Under The Eyes of The Wolf (an rdr2 Arthur Morgan x oc story)

1-Stranger in a Strange Land

   -Author's note: This is my first ever attempt at this. I hope you enjoy it and any/all comments or suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. This story will only follow the basic outline of rdr2. I also figure most people reading this will already know the characters and the settings therefore will not need me to go into any depths or explanations of their backgrounds other than how they tie in with my characters. Please feel free to ask any questions. Some spoiler alerts.-
~K~

The storm had finally passed, leaving behind a thick blanket of fresh powdery snow covering the small structures of Colter and all its surrounding area for miles. As Arthur coaxed his horse away from camp and away from the comfort of his blanket and the warmth of his fellow horses crowded around him, he let out a brief squeal as he tossed his head about in protest to his riders instruction to move onward, cutting a new path through the untouched snow.
    "Easy there boy, yer okay. I'm sorry to bring you out in this but we have a lotta hungry mouths back there depending on us to feed 'em." Arthur apologetically explained to the grumpy horse as he stroked its neck. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a peppermint and offered it to his recently acquired Tennessee Walker, simply named "Horse" for the time being. Horse accepted the offer and crunched away at the mint, calming himself and easing out his gate in acceptance to the task at hand. Apology accepted.
    Arthur Allowed the horse to push on at his own leisurely pace in order to feel his way through the fresh untouched expanse before them. As deep and level as it was he trusted his horse to find the invisible buried path rather than risk an injured leg as a result of pushing him blindly forward too quickly. The sun shown brightly overhead on a backdrop of a pale blue sky, not a cloud in sight, any evidence of the preceding nights storm now gone. The bone chilling, debilitating, bitter cold that no amount of clothing layers or crackling fires seemed to be able to stand up against in order to prevent a person from freezing all the way to their core that the previous week had presented them with had given way to a bearable winter chill that bit at Arthur's exposed skin as Horse carved a path through the winter wonderland. Thankfully no longer harsh enough to penetrate the barrier of a good, thick, winter coat, allowing the rest of his body to remain comfortably warm out in the elements, for the time being.
    Arthur had been tasked with riding out in hopes of hunting down something, anything, to bring back to feed the rest of the gang. His family, that depended on him. The food rations had run out almost two days ago now and people were past hungry. They were starving and along with that they were getting more and more on edge. Arguments, lashing out, fighting amongst themselves, the gang members were getting close to a major blowout in the ranks. They'd lost some of their people, either to death or capture, during a failed ferry heist in Blackwater and to top it all off with the fear and uncertainty of what the future for themselves as well as their missing members held, it all came together to form the perfect storm.
    Arthur tried to set all these thoughts that filled his head aside for the time being and focus on the task at hand. He carefully scanned the fresh snow in search of any tracks or signs of life. He'd been at it for what seemed like hours now. His eyes and head were beginning to ache from staring at the bright white snow for so long. He scrunched his eyes closed and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and ease the burn. Not so much as a squirrel had crossed his path. He let out a deep sigh of frustration and was about to turn down another direction when he thought he heard something nearby.
    "Whoa boy, shhh, hush now," he whispered as he tried to hold perfectly still. He closed his eyes and listened to the forest around him. He heard a faint sound coming from up ahead a ways. As he continued to try and decipher exactly what it was he was hearing, Horse began nervously pawing at the ground and to slightly back peddle as he let out a few nervous grunts. Big puffs of warm air shot from his flared nostrils when he snorted out his breath as he became more and more agitated by something Arthur couldn't see in the surrounding forest.
    "Easy boy, whoa! Stay calm now, whoa, WHOA!" He tried to calm his panicking mount but it was having no affect on the frantic steed. Horse reared back, kicking in the air at the invisible presence with his front legs, throwing Arthur to the ground then bolting back off into the forest in the direction of home.
    "Damn horse." Arthur mumbled to himself as he climbed to his feet. He grabbed his carbine repeater from off of his shoulder and held it up at the ready for whatever might be waiting in the woods that had caused such a reaction from his typically calm and steady Tennessee Walker. He quietly crept forward, following the sound that he'd been listening to before he'd been thrown. Every step carefully and deliberately placed, attempting to remain silent and not alert whatever it was to his presence. Arthur's body tensed with every expertly placed step due to the  barely audible sound of snow compacting under his weight. As he came to the edge of a clearing he laid his eyes upon what had struck the fear of God into his horse.
    On the other side of the clearing there lay a deer that had fallen prey to an animal unlike anything Arthur had ever seen before. The beast tore into its meal hungrily. He could hear bones crunching and muscle tissue tearing. He stared in awe at the impressive sight before him. An enormous wolf, at least double in size to any he'd ever seen throughout his life, with fur as black as coal. Arthur rest on one knee in the snow as he looked down the sight of his repeater that he'd locked on to the wolf, when suddenly the animal  lifted its head and locked its yellow eyes with his.