I still, ears drawing up at the sound of paws hitting the leaf litter.

I drop into a stalking stance, flicking my tail. I slowly draw myself forwards, eyes carefully scanning the underbrush for movement.

I see a pelt shift through the leaves, and I tense, going completely still.

Then, without warning, I charge at the animal, snapping my jaws at it until they catch. I drag it out of the underbrush, viciously shaking my head back and forth, clamping my jaws tighter.

As the blood pools in my mouth, I hear a yelp, whipping around to see Flare come charging out of the trees. "Run!" He shouts, sprinting past me.

Heart hammering, I spring into a run. I keep my eyes on Flare, following his lead. What we were tuning from was beyond me, but I wasn't about to stop and ask.

We run through the forest, over stones and logs and hills. We break the tree line and cross the river as quickly as possible, not even stopping to shake out our coats before we continue.

When we finally do draw to a stop, it's near the secondary tunnel of my den.

Flare's tongue lolls out of his mouth, his breath heavy and laboured. Mine is similar, but I am unable to pant with the animal in my jaws.

Once Flare catches his breath, he nods self-assuringly and slips into the tunnel.

I follow him, the questions turning in my head.

As soon as we enter the main chamber, I drop my catch onto the ground, turning to my companion. "What the hell was that about?" I ask irritably, my breathing harsh. I feel justified in my tone, mostly because I just ran seven kilometres in twice as many minutes without so much as one word of reason.

Sam's head shoots up from his paws, sleep-hazy eyes flicking between the two of us.

Flare flicks his tail, rolling his eyes. "Hunters," He replies with a huff. "They came out of nowhere. One of their arrows nearly fucking impaled me!" He exclaims, his eyes shining with fear.

My anger quickly leaves me. He seems a lot more affected by this then he normally would be, and his fear makes my heart twist and panic rise in my throat.

Luckily, Flare was fine (physically, at least), and there was no need to panic, so I take a deep breath, walk over to my friend and lay my neck against his (it was like the canine version of a hug).

"You alrigh', Red?" Sam asks worriedly, standing. I could tell that he also found Flare's behaviour abnormal.

Flare nods, bumping my muzzle in thanks. "I'm fine, just a bit shaken," he insists, straightening his back. "How is she?"

Sam sighs wearily. "Still passed ou', I'm afraid. Though tha's to be expected, considerin' 'er transformation" he says, shrugging.

I hum, looking around. "Where's Dean?" I ask, cocking my head.

Sam chuckles, tail swishing in amusement. "'E saw a hare." He says with a wave of his paw.

"Ah," I softly exclaim, nodding. "Any idea when he'll be back?"

"Any minute, now,"

I hum, trotting off to the secondary chamber. I poke my head in and am greeted by the sight of our newest member.

Her fur had dried, and while it still held rust-brown and yellowish stains, it was now clear what the colour was. Interestingly, her fur was white. White with hints of blonde and just a dash of grey.

I cock my head, extracting myself from the secondary chamber. I turn to the others, just as a very smug Dean slips into the chamber, a hare clutched between his jaws.

I roll my eyes at him, smiling briefly. I turn to Flare, nodding at the archway that led to the secondary chamber. "Come have a look at this," I say, moving to make room for the Beta.

Flare does as he's told, looking in on the female. He hums, ducking his head out of the archway. "That's odd," he comments.

"Do you think it will be a problem?" I ask, worried.

"What will be a problem?" Dean asks, his voice muffled as he carefully drops his hare next to mine.

"The colour of her pelt," Flare says. "She's coloured rather lightly,"

"It could make hunting difficult, not to mention raise the probability of her getting spotted by hunters," I say, tail twitching in concern.

"Shouldn' be too bad, if she can run fast enough," Sam interjects, scratching his ear with his hind paw.

Flare hums in agreement, gesturing to our scruffy friend with a paw.

I sigh, glancing in the direction of the female. They were right of course, it wasn't a big deal... Probably.

Flare nudges my shoulder. "Don't worry too much, Darra. I've got a red pelt for god's sake! I'm sure she'll be fine,"

I take a breath. Flare was usually right about these things... "Alright. Not much we can do about it, anyway, " I concede, allowing myself to let go of it.

"Now," Sam begins, striding up to me. "What' are we gonna do abou' the hunters?"

###

The crickets chirp outside of my den, the evening air blowing in through the tunnels.

I curl my tail tighter around myself, closing my eyes for the fifth time in as many minutes. I let out a sigh, ears flicking against the cold.

My ears prick at the sound of shuffling. I raise my head from its rest on my legs, gazing at the archway to the secondary chamber ('I really need to come up with better names for these things')

"What...?!" A voice softly exclaims, disbelief and panic lacing its tone.

Looks like she's awake, then. That's good. Now for the welcoming committee.

I stand, calmly making my way over to the secondary chamber. I slip under the archway, taking a seat in front of the newly-awakened wolf.

"Oh, good, you're awake. I was beginning to worry," I say with a friendly smile, ducking my head to make myself appear less threatening.

The white wolf looks at me with her crystalline blue eyes, breath coming in shallow pants. "Wh-what are you?" She gasps, ears pining to her skull.

I duck my head further, speaking softly. "I am a wolf. May I ask for your name, miss?"

The white wolf opens her mouth, blinking. "Alarra Aarin..." she breathes, shakily rising to her feet.

I hum. We had been hesitant in using her name until we knew it for sure, not wanting to assume things.

"Alarra. That's an unusual name," I comment, tail swishing in amusement. What exactly amused me, I wasn't sure.

"Says the talking wolf..." Alarra murmurs, looking around the chamber with a confused frown.

I smile, knowing that I had made the right decision in turning her.

Her eyes lock with mine, uncertainty hidden in the azure pools "What did you do to me?" She asks softly, her voice crackling over the words.

I stand as to my full height, looking down on the wobbly newborn with kind eyes. "I made you like me so that you could be free," I explain, fluidly exiting the chamber.

###

I scramble after the wolf, doing my best not to stumble over my own feet (paws?) "What do you mean, like you?!" I demand, trying desperately to keep pace with him.

He glances briefly over his shoulder, then ducks his head and disappears into a tunnel.

I huff, dashing unsteadily after him.

I shudder when I break the surface of the ground, the cool summer air hitting me hard after the relative warmth of the underground.

"I'll bet that you're thirsty," the wolf intones.

I look around me, the colours of the forest look desaturated and dull. I frown. "Why is everything so washed-out?" I ask, looking over to the wolf.

The wolf chuckles, gracefully leaping onto a fallen log (I am so not jealous of his motor control. Shut up.) "It's the middle of the night, White Wolf," he says, "Don't you hear the crickets?"

I frown. I do hear crickets, but it can't possibly be past sundown. How else would I be able to see?

The wolf, as though sensing my confusion, elaborates. "Wolves can see in the dark," he says calmly, as though it was the most simple thing in the world. "Now, the river is just up this way," he says, leaping off of the log and trotting off into the forest.

I sputter, charging clumsily after him. "Now just wait one minute!" I shout, coming to a stop in front of the wolf. "I still want to know why you did this," I snarl, surprising myself when my voice actually comes out with a growl.

The wolf frowns, straightening up. "I already did," He says, confusion lacing his tone.

I shake my head to rid myself of the distracting thoughts "No, you said that you made me like this so that I could be free," I counter, shaking my head. "But that doesn't make any sense!"

The wolf cocks his head, both his ears and tail twitching in tandem. And no, it doesn't bother me that I can't read his body language. The wolf hums, continuing on his path. He paused for a moment. "You were born for this, Alarra," he says, looking at me over his shoulder with his dark, brown eyes. "I can feel it."

And with that, he turns away and walks along an invisible path.

And I, feeling lost and confused, follow him further into the forest.