I published this under my other account on this site, SpyderScribe, but decided to post it here. So that's why this particular story has appeared twice.

The Shield Pack: Avalon

Chapter One: Apples and Wolves

Seth's nose twitched as the wind blew through the trees in the forest. He'd been following the deer Dean Ambrose had wounded until a Poacher's wolfsbane snare had injured the other wolf. Roman Reigns, the alpha's son, was taking Dean back to the Caves where he could get fixed up, which left Seth with the task of hunting down the deer.

A new smell came on the wind. This smell was not of deer but blood was involved. This smell was sweet like apple cider, which made Seth's ears cock to the sides in case the smell was joined by a sound of whatever had left the scent. Their territory hadn't had Poachers or even other wolves didn't dare tread on Shield Pack lands. So this apple cider and blood smell became his priority.

Seth lowered his snout to the leaf-scattered ground. The bloody apple cider came from his left side towards where the sun was setting. Even in the low light of evening, Seth could see great with his wolf eyes, added with heightened hearing and smell, and he used those senses to track and moved on.

At a prey trail that went to a creek that marked the halfway point to the edge of the territory, Seth heard something. A cry came from near a log, but it wasn't loud. It sounded weak, more like that of a mewling pup. The blood was stronger now, the scent trail leading him to a log that had clothes strewn about it. Seth's scruff hackled up at the wolf smell that was mixing with the apple cider blood smell. The shifting wind brought it to the young wolf's nose, stronger than before. Seth's head lowered as he crept up to the log.

A pale hand stuck out of the cloth on the other side of the log. Milky dead eyes looked at him, blue lips opened in a silent scream and surrounding the body was blackened blood. The woman was more than definitely dead. A gash on her throat was enough to cause the woman to bleed out. And the mewling pup sound started again, coming from a bundle of cloth next to the woman's chest.

Seth looked around, his paw lifting just in case, in case the strange wolf leaped out of cover. But no, nothing moved beside the bundle on the ground.

A small wiggling fist poked out of the cloth, followed by another pup cry.

A human pup?

Humans were always Poachers, at least the ones that killed his parents were. He'd only ever known humans as dangerous things, beings that would rather kill wolves than let them live in peace out in their Olympic Peninsula territory. Seth's alpha, Sika, had always warned that some humans didn't understand the way that wolves lived, so that was the reason why they lived deep in the forest of a protected National Forest.

But a pup, a human pup, Seth had never seen one.

Seth cocked his head to the side, his golden brown eyes looking at the pale lump of flesh as it mewled. It was louder now as Seth leaned in over it, that fist popped him in the nose. Seth yelped, brushed his nose with his forepaw and looked at the human pup. It had blue eyes and it had stopped making noises, and it was looking at him. It smiled, fingers wiggling up at him. Seth leaned forward to smell it, and it was the apple cider he had been following. The human pup gurgled at him, fingers still flexing.

Maybe that female with the new litter of pups would know what to do. The alpha female, Patricia, might know what a human pup needed.

Shifting wasn't something Seth often did, it hurt as his bones realigned into a human form. His fur retracted and human skin replaced it. His hair was long because having a haircut was useless if he preferred his wolf form over his human. Though born in human, he was more wolf because that was how his parents lived. After the agony, a young human-looking boy of thirteen, naked, was kneeling over the bloody mess that he had found.

As Seth picked up the pup, a twig snapped from nearby. Clutching the bundled pup to his chest, Seth looked around as he strained his ears to hear. A low growl came from near the creek and a look confirmed Seth's fear. Another wolf was watching him. A rather white wolf that was unfamiliar.

Leave the pup, his mind yelled. He knew that's the reason for the large white wolf being there. The wolf smell on the woman was that of the wolf, so he had killed her.

Instead of dropping the pup, Seth ran. Still clutching the pup to his chest, the young shifter ran and the unknown wolf followed.

Seth let a howl out as the claws of the wolf raked his back. Lurching forward, Seth kept running even as the beast wolf advanced with its teeth. How humans ran on two legs was beyond the young shifter's knowledge, maybe stepping on broken branches resulted in human wearing footwear. It would have made for better running if Seth had been on all fours.

The pup wailed as Seth ran through the forest, scaring birds in the trees but it was the unnatural roar from the white wolf that really scared the animals. Seth's bones chilled at the sound as he ran. The Caves were close and Seth howled out a warning as he made it to the nearby Barn.

The Barn was old, the property overgrown after abandonment. The pup cried as Seth pushed open the large barn door with his shoulder and then stumbled in.

"Braun!" Seth yelled staring at the large brown bear shifter.

The bear was standing on his hind legs and he roared. Seth ducked into a nearby stall as the beast wolf broke in. The bear roared again and the wolf shifted into a two-legged creature Seth had only seen his Alpha shift into. It was the alpha form only males could muster. The beast wolf howled so loud it shook the wood walls around Seth.

Burying the pup into some hay, Seth shifted back into his four-legged wolf form and darted out to see Braun slap down the large beast wolf. The beast wolf kicked Braun back and as it got up Seth bit on its ankle. Like Braun, he was kicked back into a large support beam in the barn. He fell with a crunch to some of his ribs.

"Little pup!" the beast wolf stood over Seth.

Braun roared and heaved the beast wolf back through the door, splintering it to pieces. Braun followed. grunting and groaning the entire way as bears did when they were angry and ready for a fight. Seth got out as his alpha charged out of the trees; Sika knocking back the wolf as Braun stood on his hind legs blocking the way to the barn.

Sika slammed the wolf against the large nearby oak tree, large claws drawing bright red blood on the beast wolf's white fur.

"Trespasser!" Sika yelled, saliva dribbling from his snout.

More wolves came to their aid. Sika's own son Roman in his large black wolf form came out of the treeline with his cousins Jimmy and Jey. Dean, in his human form, stood nearby in jeans with a bandage over his right forearm. The females ranked out into the clearing as the males circled around as a backup for their alpha.

"Who are you?" Sika lifted the beast wolf further up the tree.

"Lesnar, Brock Lesnar." It answered.

"Why are you on my Pack's territory?"

"The human baby."

Seth slunk back, looking into the Barn. The pup was still crying.

"Get off our land!" Sika yelled, snarling in Lesnar's face.

One alpha beast to another, with Roman closing in as his father's beta, and all others closing in, Lesnar shifted. He went to his large monster wolf form, shifting down on all fours. Sika stood in his alpha form over the other wolf but he let go.

Seth froze, a foot lifted off the ground, as Lesnar looked at him, his hackles up at the beast wolf and its blue eyes shimmered before he turned and ran off. Sika looked at Roman and the twins Jimmy and Jey, nodded and the three ran off to tail Lesnar, to make sure he got off their territory.

"Seth," his alpha growled before he shifted into his large human form, with long curly hair and coppery dark skin. Like all shifters, he was naked. He was a Samoan wolf, at least that's what he told Seth when he was younger after explaining what race was.

Tail between his legs, Seth crept up to his alpha.

"Pup, you better explain yourself.

(Dead woman at the creek. The pup was in her arms crying.) He said through wolf grunts and whines. The Lupine language was all Seth knew but he'd been learning to use his human voice when he was in his human form because of Dean.

"Show me the pup."

Braun sat on his rump, letting the alpha wolf into his home. Seth led the way to the old stall. Sika moved aside the hay that was covering the pup and then picked it up.

Sika examined the pup, pulling off the blood-soaked cloth around it. He checked its fingers, legs, something covered its waist and a ripe bad smell came off of it.

"She needs food and a change," Sika said.

He took the pup outside, cradled in his arms. Seth followed, ears down and tail low as the rest of the pack looked at him.

"Thank you, Braun," Sika told the bear shifter.

(No problem. Happy to help.) He responded then yawned.

Sika called to the other in the pack, commanding them to head back to the Caves. Dean looked Seth, the half-wolf stayed back so that he could talk to his friend.

"You found a baby?"

Seth's head bobbed. (The pup's mother is dead next to the creek that leads into Crescent Lake.)

Dean hummed slightly. "You better stay in wolf form, you'll heal faster," Dean said.

Dean came to the pack skinny, running from Poachers. He was half human and lived most of his time as one. Him, Dean and Roman formed a bond like no other, with teaching Dean to be more like a wolf and Dean teaching them to be more human. Teaching Dean to hunt had been the next step in joining the pack process.

The Pack lived in a series of caves on a mountain in that protected national forest. One of the females had just given birth to her first litter. Everyone watched as alpha placed the human pup in with the three other wolf pups. Seth watched the human pup latch onto a teet, sucking hungrily. The end of Seth's tail swished back and forth as the female wolf nodded at their alpha.

"Seth, a word." Sika rubbed the female's head as he looked back at him.

Keeping his head low, Seth approached. He glanced at the human pup with the other newborn pups before he looked at Sika. He didn't meet Sika's gaze full on because that would be a threat and no one threatened the alpha.

"The mother is dead, yes?" Sika asked.

(No, Sika.) The much younger wolf answered. (She was bloodless.)

"Not eaten?"

(No,) he glanced at the human pup again. (No, not eaten.)

"You found the human baby, Seth. You are her guardian now. When she is weaned she will be under your care. Make sure nothing happens to her." Sika shifted to his regular wolf form and left the cavern.

He left Seth in the cavern, the other wolves following. Dean, still in his human form, took a glance at Seth.

"What are you going to name her, Seth?" Roman's mother Patricia, a lighter skin colored woman sat nearby.

(She smelt like apples or apple cider) Seth said, his eyes flicking to the female pup.

"There is a story I heard once, Land of Apples, it's where a great king was buried," Patricia said. "Avalon."

"Avalon?" Dean asked and then laughed. "That's a funky name."

(Avalon. Okay.) Seth curled his tail over his large paws as he laid down in front of the nursing wolf and the pups. (Her name is Avalon or Ava.)

"Welcome to the Shield Pack, Avalon," Patricia said as she looked at the suckling pup.

Seth sat straighter on his haunches as he watched his new little charge.

Again, if this story looks familiar it is because I published it on my other FFNet account of SpyderScribe. I feel that it will be better off on here while my SpyderScribe account focuses on my other interest of Ninja Turtles.

With that aside, hope you enjoyed it.