Chapter 2: Meeting of Friends


About two years later, another young wolf from a pack not too far away, led a much different life. Around a couple days walk north from the young Humphrey’s pack, lay a valley between a range of hills, mountains, and forests. Residing in that valley were two packs of wolves, divided by a flowing river next to a waterfall; the Eastern Pack, and the Western Pack.

The Eastern Pack resided within the woods, surrounded by trees across a flat landscape. The Western Pack, however, was set in a large valley among the mountains.

The leader of the Eastern Pack was a middle-aged alpha with a dark brown mane of fur, a light tan coat, and brown eyes. He was a strong, young leader who had married a beautiful alpha wolf just seven years prior and they had been leading the pack ever since.

Tony and his wife Clara had a four-year-old son named Garth who greatly resembled his father, with a brown coat of fur along with a brown mane that elegantly flowed down the back of his neck. Also, like Tony, and much like another young pup that lived just south of him, Garth possessed a fit and sturdy body type that would only add to the charm he would later possess as an adult wolf. He was clearly fit to be an alpha.

Garth had a good friend in the form of a young female alpha pup named Lydia. Her fur was more of a dark red than brown and her eyes possessed the same reddish hue. They had known each other their whole lives and were inseparable. The two were also as thick as thieves. The Eastern Pack’s terrible two had gotten into plenty of trouble on more than one occasion.

Although Garth got many of his looks from his father, like his fur color and his wide snout, the beautiful green color of his eyes was given to him by Clara, along with his short, pointed ears. Clara looked a lot like Tony, only her entire body was covered, snout to tail, with beautiful tan fur that looked like silk and was as soft as velvet.

Tony and Clara were good friends with the leaders of the Western Pack, Winston and Eve, who had been longing to meet their son. Today, Tony and Clara had decided to visit their friends, and bring Garth with them.

“Okay,” Clara said to Tony. “I think we’re ready.”

“Let me guess,” Garth said. “You’re going off to visit your friends again?”

“We are,” Clara told her son. Garth let out a sad sigh.

“And I guess that means I have to stay here again, don’t I?”

“Actually,” Clara said. “We were thinking of bringing you along with us, if you want.”

Garth’s face suddenly lit up with joy.

“Really?”

“Of course,” Tony replied. “They’ve been wanting to meet you for the longest time, and we’ve decided that you’re old enough to come with if you want.”

“When do we leave?” Garth asked enthusiastically. Tony and Clara smiled.

“It’ll be a great family trip,” Clara said.

They left around midday, heading west with a cool breeze blowing on their faces. It was a nice change in weather from all the summer heat they had been getting lately. The forest was alive with the sound of birds chirping in the trees and critters scampering across the wolves’ path. Tony and Clara walked slowly through the woods with Garth trailing behind, marveling at the trees which, to him, seemed so very tall.

It took around a half-hour, but they eventually reached the river that separated the Eastern Pack from the Western Pack. Tony and Clara leapt across with relative ease, but Garth hesitated. He was scared. The river wasn’t all that wide, maybe a foot or two across at the widest part, but to him, it looked enormous.

The water was flowing quickly and what more, it was loud because there was a raging waterfall not two yards from where they were standing. Not a large waterfall, just a small one with a steady stream of water cascading down it, but it was still enough to produce a decent amount of mist as the water crashed onto the rocks.

“Don’t worry,” Clara told him. “You’re okay. You can do it.”

“I can’t,” Garth said, frightened.

“Don’t worry,” she said again, reassuring him. “I’m right here if anything happens.”

Garth still hesitated, then he closed his eyes and took a running leap over the rushing river. When he landed on the other side, he opened his eyes, heart racing. Clara walked up to her son.

“See,” she said. “I told you, you could do it.”

Garth didn’t say anything. He just walked up to his mother and tucked his head in near her leg. He loved his mother very much, and he was glad that she would always be there for him.

They moved on after that. Having crossed the river, they were already in the western territory and it wouldn’t take long to reach the valley where the pack was located.

As they entered the valley, they were met with a breathtaking sight. After leaving the river, they had to walk through a small grove of trees and then up a hill, which led directly to Winston and Eve’s den. Once they reached the top of the hill, they were able to see most of the territory.

To the south was a hill sloping downward into a large field that was surrounded by mountains where the alpha’s dens were located. Every year, the Great Wolf Games were held in this field, when the northern, eastern, and western packs would gather here and test the strength of five junior-aged critters from each region. The southern region was the only one that was devoid of any wolf packs at the time.
The omega’s dens were farther up another hill to the north. There was a log crossing over the hill that led down to the field and it acted as a sort of bridge to the rest of the western territory. And overlooking it all, was Winston and Eve’s den.

It was a large cave located on a hill that was right next to the one leading down to the field. The cave had a pointed stone slab on the top that jutted out just a little, creating a small overhang in front of the entrance. The cave also had a much larger slab of stone jutting out from the entrance. It acted as a small area that one could walk out to and look down into the valley from. It served as a great vantage point that allowed the pack leaders to view their pack from, with the alpha dens in the valley to the south, and the omega dens up the small, nearby hill to the north. There was also a large tree growing on top of the cave with roots so large that they had begun to grow down and underneath the overhanging rock.

They made the short walk up the hill to the entrance of the den where they were greeted by two middle-aged alpha wolves. One had a short gray mane that covered his head and didn’t travel down his neck much. The rest of his coat was the same light gray shade as his mane, and he had a short snout and blue eyes. The fur on his face was a slightly lighter gray than the fur covering the rest of his body. Winston had been leading the pack for a while now, and he had one daughter, a beautiful alpha wolf pup around four-years-old, that was soundly sleeping in the back of the cave.

Winston’s wife, Eve, was an alpha that tended to be a tad…violent-minded. She had tan fur, almost the same shade as Tony, only just a bit lighter. Her mane was very short and barely reached her neck. Her snout was very similar to Winston’s and she had light brown eyes.
As Tony, Clara, and Garth entered, Winston and Eve warmly greeted them.

“Tony, Clara, so good to see you both again,” Winston said. He then turned and looked down at Garth. “And this must be Garth.” Garth looked up at Winston and Eve shyly.

“Hi,” he said nervously.

“Please, come inside,” Eve said as they all entered the den.

Once inside, they all laid down on the stone floor of the cave and began talking. As the four adult wolves spoke with each other, Garth couldn’t help but notice a young female alpha pup with bright tan, almost yellow fur laying fast asleep at the very back of the den. It was a simple meeting of friends back when times were simpler, before everything changed.