Great Wolf Children Book one: New Beginnings

Chapter Twenty-two: Isolde

Raven's vision swirled.
"A- Awan?"
He stood with his back towards her, snarling. 
A wolf stepped into view, his ear dripping blood from a recent wound. The wolf was huge, maybe even bigger than Cypress. He was covered in scars, and most of his fur was missing, either from mange or from fights.
The wolf took a step forwards and tilted his head, smiling mischievously. He tried to sniff under Awan's chin, but he snapped at his nose. The stranger reeled back and chuckled, "Ah. So, it is you. It's been a while, friend."
"Leave us alone." Awan snapped.
Raven dizzily lifted her head from the snow and saw more wolves surrounding them.  All of their eyes trained on Awan. 
"Oh, come on now, Awan. We were just having fun with your little friend here." 

How many others are here, Raven thought, Five? Six?  They all reeked of blood and infection. Some had torn off ears, others bore scars down their faces, their stomachs swollen with malnutrition. These wolves breathed sickness and wickedness.

"Leave us alone, Isolde," Awan growled.
Does he know them? Raven wondered while she tried to get up.
"Oh come now, Awan. Look at your packmates. They are sick and tired. Don't you want to help them?" The wolf, Isolde, snickered. 
"You are not my pack, you never were. Enzo was a wise alpha, his only mistake was choosing you as his heir."
Raven sensed the pack's angry, Awan had struck a chord. The wolves stepped forward, one knocking Raven back down.
 Isolde snarled at the others,  whimpering they backed off.
 The message was clear - this was his fight.
"You should have died with the others, Awan."
Raven didn't see who attacked first. 
They both went sprawling into the snow. Snapping and snarling they rolled towards the circle of wolves.
The wolves parted way, excitedly barking, goading on the fight. 
Raven tried to stand but one of the wolves lashed out and knocked her back down.

Raven watched in horror as Isolde tore down on Awan. He tried to get away but Isolde clamped his jaws under his chin and shook him viciously.
Then, Isolde was ripped away from Awan.
Cypress barreled into the leader, he grabbed the top of Isolde's head and pinned him down.
At first, the pack froze, staring in shock as their alpha was so easily overtaken.
"Fools!" Isolde shrieked, "Kill him!"
"No!" Raven cried as the wolves piled on. 

Awan pulled himself up out of the snow and ran over to Raven.
He started nosing her up but she shook her head. 
"Raven, you have to get out of here." 
 "No." she pushed Awan away and pulled her paws underneath her. "No, not without him."
  
With her last bit of energy, she rose to her paws as a red blur dove into the fight.
"Miska!" Raven howled as she disappeared into the mass of teeth and claws.

Awan let Raven fall as he turned and hurled himself after her sister. 
Fawna appeared at some point, tearing into one of the wolves with the furiousness of a mother.

Raven laid helpless in the snow. She kept trying to climb to her paws but her legs refused.
She shivered in the cold.

The others drew the pack away from Cypress and Isolde. 
Fawna, Miska, and Awan fought the other six wolves. They were outnumbered, two to one.
Fawna managed to catch one-off guard as it leaped for Miska. She snagged it around the throat.
Digging her teeth in like it was prey, the wolf's face went slack and it fell into the snow.

In anger for their dead companion, the wolves targeted Fawna's greatest weakness -  Miska. 
It took two wolves to hold her down as another two pulled Miska, screaming, out of sight.
Awan tried to step in but the biggest of the five stepped between them.

Cypress and Isolde fought furiously. Cypress had caught him off guard at first, then Isolde had the strength of his pack, but now they were evenly matched.
They reared up on their back legs, snapped at each others' necks and eyes, and scratched each other's soft bellies.
It was only when Cypress heard Fawna calling for Miska when he threw Isolde on his back and pinned him down.
Cypress drove Isolde into the snow and tore at his sensitive ears. 
Isolde tried to buck Cypress off, but he was simply too heavy and Isolde was weak and light from hunger. Isolde couldn't get his legs under him and he couldn't turn his head to bite, he was helpless as his pack fought the others.
Isolde let out the first whine, the first sign of submission, and Cypress gave him one last beating before letting him up.
Isolde glared at Cypress before deciding it was best not to keep fighting.

Isolde called his followers to his side and one by one they peeled away from the battle.
He gave Cypress one last scowl before turning and running for the hills, leaving their dead packmate behind.

Cypress turned to Fawna who laid collapsed in the snow. "Where's Miska," he demanded. 
"Over here!" Awan shouted from behind a bush. "She's not looking good."

Raven managed to crawl over to Fawna and sniffed her over for injuries. 
Raven shook with anger as she ran her tongue over Fawna's forehead.
"It's okay." She told Fawna. "Awan can fix her."
Cypress pulled Miska out from under the bush; Fawna immediately started to sob.
Raven didn't see the problem at first, but the truth was Miska had gotten the worst of the fight.
Blood ran down from where her ears should have been, half of her face was covered in wounds, so she was barely recognizable.
When Cypress laid her down next to Fawna, Raven could see that the bottom of her tail and been broken in half and twisted off.
 
"Oh, Miska," Raven whispered. 
"We have to get her to my territory so I can take care of her," Awan announced, "Cypress, I'll help you get her on your back so you can carry her, you can't drag her the whole way.  Fawna... you just worry about getting yourself there. Raven, I'll help you walk."

Cypress laid down so Awan could drag Miska across his shoulders. Cypress' legs shook as he struggled to stand, but once he got to his paws he seemed strong enough to carry her.

"Come on, Raven." Awan murmured and lifted her up by placing his head under her chest.
"She'll be fine won't she?" Raven questioned as she staggered across the freezing creek behind Fawna.
"She's bleeding a lot, Raven. Miska is strong but... I can't always assure recovery. What I can guarantee is that I'll try my best and trust that Miska does too."

The trek was long and hard. They left a long trail of blood as they went, Raven prayed that Isolde wouldn't come back, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Part of her wished Cypress hadn't let him go, part of her wished he had killed him right then and there. One thing was for certain, she wasn't going to let this go unpunished.