Ulfhedinn Pack
main goals: NIB, pretty and mostly natural looking wolves with high stats
secondary goal: keep Luna's (OG Alpha) bloodline (marked with a crown)
note to self: leaf next to wolf desc. means related to wind
~~~
Your paws crunch through the seemingly ever present layer of ice which has formed overnight on the trails winding across the glacial landscape. You've come a long way, and sunrise is dawning, painting the sky in streaks of purple and pink and blue as the sky starts to lighten, glinting in the ice in hues of blue and purple. The change in temperature is welcome as it melts some of the frost sticking in your fur. You were told there was a pack out here. So where are they?
As the light reaches across the sparse grass, bare rock, and patches of ice, it shines on the pair of wolves patrolling this land. You see a brown and white female and, slightly behind her, sulking, an irridium male. The female raises her head in greeting. Tossing his head, horns waving through the sky, the irridium male presses his nose into the female's shoulder before turning away, trotting back towards what you might assume to be the den site, with snow puffing up behind him. The female tips her head back and howls: the clear, ringing sound a song for you, and you know you've reached the right place.
~~~
The First Alpha: Luna's legacy
The pack's first move was under Luna's leadership from the deciduous forest to the taiga during her fifth year
With the heavy spring rain pounding overhead in the taiga trees, now in her sixth year of life, Luna finds herself scenting the cool breeze as she stretches her paws out in front of her, resting in between patrolling her territory.
Paws step lightly across the ground as first Artemis and then Hawthorne approach her resting spot, having themselves just returned from exploring the far reaches of the icy glaciers and humid rainforests. Luna dips her head towards them, tongue lolling softly as Hawthorne stops next to her and Artemis trots back to the den for her pup. Trading places with her, their newest member, Embyr, heads out to begin learning the trails.
Hawthorne nuzzles Luna softly, "The pack is going to swell in numbers quickly."
Luna chuffs knowingly, "A couple dozen, I should think. Puppies..." she shakes her head and sighs around the swell in her own stomach. "It's been a long time."
"How are you doing with it?" Hawthorne asks. The two exchange a look full of memories and Luna stares back into the rain.
"Some days I wonder about him. And the pups who have left us to strike out on their own."
Hawthorne nods, "It only makes sense."
"Last litter; I can feel it." Luna gives Hawthorne an amused look, "I'm getting old."
Her Beta shakes his head and grumbles softly, "Never old."
The wind shifts and Luna rises to her paws once more, energy making her restless. "Watch over them when I'm gone, Hawthorne."
Hawthorne watches her go, knowing she's a strong wolf and will probably lead them for another full year, despite the grey that's starting to stain her muzzle. As her tail disappears amidst the trees, he promises, "The next leader will know your name."
Passing the Torch
Hawthorne became the second Alpha
When Luna passed, the pack found her still guarding over the den site. Head on her paws, wind ruffling her fur, it looked like she was merely napping. That her ear would twitch and her head would raise, and she would be off again. But this was no longer to be.
As the pack gathered to mourn her, and celebrate her life and contributions to the pack - the pack she had, after all, founded - many in the pack looked to Hawthorne to take the lead. He was the senior scout, after all, and well familiar with their lands and how Luna ruled. Hawthorne, however, didn't want to accept, until Sena (senior herbalist) and Artemis (his long-time fellow scout and den companion) stepped forward and insisted. Both had become mentors under Luna's last years, and they knew Hawthorne, while aging, had enough energy to take on the responsibility. He had also been close with Luna, having spent the longest amount of time in the pack since her mate left.
And so it is said, and so it will be.
Hawthorne is the Second Alpha.
The Next Evolution: Hawthorne's Legacy
Hawthorne moved the pack to the glacier 2/9/23 at 7yr8mos
The winds are icier here, but where some might shrink from their gusts and the snow, the Ulfhedinn pack became more energetic. The hunters perked up at the challenges presented, the scouts set out tracing new paths across the landscape, and the mentors watched the puppies play through the snow drifts.
As time passed, a couple months at most, pack members born and newly added gradually added lighter colors to the pack's dens. These wolves blended in better, and added a fresh perspective to the pack.
One of these wolves introduced himself as Jökull. Luin and Fleurie, the scouts at the time, brought this spirit like wolf home with them and presented him to Hawthorne, who welcomed his frosty fur into the pack with open paws. Jökull asked to lead some of the scouting missions, and Luin stepped down, sharing a knowing look with Hawthorne as Fleurie took the bluish wolf out with her the next day.
"You're getting old," Luin offered gently.
Hawthorne chuffs, the ebony fur around his muzzle indeed turning silver. "You put it so bluntly."
"You know I've watched her grow up with me. She'll make for a good leader in your stead."
Hawthorne smiles, his tongue lolling as he watched Fleurie's greyish pelt blend into the landscape as she trots away. "I have to tell her about Luna. I made a promise."
"So tell her. Let that be what our female Alphas are called. What better way to remember our founder?" Luin headbutts Hawthorne's shoulder in a teasing manner, "We'll have to come up with a better title for the males. 'Thorns' doesn't sound as complimentary."
Hawthorne laughs at the younger male, "Indeed. I'll leave that up to you and Fleurie when I'm gone."
The two wolves settle in, resting their paws and surveying the den; taking comfort from the presence of the other, and enjoying the playful chaos the newest puppies bring to the den site.
A Time of Morning
Fleurie becomes the third Alpha
Coming back from the patrolling the glaciers they now call home, Fleurie ducks in to check on Hawthorne. Despite still going out every month and coming home with new scratches and scrapes, his time was nearing and the pack knew it. Muscles rippling under his dark but now silver stained pelt, Fleurie felt for a moment that she was looking in a mirror as her gaze fell lightly upon the much older male, head on his paws, icy eyes blinking open at her approach.
He lifts his head, a small smile breaking out on his face, his voice low in the early morning, "Fleurie."
She dips her head, tail wagging lowly, "Alpha."
Hawthorne chuffs and sets his head back on his paws, "No..." he sighs, the sound rasping in the quiet of the den. "You're the Luna now."
"But I..."
Hawthorne's gaze catches past Fleurie, the older wolf rising to his feet as a gentle sadness touches his eyes, "Artemis."
Fleurie recognizes the name of the dead she-wolf, turning to find what Hawthorne is seeing, and instead only finding empty space. A soft wind flutters past, ruffling her fur and the familiar scent reaches her nose, even though it should be impossible. "Mom?" It feels like a warm muzzle brushes against hers, burying into her shoulder for a moment, and Fleurie closes her eyes.
The quiet padding of paws forces her to open her eyes again, however, as she catches Hawthorne slipping past her, tail raised as he trots to the den opening. In the morning light glinting off of the glacial ice, she can just make out the silhouette of the female wolf, her Alpha's unofficial mate. It looks like they touch noses before Artemis turns and trots into the landscape, eventually bounding into a run as Hawthorne takes off after her.
As the two turn into little more than a blur of ebony against the light streaked landscape, Fleurie closes her eyes against the pain in her chest. The peak they run towards was always featured in the stories she was told as a pup. It was their hill. It's also where her mom went to die.
Quiet paws approach, and a solid muzzle presses against her shoulder as she drops her head.
"Remember him in the ways that matter," Luin's voice is soft and knowing, and the cream male sits beside his new Alpha as she throws her head back and howls, claiming her pack and mourning the father she always knew.
Winds of Change: Fleurie's Legacy
The pack lived in the glacier for as long as Fleurie could remember
Fleurie's howl rings clear as she stands within sight of her pack's glacial home. She knows she'll be answered, and doesn't want to drag the whole pack into the choosing of her successor.
A few moments pass and her head dips under the weight of the growing antlers upon her head, and the heavier weight of her nearly eight years of life. She knows her time is coming, like she knows the sound of the ice when it cracks under her paws.
Asmodeus, a grey wolf with a darker heart, and Possum, one of the late Hawthorne's pups trot up to Fleurie. Asmodeus' red eyes glint under his scarred brow, while Possum's green ones gleam with curiosity.
Asmodeus speaks first, "Luna, you called."
A caribou bull in the distance bugles, catching all three of the wolves' attention. The sound drifts past them, towards the pack as they rest and play in the autumnal afternoon light. Fleurie turns her attention back to her packmates. "My time is coming. The herd will be moving on, and I with them."
Asmodeus' lip curls back, whether in disgust or agreeance, Fleurie can't tell.
Possum speaks up, "You're going with them?"
Fleurie sighs, a light swirl of snow starting to cascade down around the trio. "My bones ache, though not from the cold. It is time I rested."
Possum rests her chin on Fleurie's shoulder, "Then stay with us. We'll keep you warm through the winter snows. You know how peaceful it is at night."
Fleurie in turn presses her muzzle into Possum's shoulder, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. When her blue eyes open, they collide with Asmodeus' stern gaze. The male grunts, "You've made up your mind."
Fleurie nods.
Asmodeus shakes his head, turning away, "I have pups to attend to." But quieter, as he leaves, Fleurie can hear him grumble, "You know they wouldn't accept me. You know she's next."
Possum licks Fleurie's cheek. "I suppose you're trying to say goodbye."
The aging Luna sits next to her heir, the two of them watching the puppies come running out to greet Asmodeus, one of their mentors. "Let him be the shadow to your light." Their shoulders touch, the cool glacial wind kicking up across the ice, and Fleurie dips her head, her voice gentle as she begins: "I have to tell you about our first Luna."
Her Migration
Possum becomes the Fourth Alpha
Possum had attended Fleurie ever since her Luna pulled her and Asmodeus aside. Fleurie's council was gentle but firm, and Possum made sure she absorbed as much of the teachings as she could in between mentoring and guiding her hunting replacement as they grew comfortable with the pack.
Fleurie had warned her of the herd's migration, but even still, it came too soon.
Near sunset, as she trotted home with the Ones Who See the Unseen, their hunting concluded for the night, she caught sight of that familiar onyx pelt staring out at the caribou herd. The peculiar antlers growing on Fleurie's forehead never bothered Possum – simply serving as a reminder that every Alpha's journey was different. She knew the budding feathers in her mane of fur symbolized much the same thing. The Alpha stands apart. They live to protect, as Fleurie had told her.
Her father had been much the same.
The caribou cry out, the sound squeaking across the ice shelf with a sort of cold finality. Fleurie, her back still to Possum, rises to her paws, shaking out her snow dappled fur, and sets out, away from the den site. Possum nearly trips over her paws as she skids to a stop, and the other hunters gather around her to watch. Their silence settles over her like a blanket, forcing back the words rising in her throat. The ones that would say "wait," "stop," "come home". Possum swallows them down, watching Fleurie bound along as the herd startles, and begins galloping away.
Jökull, Fleurie's faithful beta and the long standing pack stud races out upon the ice, matching Fleurie's stride until she disappears into the herd of caribou, and he peels away, trotting back to the pack she left behind.
Jökull's frosty gaze settles upon Possum knowingly. "She knew what she was doing. She chose her successor well."
Possum dips her head in acknowledgement, her gaze falling upon the spot she last saw her Alpha. "I hope to do justice by her."
Jökull nods, a grin lighting up his face, tongue lolling out, "You will do them all proud, little Luna." He steps forward, and Possum closes her eyes, feeling an intense, icy breeze whip through her fur. When she opens her eyes, Jökull has vanished, but she gets the sense he will be around for a long time to come.
His place, like the Alphas, is with the pack. Protecting the generations to come.
And now, she too, is one of them.
| Alpha Seasmoke | ||||||||||||
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