Wolf Winter

Chapter 16

"Is that-?!" Lupin exclaimed, her eyes wide and her neck fur up. I was exactly the same; and Shadow was angry, obviously outraged at the Pack members attacking anything or anyone that got in the way of their fight. I instinctively ran forward; pushing my way between the older middle ranking wolves. Lara was there; but it wasn't her that had been hurt - thankfully. One of the mother wolves was standing nearby, her tail between her legs and she was whining in distress. I looked at the casualty; it was a young pup! He must've been no older than a month old by the size of him.

"Lara! You must be able to do something to help him!" whined the mother wolf, her ears down. "He can't die - he just can't! I want him to see the spring when this treacherous winter ends!" Lara looked up at the distressing mother wolf patiently, her eyes clouded with despair and her ears bent down. Lupin and Shadow had gone to the Alphas to report the things that we had discovered on our patrol - but the Alphas weren't there.

"I'm sorry, Fern!" cried Lara, getting up. "With Greenleaf and the more experienced medic wolves gone with her on a day long herb patrol, I can't do all the more complicated things that they can! I've done as much as I can for him - anyway, from the smell of him, he's not from our Pack."

I looked at Fern in surprise. She looked embarrassed and she claimed that he was her own kin - he was her nephew from the neighbouring Pack. The same Pack who I had suspected of stealing our elk. Lara glared at her for a while but lightened her gaze when Fern repeated that the pup was her nephew.

"I'm sorry, Fern." repeated Lara gently. "But I don't have the life-saving skills that the other medic wolves have - I have only the skills that I have been taught." She glanced at her paws silently, waiting to be told that she was not good enough, from the look on her face. I pushed my way through the wolves and I ran over to the little pup that was laying on the ground. I wasn't going to let this pup die because of some stupid Pack member's carelessness and because of a fight over food when there clearly wasn't enough to go round. Fern suddenly gave a quiet mournful howl and turned away. I looked at Lara hopefully.

"I'll look after him, Lara." I murmured, wrapping my body round the bleeding pup. "You might not have the skills that may be needed, and neither do I, but I can try and at least give him longer to live. Please, Lara, let me help him." I looked desperately into her eyes and the rest of the wolves looked at me in bewilderment. Normally, it was the medic wolves who took care of the injured but I wanted to look after the pup - I thought at the time that I knew what to do - my instincts were kicking in.

"If I can't save the little one, then what makes you think you can, Whisper?" asked Lara, a heavy tone in her voice. "It's going to die either way and there's no way that Greenleaf will get here in time to save him. But...I suppose...you can try." She nodded and gave me a private wink.

I picked up the bleeding pup by its scruff and I raced to the friend den that I had been taken to by Lupin as a ten week old pup. Lupin and Shadow followed, ready to help me in whatever way they could. I put the pup down and I examined his wounds - he had a bite to the throat and one of his legs was badly bitten. I looked up at my companions and I asked Lupin to fetch some large leaves. I asked Shadow to see if he could find the herb patrol - I hoped secretly that they weren't too far away and that the Alphas were with them. He nodded, gave one of the pup's wounds a lick and then dashed out the den. I placed a paw on his leg wound, my other paw on his throat and I turned him onto his back. It seemed to work because the bleeding slowed down but his blood was still coming out of the wounds. At least it had slowed. Lupin came back and she had two leaves in her mouth. She trotted over; I took the leaves from her and I put one on each of the wounds. It stopped the bleeding and the pup managed to open his eyes; his breathing slow but easy.

Suddenly, Shadow burst in; calling over his shoulder that the pup was in the den. In the entrance, appeared Newleaf - Greenleaf's two year old daughter and Lara's older sister. I got up and moved so that she could get a good look at the poor pup. I knew that he was barely hanging on to life. Without a word, Newleaf picked him up and ran off to the medic den. I followed behind her with Lupin and Shadow, anxious to know if we had managed to give him enough time for her to save him. We weren't allowed in the medic den, according to Lara, because Newleaf needed space to do her work.

"You did well though, you guys." praised Lara, hobbling over to come sit with us. "I'm surprised that you managed to stop him from dying for so long, Demi - even I didn't think of turning him on his back to lessen the blood flow into his throat and leg. That was smart of you; I was pretty sure we were going to lose him. You might have given him a shot at life again."

I smiled proudly; the secret reason why I had wanted to save the male pup was because of what had happened to my siblings while my eyes were still shut...when Layla had saved me from the same fate. I wondered about becoming the next White Wolf; but I would have to be known as the Silver Wolf because my pelt was silver.  Maybe that was why the Pack was struggling to find prey; did Layla used to help the Pack with food when the times got hard? If that was the case, then the Pack was definitely in trouble - Layla was dead and that meant the food assistance was dead too. Or was it? Suddenly, Newleaf came out of the medic den with the little male pup beside her - he was alive and walking already! He had a leaf wrapped round his neck, like Greenleaf had, and a leaf wound his leg, which he held off the ground. Newleaf came over to us.

"Well done, you three," she thanked, looking at me, Lupin and Shadow. Lara was looking pleased too but I could she that she was also slightly ashamed. Tipping a wolf on their back to stop the blood flow into the life threatening wounds is one of the most basic procedures in healing. But Lara's panic had been understandable; the fight had clearly been unexpected for everyone.

"Because of your quick thinking," continued Newleaf. "I was able to get to him in time - had you not got me I must say that he may have died. Who was the one that put the leaves on his wounds? You, Whisper? Well, that was a life saving move. He would like to thank you himself, but he must stay in the medic quarters until he is healthy - he lost a lot of blood."

The little male pup walked forward awkwardly and I saw Lupin look away. I understood why. He was a grey one; he had a black streak on his muzzle, and the tip of his tail was black. I bent my head as he nuzzled into my chest fur in a way of thanks, to look at him. I told him that when I didn't have a hunting shift, I would go see how he was doing. He wagged his little tail at that, then was led away by Newleaf back into the medic den.

Suddenly, this made me think about the dire situation that the Pack was in - if the middle ranks were willing to fight and not stop already, even when there were pups around, then that meant that everyone was starting to go hunger-mad. Without prey in the pile, the adult wolves were taking this to the next level. It was only the beginning of winter! We needed to get the elk back - and soon!