Autumn Ch. 3

Moon 

  The Dark Pack traveled through the darkness, white wolves like Moon almost seemed to glow in the moonlight. The territory was different at night and the youth were started at even the slightest crack of a branch. Moon observed that Autumn looked the same size as her adopted brothers, despite their age differences. 

  Hopefully the Light Pack would accept that Autumn was the offspring of Lilly and Red. The Dark Pack had lied the full moon after Dapple's death, saying that Dapple died during the birth and none of the pups survived. 

  "Y-you guys aren't scared, right?" Lightning asked his siblings. He sounded more like he was reassuring himself. An owl flew overhead, hooting. The brothers startled, their fur bristled, paws rooted to the ground. Autumn trotted ahead of the two, her tail held high. 

  "I'm not scared, Lightning. But maybe you are." The brothers flattened their fur and followed their sister. 

  The Dark pack had just left the forest and caught sight of the rocky hill were The Howl was to be held. The Light Pack was crossing the river on the other side of the hill. The full moon illuminated the white rocks, and the scattered trees cast shadows down the hill. The three siblings gasped in amazement. They scampered ahead of the Alphas, setting the pace a little faster than Fawn could manage. 

  River halted his mate and ordered to catch her breath. "Chip, Lightning, Autumn!" The three halted and waited for the alphas to continue. Moon yipped in amusement at the youth. 

  Chip halted when he say the Light Pack and looked back at Moon. She trotted up to meet him.

  "Moon?" He sounded as if he were unsure about something. Lightning and Autumn yelped happily at the sight of the other pack. "Why do we need to meet with them?" 

  "To keep the peace." She decided she had enough time to tell her student the ancient story. "A long time ago, we were one pack. But the Alpha pair disagreed often about how to run the pack. They later split into two different packs. The Dark Pack - our pack - and the Light Pack." 

  "Is there a difference? They look the same as us." Chip tilted his head in curiosity. 

  Moon laughed at his eagerness to learn. "Of course there is! They run their pack with more mercy for the weak. Here, we know that only the strong deserve to survive. We can not waste food and energy on a weak wolf. However, if you survive past being a student, you have earned the right to be healed if you are injured. Remember the poison berries in my den? We use those on wolves that can no longer defend the camp or make a kill." Chip nodded. 

  "That makes sense. I suppose there isn't any use for weak wolves." The two walked in silence for a few heartbeats before Chip ran to catch up with his siblings. Lilly padded up to Moon, a worried expression on her face. 

  "River, we'll catch up!" Moon told the Alpha before pulling Lilly aside. 

  "Moon." Lilly began quietly. "I'm feeling unsure about Autumn. I mean, I love her, she's like a daughter to me. But what if she finds out that we lied? She doesn't look like Red or I. Or her brothers; even her eye colour is different." 

  "I know, Lilly. We just can't tell her. It's for the best really. The less she knows, the better. As far as she knows, she is a pure-blooded Dark Pack female. Her past is-" 

  "I know; an Alpha and a loner. It would kill her if she knew anything about her parents." The white and cream females began walking back towards the pack. They were at the base of the hill.