A Lone Howl

Part one: Howl in the Night

Chapter one

KEEP YOUR BREATH steady. That’s what Beta says. That’s the key.

Journey slunk through the sweeping, long grass silently, ducking behind large clumps time and time again. Through the bowing stalks of prairie grass, she could see an occasional flash of dark gray fur. She directed her gaze away from watching her fellow wolf through the grass, focusing all of her attention to what lay before her; a herd of mighty elk, all of them blissfully unaware of the wolf pack that was closing in around them.

Journey had been selected to lead the attack on the elk alongside Pebble, a silver male, Quickfish, a dark brown male with pale brown paws, and Alpha himself. The four of them slunk through the grass, headed towards the front of the herd, where the largest of the elk stood. He had a huge rack of antlers, fifteen points in all. He had rippling golden-brown fur that shone in the afternoon sun, ears that swiveled suspiciously at any sound of movement, and a short, stubbly tail that swished across his rump. As he trotted slowly around the meadow that his herd rested in, he lifted his dark, sharp hooves above the grass, pointed ends visible. The sight of the vicious hooves made Journey flinch; when she had been simply a young pup, her mother had been kicked, and crippled in the hind leg. She walked with a constant limp afterward, and would never be able to run her full elegant speed again.

Alpha swished his pale gray tail, the signal for stop. Immediately Journey halted, keeping her belly brushing the ground. Any sudden movement could scare away their prey.

And then suddenly, with a sharp bark, Alpha burst from the grass, running at the herd, straight towards the powerful buck. Journey flung herself after him, extending her stride so she ran along right behind him. The younger wolves, Pebble and Quickfish, hurried after them, snarling in excitement and struggling to stay directly behind Alpha. The elk brayed, stomping one hoof and turning. The rest of the herd was up in an instant, turning and beginning their rhythmic gallop for safety, hooves thudding heavily over the ground as they fled, youngest of them falling into the center of their group. They’re smart, she thought. We’re smarter.

Without long of giving chase, a trio of wolves burst from out of hiding to the left, driving the elk in the other direction. The male was dark gray with light gray flecks, the younger one with a soft face was black with a white tail-tip, and the oldest male was reddish brown with black ears. Goose, Sky, and Huckleberry, Journey thought, watching the trio as they steered the elk in the other direction, forcing them into a sharp turn so they didn’t run right into Alpha and the others. All of them are great hunters. But they weren’t picked for running with Alpha. I was.

Only a few heartbeats passed before another tree-bark-brown wolf, the Omega, emerged from behind a boulder on the right of them. The elk spun again, staggering, tripping over themselves for a moment, before finally finding an opening, not realizing the wolves were purposely letting them pass. The herd scrambled up a hill, hooves slipping on loose stones as they tried to continue their race away from the pack.

Alpha continued his chase, driving the herd straight over the lip of the hill, and right into three young black-and-brown wolves who were waiting. Crevice, Poplar, and Ash, she thought, pressing herself to run faster until she was shoulder-to-shoulder with Alpha. And there was their target; a younger elk, who had tripped on a rock on their way up the hill. He had scraped his knee and was stumbling as the herd turned, running along the top of the hill in a desperate attempt to escape the wolves. Crevice and Ash charged straight into the center of the herd, splitting most of them away from the struggling young elk. Goose, Sky, and Huckleberry closed in on the smaller group of elk, letting the rest flee. They cut the injured elk off, forcing him downhill, towards Journey and the others.

As the young elk fled down the hill he tripped, dropping onto his side as his injured leg buckled. He rolled twice before struggling to his feet again, nostrils flaring and eyes rolling back into his head further in terror. And that’s when Alpha struck.