Thistle

Thistle, formerly a hunter within the Shining Rocks pack, had lost everything but is keeping her head held high as she leads her new pack, Cloudwhisper, and creates a life for herself and her mate Ash. When she lived in Shining Rocks, her father was a gray, speckled wolf named Boulder and her mother was a honey-colored wolf named River. Her life within the pack was mundane and not noteworthy, save for when she was coming of age and was old enough to seek a mate of her own. All of the males within the pack who were eligible bachelors were not of interest to her, and she felt that she may not find a mate at all until a wolf named Ash was brought into the pack.
At first, Thistle did not know what to make of Ash and even resented him a little; how could a wolf just wander in, and somehow be this perfect male who was a good hunter and even could teach a wolf how to become a herbalist. Who was this wolf? Why did he seem so important? In all of her time trying to get a feel for this wolf, Ash had managed to become smitten. He made many attempts to impress her through gifts of prey from hunting, rocks, and flowers that he thought looked pretty. Eventually Thistle had a collection of dried flowers and rocks that decorated her space, and the other females in the pack resented her for not giving this wolf a fair chance. The only time that she was swayed and decided to give Ash a chance was when he showed off his strength in a fight against a trio of wolves who had wandered into their territory and were deadset on claiming it as their own. As Ash was treated by the herbalist for his injuries, Thistle had given him a sign that she was in fact interested by bringing a mouse carcass by the herbalist den and licking his scratched, sore nose. From then on, they had become inseparable and Ash always made it a point to gift pretty trinkets to Thistle as a show of his appreciation.
Of course, the time Thistle and Ash would live happily together in the pack was short-lived because of Ash and his prophecy. It was late in the night when Ash had woken up to the smell of smoke and sounds of crackling flame. When he had realized there was a fire overwhelming the pack's living space, he had shot awake and woke Thistle up. The two wolves, fearing for their own lives, had no choice but to try and make their mistake without looking for survivors. As they weaved through burning underbrush and branches, their nostrils were assaulted by the unmistakeable smell of burnt fur and flesh. During their escape Ash had frozen in place when staring out towards the crackling flame; Thistle attempted to grab Ash by the scruff and force him to keep moving forward, but failed. Ash was frozen in place as he saw something within the flames; to this very day Thistle was never told what Ash could have possibly seen, and he made a vow to take his visions to the grave. Thistle was fearful as branches and leaves had fallen all around them, and she felt her whiskers become singed by the nearby flames. Eventually, Ash's attention was brought back to the present and he was able to hear Thistle's pleas to keep moving. They both finally continued to run, and they eventually stepped foot in unmarked territory in the mountains.
Now that their pack was no more, they sat dazed and confused by their loss. It took a couple days until they were finally able to speak, and more specifically discuss what they could possibly do next. "We must rebuild," Thistle said with conviction, "We must start a pack of our own- it's the only way to survive." Because Thistle had more experience living within a pack, and Ash did not feel like he should lead, Thistle assumed the role of Alpha. When deciding upon their name, they had decided on Cloudwhisper- for within the skies above there were clouds, and the winds that hit their ears were soft and quiet like whispers from the ancestors themselves.
During the rebuilding of their pack, Thistle and Ash became the parents of two pups- Cedar and Cinder. Thistle, even though she is trying to keep a calm demeanor, is constantly stressed because while she knows how a pack works she has no real idea of how to lead one. Every decision made, every wolf she allowed to join their ranks, felt like it was all pure luck how things had managed to work out. As she is taking care of their pups with Ash's help, she had often thought of her mother and how she wished she had her advice to lean on. However, she is thankful to have her pack mates to lean all the same.
Unfortunately, one of the pups she had with Ash - Cinder - had been killed by a strange wolf from a rival pack. With a burning anger in her heart as well as Ash's, they had vowed to never let this happen again. Due to her grief and inattention, Ash had started to wander and had his eyes on other wolves, specifically the females in their pack that were ready to have pups of their own. Despite loving Thistle, he went behind his faithful mate's back and had started to speak with other females. Of course, since Thistle had eyes and ears everywhere - and their remaining pup Cedar often was nosy and never kept her mouth shut, Thistle knew the whole time. However, out of undying love for her mate she decided to never - ever - confront Ash or the other wolves involved. Instead she would keep quiet, suffer in silence, and grieve for both her lost pup and her potentially dying relationship.