Children of the Moon

Chapter 3 - Searching for recruits

---Altaïr ’s POV---

We arrived at the River-wood pack well on time; the sun was still high in the clear sky, holding the promise of a good night of hunting. I led the way towards the pack, gingerly crossing their territory while I sniffed at their scent marks.

“Do you think that we’ll have more recruits, Altaïr?”

I looked over my shoulder at the younger, silver wolf that bounded behind me. His sibling ran towards us, sniffing the air of their possibly new pack, if we would have troubles with Zuko.

A sigh escaped my lips, the breath becoming visible in the nippy air before it was blown apart by the wind. “Perhaps, Collins had a suspicion. You know that’s why he advised you and your brother to come with us, Connor.” I replied, which caused an understanding gleam in the silvery eyes before he redirected his gaze at the sun.

“It’s time.” His sibling replied, wagging his tail with renewed vigor. I chuckled slightly at the two yearlings that were left under my care. By the next year, they would be honorable Watchers. Or, they would live here until Zuko had gained more pack members, if a cub was chosen.

I nodded and walked down the trail that leads towards the den. Soon enough, the forest made way to a clearing and the pack that was resting on it. All heads shot up towards us while I made my way through the thick bushes at the edge. The yearlings stayed in the forest, like I ordered them too; they wouldn’t be attacked because they carried my scent.

My ears perked up at a low growl and I looked up at the alpha of this pack, Zuko. I answered his growl with one of my own when he kept glaring at me. He raised his muzzle in the air and sniffed, nodding when he caught my scent.

All packs knew the scent of the Watchers; we had to cross several territories to search for new recruits. It was for the best if the packs knew our different scents. I nodded at the rest of the pack and backed off in the cover of the trees while Zuko walked towards the den.

“How many pups are there?”

I looked up at the two yearlings, which had stalked towards me. The sound of a young yelp made us look up while I smiled softly, “According to the elders, three. Two males and a female.” The twins started wagging their tails when the mother of the pups came above ground and I couldn’t resist to chuckle.

A small, dark brown wolf made it’s way up and looked around. “Where are the other two?” Cole whined while Connor couldn’t take his eyes of the den. Suddenly, the two other pups slowly made their way out of the den. What amazed me most was the fact that it was one completely white and one completely black wolf pup.

The two pups stayed side by side, slowly taking the whole clearing in. Cole and Connor wriggled around on the spot, feeling anxious to meet the pups. I noticed that Connor was keeping a close eye on the white pup. It was a very rare color, since Artic wolves had a yellow/white-ish fur.

“Amazing.” Cole breathed while Connor sniffed the air. “I’ve never seen another black wolf, except for you Altaïr. Now we have a black and a white one. And that pup hasn’t got a greyish tint in her fur, not counting her muzzle.”

I made an approving sound from the back of my throat while I looked at the very rare white wolf. As if the pup heard me, she turned her head and looked directly at the place where we were hiding. The pup turned around to whisper something to her shaking sibling, which calmed down at her words.

Zuko came down to greet the pups, moving towards the brown one first. Both Cole and Conner shook their heads at the stance of the pup before it was tackled to the ground by his growling father.