I follow the wolf through the forest, occasionally tripping over the odd tree root. I try my best to keep up with him, but my clumsy paws and awkward gait are no match for his fluid steps and elegant movements.

He has to stop several times so that I can catch up, though he doesn't complain, simply waits for me patiently.

We don't talk, we move through the forest in silence, with nothing but the sound of our breathing.

Finally, after what felt like hours of walking, we break the tree line and set foot onto the riverbank.

I stare at the water, unsure as to how I'm meant to drink it. I watch as my canine companion confidently laps at the water.

Hesitantly, I crouch down next to the water and lash my tongue out. It turns out to be a lot harder then it looks, as I can barely get any water into my mouth. I huff, frustrated.

"Try this," I jump, whirling around to look at the wolf, who lowered his muzzle completely in the water and bit it.

I giggle, watching as he sneezed and tried to lick the water from his muzzle.

He ducks his head. "It's much more efficient if you can keep your nose above the surface, of course," he quips.

I nod, trying out his method. It worked better than the lapping, but I did get some water in my nose.

"So, what now?" I ask once my thirst had been quenched, turning my head towards the wolf.

Said wolf had his head raised into the air, his nose twitching. After a moment, he brought his eyes to mine, an odd expression on his face that reminded me of a grin. "How do you feel about eating?" He asks, striding past me.

I frown, trotting after him. "Eating what, exactly?" I ask, my tail twitching. I frown, briefly looking back at it. Do they always move on their own?

The sound of the wolf's voice brings my attention back to him. "The first thing we can catch," he replies. "I know a fox den not far from here, nasty little things, foxes,"

I cock my head, picking up my pace so that I can walk beside him. "You want me to eat raw fox meat?" I ask, lip curling at the thought.

"Oh, it doesn't have to be fox," the wolf replies flippantly, his tail swaying in time with his footsteps. "It can be rabbit, or pheasant, or deer, or even squirrel if you only want a snack,"

I frown. "I was actually more concerned about the 'raw' part, thanks," I say, glaring at the oblivious wolf, my tail lashing up and down.

The wolf halts in his tracks, looking at me with an unreadable expression (unreadable to me, at least,) "You've got fire, White," he says, unrelenting joy in his tone. He takes a moment, an expression that was undeniably a smile gracing his muzzle.

Just then, my stomach decides that this is the perfect time to throw in its two cents, and growls loudly. If I could blush, I'm sure that I would be.

The wolf hums. "Fox, then," he says confidently, walking off into the trees.

I sigh, getting the feeling that this wouldn't be the last time he does that, and rush to catch up with him.

###

Once you got the fur out of your mouth, it actually wasn't all that bad. I nose away some of the said fur to get at the flesh inside, carefully tearing it from the hole.

A snarl catches my attention, and I glance over to see my companion ripping meat from his fox carcass, holding it steady with his paws.

He glances up at me, then away, and speaks through a mouthful of blood and flesh. "Eat the organs first, then work your way out," he suggests.

Stolen novel; please report.

I nod, bitting the fox's belly and ripping it open to get at the organs.

After I'd ate as much as I could, the wolf walked over to me and, without warning, began licking my muzzle.

I jerked back, unintentionally barring my teeth with a snarl. "What are you doing?" I demand.

The wolf cocks his head, confused. "Cleaning the blood off of your face," He says, as though that were the most normal thing in the world.

I frown. "Why?"

"Because you have blood on your face," he says, indicating with a paw.

"Umm, well, can't we find a stream or something to wash the blood off?" I ask, ears twitching.

The wolf nods. "Sure, it's just less efferent then licking it off," he says, walking off into the forest. "I know a brook not too far from here,"

###

Once we had cleaned the blood off of our faces, the wolf let me through the forest once again, silent.

I follow him over logs and around trees, my gait much more steady and my footfalls much surer.

I hesitate for a moment when he slips into the tunnel, looking over my shoulder at the forest. I could just leave.

I grimace at the thought and quickly follow the wolf into the earth.

I am surprised to see that he isn't in the room when I enter it. Just as I'm about to go looking for him, he slips in through the tunnel opposite.

Three other wolves follow in his tracks.

The one closest to the dark-grey wolf that I had been following around all night was a reddish-brown wolf with green eyes and sleek fur. Next to him was a smaller wolf with blue eyes and scruffy, dust brown fur. And finally, the rock-grey wolf with brown eyes and short, dry-looking fur.

I blink. "Er, hi," I say awkwardly.

The reddish wolf inclines his head. "Hey, how's it goin?" He says with humour.

The first wolf walks over to my side. "Alarra, I'd like you to meet the pack," he says happily, gesturing at the new wolves. "The red one over there is Flare, the Beta, he's the smart one," He says, murmuring the last bit.

I nod at him, still a bit lost but unwilling to be rude.

"The brown one in the middle is Sam, he's our best hunter,"

Sam mock bows. "I'm oh so grateful for your praise, Reaper," he says teasingly. I notice his accent and frown. How could wolves have accents?

The wolf (Reaper?) rolls his eyes, and gestures to the final wolf. "And that's Dean, he can... uh, run kind of fast, I suppose..." he trails off, shrugging.

"Oh, Darra, I'm hurt," Dean says, paw held up to his chest.

"Well, what do you think you're good at?" The wolf (Darra?) counters.

Dean puffs up at the challenges, and I catch the other two sharing a long-suffering look. "I can track the hunters better than all three of you,"

Flare nods. "And simultaneously steel all of their wedding rings," he adds with an air of sarcasm. "No doubt they fear the very mention of you,"

Dean turns to Flare, and the two quickly get into a playful argument, ignoring the rest of them.

Sam sighs, walking over to us. "I'm I right in guessin' you don' know 'is name?" he asks, nodding at the wolf.

"Yes, you are," I sigh, hooking a paw around my muzzle. "Could you please fill me in? Because I'm confused."

Sam chuckles, giving the wolf a knowing look. The wolf shrugs. "It didn't come up," he says.

Sam rolls his eyes before looking at me again. "This is Darra, he's our Alpha, and he's an idiot," he says, tone teasing rather than malicious.

"I get more of a loveable dumbass vibe from him," I say with a serious tone, face completely neutral.

Sam pauses for a moment, blinking. Then he grins. "Oh, I can already tell tha' we're gonna get along swimmingly,"