Wolves and Men

He was joined by the rest of the pack and their song echoed long and loudly through his valley. Every wolf of the pack gave their support except the old grey. He looked down at the animal and the grey stood there. He let his gaze harden and the old grey did what it had never had to do in its life, it bowed its head and put its snout into the dirt, acknowledging its new alpha.

Now, the old grey waited a respectful distance away waiting to see if the alpha would share any of the kill. He smiled at his family and turned his attention to the coyotes. He bared his teeth and issued a challenge to them. They retreated to the safety of the trees and he shoved the rest of the unfinished carcass to his pack. As the wolves finished what remained of the deer, he turned toward the intruders and raising himself to his full height growled again. The coyotes looked up at the wolves’ alpha with wide, fear-stricken eyes and without a sound they disappeared back into the woods.

He turned to his pack and jumped down from his rock. The old grey had his snout deep inside the skeleton of the deer, but it knew when he was close. The old grey pulled its head out from the skeleton and lowered its head to the ground in respect.

William trotted back into the trees. He knew that the wolves looked at him as their alpha and he was always troubled by that thought. Had the wolves of his valley come to depend on him? He was still human most of the time after all and what if one day he had to leave? He wasn’t planning on leaving, ever. But old human habits die hard, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that things were not always going to be as they are now.

He pushed the thought away and dropped down onto all fours as his pack once again approached him. He glanced behind him and saw the wolves nuzzle the ground and look around their surroundings. This was the best part of the night and he leapt forward. The wolves were only a split second behind him and as he raced downhill with his pack. This was true happiness.

He tore over the ground running fast. He dodged trees as he half ran half leapt down the hillside. The rest of his pack moved with him and flowed through the trees like a wave of sea water. He made a sharp, sudden turn to the left and the rest of the pack flowed behind him like a great mass moving over the land. He slowed his pace and snipped at the hind quarters of a young male running beside him. The black male kicked out and away from the bite and snapped back at him. He was quicker and kicked out to meet the nose of the young black. It stumbled for a moment but regained its balance, slowing to let him pass, the black conceding to the defeat. He glanced back at the black and watched as a smaller female raced up from behind the embarrassed male and she bit him in the tail. It yelped and spun around facing its tormentor but the female, who was also a beautiful black with a white starburst on her chest, leapt up and over the male and landed lower on the slope losing none of her speed in the maneuver.

He would have laughed but in his current form it came out as a short bark. The female replied back with a bark of her own and soon the whole pack was barking, snipping and playing with each other. He looked over and saw two males tackle a bigger male as they all collapsed in a heap of legs and teeth. The all got up and were soon amidst the pack once again. He led his family over the river. And with a leap that none of his pack could match he cleared the river easily landing softly on the opposite riverbank. Some of the younger males attempted the jump and just ended up splashing into the middle of the river. The rest veered off and charged through a nearby shallow ford in the river. He waited for a large amount of the wolves to cross before he turned and led his pack up the opposite slope. The pack raced and darted through the trees chasing each other up the slope of the valley.

He saw the old grey chasing two younger females off to his left. He didn’t mind the old man getting some exercise. He was old but still one of the strongest in the pack and he would make a fine mate, since his mate had died some time before he had been reborn. He could never quite understand what had happened, either that or his pack was being vague on purpose but what happened to the old grey’s mate had not been communicated to him, and he hadn’t sought the answer.

Wolf communication was very detailed, though not in words. Wolf language was a complex series of vocals, scents, and movements, their fur coloring was a huge part of that and even the smallest flick of an eye muscle was an important bit of information to other wolves. His human mind got in the way sometimes and he found it difficult to understand some of the more complex things his pack would try to communicate to him. This was one topic that the pack was uncomfortable sharing and he wasn’t ready to make the endeavor more painful by making them explain it in a way that he could understand, so he was content to let whatever happened to the old grey’s mate lie in the past.

He led his pack up the hill. Much of the night had passed already and as they approached the summit of the valley wall, he looked up in the night sky. His mother was already well on her decent from her throne in the night sky and he quickened the pace.

The pack raced him almost straight up the hillside and they burst through the tree line and skidded to a halt. He stood with his forest and his pack behind him, and he took two steps forward. He sensed them following him still and he turned. His family was stepping forward to follow him. He bared his teeth and growled low in his throat. The wolves stopped mid step and turned back toward the tree line. He nodded his head and turned back toward the summit of the hill. He walked the last hundred feet and stood at the very top of his valley. He raised himself upright on the soft dirt that covered the stone of the hillside and with his back to his lunar mother he faced his pack, his valley, his home.