Chapter 2

Exploring

Eric

Eric carefully placed his paws on the ground as silently as he could as he stalked towards his waiting brother.

I can do this,I can do this he told himself firmly.

He looked back at his mother who was watching him in amusement but,as he asked,remained silent and shot her a smile before looking back ahead. Once he was close enough to Ergan,he cocked his back legs then launched forward. Before he could tackle his brother Ergan moved to the side which caused him to land heavily onto the ground.

"Geez Eric,I'm beginning to think that you're not even trying."Ergan replied unimpressed. Eric got up from the ground and shook the dirt off him. "I don't understand. I was in the air,how did you hear me?!"Eric protested. No matter what he did Ergan always heard him approaching. "Maybe I have super powers."Ergan said. "No you don't! No wolf has powers."Fang said as he moved from the corner of their den.

"Yeah,Fang's right."Erix agreed. "Want me to prove it?"Ergan asked. "Yeah!"Fang and Eric said in unison. "Just remember you asked for this."Ergan told them before he charged at them. Fang managed to get out of the way but Eric took too long to move and Ergan tackled him to the ground. Eric pushed Ergan off him with his back legs then turned and jumped up top of Ergan.

Within the background,their mother laughed.

The two rolled and nipped at each other playfully and,sometime earlier,Fang joined in for a few moments before their father walked in. "Are you three fighting again?"he said in a playful scolding tone. "No. Ergan said he had powers so me and Fang are proving him wrong."Eric said.

His mother sighed and shook her head. "Well,if you three are done fighting I'm going to take you all outside."his father said. All the pups looked at one another excited. "Yes,finally!"Fang cried happily. "It's about time we got to go outside."Ergan commented. "Well come on then. The sun won't be up forever."his father told them as he turned to leave.

The pups pushed each other off and hurried after their father. The sun's bright glared in their eyes and they all had to squint to avoid its glare. Once their eyes adjusted to the light,they opened their eyes and gasped. Wolves were roaming around,there were three other dens while a tall rock stood in the middle of the place. "This is our campsite."his father said. "Our campsite is very big."Fang remarked as he looked around. "And bright."Ergan added. "Follow me sons."King said and they hurriedly followed him. "This is the elder's den. This is where all the wolves go when they get too old to hunt or fight."King explained. They peeked inside to see a few wolves resting and some sleeping.

Only one thin,brown eyed,grey matted furred elder was awake. He noticed them at the entrance and got up towards them. "Good morning Alpha."he greeted politely. "Good morning Lark."his father replied. "How are all the other elders?" "They're as good as can be. Well…I don't know about Dapple. One day she seems strong and the next she's as weak as a newborn pup."Lark said with a worried expression. "That doesn't sound very good,"his father said. "I will have Zim look at her to find out if it's a condition or naturel." "Thank you Alpha."Lark said gratefully.

He then turned his gaze to them. "I see that your pups are ready to explore."he remarked with a smile. "That is true."his father replied with a chuckle then turned to them. "Fang,Ergan,Eric I would like you to meet Lark. He was one of the best fighters in our pack when I was just a pup like you three." "Now I wouldn't go that far."Lark told him. "Nonsense Lark. You and I both know it."King said. Lark shook his head,chuckling. "Hello Lark."they said in unison. "Hello to you too,little ones."Lark said as he lowered his head to them.

"Is it true that you're one of the best fighters here?"Fang asked,jumping excitedly. "Don't mind your father's exaggerations. I was a good fighter back in the day. In fact," He craned his neck to them and revealed a gash. "I got this from fighting a bear too close to our territory." "No way!"Ergan said in awe. Eric looked at the gash. It was from his right ear to the front of his neck and it was very deep. He was very impressed by the scar and the fact that Lark even survived. "Can you teach us to fight? Oh can you please?"Fang pleaded.

That brought a laugh out of Lark.

"I wish I could pups but those days are long gone."Lark sighed wishfully. "Ah."they all whined as they dropped their heads in disappointment. Lark looked at them for a moment before speaking. "Tell you what,when you pups get old enough to fight come to me and I'll guide you to learn a few of the basic fighting moves." Their faces' brightened. "Thank you Lark."Fang said. "Anytime pups."Lark said as he lowered his head and nuzzled each of them. "Now run along with your father."

They nodded and followed their father. "Goodbye Lark."Eric said while his brothers echoed the farewell. "Goodbye pups."Lark replied before he turned and went back into the elder's den. "This den here is our healer's,Zim's,den. He's the one who heals our wounds and helps mothers who are about to give birth."his father explained. Eric took a peek inside but saw it was completely empty. "Where is he?"Eric asked. "He's probably healing someone right now."his father replied then walked off. "This over here is the den where all the hunters and fighters sleep."his father said,pointing to a den not far from the elder's den. Several of the wolves were outside the den talking to each other and resting. They all greeted them warmly and their father upon seeing them. "And lastly,this is my den. It is where only the alpha and,if decided,his mate can stay."their father said.

"Can we go in there dad?"Eric asked his father. "At the moment yes. But usually even you three cannot go in there."he told them. Eric was slightly confused by this didn't ask anything more as he and his brothers walked over to his father's den. The inside of it was huge,bright from the sunlight and warm. "This is huge!"Ergan remarked while he looked around in awe. "Dad,which one of us will be alpha?"Eric asked him. His father didn't answer him right away only watched all three of them with a look that Eric couldn't place. Ergan and Fang even seemed to notice the delay since they stopped examining the den and look at him. "Dad?"Eric said questioning.

That seemed to snap his father out of his trance.

He looked at Eric. "What did you say son?"he asked. "I said which one of us will be alpha?"Eric repeated. "Once something happens to me Fang will be the alpha. If something happens to Fang before he can be alpha or have pups of his own then it'll be Ergan and,should anything happen to him,then it'll be Eric."His father explained. "Alright,I'm the next alpha."Fang said joyfully.

"That is so unfair!"Ergan complained. "That's how things work Ergan. The firstborn pup is the next in line to be the alpha,"his father told them. "I want you three to realise that even if only one of you can be alpha,the other two will be just as important and you must always look out for one another. Do you promise me that?" "We promise dad."they all said in unison. Their father looked at them for a long moment before he seemed satisfied. "Alright then. Now you three go back to your mother and tomorrow you'll meet the members of this pack."he said.

"Aww."they all whined. "Do we have to go back dad?"Fang asked. "Yeah,can't we explore the camp a bit more?"Eric asked him. "I don't know."he said looking troubled. "Please?"Ergan,Eric and Fang said as they sat and looked at their father with pleading gazes. He looked at them for a moment the sighed. "Alright. You guys can explore the territory more but only for a little bit."their father said sternly. "Thank you dad!"they exclaimed happily.

They shot out of their father's den and ran in different directions. Fang went over to the elder's den while Ergan went to the warrior's den. Eric turned to go see if Zim came back when he heard something. He turned his head to see a small,thin,brown furred creature with a long and bushy tail at the edge of their territory.

Intruder!

It had something in its paws that it was eating before it turned its head to Eric. The two of them stared at one another for a long while,neither moving a muscle. Then the creature turned and bolted off. Oh no you don't Eric thought as he ran after the creature. The creature was extremely fast,able to keep a good distance between it and him and didn't seem to show any signs of slowing down despite Eric feeling exhausted and his lungs felt like they were burning.

He looked ahead and saw that there was a tree right in their path. I got you now,intruder Eric thought and he put on a burst of speed. Just as he began gaining on the intruder,it shot right into the tree. Eric pushed his front paws down,to stop himself,but he pushed them down too hard and his whole body flipped and his back hit the tree.

He fell on the ground with a groan.

He got up and shook the dirt off his fur before his head shot up as his nose caught the scent of something. It was strong and musky with a hint of something else within those scents. Before he knew it his feet were carrying him to the location of the scent. He ran and ran,not caring about his burning lungs or his exhausted legs,and for so long that he lost track of time.

Finally the scent became very strong.

He stopped and looked ahead. Standing a meter away from him,digging a hole in the ground,was a wolf. Well it looked similar to a wolf but the scent on it was off. It was small,probably the same size as him,with black and white fur and a male. The wolf-like creature continued digging so Eric cleared his throat and said,"Ahem." The wolf-like creature's head shot up from deep in the hole and looked around wildly before his gaze landed on Eric. Eric breath caught in his throat as he looked back at the wolf-like creature's dark blue eyes.

The wolf-like creature yelped in surprise and scrambled backwards nearly falling in the process. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I was bothering someone here."the wolf-like creature replied apologetically. "Woah hey it's ok. You weren't bothering me at all."Eric told him softly. The wolf-like creature stopped moving away from him. "Are you sure? I mean,if i'm bothering you I can just leave."he replied. "You're not bothering me. I just caught the scent of something and came to see what it was,"Eric explained.

"So what are you anyway? You look like a wolf but your scent is different from a wolf." "That's because I'm not a wolf. I'm a dog."the wolf-like creature replied. "A dog?"Eric asked confused. "Yeah. We're similar to wolves but we work with humans."the dog explained. "Humans?"Eric said,getting more and more confused by the second. Now it was the dog's turn to be confused. "How have you not heard of humans?" He took a step forward and looked at Eric with narrowed eyes. "Aren't you a dog as well?"

"I'm not a dog. I'm a wolf."Eric replied proudly. The dog's eyes widened. "I'm guessing you're a newborn wolf then."he said. "Yes,"Eric said. "But soon I'll be an adult. Just you wait."he added. "I'm sure you will."the dog chuckled. Eric opened his mouth to reply when a howl echoed through the forest. "I think that's my family calling me. I should get back."Eric said.

"Ok. Hey,I never got your name."the dog said. "My name is Eric."he told the dog. "Bailey."the dog replied. Eric turned around to leave but then turned back to Bailey. "Will I ever see you again Bailey?"he asked. Bailey looked at his paws thoughtfully for a moment then looked up at Eric. "I'll try and meet you here tomorrow at the same time."he said. Eric nodded.

"See you tomorrow."he said before he ran back to his family.

"Eric,why in MoonPack's name were you in the forest?"his father asked him sternly. "I'm sorry dad. I saw some small furry creature in our territory and thought it was an intruder. So I chased it off."Eric explained apologetically. "Don't ever do something like that again!"his father ordered angirly.

"Yes dad."Eric muttered,head dropped low. "Don't be too hard on him King,"his mother told him. "It's his first day out of the nursery. He doesn't know our territory borders and it's natural he might want to go explore." King sighed. "You're right,Xena." He turned back to Eric. "I'm sorry for being so harsh son. I was simply worried since you could've been hurt or worse."he apologized. "It's ok dad."Eric replied.

King brought his muzzle down and nuzzled Eric.

"Come on. Let's get you in the nursery with your brothers."he said and they walked to the nursery. "So what did you see while you were in the forest?"King asked him. "I was busy chasing that intruder from our territory so I didn't see much."Eric replied then remembered Bailey. "I did met a dog. His name was Bailey."he added happily. His father didn't respond right away and stopped walking.

Eric looked back to see his father looking at him with an expressionless face.

"Did you say you saw a dog?"his father asked. "Yeah."Eric said. His father looked at him a moment longer then nodded. "I'm glad you met someone new today."he said as they arrived to the nursery. He gave his son an affectionate nuzzle then made sure Eric went into the nursery den before he bounded off to the fighter's den.