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Black Wolf

Chapter 3 - Sunrise Plateau

Sundown proved to be a likable wolf and a good hunter. He was also adept at naming things. The first morning, after watching the sun come up over the far end of the triangular valley, he dubbed their home 'Sunrise Plateau'. He also came up with a new name for the rascal.

“He's quite the bruiser, isn't he?" Sundown commented after watching the rascal tackle his litter mate. “Hey, Bruiser! Come over here and try that on me."

The brawny cub obliged, charging his mother's new mate with his right shoulder leading. When Sundown jumped to the left at the last second the cub anticipated the move and angled to his right while shifting his left shoulder around to catch the older wolf hard on the thigh.

“Haowwch!" Sundown exclaimed as he hopped on his good leg. “He really is a bruiser. He's going to be a very big wolf when he grows up."

“Like his grandfather." Dawn agreed.

The name stuck, and the rascal was from then on known as Bruiser. He was also given more freedom. Black thought that was unfair. He was as tall as Bruiser and his limbs were just as long, with good strong bones, but he had yet to get his size, as the wolves put it.

“He has a solid frame," Sundown observed, “but not much meat to hang on it."

Spring came later to the alpine plateau then it had in Mist Valley, but they were warm enough in the hot spring cave. There was still plenty of room, but instead of sleeping in a family pile Dawn and Sundown moved into a nook near the entrance and pushed the cubs away when they tried to join them.

“You are old enough to sleep by yourselves." Dawn explained, but Black suspected that it might have more to do with his mother's new mate than anything else. Wolves were not shy in general, and both Black and Bruiser had seen wolves mating before, but the thought of their mother doing it with a relative stranger made Black feel a little funny inside. He preferred to be somewhere else when they were so engaged.

Stalker and Clover claimed another corner of the cave and wouldn't let the two younger males sleep with them. Bruiser and Black moved to the opposite side of the hot spring, but the separation lasted only when they were sleeping. During the day Sundown and Dawn tutored her daughters on the finer points of hunting. Bruiser, who was as big as his older sisters tailed them and was eventually allowed to join in the lessons.

Black asked to be allowed to forage on his own. He was still too small to participate in the hunt but felt that he was big enough to take care of himself. His mother must have felt the same way because she agreed that the smaller cub did not need as much supervision as before. She allowed him to go as far as the lake at the end of the hot spring creek during daylight hours by himself. “But make sure no one gets between you and the den." She warned.

Black relished his newfound freedom. It was not boundless by any means, but it was more than he had experienced before.

He was an early riser, as was Sundown. Each morning before the rest rubbed the sleep out of their eyes the older wolf would engage him in play that was designed to teach cubs how to hunt. As big game was still rare on the plateau this included chasing pine cones that simulated the erratic movement of small game like mice and weasels. But should a larger animal wander onto the plateau it also included wrestling to learn how to pin the prey to the ground so the bigger wolves could rip its throat out. Black used to play these games with his brother before Bruiser joined his older sisters as an apprentice hunter but Bruiser had always played too hard. Sundown did not get too rough when he demonstrated the proper technique and let himself be pinned by the lighter cub when it was his turn to be prey. Despite the lessons Black still preferred to hunt alone.

He developed some unusual techniques by watching the smaller predators like the foxes and the occasional coyote that wandered into the valley. They did not have the speed or the strength of the wolves, so their prey was smaller, but in this remote valley most of the game was of the smaller type. The smaller carnivores did not hunt in packs but relied on agility, wits and surprise instead. Black emulated their moves and managed to keep himself fed with a variety of rodents and the occasional inattentive crow.

One of his favorite techniques was to hide near the lake and startle any chipmunk or squirrel that wandered out from cover onto the ice. Because of the warm water from the hot spring the lake never froze over completely and since the rodents could not swim they would turn in desperation and charge back toward the land when they came to the edge of the ice, dodging left and right but always heading away from open water. Black just had to cut them off and snatch them up as they tried to run past and remember not get too close to the thin ice himself.

One day before winter finally released the alpine valley from its icy grip, Black ran down a rather skinny squirrel on the ice skirt. He was so hungry that he hunkered down on the ice and ate it without even bothering to turn around, forgetting the wisdom Sundown had recently passed onto him and the other cubs.

“When you do not have a strong pack, and we do not have a strong pack," Sundown had told them, “you eat facing the threat. That usually means eating in a circle facing outwards, but if you are on your own you must decide which direction an enemy is most likely to come from and eat facing that way."

Having never encountered a threat while out hunting by himself Black had grown complacent, and he happily munched his small meal with his tail pointing in the direction he had attacked from. At least he was happy until he heard the labored breathing coming from behind him.

He leapt up and spun around in midair, landing in a crouch facing the shore. Halfway between him and solid ground was a lone coyote. It was a skinny, slobbering, starving beast but it was still twice as big as the suddenly trembling wolf cub; and it was desperate for a meal.

It had been trying to sneak up on Black on all fours, as the coyotes were wont to do, but now with the element of surprise gone it stood up on its hind legs to intimidate the smaller wolf. It was mumbling to itself in the coyote language, which was somewhat similar to wolf but much cruder. Black only caught the occasional word, mostly the one that was formed by licking the lips while jerking the head to the right that meant 'tasty'.

Black tensed, ready to bolt for the shore and run for safety, but then he realized that was exactly what the squirrel had done, and exactly what the coyote would expect him to do. He had to find another way out of this trap.

Black wanted to back up and buy some time, but her remembered the mule deer that had gotten too close to the edge earlier that winter. He recalled how the ice under the deer, which was easily twice as heavy of Black, had cracked as the beast had placed its weight on its small hooves.

Black looked down. Wolves' feet grow to full size long before the rest of their bodies do. And his feet were much bigger than the deer's hooves, even bigger than that of the heavier coyote. He knew from playing on the ice in the early part of winter that he could go out farther than Bruiser, who was a close match in size for the hungry coyote, even farther still if he got on all fours and spread his weight out by laying down on the ice. Then he recalled how the squirrel had crouched on its belly before making its last, desperate dash, and the look of panic on its face.

The cub retreated, lowering himself down as he did. He screwed his face up in a manner that he hoped imitated the squirrel's last expression. He spread himself out as he backed up, trying to ignore the approaching coyote with its jittering, slobbering maw as he listened for the first tell-tale sounds of cracking ice.

The sharp, short cracks of thick ice taking his weight came first. There was still no danger for him, and it was possibly thick enough to bear the weight of the coyote too. He retreated some more, until the cracks became deeper, and he could see the spiderwebs forming in the ice under his nose. Then he turned to move parallel to the open water.

He anticipated that the coyote would turn to cut off the angle of his retreat, and it did, but as long as it keep getting closer to the edge he was fine with that. There came a point though were the coyote only had to shift a foot in either direction to cut off the cub, and it was then that the young wolf used the move that some of the smaller, smarter prey used. He backed off to the coyote's right, then charged to the left, as if he was making a break for it.

Black checked himself before he actually went any distance in that direction, but the coyote had been fooled and had already leapt to the left to cut the cub off. It was now as close to the edge as Black was, and its triumphant cry almost drowned out the pops and cracks as the ice broke beneath its feet. The cry soon turned to a wail as the pathetic creature lost its footing on the shifting ice and went down in the freezing water.

Knowing that the hole under the coyote would expand and weaken the ice all around it Black scrambled toward the shore where the ice was thicker, but he was too close. The ice under his legs gave way and the weight of the wet fur of his legs and tail threatened to drag the rest of him down. His claws dug into the ice as he struggled to get away from that icy grip and he made some progress, but then something grabbed one of his ankles. he looked back and saw the coyote, its face as full of panic as the mule deer's had been, trying to claw his way back up onto the ice by using Black's leg as a rope.

There was no time to calculate weight, strength or trajectory; Black just kicked out as hard as he could with his free leg. The four claws on his paw, worn down by walking on the hard rock but still long and strong, caught the coyote full in the face, ripping through one of its eyes. In response it released Black's leg and clutched the bleeding socket as it tread water.

Too late, it realized that the freezing water was the greater threat, but by then Black had scrambled up and away onto the firm ice closer to the shore. It tried to follow but its flailing just served to break the thinner ice around the hole and drain its energy. Within a few dozen laboured breaths it had none left to fight with. The coyote went still, its one-eyed stare fixed accusingly on the small black wolf cub, and then it slipped under the surface, dragged under the ice by the weak current.

Black did not have time to dwell on his close call. He rubbed his legs vigorously, glad that the dense fur had shed most of the water and ice, but wary of the damage that exposure could do. As soon as he could trust the ice he stood up and ran, or rather stumbled quickly, up the slope to the warm cave where he dried himself properly with a shaggy piece of buffalo hide.

Black decided not to tell his mother or Sundown about the incident with the coyote, which meant not telling Bruiser or his sisters either.

“What have you been up to today?" His mother asked when the larger wolves got back from their hunting trip.

“I caught a squirrel on the lake."

“Well, you've had more to eat than us." She shrugged. “But cold water will ruin your chances of breeding successfully if you get parts in it. You should keep away from the lake at this time of year."

“I'll be more careful near the water." Black promised truthfully.

Spring brought berries and other edible plants to augment their diet. With full bellies and less time needed for hunting they turned to domestic chores. Stalker and Clover helped their mother prepare hides and sinew to sew them together while Sundown tried to teach Bruiser and Black how to make tools and weapons from stone and stick and bone.

“By the Gods!" The older wolf cursed when the flint he was shaping split in two instead of flaking off in a cutting edge. He almost threw the shaping stone down the slope into a thicket but stopped himself. In the right hands such a stone could make spear heads, axe blades, scrappers and even knives from the black glass stone ... but his were not the right hands.

“I'm as clumsy as a bear." Sundown said as he looked down at his cut and bruised hands. Although they could walk upright and speak in a rudimentary way the bears wore nothing but the fur they were born with and used only the most basic of tools; tree limb clubs and large rocks the crush their opponents mostly. They were not known to use fire either. The wolves regarded them as clumsy and stupid, worse than the coyotes who they gave some grudging respect for their sneakiness.

But bears were much, much more dangerous than coyotes. The claws on their stubby, powerful fingers were long and sharp and they could take a wolf's head off with one swipe. Only the bravest, most cohesive packs would attack a bear when it invaded their territory. When Dawn spotted one eating berries by the lake that spring she made everyone stay in the cave until it went away.

Sundown was not the only one that was having trouble with the tool making. Black proved to have no talent for striking the flint at the right spot and Bruiser put so much force in his blows that the stones shattered each time.

“What we need is a knapper." Sundown told the male cubs.

Black, always the more curious, asked “What's a knapper?"

“Someone that knows how to knapp stone, to make it flake instead of shatter, to make a good cutting edge. We're doing fine with the tools your mother salvaged from her old pack but if we're lucky enough to get some elk or bison up here this summer we're sure to need more weapons."

Spear heads could chip, break or be lost in the chaos of the hunt. A big animal could even run off with one or two in its haunch and live to be hunted another day. Dawn had told them of a great elk that frequented Mist Valley who had at least six spear scars on its sides.

“When your Grandfather finally brought it down we found two perfectly good spear heads while we butchered it." She claimed. “Your cousin toothless got his name by finding a third because he was eating too fast."

Black thought that they must be doing very well as his sisters were getting their size and Bruiser continued to gain bulk. Even his mother seemed to be putting on weight as the short summer progressed. He soon found that he was mistaken.

One day in late summer Dawn sequestered herself in a small cave near the den. Howls and the occasional yip of pain made Black anxious, but Sundown keep the younger cubs away, assuring them that all would be well.

When Dawn emerged the next day she was tired and dirty but smiling. In her arms she cradled a new pup, a male who was almost pure white, like Dawn's mother had been.

Stalker and Clover cooed and cawed over the tiny cub, offering to hold it while their mother washed the dust and blood off her fur and rested.

“The grandmothers say that giving birth used to be a lot easier." Dawn commented as she passed the cub around. “But they also used to whelp four or six at a time, so I suppose it all evens out."

Life did not change much despite Dawn needing to nurse the cub twice a day. She still went out with the hunting parties when her skill and size were needed, with Stalker and Clover taking turns watching the little one. Black occasionally stayed back to help, mostly because the rolling, romping little ball of fluff was fun to watch, but he relished the opportunity to spend time on his own studying the plants and animals that inhabited the plateau, including the members of his pack.

His mother had not changed. This was, after all, her third birthing and it was nothing new to her. Sundown was proud, but slightly reserved. Watching the young cub often brought a tear to his eye. Black supposed that he was remembering his cubs from his first mate, killed in an avalanche. Bruiser did not care one way or the other about the cub, but he was glad one of the females always stayed back to watch it because that meant he was needed for every hunting party.

It was Black's sisters that seemed most effected by the presence of new life. They seemed more tender, attentive and, could he say, motherly? They doted on the cub so much it was like they wanted one of their own.

At night Dawn and Sundown would curl up with the new cub in their spot near the entrance. Bruiser would fall asleep almost immediately while Black lay there and went over the day's events in his head. His sisters still slept on the other side of the hot spring, and Black could hear them whispering together as before, but now their subdued conversations sounded more serious and urgent.

He also noticed a new smell coming from the far side of the spring. It was a strange musky smell that made his genitals twitch when he caught a good whiff of it, but no more than that. Still, he could sense a vague promise of things to come ... just not with his sisters.

As the air cooled and autumn colours blazed on the hillsides Stalker and Clover became more and more restless. The scent they emitted still intrigued Black, but Bruiser claimed not to notice it at all. Sundown could though and would often go out by himself at night grumbling while Dawn slept with the little one. One night he had enough. He woke Dawn, pushed the cub into the arms of her daughters and dragged the she-wolf outside where Black could hear their raised voices. He fell asleep before they returned.

The next day Dawn took her daughters away, leaving the new cub in the care of Sundown, Black and a resentful Bruiser. When they came back Dawn told Black that his time on his own had come to an end.

“You will join your brother, Sundown and I on the hunt during the day."

Black asked why. “Your sisters will take turns sleeping and watching the cubs during the day because they are going to out on the mountain all night every night for the next while."

Black did not ask any more questions. The howling that night told him what was going on. It was not as deep or nuanced as his Mother's had been, but it was designed to attract a mate nonetheless. Black felt the pull of that call, but not strongly. He was still mostly a cub himself and even if he wasn't, mating with a blood relative was forbidden. His sisters would tear him apart before they let him touch them.

It must have been hard on Sundown though, he supposed. The wanderer had spoken of packs where the Alpha male had exclusive mating rights. If this were such a pack Sundown would be mating with Dawn and both her daughters and there would be no need to howl for companions. But Dawn was in charge and she set the rules according to those of her parents' pack – one mate and one mate only at a time was the mating rule.

In order to change that or any other rule someone would have to challenge her for the position of Alpha. None of her children would do such a thing, and Sundown was not the type to lust for command. He was content to be Alpha male through his relationship to the true leader.

There was no telling what would happen should Dawn die suddenly though, Black thought. Would Sundown take over or one of his sisters? Would Bruiser challenge whoever took over? Would he have to take sides? Black shuddered and pushed that thought away.

After a few nights of howling the females' calls were answered by a lone male from the north, where the mountains were highest.

“There are no packs that I know of living up there." Sundown said when they told their mother about the response the next day. “Your Mother and I will join you tonight and listen in."

The stranger returned their call again the next night. He claimed to be close, but his call was difficult to hear. The elder wolves also detected a note of dishonesty in the stranger's call.

“He talks of being unjustly exiled from his pack, but his voice betrays him." Sundown noted the next morning. “And his call is weak."

“He has a weak character." Dawn concluded.

They advised the young females to reject this one. This they did the next night, with high pitched calls warning the rejected suitor to stay away. To this Sundown and Dawn added their own low, powerful notes, letting the stranger know that the territory was protected by more than a couple of adolescent females.

Bruiser slept through it all but Black stayed awake to listen and confronted his mother when she and her mate returned to the den.

“Do you think he will come anyway?" Black asked.

“Not if he wants to leave with his parts intact." She snarled.

A week later his sisters' calls were answered again, this time by a pair of males that were travelling together. Their calls were stronger, more confident than that of the wolf that had been rejected. Dawn and Sundown agreed that the pair should be allowed to continue their long-distance conversation with her daughters.

As they approached their calls became clearer, more nuanced, and easier to analyze. There was no aggression in their voices, so they did not appear to be a threat to their leadership. From the tone of their howls Dawn and Sundown determined that they were young males of average size; not very impressive perhaps, but they could not judge their full potential from their howls alone. They arranged to meet them at the south end of the lake.

The day of the meeting Dawn and Sundown went down to the lake first, her sleeping cub secured in a goatskin sling across her chest. They had Stalker and Clover sit within earshot behind them, where they could see the suitors and hear their story before judgement was passed on them. Bruiser was asked to take a position on the rise to the west, where his bulk would give the impression that there was a third adult in the small pack. Black was told to stay under cover in case there was trouble. But instead of laying back he used the skills he had learned from the lower level predators to sneak up through the tall grass to within hearing distance.

The strangers approached openly but cautiously, looking around and whispering to each other when the wolves of Sunrise Plateau came into view. Through the blades of dry grass Black could see that they were not too tall, and not too bulky, both a little smaller than Sundown. One was light brown with dark streaks on his flanks. The other was paler, with tan markings. Both wore loincloths and carried spears. The lighter one also had a sack slung over his shoulder that looked heavy.

The two approached to hailing distance and stood side by side. The darker one spoke first.

“I am Chaser. My friend here is Shaper. We come from the Thundering Water pack." He glanced at the two females behind Dawn. “We have come seeking mates and a life in a new pack."

“Why did you leave your home pack?" Sundown asked while Dawn studied the newcomers' faces.

“Our pack, like many in the south, is ruled by an Alpha male that claims exclusive mating rights. Any attempt to pair up with a female in our pack is met by mutilation and exile. The only alternative is to challenge the leader for the position of Alpha, and win."

“And you agree with those rules?" Dawn asked.

“We do not, otherwise we would have stayed. But enough of the wolves in our pack do." Chaser shrugged. “It is the way of the world."

“Not everywhere." Sundown commented. Dawn and her daughters nodded in agreement, but Black saw Bruisers ears pick up at the mention of a pack where the strongest ruled.

“You bloodlines must not be very diverse." Dawn said.

“Wanders come from the packs that surround us to join as bachelors. Usually they had left their own pack because the Alpha there was their father and they did not want to challenge him. But they are big wolves, and they help with the hunt, so they are accepted. They bide their time until our Alpha starts to weaken, either from age or an injury. Then they issue their challenge. Sometimes three of four will challenge at once and they must fight each other first to decide who gets to challenge the Alpha. When one of them wins we get new bloodlines. The pack has had three Alphas since I was a cub and none of them were born there."

Dawn looked over her shoulder and tilted he head in question to her daughters. Clover lifted her snouts to indicate some interest. Dawn jerked her head for them to join her before turning back to the newcomers.

“Come closer."

They did, stopping just out of jabbing distance and laying their weapons at their feet in a sign of supplication. Then they stood and took two more paces, easy targets for the spears the others still held, and waited.

Clover glanced at her mother and received a permissive nod. “Why are you named Chaser?" She asked the darker wolf.

“I am swift but not strong. My job on the hunt was to run the animals down until they were too tired to fight then turn them toward the Alpha and his killing squad." He flexed his long, muscled legs as he spoke. Clover stared, blushed and then looked away with a smile.

Stalker did not look impressed with the lighter specimen and did not ask anything of him, so Sundown broke the silence.

“I take it from your name, Shaper, that you make things?"

“Yes, may I?" Shaper indicated his sack. Sundown nodded and the light-furred wolf reached in and came up with an arrowhead, a small black glass knife and a knapping rock. “I studied how to be a knapper."

“And they let you go?"

“Our pack's knapper is very good still, although he is getting on in years. He was also content to stay mateless and teach another while I ... I was hoping for more. Our pack had more than enough males; having one or two less to feed did not disadvantage them."

Dawn traced the knapper's stare to her daughter Stalker, who looked only slightly less disinterested on hearing that the young male was skilled in a trade. Dawn nudged her side.

“So, you are good with your hands." Stalker said.

“Yes." The newcomer winked. “And I can make tools too."

Stalker barked in surprise at the wolf's boldness while Dawn pretended to look shocked and Sundown tried to stifle a laugh. Clover, who was unconsciously flexing her long legs one after the other opposite Chaser, did not notice.

“My muscles get very stiff, crawling through the wet grass all day." Stalker said, taking in the knapper's broad shoulders and lean, his muscular arms and the strong scent of young, healthy male coming off him.

“My mother suffered from the aches before she went up the mountain. I learned to work the worst of them out sitting by the fire at night."

“Maybe you can demonstrate sometime."

“Maybe I cou ..."

“Alright." Dawn interrupted. “We were lucky enough to get a couple of goats the other day and it is getting late. Please join us in our den."

During the dinner Bruiser plied the guests with questions about the southern packs and their ways, especially those that decided succession by combat. Dawn and Sundown mostly listened, making approving nods when the newcomers' tone of voice displayed their dislike for that form of leadership. Stalker sat beside Shaper and found excuses to touch his hands and brush against him often. Clover sat opposite Chaser and found every opportunity to jump up to fetch herbs, seasonings and utensils, showing the strength of her legs with each leap to action. Chaser matched her efforts by springing up to help her each time. Black listened and observed and concluded that his sisters were as good as mated.

After a good meal of boiled goat Black was sleepy but his sisters were too excited. They went out into the cool night air with their suitors. Black could tell that his mother and her mate approved by the way they made a show of being tired and going to bed instead of following the youngsters out. With no one to interrogate Bruiser also went to bed and was snoring before Black slipped away to sleep.

When he woke up the next morning Black saw that there were two piles of furs on the other side of the hot spring. He was not surprised to find that there was a sister and a newcomer in each.

Life continued to improve in the expanded pack even as winter closed in on them again. With a knapper in residence they no longer had to be so cautious with their stock of spear heads and knives. With an experienced tracker and two swift wolves to run the game down Dawn and her mate, whichever was not watching the cub, and Bruiser could harbour their strength for the kill. Black was once again allowed to fend for himself.

During the short summer Black had noticed that the fish in the lake would rise to take the files that lit on the water's surface near dawn and dusk. Figuring that the fish would be hungry now that the insects had gone to sleep for the winter, Black cut a hole in the ice where it was still thick enough to stand and floated bits of fur and grass tufts that he hoped looked like flies on the open water. Then, using a hardwood spear with barbs on the shaft that Shaper said would prevent them from pulling away, he waited for the fish to come. He learned by trial and error to tie the bait to a length of braided tail fur anchored to the ice and to add a bit of bone carved in a hook to his fly so the fish could not get away with its prize before he could jab them.

Some days he got nothing but cold feet for his efforts. On others he fed himself and the rest of the pack on the fish he caught.

Sundown proposed naming him Fisher, but Dawn thought it sounded silly for a wolf when there was already a type of weasel called that. So Black he remained.

Throughout the winter and the spring that followed both he and Bruiser got taller, as tall as his mother and then taller. But Bruiser continued to build bulk at the same time. He was making most of the kills by now, and by right he could claim the heart and other organs of the animal. All wolves knew that these meats were the most nourishing and should go to sustain the strongest hunters. Black, with his diet of fish and rodents remained lean, but lithe. He could run as fast as his sister Clover and her mate and was as agile as the mountain sheep that were so hard to catch. But running about leaping from rock to rock were not regarded as useful skills for pack hunters, and his skills were often overlooked.

The biggest change, as far as he was concerned, was his growing awareness of the nocturnal activities of his sisters and their mates. They all slept in the cave but the couples made use of the smaller, cooler caves nearby for privacy. Black could smell the desire coming from both sexes before one or the other couples slipped away and the scent of their satisfaction was particularly distracting after they returned. It made his parts grow hard and ache. He discovered that by squeezing and rubbing them he could bring some relief, but the result was startling at first. He soon learned to keep a handful of the soft leaves they collected for wiping feces off furry butts nearby at night.

Bruiser continued to be oblivious to it all.

Before long both of his sisters were pregnant, the new cubs expected in early autumn. As the leaves turned red Clover delivered a single female cub. Stalker brought forth a pair of cubs, one of each sex.

They had another reason to celebrate. A thunderstorm late in the season brought down several trees, one of them by lightning. When the storm cleared the tree was still burning and Shaper, whose mentor in his former pack had also been keeper of the fire, was able to bring a burning branch back to the cave. Knowing from watching his teacher which kind of wood was good for keeping the fire going he set the others on collecting enough to last while he made a hearth from stones that had fallen from the cliff.

“You can't use river stones." He explained. “They have water in them and can explode when the fire gets hot."

Now they had two ways to cook their food and the fire also drove off some of the humidity that came from living in a cave with a hot spring, so their nights were even more comfortable.

Winter came early that year. They found a dozen mule deer trapped on the plateau by a heavy snowfall and killed them all. Dawn supervised the drying of the meat by the fire. They were only able to render one deer at a time in the space they had but the other carcasses were gutted and placed in a small cave where they would remain frozen until there was room in the main den. They blocked the entrance with rocks chosen for a tight fit and slept light until they had rendered them all.

The meat, augmented by the occasional fish feast and whatever other game happened to wander by, sustained them trough a brutal winter. When the skies cleared and the snow finally melted they emerged from their den fit, healthy and ready to hunt.

Black and Bruiser were now young adults and a last growth spurt in the spring made them taller than any of the other wolves in their pack. Taller then even their grandfather had been, Dawn estimated. Bruiser was already the heaviest wolf, with layers of hard muscle on his large frame, and was likely to be named as Dawn's successor when his leadership skills caught up to his hunting prowess. Black was still lean, lithe and swift, and seemed destined to join Clover and her mate as a chaser, at least on the big hunts.

Life was as good as it could get for a small pack in an isolated area, but the lack of available females continued to bother Black. With one of his sisters always at the den watching and nursing the cubs Black was called on to join the pack and fill in as a stalker or chaser so he was not able to get away on own like in previous years.

The young black wolf grew quiet and irritable, enough to make his mother concerned, but neither she nor Sundown had any experience with this sort of thing. Both their former packs had been large with enough diversity in the bloodlines to ensure that most males could find a mate. If anything, it was the females that risked going without a mate as the larger, bolder males tended to be killed or injured more often when hunting big game or fighting off enemies, but there were enough wanderers from the southern packs to make up for the losses.

As the year progressed and Black's dissatisfaction grew it became evident that something had to be done. One night in late summer after their dinner Sundown asked Black to join him outside.

The older male led his mate's son up the hill away from the den where they could see the last rays of the sun disappearing across the plateau. They sat on a flat outcropping for a while and watched the light fade in silence.

“We'll have to collect more leaves this year before they fall and dry up." Sundown said as the stars began to come out. “It seems that we went through more than we thought we would need last winter.

Black was glad that it was too dark to see his skin turning red where his fur was sparse.

“I'll take some time away from the hunt and double our collection." He promised.

“You know that .... that thing you do in the night ... is not going un-noticed."

Black was sure that he was glowing from embarrassment now.

“I ... what ... I have ... a weak bladder."

That made Sundown laugh out loud. “That's the first time I've heard it called that. In my old pack we used to call it 'shining the spear'." Sundown did not mention that such urges rarely came so early or so strong as they appeared in Black, but he informed him, truthfully “It's natural. All young wolves do it."

“Bruiser doesn't."

“Yes, well, he is a bit ... different, but I've heard of other wolves with no desire to mate."

“Really?"

“Yes. Some wolves will stay in their packs living out their lives happily as bachelors. I suspect that in the southern packs like the one Chaser and Shaper came from that there is little option other than becoming a wanderer." Sundown paused and studied the young wolf by the starlight. “You like being on your own, don't you?"

Black thought for moment before answering. Wolves were family and pack oriented and any deviation form that could be viewed as disloyalty. In most packs disloyalty was punishable by exile.

“Yes, I do." He admitted, and then waited for Sundown to react. But the older wolf merely continued staring at him and did not speak for the span of twenty breaths.

“There are some wolves, we call them lone wolves, that prefer to live alone, or in small groups. They are not bad wolves, or weak wolves, but they are regarded as peculiar ... and dangerous."

Black leapt to his feet.

“Are you saying that I'm a danger to this pack? To my mother's pack?"

“Sit down, please." The youngster made no move to sit but Sundown waited until Black had lowered his hackles before he answered.

“No, but I think that you could be a danger to yourself. You're distracted and irritable. You could slip off the cliff or get into a fight with your brother, and we both know how that would end."

It was true. Bruiser could snap the neck of an elk with only a little effort, and he still liked to ambush his brother and wrestle the lighter wolf into submission. It was humiliating but Bruiser never did it in anger. Black could only image what his larger sibling could be capable of if provoked.

“I'm not suggesting that you go live alone in a cave or wander the valleys stealing from the packs." Sundown continued. “I'm saying that you should consider finding another pack."

“Become a wander, like you?"

“More like Chaser and Shaper. I left my pack under different circumstances."

Black remembered the story of Sundown's family and was ashamed. But the fact that Sundown and two other wanderers had successfully found mates after just a short spell of wandering buoyed his spirits. Perhaps the urge that drove him crazy could be sated.

He found it surprisingly easy to make up his mind. “When is the best time to go?" He wondered.

“Stay with us until winter. The calls of lonely females will be easier to hear in the clear, cold air and we can stock up on dried meat and fish for your trip. You won't be able to take fire with you, but we can spare enough furs to keep you warm. The snow can work to your advantage too. You'll be able to see small game tracks easier and if you run them through the deep stuff it will tire them quicker. Plus, there are no bears about in winter."

“Alright then." Black said as he helped Sundown to his feet. “Let's go tell mother."

* * * * *

“Oh shit, I'm going to be late!"

Cheng Meili jumped out of bed but a hand snagged her ankle and dragged her back.

“Stay a little longer." A drowsy voice called from under the sheets. “The wolves will still be there."

“Not today, Lijun. I have a school presentation scheduled and if the Science Council hears that I messed it up the Co-Chairs will have my ass."

A tussled head covered in black hair appeared. “It is a lovely ass, but I'd rather not share it, so you go." Wang Lijun, an environmental technician who was also from New Beijing said with a smile.

Meili rushed to get dressed without showering, glad that the students at the other end of the tachyon transmitter would not be able to smell her. She brushed her hair straight as she raced down the corridor to the studio where she made the presentations.

“Thought you were going to miss this one." The audio tech said as she slid into the chair in front of the console. “It's all set up for you, Mary."

“Thanks, Chuck."

Meili cracked the schedule to confirm that today's session was with a group of young English-speaking high school students who came from a school in the American group of planets that tuned in for such lectures every few years. She could skip the intro and go straight into an update on the packs.

“Hello kids!" She did cheerily as the red light came on to indicate they were on the air, or in the tachyons in this case. “I'm Doctor Cheng Meili but you can call me Mary. Let me give you an update on the wolves we've been tracking before we get into questions.

She gave them a quick summary of the growing numbers and increasing signs of intelligence among the wolf packs of Yellowstone. She spoke of how there was no fixed mating season anymore, and that therefore cubs could be born any time of year. She explained about the longer gestation period, “Almost as long as us humans." And the smaller litters, which she believed was due to less space in the mother's abdomen since the wolves evolved to stand and walk on two feet.

“But they live longer." She assured them. “Now the average lifespan for a wolf is thirty instead of six years and one wolf, number twenty-one, is almost forty!"

She also noted that the coyotes and bears, although they too had evolved, were still lagging behind the wolves in the tool making area but both seemed to be developing language skills.

“Although it is hard to be certain," she added, “because we don't have any budget to collar species other than wolves."

Actually, she thought, they had very little in the budget for collaring wolves either, but she kept that to herself. Her friend, and the man who previously held her position here on Earth, Doctor Dupuis, had taken his position as Co-Chair of the FEC Science Council the year before. Since then he had been in a constant battle with the other Co-Chair, the Deputy Leader for the Colonies-First party, who had the balance of power in the current coalition government. The C-F was opposed to spending on science when there were so many commercial entities in the field of development and exploration.

So far they had concentrated on curtailing the funds for the vastly expensive Intergalactic Probes, and her Wolf Program had managed to slip in under the radar. She expected to receive her regular allocation of funds soon and was looking forward to collaring a half dozen wolves from different packs.

Ignoring the lack of funding for now she launched into a detailed description of the changes in the pack run by wolf 212, the female called Dawn.

“They have named their home 'the high flat place where the sun comes up' in their language, which we have translated to 'Sunrise Plateau'." She began. “The rascal has also earned a name that could translate to 'Bruiser'. The little black wolf I told you about three years ago has grown up but still has no formal name, yet he continues to be a fascinating subject."

As most of the students had been through puberty by this stage and their school system was listed as progressive Meili was able to add more detail about the recent matings and even managed to make a reference to the black wolf's nocturnal activities.

“It seems that he is preparing to leave his mother's pack and head out on his own as a disperser. Now are there any questions? Yes, Rhiannon is it? I remember that lovely name. You were on my first lecture here at EOS-1, weren't you? What is you question, dear?"

“Where will Black go?"

Meili could detect a note of worry in the young teen girl's voice, even though several dozen light years separated them. She remembered feeling just as much concern for a character in a young adult series she was reading when she was that age.

“Well, his best bet would be to head downhill then turn either east or west. There are packs that could use new blood that would welcome a healthy young male." Unfortunately, she added to herself, there was no way of telling him that, but she kept that part out least she distress the girl. “He should be fine, as long as he doesn't head south."

“What's to the south?"

“The area to the south, around Lake Yellowstone, is the best hunting ground, but it is fiercely guarded by packs where the strongest wolf rules. Those Super-Alphas don't allow other males to breed, and they will attack any strange male that shows up sniffing around, so to speak. The worst of these is run by one of our oldest subjects, wolf number twenty-one. He rules the Druid pack, the one that lives closest to our institute."

“Why is it called the Druid pack?"

“Well, let me tell you why ..."

Based on The rise of Black Wolf

Produced by National Geographic Television, © 2010 NGHT LLC