She Runs with Wolves

She roused on the frozen damp ground of the burrow she has been sleeping since she was a child. Grabbing a fist full of fur and muzzling her face into, trying to warm up a little, winter was always rough. The wolf grunted as it stood up and out of her grasp, shaking itself as if it were wet. The girl growled at the wolf, making it huff at her, the she-wolf wasn’t going to put up with her nonsense today. The wolf padded to the opening of the burrow and called out to her pack, the girl behind her matched her call.

Lupa was the alpha of the Wolves of Ashta, known man-eaters. How they had ended up caring for the girl instead of eating her no one would ever completely understand. And perhaps Lupa might still. It is possible she was waiting for the girl to get nice and fat and devour her when times became challenging. She called out for the wolves again and counted the calls back, all five of her small pack were still present, including her cubs. She trotted up to her pack and greeted them accordingly, the girl trailed closely behind her.

The other adults weren’t as tolerable of her as Lupa, Geri, and Freki still growl at her occasionally, and if she ever were to be with them by herself they probably wouldn’t hesitate to consume her. Asena, the sub-adult female wolf genuinely approved of her, however. And the cubs Skoll and Warg were also fond of her. The alpha nipped the scruff of her mate and his brother and decided to take them out for a hunt. She signaled to move forward and tucked the cubs in the burrow, looking at the girl to stay behind and defend them. She likely shouldn’t see this hunt anyways. It was Asena’s first hunt and they were going to track what they were infamous for eating.

The girl sat in the burrow with the cubs and played with the cubs, nibbling their ears and wrestling with them. She laughed and growled at them; they were still goofy and innocent, not yet tasting the forbidden fruit of the mortal flesh. The girl has, and if she had been anything but wild she would have a problem with it. However, her humanity has been long gone. She growled playfully at the cubs again and was met with their playful return.

Before long it grew dark, and she and the cubs sat outside of the burrow, waiting for Lupa and the pack to return with some food for them. Supposing the girl demonstrated any concept of time then she would wonder when the last instance when she had eaten was, or if she barely harbored coherent thoughts. Her stomach gurgled again, signaling her that it had been a long time since she had her last meal.

Not long after they heard the familiar padding of paws hitting the ground and a soft yip. Panic rushed through the girl, that wasn’t the yelp of Lupa or Asena. It was the eager yip of Freki. The hunt had been a success, and he was sent to deliver a meal to the cubs. The girl could merely assume she would be his consolation prize, a meal for him waiting with the cubs.

His yips grew closer, the padding now just outside the den. She tucked herself deeper into the burrow, it was a weak defense and presumably would be her downfall. She curled into a tight ball and went still, the padding now inside the burrow. The cubs’ happy yips and the dark guttural growl fixing her fate. The growl continued growing nearer, and the happy yips into puzzled whimpers, she matched the confused whines with submissive scared ones.

Freki had approached her slowly, closing in on his prey. When he got close, he shoved his nose into her side; she yipped in surprise earning a growl from him. She fastened her eyes tight and wished to be somewhere else. His growls ceased as soon as he heard the rest of the pack call out to him. He called back and prepared to make quick work of slaughtering the girl.

Before he could get a bite in he was met with the dark and aggressive growl from Asena. Freki didn’t appreciate the subordinate sticking her nose in his business and turned his bared teeth towards her. She hesitated and backed up slightly before meeting his aggressive stance. The girl knew what was about to happen; Freki has done it before. He was going to force the young adult in her place. The girl gathered courage from an unknown place and collected a rock. She launched it as hard as she could and hit Freki in the back of the head. When he turned back to her, he growled and started advancing again.

She screamed as loud and long as she can, but not out of fear. She was outraged. Freki flinched and backed away slightly, she took an additional step towards him and screamed again. She collected another rock and chucked it at him, once again connect. She was about to provide another when the familiar rumble of Lupa’s growl met her ears. latched onto her arm and bit down just hard enough to draw blood, wasn’t going to kill her today, merely prevent her from continuing to hurt.

Freki huffed, he couldn’t achieve anything with Lupa here to protect the girl, but the girl had been punished. Not him. That’s what he thought because soon Lupa was tearing into him. He too was bleeding, but it was significantly more than the girl. He scurried off whimpering, the girl ran to Lupa and latched herself around her. Earning a half-hearted growl, Lupa cared more than she would have the rest believe.