Mella

Backstory

Mella was a young pup, no more than 2 1/2 months old, and was happily chasing a leaf as her pupsitter looked on. She finally managed to tackle the leaf, biting at it "ferociously". She lifted her head triumphantly as she tore the leaf in half. "Look, look! I caught a leaf!" She exclaimed to her pupsitter. The bored she-wolf gave a half-hearted smile. "That's great, dear." She said flatly. Mella was enthused by this response either way, and went to chase after another leaf.

Her playing was interrupted, though, as the alpha of her pack stepped in front of her. She halted and looked up at him with bright, ice-blue eyes. Without a word, he lifted her up by her scruff, and she instinctively went limp.

She travelled for about half an hour, being carried by the alpha farther and farther away from home. Mella began to get worried. Where was he taking her? Eventually, though, they reached a flat expanse of meadows and hills, filled with wolves of all different colors and sizes. Most of them stood or sat with items laid out beside them, barking out advertisements and offering their items to wolves that passed by. The alpha of her pack trotted over to an empty spot and set her down at his paws, barking out, "Pretty pup for sale! Only two gold cones!"

Her stomach dropped as she realized what was happening, and stared up at the alpha with worried eyes. She was being traded away; this must be the trading center. She cowered, seeming to shrink beneath her pelt as she stared at wolves that padded by. Every so often, a wolf would stop, ask the alpha of her pack for some information about her, and then decide that they were uninterested and walk away.

That was, until a pretty, white and black she-wolf came past. She halted and inquired about Mella, as the other wolves had, but this time, something different happened. The she-wolf looked thoughtfully down at Mella, and then lifted up two gold cones, handing them to the alpha of Mella's pack. He smiled and took the glistening golden pinecones, nosing Mella towards the unfamiliar she-wolf and walking away.

After that day, Mella was a member of the Pack of the Mystic Woods. The she-wolf, whom she learned was named Akela, took good care of her, and she was assigned a new pupsitter. Every so often, she thinks about her old pack, and what would've happened to her if she hadn't been traded away to Akela. Would she have been exiled? Would she have been miserable? Or maybe she would've been better off? But, she'll never know, and she's quite happy with the Pack that she was traded into.