Forest's Journey
Chapter 12

They followed Rose to a large oak tree near the camp. The roots of the tree were exposed, making perfect places for prey to hide.

“There are plenty of mice, squirrels and birds among these roots.” Rose whispered.

They checked that they were downwind from the prey, and began sniffing the air for scents. Almost immediately, Forest picked up the scent of a squirrel. Crouching down low and padding forward lightly, he slowly crept towards the scent until he saw a plump squirrel, careful not to make a sound. When he was closer to the squirrel, he tensed up his hind legs and leapt, landing squarely on his prey and killing it with a bite to the neck. He took a moment to admire Rose’s graceful leap as she noiselessly launched herself over several wolf-lengths to pounce on a thrush. Soon he picked up the scent of a mouse, and he caught that too. Looking around, he saw that his packmates had similar success. Suddenly, they all picked up the scent of a deer.

“Everyone, surround the deer and make sure it has no chance of escape. Quietly advance forward, and at the wave of my tail, everyone leap on the deer. Whoever can deliver the killing bite should do it. Ready?” Rose asked.

Everyone nodded.

The wolves surrounded the deer in a wide circle, and crept forward, placing their paws gently on the ground as to not make any sound. When Rose’s tail waved, they didn’t hesitate to all pounce on the deer. The deer’s ears twitched with alarm as it got ready to run, but it was too late. Five strong, full-grown wolves leapt it’s way, and soon it had sustained a fatal bite to the neck and died.

The hunt went just as everyone had hoped, and the group went back to camp loaded with prey. Forestson ran up to them, excited that they were finally back.

“What is that?” Forestson asked while pointing to the deer.

It struck Forest that his adopted son had never seen a deer before, as there weren’t any at the place they stayed at. It will take Forestson some adjusting to get used to living in the wild, Forest thought.

“This is a deer. Do you want to try some?” replied Forest, dragging the dear to the middle of the camp.

Forestson sniffed it carefully.

“Yes, please.” Forestson answered.

He took a small, careful bite, and his eyes lit up.

“I like it, it tastes good!” Forestson remarked.

The other wolves suppressed their amusement.

“Well, it’s great that you like it. You can eat how much you want, ok?” said Forest.

Forestson nodded.

“I know you’re Alpha, and you’re busy and all, but you do need some downtime.” Rose advised when they sat down to eat prey together.

He realised Rose cared about him, and he felt even warmer than he felt before and bubbled with a strange excitement.

“Do you want to help me recruit wolves for the pack?” Forest asked.

“Yes, sure, but why?” Rose answered

“You can be my guide around here and help me look for wolves to recruit. Also, the people know you, so if you tell them to trust me and join, they’ll be more likely to join the pack.”

“All right, I’ll help.”

“We should probably sleep now if we want to get up early to recruit some wolves, so good night!” said Forest.

He went to bed feeling a lot lighter and happier that night.

The next morning, after eating some prey, he asked his packmates if he could live in the den next to the tall rock, as it’ll be easier for him to make announcements. The two families who refused to join the pack yesterday finally agreed to join when they saw how quickly the pack grew. Forest and Rose went out into his territory to replace more wolves to recruit to his pack. He found two brothers, and they were larger, more muscular and stronger than any wolf he had seen before.

“They would be a great asset to the pack.” Forest whispered.

“I don’t think so. They tried to form a pack of their own in the past, so if they joined our pack they might undermine your leadership.” Rose whispered back.

“What if they become angry that they were excluded from a pack, and somehow formed their own pack to attack us? We must keep our potential close enemies close to us.” reasoned Forest.

“That’s true. They weren’t exactly terrible leaders, but just didn’t know enough to keep a pack together. Perhaps they’ll do well as the Epsilon and Zeta.”

“Good morning, wolves.” Forest and Rose greeted as they walked up to them.

They sized them up, and grunted:

“Morning.”

They introduced themselves, and asked if they wanted to join the pack. The brothers snorted.

“It’s quite childish of you to think that you can actually keep a functional pack together, because the wolves here don’t really want a pack, they just like the novelty of the idea of a pack. Soon enough, they’ll get tired of it and leave.” said one of the brothers.

“Don’t blame your poor leadership on wolves not really wanting a pack, Titan and Steel. Wolves only left because they didn’t have a leader that knew enough about leadership and pack life to organise the pack properly. Forest here has both lived in a pack and led a group of wolves. He will be the perfect Alpha that wolves in this forest have sought. Whether you choose to join his pack, though, is up to you.” Rose argued.

Forest was surprised by Rose’s fierce response. However, the brothers only smirked.

“Fine, we’ll join so we can say “I told you so” when the pack breaks up.” taunted Steel.

“Where’s your camp?” inquired Titan.

“At the large hollow to the west.” replied Forest.

The brothers nodded, then headed off. Rose turned to look at Forest.

“Don’t let what they said bother you. The wolves here really do want a pack. Your pack will not fail.” assured Rose.

“I sure do hope so.” replied Forest.