Chapter 14 - Dawn’s Pack

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She blinked a little, still remembering the prophecy. Dark will rise, light will fall, unless there is a flame to save us all. Find the Bringer of the Moon, the partner of your ways, or else all bad shall rise, and all good shall fall and sway, my dear Blaze, the burning of the stars in my name, Starlight.

She looked to her side, to see Dawn bringing her clothes to her. She was already holding a parcel of clothes in her jaws. Dawn beckoned to her, motioning for Amber to follow. Dawn leaped gracefully over the ground, and after a brief pause of concentration, wings emerged from her shoulders and she gave one final bound, bunching her haunches and for flight. 

Amber plucked a few loose feathers off herself, and jumped up to spread her wings, swooping down, off the tree, to fly beside Dawn. She relished the cool breeze, moving her forward without her having to do any effort at all. She let out a whoop as she completed a loop-de-loop around Dawn. 

They reached a medium-sized modest looking house, at least, it looked small and modest compared to the other houses and temples she’d seen while flying over the mountains. Dawn stopped at the door, and pressed her paw print against a sensor, then a nose print against another sensor. She finally let them into the house with a final lick of a last sensor. She noticeably gagged a little, and mumbled something about forgetting to change the taste to a crystal deer or something along those lines.

It was, once again a considerably “comfortable” house for human standards, but nowhere near as fancy as the great Fireos Complex. She nervously hopped into the living room, where she was surprised to find Dawn in her human form, looking as if she hadn’t heard the giant epiphany of the night, apart from the slight crinkle beside her eyes, and her jaw which looked like it was suppressing a grimace, managing to stay in a small smile. 

Dawn spread her arms and waved to the small neat little cottage, “This is my house. I know it’s not that big compared to some Fireos houses, but it’s enough for me!” She sat down on the neat little sofa and passed Amber’s clothes to Amber. She also pointed Amber down the hall to the bathroom where she hurriedly changed, but her time was nowhere near Dawn’s. 

“So… umm…” she hesitated. How would the other werewolves react to her? She nervously bit her fingernails, lost in thought. She didn’t notice the hand waving in front of her face until Dawn began speaking.

“Yeah. I think the other pack members would find your presence weird, and some would be downright hostile, but as long as you stick close to me, you should be perfectly fine,” Dawn told her.

When they finally arrived at the pack clearing, she noticed many wolves shooting her looks from aggressive to curious. She stuck close behind Dawn, who bounded across the clearing towards the Alpha, sitting down neatly. She gestured for Amber to sit beside her as they began eating. All the wolves were in their wolf form, so Amber quickly transformed into her bird form.

First, it was the pups and their mothers. Afterwards, it was the Gamma’s turn, and his mate. A wolf who was seemingly called “Chris” padded forward, with the Alpha who was called Lily by his side. After they had gone back to their spots, holding a deer leg each, they huddled together and began sharing the meal. 

The Beta, Dawn padded forward next. She took a small crystallised rabbit, though it looked lean and muscular, just like her. The Deltas padded forward, as did the Epsilons and Zeta. Eventually, there were no other people left, except for her and the Omega. 

“May our guest come forward, please,” Alpha Lily announced, as she had with all the others. She padded forward slowly, unable to decide between the two chunks of tough-looking meat. She knew normal guests of the werewolves would be treated with lots of respect, but she had been plotting to kill them two days ago. She picked the smaller piece, as she could feel the glares and gazes of the judgemental wolves burning into her skin, under all the feathers.

She heard a few growls of “Talons on the food? Ugh, disgusting!” And “What an ill mannered girl!”. She gritted her teeth. She knew she would probably never be accepted into the pack, but they could at least try!

She sat back down beside Dawn, chewing the meat and swallowing. She then curled up and began pruning her feathers, doing so because the pack had begun to groom each other and themselves down. 

After many wolves became drowsy and headed home, Dawn beckoned to Amber, and they headed back to Dawn’s home.

Amber woke up the next morning, nestled comfortably in an unfamiliar bed. It took her a few moments to realise she was in Dawn’s guest room. She peered over at the alarm clock, which informed her it was eight o’clock. She stood up drowsily, and hobbled out into the kitchen. 

Dawn was already up and full of energy, and Amber had apparently missed the pack morning meal, much to Dawn’s unpleasure. Amber felt guilty for feeling thankful she had woken up “late” by the wolves standards. The feeling quickly disappeared as Dawn had apparently hunted her a crystallised rabbit or something. The bloody carcass was lying on the table.

As Amber bit into the crunchy rabbit, she was prepared to have to try and hide her look of displeasure, but it was surprisingly tasty. She looked up at Dawn and asked, “I’m guessing my meal last night wasn’t crystallised?” 

Dawn nodded, and beckoned to her, leading her out of the house. They swooped through the skies, feeling lighter, and less stressed than the past few days. Amber felt her felt a tugging at her subconscious, telling her to study for the second orientation exam, but she just couldn’t bring herself to revise.

Dawn beckoned to Amber, and muttered shyly, “Do you want to come with me for the afternoon hunt? The others who are in the party are Collette, Eloise, and Blissful. We wouldn’t mind an extra person. Besides, I’ve been meaning to get to know you better,” she shifted on her paws uncomfortably. “You know, after the fire and the fight and…” she trailed off.

Amber blinked in surprise, “Ok, sure!” She replied. “Are you sure the others would want me there though? Your pack isn’t exactly welcoming.”

Dawn didn’t reply, but just waved her tail at Amber, and they strode toward the woods. They met up with two wolves, one who looked unhappy at the sight of Amber, and another, who seemed to be care-free and a “go with the flow” kind of wolf. When they reached the edge of the woods, a panting wolf bounded towards them, out of breath. She whispered something to Dawn in the wolf language, then, noticing Amber growled softly and narrowed her eyes. Amber backed away slightly, quivering a little.

The wolves bounded through the woods at such speed, Amber had to flap her wings faster than a hummingbird’s to catch up with them. She was breathless, and panting loudly, but the four wolves were unbothered, sprinting absurdly fast but not even the tiniest bit out of breath. She watched from the sky as Dawn slowed down slightly, sniffing the air, then veering off from the group who nodded to her. Amber mirrored Dawn’s actions from above, swooping closer to the trees every time she lost sight of Dawn. 

Dawn seemed to have cornered something, so Amber dived down just in time to see Dawn standing triumphantly over the body of what looked like a shimmering, incredibly giant, blue-purple deer. 

Amber swished through the air, away from this scene. It was awkward, knowing that even though she was three years older than Dawn, her own skill was nothing compared to Dawn’s elite skill.

She started looking around, and, spotting a sort of smaller deer, Amber dived down. Her heart sank when she realised it was a doe. Nobody was allowed to catch a doe, to prevent the species from eventually reaching extinction. She spotted a calf nearby. Was she allowed to kill the young? She wasn’t sure, but just to be safe, she flew far away from the clearing. 

Sadly for Amber, she couldn’t find any more deer, and was forced to resort to flushing out the males of a rabbit burrow, killing two large adults.

She met up with the others and wasn’t surprised to see Dawn standing over the deer she saw earlier, two lean, stocky crystallised rabbits, and to her surprise, a gargantuan crystallised bison. The others made neat catches too, and in total the entire hunt’s haul included the two rabbits caught by Amber, Dawn’s entire stash, Blissful’s six crystal robins, Collette’s four hares, and Eloise’s moose.

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