Forest's Journey
Chapter 8

Two days later, the wolves travelled to a new human town. They were stopping near the alleyway to replace water when they saw a mother wolf attempting to protect her four pups from a fox. Without hesitation, almost everyone leapt in to fight the fox while Violet and Thorn stood a distance away to protect the pups. Seeing so many wolves running towards it, the fox fled with its tail between its legs.

“Are you and your pups alright?” asked Forest as he turned to the mother.

“Yes, thanks to all of you. Thank you so much for saving my pups and I. I don’t know how I’d ever be able to repay you.” thanked the mother.

“You don’t need to repay us, however there is something you can do to keep your pups and yourself safe.” suggested Leaf.

“What is it?” the mother inquired enthusiastically.

“Are you a single mother?” asked Leaf.

“Yes. My mate died when he was hit by a car one and a half moons ago. My pups are only three and a half moons old.” the mother replied sadly.

“We’re travelling north to set up five packs in an uninhabited territory. If we succeed, and it’s likely we will, any of our five packs will be able to keep you and your pups safe until they grow up, and when they do, they’ll be in a thriving community of like-minded wolves who will care for them. All you have to do is join us on our journey and we’ll set you up in whichever pack you like when we get there.” recommended Leaf.

“I would love to take that offer, but I doubt you would still want to take my pups in when I tell you that they’re half-dogs. Their father was a stray husky.” informed the mother.

“Ma’am, we don’t care if you or your pups are wolf, half-wolf or dog. All we see is a mother who needs help, and if we have a way to help you, we sure will.” assured Grass.

“Thank you so much, guys. All I wanted for my pups is for them to be able to join an honourable wolf pack in the wild. It looks like I’ve finally gotten that dream. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.” gushed the mother wolf.

“What’s your name, by the way?” asked Flower.

“I’m Lilly, and these are my pups Mary, Austin, Jane, Philip, Kathy and Owen.” replied the mother.

“Is this alleyway normally quite safe?” asked Forest.

“Yes, it’s the safest spot in this town.” answered Lilly.

“Good, we’ll make camp here. Flower, tell your littermates to bring the pups and come here.” directed Forest.

Flower nodded, and ran off to get her littermates.

“You guys have pups too?” Lilly asked.

“Yes, Flower has a littermate named Violet who has five pups. She was kind enough to let Bush, Leaf, Grass, Flower and I all name a pup. We named the pups after ourselves, and the pup we named is going to join our pack.” replied Forest.

“Will my pups have to live in separate packs?” Lilly asked anxiously.

“No, of course not. You can choose whatever pack you and your pups live in. Violet just did that so there would be something to unite the packs.” answered Bush.

Lily sighed in relief. Soon Violet came back, and to the wolves’ surprise and joy, the pups bonded immediately.

“Are you hungry?” Violet asked Lilly.

“Yes, I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning.” Lilly responded.

“Grass and Rye, please go and replace some prey.” Forest instructed.

The brothers nodded and went off.

“So are you in charge of this group?” asked Lilly.

“The Pack of the Sun has chosen me to lead them for now, but when we get there, we’ll separate into our packs and we’re all just going to be responsible for our own packs only.” replied Forest.

“What’s the Pack of the Sun?” inquired Lilly.

Forest explained the Packs of the Sun and Moon and explained his mission. Lilly listened with much interest. Not long after, Grass and Rye came back with the prey and Lilly devoured it hungrily. After Lilly had eaten, the wolves set off again. It was extremely difficult to keep nine excited pups in line, but the wolves did manage it. Unfortunately, bouncy pups weren’t the biggest problem on their journey. At around noon, a long, white truck pulled up next to them and humans came out with nets and ropes. It was animal patrol, again.

“Rye, carry Mary. Violet, carry Austin. Thorn, carry Jane. Lilly carry Philip. Two wolves also need to carry Kathy and Owen on their backs. Everyone else, grab your adopted pup. Follow me and let’s get out of here as quickly as possible.” commanded Forest.

They bolted forwards, running as fast as they could. The humans got back into their vehicle and drove, catching up with them.

“We need to replace a place to hide!” yelled Bush.

“Where?” asked Grass.

“There.” Flower deciding, gesturing towards the small woods on the other side of the road.

“How are we supposed to cross the road with the truck chasing us?” asked Rye.

“The truck is big and clumsy, and it won’t be able to stop with us. We stop and wait for the truck to pass, and then quickly cross the road.” Leaf instructed.

“Good idea, let’s go!” decided Forest.

They all suddenly stopped, waited for the truck to quickly pass, and then sprinted across the road like there was no tomorrow. Luckily, there were no cars coming from the other side of the road, and once they arrived at the woods they slowed down slightly. They kept on running until the road was completely out of sight.

“Now we need to go a longer distance to the territories and look out for humans.” grumbled Thorn when they finally stopped.

“Hey, at least we’re safe.” consoled Forest.

They waited for a bit, and then crossed to the other side of the park. There, they continued following the light, hoping that it’ll lead them to the territories soon.