The Moon Wolf

Chapter 11 (1st Draft)

Cassidy laughed and for the first time since that horrible day six weeks ago she actually felt hopeful. Codax had killed everyone she knew and loved, taken her very mother from her, and destroyed the pack, but Penn had saved them - saved Griffin's legacy.

The Griffin pack would now always live on in Cassidy, her brother, and the other 16 pups Penn had rescued. It was a miracle and Cassidy owed it all to Penn - they all did. She squeezed the older woman more tightly and had to wipe a few tears from her eyes. 

Cassidy was relieved that this was not the end of their journey with Penn. Part of her never wanted to let the older woman go. In a way, Penn had become as close to her and the other pups as the families they could only cherish in memories now. The thought of being parted from her was too awful to even think about.

Jackson suddenly appeared at their side and quietly removed Cassidy from Penn. Penn gave him a grateful smile. She was still unaccustomed to Cassidy's penchant for long, enthusiastic and often tearful hugs. Cassidy blushed the moment she realized she might have over did it, but Jackson squeezed her hand in a comforting way and gave her a warm smile to ease her mind. Penn smiled too. Cassidy's demonstrative hugs were quickly becoming her trademark and Penn thought it was very endearing.

Their attention was drawn back to Beta Lucas as he announced that the children would all need to be registered before they moved on. He explained that if the children were put into the system now, the administrative staff back at the pack office could get a head start on making permanent housing arrangements for the pups. He then related to all the pups that it would still be a few weeks before they could be placed in their new families.  Therefore, the sooner they got started on the paperwork the better.

Beta Lucas instructed the pups to come forward and line up according to rank and age. The children looked to Penn and she gave a little nod. They immediately fell into order. Beta Lucas did not miss that little interaction. Until they were officially accepted into the pack, it seemed the rogue would continue to be their Alpha. He was not offended. It was sort of cute.

For the next hour they were occupied with giving basic information to the clerical wolf Austin and his assistant Gregor. Afterwards, each pup submitted to a brief physical examination by the pack doctor, Reagan, and her assistant Rowan.

Penn watched closely. She was a little amazed by the technology. Things had changed considerably since she'd been exiled to the wilds. Cell phones were used now to collect all kinds of data and to send data as well. These simple devices were like mini computers and Penn was startled to see what the admin and health teams could accomplish with the little touch-screens. 

It turned out that Austin could even determine if some of the pups present had distant relatives in the pack right on his phone. Austin assured them that the pack would do their best to settle the pups with the appropriate guardians and hopefully introduce them to some of these distant relatives if everything went well.

There was no promise that the pups would live with their respective relatives. Their living arrangements would ultimately be determined by their rank, age and gender, which was not foreign to them or unwelcome. They understood, all except the littlest ones, how wolf-society worked. It had been droned into them since early childhood that every wolf had her place in the pack and that a well ordered pack was a healthy and vibrant pack. So, they were only too pleased to oblige the administrative staff.