Swiftkill-journey of the pack

Chapter 5 - part 2/2

After walking all day and all night Swiftkill was again tired. Her body needed more rest now she was with cubs. She looked around for shelter. Her leg hurt and she wasn't covering the usual amount of ground as normal. She sniffed the air and froze. The familiar smell of smoke tinted it. Swiftkill's eyes widened, she would not be able to outrun a man in her condition. What should she do? She looked around to see which way the smoke was coming from. Through the forest she could see a dull light. Every sense in her body told her she should turn and walk away but Swiftkill was also curious and needed to see where the men were.

She quietly crept quietly, stopping regularly to check around her. The light was attached to a small building, a wooden shack in the middle on the forest. Smoke rose from a small chimney. There was a distinct smell of rabbit in the air, but it was different to how she remembered. Suddenly door opened and a person came out. They collected water from a barrel outside and then headed back to the doorway. Swiftkill stepped forward sniffing the smell and trying to see inside the building, but she didn't see the twigs and the cracking sound made the person drop the water and turn suddenly. Swiftkill frozen again. The person slowly stepped forward, peering into the darkness. "Who's there?" Called a soft voice. Swiftkill didn't move "I'm not frightened" said the voice a little more firmly "Come out". Swiftkill couldn't hold her stance anymore, her leg hurt and she was tired. The stress of losing Troy and fighting the bear had taken it's toll. Her eyes rolled and she fell to the ground. The person walked slowly across to her. They crouched down and held out a hand in front of Swiftkill's nose. Swiftkill tried to growl a warning but something about this figure was different. As she tried to stare through her tired eyes, Swiftkill realised, this person was a female.