Raven laid next to Miska on the hard-packed dirt underneath the roots of the great oak tree.
Fawna had practically uprooted the poor tree to create the perfect den for the two of them.
"It's not home but it'll work until it's safe to go back," She hissed at Miska as she lifted her back paw to scratch at her scabby ears again. "Miska! It won't heal if you keep irritating it!"
"If it'll ever be safe to go back, you mean," Miska muttered, "we don't know if those wolves ever plan on leaving. Maybe we'll have to stay with Awan forever."
Raven growled and ripped up a pokey root from under her chest, "We will get our home back, Miska and those wolves won't be leaving alive, either."
Cypress pricked his ears at Raven and glared at her in disapproval.
"Now, now." Awan tsked as he waddled over, dragging a long branch behind him, "I can promise you, Miska, you are absolutely not staying with me forever." He dropped the branch and dropped his voice to a dull whisper, "I can't get a wink of sleep with Cypress's snoring and there's no way I'm dealing with that the rest of my life."
Raven looked at her father and laughed, He sighed and plopped over lazily into the snow. Miska rolled her eyes; huffing as she laid her head down on her paws.
Even the slight chuckle sent Raven into another coughing fit, hacking and wheezing.
Fawna licked nervously around Raven's runny eyes and nose while Awan quietly turned around to go fetch her some herbs.
Fawna tugged the elk skins back up Raven's back as they slipped down from her shaking body "Oh, Lupus," she whined, "Look at the shape of us."
"It could be worse," Awan hummed as he dropped the minty herbs onto Raven's paws, "At least those mutts didn't give you their mange."
Fawna gasped at the thought, "Oh Raven, imagine if you'd lost all your beautiful fur." Her eyes filled with horror as she ran her nose through her thick black fur.
Awan's shoulders sunk. "That's not what I had in mind...in this weather, without fur, a wolf is liable to freeze to death."
"Right." Fawna looked at her paws in shame, "Of course."
"Mother," Miska grumbled, "Leave us alone. Awan says we need to rest."
Fawna looked unmoved by her daughter's words. Miska had been lashing out at her a lot lately, she'd grown to ignore it.
Raven shifted under the pelts and groaned. "I can't wait until Spring, so I can track those mutts down and make them pay for this."
Paw steps crunched the snow around the path leading to the clearing.
All ears shot up as a stranger, bleeding and heavily injured, stepped forwards.
He grimaced in pain and looked up at the group.
"Trust me. I already have."
End of book one
YOU ARE READING
Great Wolf Children Book one: New Beginnings
General FictionRaven was never fond of Fawna and her father being together, but she held no grudge against her younger half-sister when she was born. She'd do anything to protect her, but the wilderness doesn't discriminate on who lives and dies.
