for someone being impatient. They had clearly been given orders to wait while their pack mates were out fighting. The second growl I heard was not one of impatience, it was aggressive.
‘Are you close? Something is happening outside, someone is getting pissy,’ I mindlinked Finlay, Martin and Sam.
‘We are at least ten minutes away,’ Finlay was the first to answer.
‘It’s about the same for us,’ Sam linked.
‘We are closer, but not close enough to make them react,’ Martin told us. There was a new set of growls from outside the cave. This time it wasn’t an individual, I could clearly hear three distinct growls. The sound of fighting followed.
‘They are fighting,’ I reported.
‘With who? I don’t have any reports of our warriors being in the area,’ Sam asked.
‘I think they are fighting amongst themselves. There are no familiar scents I can identify.’ Some of the growling outside was turning into yelps and whines. Someone was losing. My blood froze as I heard the loser starting to claw themselves up the steep incline. They were trying to get away from their pack mates and heading straight for us. ‘They are coming towards us,’ I informed the others and stood up as best as I could in the small space. ‘You two, huddle as close to the back wall as possible. I will block anyone trying to come in. The pack is on its way,’ I told Cadence and Jon. Their eyes were huge, but they nodded.
‘Amie,’ Finlay linked.
‘It will be fine. We are fine. Don’t take stupid risks. We can hold them off,’ I told him.
‘I’m giving you a direct order not to die. I will be truly pissed as your Alpha if you disobey.’
‘Understood.’
‘We are coming, Amie,’ Martin mind linked me.
‘Be careful. There are a lot of them outside. I can keep the cave safe for a while if they discover it. Don’t do anything foolish,’ I told him. I heard the wolf outside get closer. My wolf and I both focused on the sound. I could tell the moment the wolf saw the opening, they stopped moving and I could hear them scenting the air. There was no way they could avoid catching my scent now that they focused on the opening. A growl was heard and it was accompanied by others. Oh great, they have made up in order to kill us, I thought. The moment I saw a black paw in the opening of the cave, I lunged at it and sank my claws into it before drawing back just as quickly. The paw disappeared back out and a new set of growls was heard. Next a grey wolf tried to rush into the cave. They hadn’t taken the size of the cave into account and their forward movement halted as they lowered themself to the ground. I again jumped forward, and this time I swiped at their eyes with my claws. They turned their heads at the last second, but couldn’t turn all the way because of the narrow opening. My claws ripped deep gouges into their cheek and I shredded their left ear. They roared and tried to swipe out their claws at me. I jumped back and due to their awkward position, they couldn’t pursue me. I jumped forward again. This time I aimed my claws at their throat and shoulder. The grey wolf turned around and snapped its teeth at my paw. I withdrew it to avoid the razor-sharp teeth, but in doing so, I left my left shoulder exposed. I could feel the claws digging into it and I roared. I took a page out of the attacker’s book and bent down and sank my teeth into its paw. It was their turn to roar in pain, and I clamped down my jaw and refused to let go. They struggled against my bite, but they were only halfway inside the cave and the small opening restricted their movements. I could hear their pack mates outside, trying to push past them to help. But there wasn’t enough space. I heard the bones in the paw snapping and I felt it beneath my teeth. I wanted to spit it out, it felt gross as the warm blood seeped into my mouth. But I steeled myself. As long as I had their paw, they were stuck, and the boys were safe. I growled and put more pressure on my jaws. The grey wolf whimpered and in a desperate attempt to get free, they put weight on the paw in my mouth. The unexpected extra weight made me lean my bad shoulder against the cave wall. I growled and as I did, my opponent yanked on their paw and with a loud yelp they freed it. But it was badly mangled. Pieces of flesh and skin had been ripped from it and I spit them out. The grey wolf retreated slowly from the cave, its mangled paw held as high above the ground as it could manage. I growled as loudly as I could and inflated myself to look as big as possible. My red wolf took up almost the entirety of the cave. My growl got a response this time. A familiar growl came as a reply and it was followed by a group of others. Martin and the group of warriors he had taken had arrived. I heard the commotion when the two groups collided. A whimper escaped from the boys behind me. I put my tail over them, it was the only comfort I could provide. There was still at least one wolf outside the opening to the cave. Probably to keep me from attacking the back of the group fighting Martin. I wouldn’t have joined the fight even if I could have. My duty was to keep the boys safe. If the wolf outside the cave hadn’t been there, I would have tried to sneak them out while the others were distracted. But now I had to wait. The wounds in my shoulder made me less agile, and I wasn’t confident I would win in a fight against the wolf guarding us. I knew I couldn’t afford to lose, so I had to wait and listen to the sounds of the battle. The air was filled with the scent of blood and death. I couldn’t tell from the sound and scent who was winning. I didn’t want to mindlink the ones fighting, afraid I would distract them. My ears strained to pick up sounds from the wolves that were a part of my pack. I heard a sound I wished I hadn’t. Martin growled and his growl slowly faded, I could hear him struggling to keep it going, as if he refused to give in. My wolf growled and as Martin’s growl started to fade into nothing, my growl turned into a whimper.
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