Ceal didn’t know it, but I was following her. I must have been getting better at sneaking, being stealthy as they called it. I was mid-stalk when I heard father call for us. But it wasn’t just for me and Ceal, our brothers and mother. No, this was a call for the entire pack. My dark audits swiveled atop my head and I lost focus for a moment. When I determinedly looked back to where my sister had only just been standing, she was gone! My nose wrinkled in distaste; another lesson learned – don’t let yourself become distracted when you are stalking your prey. Even if my chosen prey was my older sister.

Trotting through the forest I followed her scent, trying to remain quiet as I kept on the trail. I put the thought of my father’s call on the back burner in order to complete this task first. Finally there was a break in the trees and I spotted her russet dorsal stripe sailing through the air as she pounced on the unmistakable form of our brooding brother Swallowbane. Creeping closer through the underbrush I got as close as I could and then launched forward. I landed on her rear paw and puppy teeth grasped at her ankle playfully in quick succession. “Gotcha!” I yipped before I paused and looked up, the movement of others catching my attention.

The large mountain that stood next to us was our father and my ears laid back in submission as I offered a sheepish grin to him. It was then that I noticed the growing group that settled before us. Father’s call had been for a pack meeting! How silly of me to come bounding in here like some hyper pup. I was a princess! And even though the high excitement of the meeting coursed through my veins I immediately composed myself and glanced through the wolves that sat before my dad and siblings. I spotted Sleekwing, my other brother, among them, and wondered why he wasn’t sitting here with us. And on the fringe of the gathering I spotted the two dark pups I’d met once before – Butterfly and Leonidas. I felt a certain fascination with Leonidas; he was different than other wolves I’d met. Albeit I hadn’t met many wolves. But today was the day I would meet many! Hopefully whenever dad was done with the business that had called for this pack meeting I would get to meet a few more wolves. Maybe Sleekwing would introduce me to the wolves that he was sitting with. They must be his friends, so surely they should be mine too. Really I should know everyone here! Someday I would be their queen, I had a duty to meet them all.

Despite my best attempts at composure, my tail wagged across the ground as I glanced up at Swallowbane and dad. I was growing impatient for something to happen. Certainly I could be forgiven for this; after all I was only a pup and my attention span had not quite reached the depth that it someday would hold.