The Half Breed and The Hunter

Chapter 6

When I awoke, I found myself lying enveloped in soft, comforting fur. The stench of wet dog invaded my nostrils and I scrunched my nose in disgust. Someone obviously hasn't cleaned themselves in a few days. Lazily, I pulled my eyelids open to locate the foul smell as if I could see it, until I realized it was myself that stunk. It didn't surprised me since I hadn't really cleaned myself after yesterday's incident. I was much too tired and sore. Lifting my head, light beamed in from the opening of our burrow and cascaded over my family's bodies making them look like little balls of fluff clumped together humbly. Carefully raising myself from in between a contently sleeping Seff and a flinching Atticus who was obviously dreaming, I tiptoed over their bodies to make my way outside into the blaring light.

Bright, yellow light shone into my face, nature greeting me into the early morning. The light was far too sunny for my liking after just waking up. I wasn't much of a morning person. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited a few seconds for myself to get a hold of my slightly foggy head, before I hesitantly peeked my eyelids open to get used to the overly sunny day. Why was it so bright this morning? Did Mother Nature decide to crank up the sun's temperature? Looking up, I craned my neck to get a glance of where the sun rested in the sky. It was already late afternoon as the sun hung just barely past the mid-point as our pack called it.

Shaking my head to help wake my groggy-self awake, my neck cracked and popped which made me breathe a sigh of relief as the tension was released. Dropping my unkempt chest to the ground, I pushed my paws out in front of me and rose my hind into the air to stretch my back and a few other spots that needed to be cracked. I felt my spine pop nicely before rising back to my full height to do my daily territory check. I took a few steps forward before stopping and growling in annoyance.

A dull ache had formed in my leg since yesterday, much like a pulled muscle that needed to heal. Thankfully, it didn't have a stabbing pain anymore which made it easier to walk on. With my high pain tolerance, I'd easily be able to tolerate the wound, but something in the back of my mind told me I needed to shift today and pluck the bullet out. Dread filled my mind at the thought of reaching my fingers into my calf, digging around until I felt the coolness of the metal touch my fingers. I felt like gagging at the mere thought. Pain tolerance, yes. Stomach tolerance, not so much. Continuing walking, leaves bristled under my paws until a questioning thought interrupted my daily routine.

'And where do you think you're heading off too?' Father inquired sarcastically. Not knowing what he was on about, I simply replied in a 'duh' tone, telling him I was off for my daily morning routine of checking the land around our home. If wolves could quirk their eyebrows, Father managed to while giving me a suspicious look, 'Have you forgotten already?' Scowling at the ground, I racked my brain for what he was talking about. Then, it clicked. I threw a frustrated growl at Father before storming in the opposite direction of him. If he was going to give me a hundred yard radius, I'd take it. After each one of my angry strides, I started counting, 1 yard... 2 yards... 3 yards... Only a few seconds later, his amused thoughts called to me again, more stern this time, daring me to go further and face additional punishment, 'Darling you're nearing your boundaries.'

Just as I felt the ground jolt as Father propelled himself towards me, I reached a 100 yards and sat down on my haunch safely. Two could play that game. Not a second later, Father screeched to a halt beside me, narrow eyes observing my nonchalant figure with mild enjoyment present. Looking at him with big, questioning, silver eyes, I slightly tilted my head to the side to add to my innocent appeal, and watched as he growled at my obvious bold move. I grinned internally with satisfaction, as Father stomped back to the Den annoyed from my small trick to push his buttons. Doing a quick, hundred yard roundabout that was a poor excuse for a territory check, I trotted happily back to the Den. Just as I arrived, Atticus was the last to push past the hanging moss dangling in front of dark hole that lead to our sleeping quarters. Seff and Accalia stood just to the left and right of the door, where they were stretching and yawning widely, baring their dagger like teeth. Father was to my left, ignoring my triumphant grin and making a low rumbling sound to make my siblings get ready faster. I didn't miss the small, hint of a grin as his lip lifted slightly at my proud stare.