Hakai slowly walked out of the den, placing his paws on the grass at the foot of the knoll. He let his eyes adjust to the light from the bright sun before he looked around.

The clan had gathered at the base of the grassy knoll into which the den had been dug. Most were lying on the ground, enjoying the warmth from the sun. A few were standing, but they were not paying particular attention to anything. The area was safe.

As he emerged into the light, one of the older wolves lying on the ground got to his feet and padded over.

“Hakai,” he said, the soft growl he emitted still carried the weight of his years, “how are the pups?”

Hakai stood tall before the other wolf.

“They are making their way out now Mitsui, give them time.” His growl was deeper and full of the power he held as clan leader.

“That is good then.” Mitsui nodded his head then turned back to the other wolves. He raised his voice as he spoke to them. “The cubs are coming out. When they emerge we will take them atop the knoll and then hunt. I need two volunteers to watch over the cubs with me,” he looked down at the clan and watched the other wolves look at him.

There were twenty-three wolves in the clan in total, making them one of the bigger clans in the forest. And with a healthy litter of cubs they might soon be strong enough to claim some of the good hunting lands from the other Clans.

Eventually two of the wolves stepped forward, the sisters Sakako and Makako. Not much separated them in looks or abilities. And they always seemed to know what the other was going to do. This made them a lethal combination in the hunt. But everyone had to take their turn with the little ones.

“Thank you,” Mitsui glanced at the sky and noticed the sun getting low on the horizon. He glanced at Hakai, to find him looking into the den for the emerging pups.

“We will be leaving on the hunt soon. The scouts can head off now and start searching for the food. The rest of us will prepare for the hunt.”

Four wolves left the clan and headed off in different directions, searching for the deer that gathered at this time of day. When they found them they would let out a howl to call the clan to them. Mitsui itched to be going tonight, too long has he waited outside the den, but he needed to let Hakai go. While Mitsui was waiting outside the den, Hakai had been inside. Hakai needed to stretch his legs.

Hakai spoke quickly to Mitsui, “The pups come.”

In the dying light of the day four small wolf pups began to emerge from the den. They were only a month old, and hadn’t been introduced to the light of day. At first they shied back from the light that burned their eyes. But then they gathered courage and moved forward.

They looked around at all the large wolves, who had started crowding around to get a look when they had first appeared. The pups shied away at the onslaught of eyes. Hakai turned to the clan and let out a deep growl. “Give them room!”

A path opened between the clan to let the pups through. Slowly, one by one, they started to creep between the larger wolves. Occasionally they looked left or right at the clan surrounding them and shied away.

Hakai fell in behind them, and when one started to slow down he gave it a nudge with his nose to help it keep pace. The rest of the clan started to close in behind Hakai.

One of the wolves watched as the others moved off slightly then turned and went into the den. She went down the tunnel that led to the back, where the pups had spent their first few weeks. As her eyes adjusted to the growing darkness she saw the mother lying at the back of the den. Without the moonlight it was still very dark in here but Fuyumi managed to find her way to the back okay. She nudged the resting wolf when she got close enough.

“Tsuzune, how are you feeling?” She kept her growl low, for it carried more in the dark.

“Fuyumi?” Tsuzune opened her eyes slowly and looked at her friend.

“It is good to see you Fuyumi, it has been too long. Are the pups outside now then?”

“Yes they are. The clan is leading them towards the top of the knoll now. They will be fine. Mitsui will be watching over them with Makako and Sakako. The rest of us are going off to hunt soon. Will you be joining us?”

“Not tonight. I am still worn from the ordeal. But maybe tomorrow night. I will do my best. Please bring me back a rabbit or something. I haven’t had any fresh meat for some time.”

“I will do my best. You just make sure you get strong again. We can’t have you staying here too long. The clan needs you to keep Hakai and Mitsui in line. If you stay here too long they will start trying to take more land again. Probably from the Oak Wood Clan.”

Tsuzune let out a short laughing bark. “No, we can’t have that happening this time. They made such a mess of it last time.”

“I must be off my friend. Hold together, I will make sure to bring you some fresh meat.”

Fuyumi turned then and slowly padded towards the entrance as she let Tsuzune go back to resting. She turned up the side of the knoll from the entrance to the den and with a few quick leaps was close to the top. She could see the rest of the clan gathered in a circle around the very top. She moved over to them and pushed a little to get through the circle and to the centre.

In the middle of the circle the pups had started playing, jumping on each other and biting at their necks. Hakai stood on a rock that marked the top of the knoll and Mitsui lay on a flatter rock just off to the side.

“Tonight we welcome the new pups to our clan,” Hakai made sure his voice fell across the whole clan, “we will see to it that they grow strong. The Hot Sands Clan will be the strongest clan in the forest. None shall dare challenge us…”

Hakai stopped as a howl was heard in the distance.

“The scouts have found the deer! Let us hunt. But before we go, let us pray to Monok for the well being of the pups and of our hunt tonight.”

Hakai started to howl at the full moon that hung above them. As his first howl died down the rest of the clan took it up so that the whole clan was howling into the moonlight, praying to their god Monok.

When they had finally calmed down they took off in the direction of the scouts howl, leaving the pups in the care of Mitsui, Sakako and Makako.