Before long, the sound of shuffling paws and the low thrum of voices drew us from our den. We stepped outside to find the pack gathered and everyone getting along again. Spruce and Pine lay with their mother, each with a shoulder pressed to either side of her own. A soft smile was etched across her muzzle. The perfect look of contentment.

Across the cave lay Dusk, with her own pups dispersed about her. Badger gnawed on his sister, while Vixen batted at his ears. Behind her, Buck pounced on his mother's swishing tail. Toad's small form was curled at her mother's paws.

We found a place in the middle, nestled between the wolves most important to us, right next to the wolf most important to me. Cloud placed her paw beside mine, the prickly ashen fur around her toes tickling against the smoke-colored hide of my single forepaw. Two colors so different, but alike. One dark, one light, belonging together. Even the weight of my footless leg seemed less heavy lately, hardly on my mind at all. Hardly a problem at all. I couldn't imagine a time when I didn't have this burden, this part of me that changed so much of my life, even if I couldn't remember much of those times without it. Because it didn't matter now, and it wasn't a burden. Not when I had a perfect family surrounding me, reminding me that having one less paw than the rest of them didn't change a thing in the world.

Finally, the awestruck gazes between us must've drawn Spruce's attention, because he looked over and stuck his tongue out. A fake gag followed. Cloud returned it with a sly smirk, and buried her muzzle into the fur of my neck. There was no longer anything for him to tease Cloud about, maybe because he and his sister were right all along, but still the thought of us being openly in love would surely drive him mad.

Pine eventually caught sight of the spectacle, and she was the first to speak. "What are you two grinning about?"

Cloud and I shared a glance. "Does there have to be any particular reason?" she asked with a laugh.

The yearling stared at us, a smile creeping onto her own muzzle. "Of course not." Then she glanced around the pack, the same look of wholeness that I'd just felt, sparkling in her eyes. An extra glimmer of hope flashed within them. "I want to feel that way some day. Like the two of you do..." she started to say, but she hesitated. "But I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have that perfect wolf stumble into their pack. I'm not sure"––Pine swallowed audibly, the beginning of glistening tears forming in her eyes––"I don't think I could ever leave this behind."

The comment felt a little out-of-nowhere, for a wolf so young to be worried about the future. Mist raised an eyebrow, certainly thinking the same thing, and Dusk's face softened in concern. She sent Buck tumbling from her tail with an extra powerful sweep, and she gently stepped over the still slumbering Toad. She made to settle next to Pine, while Cloud and I squeezed in closer by Spruce. He grumbled something under his breath, but said nothing.

Mist licked the single tear that had trailed down Pine's cheek, regarding her with a low, comforting woof. "In a rush to get away from me?" she teased, and her daughter shook her muzzle quickly. "Good," her mother said, scooping up Pine's muzzle with the back of her neck. "Don't ever feel like you have to leave, there's still so much growing-up left for you to do here. We'll always be your family, your home. And one day, there may be someone else you want to have a family with. When you're ready, it won't feel so much like leaving us behind, but forging a new path. A new branch on our tree. Below you, we'll always be here, because a tree can never escape its roots."

Pine nodded slightly, accepting her mother's affection with a nuzzle of her own. But the words sank in, even in me. Maybe I didn't have to leave my own past behind. Maybe I never should've tried. If I could just accept that I wasn't leaving anything, just growing apart, a limb of my own, then I wouldn't feel like I was somehow betraying the wolves that came before me.

A stifled sniff broke the silence, and then Pine's muffled voice as she spoke into her mother's fur. "I love you, Mom," she said. "Thank you. For giving me something perfect, right now."

Then came an obnoxious snort. "Why is everyone so sappy today?" Spruce groaned. "Talking about love and family." Spittle flew from his mouth with each word. "Wolves should be talking about hunting and what we're going to eat next. In fact, I'm starving."

The rest of us chuckled. Mist's ears perked at the words. "Y'know what, I agree." With a swift nod, she stood up. "What would make this moment even more perfect––is a hunt."

★☆★☆★

The moon peeked over the distant horizon, spreading into the darkening sky with streaks of light, along with twinkling spots spattering the backdrop. Luna's half-full form rose with her starlit children, casting her glow upon the dewy meadow, and the grass itself sparkled like a field of stars.

We'd been traveling for about half an hour now, Mist with her nose to the ground and following the scent of a recently passed herd of deer. The gamey, tantalizing smell filled the air, and we stayed behind the whispering wind that spread it to our noses from a hundred bounds away.

Mist was right, when she thought it'd be a fitting night for this. Even as the words left her muzzle, back there in the cave, something new rose in my chest. My legs no longer wavered with worry, my mind didn't swirl thinking of all the things that could go wrong. A proud feeling of belonging peeked its nose out from the depths of my stomach. I was ready.

Cloud beside me, my steps matching her own stride-for-stride, we trekked a little farther into the open, verdant plains. Then we spotted the herd, grazing ahead of us. A large group of deer stood unprotected in the vast, tall weeds, munching on grass without a care in the world. They didn't seek cover during the dusk, like they did during daylight hours, and with the nearly hidden sun casting long, indiscernible shadows over everything, our own forms were undetectable. Mist had explained how this herd tended to stay in the valley during the spring, so they never had to travel longer than a night to find them. Which was convenient, since Dusk and the pups had followed as far as they could, finding refuge in a small den nearby. The meadow rendezvous site.

The pups were now in the several week-long process of being weaned, finding their own taste for the small chunks of meat the adults could provide them, so Dusk insisted we hurry so they wouldn't chew her to death. We'd bring her something we could carry from our catch––if we caught anything. I shook the thought from my head. I was only going to focus on what we would do. Secure tonight's meal.

Our pack was deathly quiet as we stalked closer to the deer, beginning to spread out in formation. We already knew the plan, having discussed it on the way here. Cloud and I would cover one side of the herd, while Mist and Pine took the other. Spruce had the honor of leading the hunt, and he'd be responsible for delivering the final kill.

Mist felt it was time. The young male surpassed herself in terms of speed and strength. He was ready for it, too. I was ready to be here and just manage to keep up. That was all I could hope for.

Cloud and I eventually had a sizable distance from the group, the entire pack still stretching wider and wider around the back of the herd. As we entered the range of their scent and sound capabilities, the two of us sank lower on our feet, an attempt to stay low and hidden in the tall grass. I scanned through the deer, looking for one Spruce might choose as his target.

I only worried a little that he would be his arrogant self, choosing a full grown buck with a huge rack of antlers to get himself impaled with. But I knew his mother was more sensible than that. She taught him that when it really mattered, not to make stupid decisions that might endanger himself or the whole pack. With Spruce, I'd always be a little on-edge about what to expect, but I put my full trust in him now, like a pack had to when it hunted.

As we reached our position, Cloud waved her tail in the air. With the moon's light bouncing off her fluorescent fur, it'd be hard for Spruce to miss. But we were ready to take off even before then, preparing ourselves for the unexpected. A few moments later, when it seemed the deer couldn't have been any more wary of our presence, ears and tails flicking, casting glances in our direction, a shrill tone rose in the air. We launched from our feet with flying bounds as Spruce's howl rang in our ears, and the hunt began.

The deer, too, started something: they stampeded as the pitched wail of death drove their hooves. But there weren't many places for them to go––in fact, only one. Forward. Cloud and I raced to keep up on one side, for the time being, keeping any deer from seeping away from the herd. I left a sideways eye on Spruce, racing up the middle. Pine and Mist were somewhere opposite to us, driving the herd together on the right.

Cloud still bounded far ahead of me, faster and stronger than I'd ever be, but the struggle to stay with the pack wasn't greater than I could handle. A fresh sense of pride fueled my own steps. The breeze whipping through my fur was new and exhilarating, and not once did I break stride as my limp leg bounced along with the rest of my body. I too, found wisdom in Spruce's words. This was what being a wolf was about. Not being able to run, not even being able to hunt, but the rush of adrenaline felt while working towards a common goal with those around you. Being one without words. Knowing that your pack was all you needed to survive. Nothing and nobody would ever be perfect. We'd all make mistakes, we'd all have struggles, but we'd pass through them together, never straying, just like chasing a herd of deer.

I felt like a true wolf again.

Spruce straightened his lope, singling in with a sharp gaze on a single deer. He had finally chosen his target: a reasonable young buck, based off of the short, felt-covered antlers. The deer had already started to fall behind, weaker and less experienced than the others. He even strayed further and further from the middle of the herd towards Mist and Pine's side, a fatal mistake. Spruce signaled that he had finalized his choice with a loud, short bark. And with his instruction, Cloud and I began to cut the sides of our valley-shaped formation into a narrower tunnel, slipping between the deer who raced around us and into the side of the herd, and we began to drive away the ones far too large and healthy to be our prey.

Cloud snapped her jaws at each beast that now refused to stray from the herd, easily dodging the flying hooves passing by. I helped with reinforcing barks, knowing I couldn't be saved from any situation that needed a quick reaction, like a deer deciding I would be easy enough to ram, and with the occasional backward glance, I made sure to stray from the path of anything oncoming, preferring not to be gored by antlers.

The young buck of Spruce's choice seemed to be catching on, drifting over to our side now. Cloud slowed her gallop, and I quickened my own speed, trying to close the gap between us. The two of us together, with a few low growls passed between us, drove it back the other way, further into Spruce's path as each of his bounds brought him closer.

If we didn't stop it soon, Spruce's stamina would run out far before the buck's, even as the yearling was within nipping distance at the deer's hooves, almost caught up, but struggling to close the distance to its throat. We needed to cut him off from the last few deer who led this long and fruitless chase. With a nod from me, Cloud sprinted off again, full speed, and the blur of white quickly surpassed every deer. She leaped in front of the buck, and he hesitated in his step, not sure he could go through her snapping jaws. Then he reared his head to the right, but Mist and Pine were there with bared teeth.

Then he turned to me.

Without breaking his stride, he lowered his antlered head and ran full force towards the side with the least resistance. Mine. My heart pounded in my chest as I froze in place, unsure what to do. As the deer barreled toward me, I let out a snarl, but it didn't phase him. He was determined to make his own path to freedom. But the short delay was nearly enough to get Spruce to the creature's thick, muscled throat, I just had to hold him a second more.

As the deer came within a bound, I crouched down on my hind legs, ready to dart sideways when he reached me. Cloud was there within an instant, jumping at the deer's tender nose and diverting his path once more. Spruce finally covered the last of the distance while the buck whirled in confusion. With a leap, he soared through the air and dug his teeth into the tender part of its neck. A bleating wail rang out as Spruce struggled to hold onto its struggling, thashing form, but he already held a fatal chunk of flesh within his jaws. Within a moment, the screaming had stopped, and the deer ceased in its struggle. He fell to the ground, and Spruce released his grip, stepping back.

We all took a few silent moments to breathe and regain our composure, then we celebrated our victory. Cloud yipped excitedly, bouncing at my side. I returned the playful gesture, chasing her a couple of bounds before she turned on her paws and launched into me. I collapsed under her weight, laughing until my chest hurt as I stared into her starry eyes.

Mist and Pine praised Spruce for a job well done with licks and barks that were less than positively-received, the male grimacing at all the affection, and soon, we'd calmed ourselves and gathered around the prey.

Instead of Mist leading our normal meal routine, she leaned back from the meal. Spruce glanced up from his salivating focus on our meal-to-come. She nodded softly to him, and I saw him take in a shaky breath. Just like his mother would, he thanked Sol and Luna for our meal, for our time together and ability to catch the Earth's bounty. We'd one day repay it with our own bodies, but for now, we used it to nourish ourselves.

Pine wasn't the only one growing up, the only one nearing the time they'd be ready to become their own wolves––ones that might one day lead packs of their own. My heart ached a little at the thought.

Then we gathered around to eat together. I met Spruce's gaze with a smile as the pack pulled away from the dwindling deer carcass. He smirked back. I licked the blood from my muzzle, and eyed a crimson-stained Cloud. I helped her clean the sides of her face, before Mist drew our attention with a short bark.

There was a glowing look on her face that meant only one thing. She raised her muzzle to the sky, and her voice filled the darkness with a proud howl. Cloud nodded to Spruce, giving him the honor of going next, so he too raised his muzzle and howled, his sister shortly behind. Their voices merged with their mother's to form a strong and melodic tone. Like an unbreakable bond between mother and pup.

It grew stronger when Cloud's wail joined in. Her voice spoke of family, one that wasn't just flesh and blood. It was formed from bonds of tangible love. Just like my affection for Cloud, and the love I felt for my pack.

I expressed my content in a howl of my own, Cloud and I matching our tones in a way that would tell any who listened that our voices were no longer apart. We sang to the sky about our life. How complete and perfect it was now that we were both truly home.

A/N

If the comments seem a little unrelated, I recycled this chapter. And... in other news, the book is growing ever nearer to the end. I can officially say it's (a little more than) halfway over >:D