Great Wolf Children Book one: New Beginnings

Chapter Twelve: A Proposition

Raven's paw crunched in the frozen blades of grass. It was getting cooler as the weeks passed but for now, it would only last until mid-day when the sun was at its highest and its warmest. She dreaded the coming days of frozen fur and dens buried under feet of snow. At least hunting would be easier, the elk sink up to their chests in the deepest parts of the snow.
Raven's ears twitched excitedly. She and Awan had howled back and forth all the night before; he'd asked her to come and visit. 
He probably doesn't want to spend the winter alone, She thought as she wobbled on a loose stone in the creek.
Winter wouldn't be so bad if he were to be there with me. She grinned at the idea and shook the cold water off her pelt.
Raven tilted her nose into the air and howled again, then listened for Awan's response.
Her ears flickered around trying to pinpoint the sound before bolting off towards his territory.
He was easy to find once she got into his domain. Usually, wolves kept scent marking away from the den, not wanting to be found, only marking to warn others away. Awan was different though.
His job made it so he needed to be found, healing others in exchange for meals and protection from those packs.
Awan's scent wasn't the only one, scents new and old were scattered around the territory.
Some were followed by blood trails, others stung with sickness and disease.
Raven's dropped her head shyly as an elderly wolf limped out of the wooded area his mouth full of herbs, he grunted as he passed by. 
Raven sniffed around were the elder had come from, he must have just come back from seeing Awan. Branches broke away from the dense forest of trees to reveal a worn path, Raven padded down it, anxious to find Awan.
At the end of the path, the trees cleared away into a brightly lit dell. Wolves huddled under a tree, muttering to each other and counseling a crying female.
"Raven!"
Raven jumped and whirled around to see Awan standing in the shade of a large boulder. She sighed relief and ran over to him. 
 "Finally, I found you. Who are all these wolves? You're not always this busy are you?" Raven questioned frantically glancing at all the clusters of wolves.
Awan smiled, "Its nice to see you too Raven." He poked his nose into her fur to get her attention off the others.
"They're a pack," he explained with a slight frown, "That's their alpha. He was challenged by an outsider, a younger male. He fought him off, but...he got injured pretty bad. I'm not sure if he'll make it."
Raven guiltily turned her gaze away from the crying female. "That's awful."
"I did my best for him, all we can do now is wait and hope he pulls through." 
"So..." Raven nudged Awan, "What did you call me over here for anyway?"
Awan smiled, "To make a proposition."
Raven raised an eyebrow, "A proposition?"
"Well winter is coming up and all the herbs will be frozen over, but wolves are still going to get sick. I need to stock up before that happens. I was wondering if you'd stay here and help me."
"Stay here? For how long?"
"Until the first big snow. Longer if you want too," he added shyly.
"I'd love to stay and help you, but what about my family?"
"They'll be fine, Raven. Miska is older now, and you can go visit when you need too. If you are really worried, I can just ask someone else. Besides, how long do you plan on staying with your father?"
Raven sighed in annoyment, "I don't know, Awan."
"Think about it, meanwhile I have a pup with rabbit fever that needs tending to." 
Raven sat there thinking. This is what she wanted, wasn't it to stay with Awan? She supposed she didn't think about having to choose between him and her family, but it wasn't forever. She huffed and looked around for Awan. The group by the tree had dispersed, all that was left was the female and the injured alpha, who was covered in bloodied elk pelts. She must be his mate,  she thought. Knowing it was disrespectful to watch them, she stood and walked off to find Awan.
She found him tending to a young pup as he said he would. 
He perked his head up when he saw her, "Oh hi, Raven. This is Rocky." 
Raven nodded at the pup, "Hello, Rocky. Are you sick?"
The pup nodded pitifully and coughed for demonstration.
"His mother has gone out to get his lunch, and he refuses to take his herbs without her." Awan nodded to the pile of plants.
"Rocky, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Raven asked.
The pup nodded.
"Well...I'm sure you miss them, and you want to go home and play with them, don't you? So you need to eat these herbs, so you can get better and then you can go see them."
Awan smiled at Raven thankfully as the pup slowly started to swallow down the herbs.
"See Raven," Awan spoke as turned to leave the pup alone with his mother, "You should stay, your good help."
Raven chuckled, "I guess so."
"So you'll stay."
"Yes, Awan, I'll stay."
"Oh!" Awan jumped, "I almost forgot!"
He ran off towards the boulder and grabbed something.
"Here, as I promised." he dropped a brown withered stem onto the grass. "Not as pretty as when you gave it to me but..."
Raven shook her head and laughed, "You kept that thing? This whole time?"
Awan puffed out his chest in mock pride, "I promised didn't I?"
Raven shoved him away playfully, "I'm going to go tell the others that I'm staying here. I'll be back at dusk."
Awan wagged his tail, "I'll have a sleeping spot ready for you."