The Valley Pack

Ch. 3

 Night trotted down the small slope. A few rocks were planted in the ground. He spotted Strike on one of them. Eagle padded over to Strike and rested on the ground, watching Night and Strike. Then Runner burst out of the den. He howled with excitement and sprinted around the rock and Night then Eagle. Eagle laughed and her eyes shone warmly. Strike watched from the rock as Runner ran around it. She crouched. Her eyes followed his every movement as he scampered around her. Then she pounced. Runner was pushed to the ground and they rolled for a while on the soft grass. Then Night joined in. He bounded in and bit into Strike's tail. She snapped angrily and sprang onto Night. He collapsed with her weight and she nipped his ear angrily. Runner pounced into Strike, making her sprawl and they started to roll about, wrestling. Night shook himself and returned to Eagle. Sky had wandered down the small slope and joined him. They both watched their siblings as they fought. Then a sharp scent came to Night's nose. It was a scent he recognised yet didn't. A big dark grey wold appeared. He had a long scar down his face and a fang poked out of his mouth. He rippled with muscle underneath his thick fur.

            "This is Fang," smiled Eagle. Fang nodded to night and Sky. "He is second in command of the pack." Night tilted his head.

           "What do you mean?" he asked. Sky looked equally confused. Fang spotted Runner and Strike and smiled, that was something he knew. He joined them, pushing them to the ground and letting them bite into his tail.

           "We are a pack. The Valley Pack," explained Eagle.

           "I've never seen Fang," frowned Sky.

          "That's because he lives in another den," explained Eagle. "Just like Red. Although Red used to be in the same den as me. But when you guys came, there wasn't enough room."

           "But there are other big wolves like him?" gasped Night.

           "Of course," smiled Eagle. "You'll meet them soon. The important hunters and protectors of our pack are Jaw, Daisy, Bone, Snap and Snow. The hunters are River, Storm, Point and Dark."

           "That's a lot of names," frowned Night.

            "You'll meet them later," promised Eagle.

             "Who else are there?" asked Sky.

              "Well, there is also Tail, Thunder and Tooth," said Eagle.

              "What do they do?" asked Night.

              "Well, they don't really have a specific job at the moment but they do help to hunt at times but mostly, they guard our camp for any dangers, like bears," explained Eagle.

              "Bears?" repeated Sky. "What are those?"

              "They're big animals. They eat the same food we do and they eat us too. They're much bigger than us but they are usually alone and we are always together. They're brown and have lots of fur," explained Eagle.

               "But we are stronger, right?" Sky said.

              "Of course, young one," smiled Eagle. Then another wolf appeared although he didn't look like a wolf. Night frowned. One of the newcomer's ear was folded and the other pointed. He was smaller than Red, Eagle or Fang and he was white with a few black spots. He didn't look like any wolf Night had seen.

              "Who's that?" Night frowned. "He's not a wolf!"

             "No," Eagle said with a shrug. She brought her pups closer. "He's a halfbreed."

             "What's that?" asked Sky.

             "Half dog half wolf," said Eagle. The half dog half wolf approached nervously.

             "What do you want?" snapped Eagle. Although the half dog and half wolf was part of the pack, he didn't have a specific role and he was not respected because no wolf could respect a halfbreed.

             "I was er, wondering if I could go out to hunt..., alone?" said the halfbreed nervously.

             "Then go, but I want the food you hunt," snapped Eagle.

             "But...," protested the halfbreed.

              "But what?" growled Eagle.

             "I haven't eaten much and I'm really hungry," he said.

             "Too bad," shrugged Eagle. She then flicked her tail and the halfbreed backed off and disappeared. Night and Sky gave each other questioning looks. "Come on, it's time to go back to the den."