• Blood Fang


    Prologue

    It was twilight on a chilly winter’s night; no sign of the sun lingered far west. A few stars glittered across the navy blue sky, providing the only light on the night of the new moon. Wind moaned through the trees, rattling their branches menacingly. Shadows danced below in rhythm, playing their part in nature’s display. The snow sparkled faintly with hues of blue and silver, occasionally gold.

    A soft howl rings out across the forest, followed by a few others, and then twelve shadowy wolf figures gracefully prance into the dark meadow. Most of their colors were brown or black, maybe grey, but only one shown white. The group danced about each other, crooning, howling, and licking muzzles. The white wolf watched as each one of the rein came to her, paying there due respects before going off again to greet someone else. She sniffed; some of her pack wasn’t present. Her gaze drifted to a silver wolf near the edge of the woods, which was simply standing there, not moving to join them. The white she- wolf’s eyes narrowed and her head jerked upward, her tail rising in display of leadership. After a moment’s hesitation, the silver wolf moved forward, head slightly rose as well. Upon approach, the silver wolf dipped its head. “Leader Lily,” came her soft voice, blinking her icy blue eyes. The pack grew slightly still, only some shuffling occurred. Lily nodded, lowering her tail slightly.

    “Fang,” she returned, receiving another nod from the other she-wolf. Fang stepped forward, her eyes shifting from the other wolves back to Lily. “It has come to my attention, sister, that you aren’t leading your pack well,” she began, not flinching at the least when her white sibling growled loudly. “With,” she continued, ”the fact that you choose to prance about like pups at this hour when the elk herd is on the move, a perfect time to hunt, and that you do not do things yourself.” Lily parted her mouth, about to protest but Fang cut her off, ignoring the murmurs from the pack. “For instance, the time you sent a foolish pup to message me and the hunting party to return. By the way, cost Tremble his paw!” Her head motioned gently to a black wolf, which dragged his left fore-paw that had also appeared out of the trees, ears pricked but eyes hard. Lily stared after him for a moment, eyes wide, before she looked over to meet the fierce gaze of her sister.

    “But---,” she began, shaking her head.

    Fang took another step forward, raising her head and tail high. “Step down, Lily,” she hissed, flashing her ivory set of teeth.
    Shocked, the white wolf flattened her ears and lowered her head a little, getting growls and snarls from the gathered wolves. She then looked up into Fang’s glare, baring her teeth in return. “Never,” was her reply. With a snarl of defiance, the silver female locked her teeth around Lily’s ear, making her cry out in surprise. A few wolves dashed forward with their fur bristling, but Fang was already dashing away towards the forest where she met with Tremble and a few other wolves and faded into the dark forest.

    Lily whimpered, blood steadily oozing from the bite mark on her ear. Her gaze swept around her pack, meeting each one of their eyes. She straightened up and pricked her ears, nodding. “All is well,” she crooned, padding down to her pack and leading them off into the opposite end of the forest where the rebellion disappeared.


    [1]
    Fang

    It was early dawn when Fang awoke. She was laying in a makeshift den with a couple of other wolves, knit tight together to keep warm over the frigid winter night. She blinked a few times and sleepily raised her head to gaze out at the faint glow of the rising sun. The birds that had remained behind for the winter sang as they fluttered tree-to-tree, shaking chunks of snow plummeting to the ground.