Aurora Borealis (pt.2)

Aurora Borealis (pt.2)

It took me the better part of two days to reach the forest where I knew a pack of my kind resided. I say my kind because all Canthines are not equal. Some are more human, some are more wolf. I’m one of the few remaining pure Canthines. Of course the Canthines that are mostly human are the guards of the human cities. The Canthines that are mostly wolf, well they’re something different altogether. They’re so wild they’ve all but forgotten they even have a humanoid aspect. Pure Canthines are safe around the wolf Canthines, but most other creatures aren’t. Wolf Canthines are untameable. Perhaps that’s why the humans fear us, but I doubt it.
Regardless of that, I would need to remain in my wolf form once I entered the forest. Make no mistake, just because these were pure Canthines did not mean they weren’t wild. I knew that most of this pack considered those who spent most of their time in human form to be traitors. It wasn’t wise for me to be out here in human form anyway. Humans can’t survive the extreme conditions outside of the cities. Wolves can. Canthines can. Humans cannot.
As I approached the forest I caught a glimpse of something running through the trees. The pack knew I was here. Not that that was a bad thing. It would be worse to sneak up on them. I would be attacked if I did that. In the distance I could hear howling, a sound so incredibly different from a dog that I wondered how humans could ever mix them up. It sounded as though there were about seven altogether. I’d heard the Night Forest pack was big.
“Who goes there?” came a gruff voice from the shadows of the trees. A huge red wolf seemed to materialize before my eyes.
“My name is Isolf of the River Bend pack,” I replied, bowing in a show of respect for the alpha male. “To whom do I have the honour of speaking?”
“I am Fang,” the red wolf replied. “I am the leader of the Night Forest pack. Isolf of River Bend, why are you so far from home? Why are you not with your pack?”
I hung my head in a display of grief. “You did not hear of what happened at River Bend? My pack has been destroyed. We were wiped out by humans. I am all that is left.”
“We had not received that news,” Fang replied.
A female, tan in colour, stepped out of the shadows beside him. “Why have you come to Night Forest?” she asked.
“I am a traveller. I come seeking shelter,” I replied. “All I ask is a safe place to rest for a couple of days.”
“Very well,” she said. I knew by the way she conducted herself that she was the alpha female. “My name is Amber. Because you are alone you may rest here. You will be welcome among our pack.”
That was when I noticed the other five figures in the shadows. Don’t get me wrong, I had known they were there, I simply hadn’t seen them yet. Most of them were smaller than Fang and Amber, which really wasn’t all that surprising. But there was one who caught my eye. He was the smallest of all but I knew he was too big to be a yearling. He was pure black with the bluest eyes I had ever seen. I think it was something about the way he watched me that caught my eye. But the she-wolf, Amber, was speaking again.
“These are the members of the Night Forest pack,” she said. “Lily, Ivy, Moon, and River.”
“Who’s that?” I asked, nodding to the black wolf who stood gazing at me over his shoulder.
Amber looked back with a blank expression. “That is Shadow.”
“Shadow,” I whispered to myself. But the black wolf called Shadow merely huffed and set off into the trees.