Forest's Journey
Chapter 11

Forestson bounded forwards to see the camp, and when he did he gave a shout of joy.

“This is where we’re gonna live!” he yelled excitedly.

“Shh, keep your voice down. We don’t want to annoy and aggravate the wolves who live here.” chided Forest.

They circled around the camp until they found a long declivity that sloped down gently. After they made the descent, they could see a barrier of bushes with a gap in the middle. They made their way through the gap and found themselves inside the camp. There were caves in the wall of the camp that could serve as dens. A small strip at the back wall of the camp was lined by thick bushes and undergrowth. The rest of the camp was walled by a round rock wall that slopes upwards from both sides and meets in the middle at the far end of the camp, and the bushes and undergrowth they had seen earlier lined the top of it. At the right side of the camp was a tall rock that stood next to a cave.

“Let’s talk to the wolves who live here. We might be able to recruit a few of them.” decided Forest.

He went into the first den and saw a middle-aged he-wolf and his mate, who seemed to be around the same age. They were eating prey that they presumably caught earlier. As soon as they saw Forest and Forestson, they stood up and glared defensively at them.

“We mean no harm, and we will leave at any time should you want us to. However, I do want to talk about the new pack I’m hoping to create in this territory.” informed Forest.

The wolves’ ears pricked up with interest.

“I’m Amber, and this is my mate Ash. We, as well as many wolves here, do want to live in a pack, but we haven’t been able to replace the right leader, and I don’t think any wolves in this territory are capable of leading a proper pack either. That being said, I haven’t seen you two around. Are you new? What are your names?” inquired the she-wolf.

“I’m Forest, and this is my adopted son Forestson. We just arrived at these territories yesterday. I believe I am capable of leading a pack because I was born in a proper pack in another forest and I lived there for a year. I’m trying to recruit wolves for my pack. Would you like to give me a chance and join my pack?” introduced Forest.

“I think we should give this wolf a chance. After all, he has experience of being in a pack. What do you think, Amber?” asked Ash.

“Yeah, I think we can give this a go. After all, what’s the worst that can happen?” replied Amber.

“Awesome! Thank you so much, Amber and Ash. You can stay here and help with the recruitment efforts. You’ll be given a job and a rank later.” said Forest.

“So, do we call you Alpha now?” asked Ash.

“Not yet, just call me Forest.”

Forest talked to the 6 other family units that lived in the six other dens around the camp. Some were single, some lived with their mates and one family had pups who were just a little older than Forestson. Four of the six families he talked to agreed to join his pack. He thought about driving out the wolves who didn’t join the pack, but decided that it’ll be too aggressive, and that the wolves might join the pack or leave by their own accord when the pack has more wolves. He felt like he was making quite some significant progress. At around noon, Forestson began to complain that he was really hungry, and frankly Forest was quite hungry too. Forest told Amber and Ash to take care of Forestson while he went to hunt, but they did better. They offered to go out and hunt for prey themselves. Amber and Ash came back later than expected, but Forest was glad they did. They brought four young wolves, who seemed to be eager to join the pack, with them as well as prey.

“These are our pups Rose, Thunder, Stag and Ripple. They would all like to join the pack.” explained Amber.

His heart leapt with a foreign feeling when he swept his gaze towards Rose. He had never felt it before, but he thought he had a faint idea of what it was. He shook himself as he realised that the wolves were awaiting his response.

“Sure, yes of course you can all join the pack. You can stay in the camp and help out.” welcomed Forest.

The four younger wolves nodded in thanks. After they had eaten the prey together, Forest left Forestson at camp and went out to recruit more wolves.

He started in his territory first, as he knew that the wolves living here would most likely want to stay here. Although he knew first impressions could be deceiving, Forests had begun to put the wolves he recruited into categories to see which roles would suit them the most. Were they intelligent, fast, or strong? Were they submissive or assertive? Were they loyal and obedient, or rebellious and ambitious? After he had recruited a wolf, he would send them back to camp. He would leave those who didn’t join alone, as he knew that they would move away when they realised they were in pack territory. By the end of the day he talked to seven wolves and recruited four of them. He already had 18 wolves. It was going quite well, and he hoped to establish his pack in 2-3 weeks. He reminded himself that he needed to replace a Theta as well, and soon, as wolves in his pack might get injured or sick and need a wolf who knew medicine. He tiredly trekked back to camp, and by the time he arrived it was already past nightfall.

“How was the recruiting? You must be tired.” commented Rose when he arrived back at camp.

Forest’s heart leapt again, and his body felt fuzzy with warmth. He decided he liked the feeling, and wanted to savour it.

“Yeah, it was tiring, but it’s quite rewarding coming back to wolves you can call your packmates.” Forest replied.

“We’re going on a hunt to get some prey for tomorrow morning, wanna join?” Rose asked.

Forest was surprised that Rose was already taking up responsibilities in the pack, and the fuzzy feeling grew larger in his heart. She’s a true leader, he thought, maybe I should ask her to be the Alpha female and…my mate.

“Sure, I’ll come.” replied Forest.

“Follow me, I know all the best places to replace prey.” Rose instructed as she led all her littermates out of camp.