Moondust remained ever silent, vigilante in remaining unseen and undetected by whoever or whatever was coming in her direction. Her senses were going wild, everything seeming to hit her all at once while trying to figure out what was close by and what was further away. She could smell the squirrels playing in the background, the flowers that dotted the bottom of the tree trunks, she could also smell the faint scent of a nearby pack of wolves. However, it was at such a distance, she didn't believe that they would be much of an issue. If anything, it had to be the pack that Drifter was seeking out. 

Those weren't the only scents that had wafted to her nose like a sudden windstorm had carried them to her. There was a strange smell on the gentle breeze that carried like the foul stench of a badger. It was sour, strong with something that burned her nose and overpowered the fruity scent of the berry bush she hid in. It was like nothing she had ever smelled before making her both curious and wary of whatever was out there in the forest. 

Just when Moondust was about to make the decision to flee from her hiding spot, two wolves rushed out of the thinning treeline like a couple of hunter bullets whizzing through the air. Their eyes were frantic, darting around as if they were searching for someone. She could sense their panic and it made her feel nauseous with all the other things she was smelling around the forest. Thankfully, one of the wolves was one she could pick out anywhere. 

"Moondust!?" 

Drifter's desperate cry pulled her from her hiding spot, Moondust slowly belly crawling out from underneath the thorn filled bush. 

"I'm here Drifter!" 

It was an immediate reaction. Drifter's electric blue eyes shot to where Moondust's voice echoed from, Gambit's black ones following as well. The hunters in them expertly tracking her location as if they were hunting their prey so their pack would have food to eat. What she wasn't expecting was Drifter to jump on her the moment she was able to stand, his paws wrapping around her as if he were giving her the tightest hug he had given to anyone. 

A breathy sigh of relief left Drifter's lungs, his eyes closing while nuzzling his head against Moondust's cheek. He was just thankful that she was safe, that nothing out here had gotten to her before they had. 

"I'm glad that you're out here, I should have never left you alone. For that, I apologize with everything I am." 

"Okay, okay, you don't need to get so deep with the apology. Though, what's that scent out there? You do smell it too, right?" 

Moondust was wasting no time in asking about it, not when the scent was so strong that it sent alarms going off in her head. 

With the clearing of one's throat, Drifter slid off of Moondust and the pair turned to face the brown wolf that was standing there playing watchdog. His eyes never looked to Drifter or Moondust, but instead studied their surroundings. His body was tense, ready for a fight if one should occur, yet he remained as calm as a butterfly sucking the pollen right off of a flower. It didn't make Moondust feel any better about the scents she was smelling or the thumping she had heard moments ago. 

There was something they weren't telling her. 

"What's going on?" 

Moondust inquired, her own bright blue eyes darting back and forth between her moss covered companion and the new larger brown wolf that seemed just as alert as she did. 

"There's no time to explain. For now, let's get back to his pack and then we can talk there." 

Not wanting to question Drifter's urgency to leave the area, Moondust gave a quick bow of her head and perked her ears up so she could hear better. The hunter within her took full control, not wanting to take any chances for any reason while out there. She didn't know what was stalking through those trees that smelled so rancid, she didn't know the wolf that they would be joining, but Drifter seemed to know a thing or two and she would be finding out. 

Gambit turned tail without another word to his two new companions, assuming the pair would follow him once he began to lead them away from their current location. He was right. 

As Gambit darted away from both Drifter and Moondust, it was Drifter who took the lead while Moondust hesitated in moving. However, her hesitation didn't last very long. She took off after the two male wolves, her eyes darting around the forest, hoping for a glimpse of whatever was patrolling through the trees. Was it something they could take care of on their own? Was it something to do with what was going on with her pack? Should she head back to warn her pack about whatever was out there? 

While so many thoughts rushed through her head, it became a fight for Moondust to stay focused and follow after the two wolves ahead of her. The last thing she needed was to get left behind and lost in another pack's territory. Worse yet, get caught by whatever else was roaming around out there that had Drifter and his friend completely on edge. 

**** **** ****

Moondust continued to follow Drifter and the large brown wolf, noticing that their trail was leading them further away from pack land and more into a part of the forest she had never been. The ground had turned hard and rocky, the sticks lying around feeling like thorns stabbing into her paws with every step. The trees here were thick, but they were thin and bare compared to where they had come from. The bark wa dark, blackened as if something had long since burned it and left the trunk and a few bare branches as a reminder of its passed life. The atmosphere was sad, decrepit and Moondust knew why she had never come here, it was the neutral territories. The land was used for those seeking refuge, used for loners and rogues that had no homes, used for those running from their pack's because they had committed some sort of crime. The neutral lands were dangerous and she didn't like that this was where their destination was. 

Slowing down to more of a walk, Moondust let her eyes roam the desolate neutral lands. Eyes were everywhere, watching as the trio made their way through the black dead trees. Were they wary or maybe just curious? Either way, the way the other wolves watched their every move had Moondust tracking as many of them as wolvenly possible. 

"We're just up ahead. Pay no mind to the strays around here, they can't do anything to us and we to them. We're safe here." 

Snapping back to attention, Moondust let her eyes fall onto the brown furred wolf with the black eyes as he reassured both herself and Drifter about the other wolves. Maybe it was just her that he was reassuring. If Drifter knew him, he had probably been through these parts of the pack land already. Then again, Drifter was a natural loner. He could have lived within the neutral pack lands in the past, which was why he looked so comfortable walking through them now. 

Drifter glanced around, eyeing the other wolves that stood in the distance watching them. His strides slowed enough to where he could walk side-by-side with Moondust. He had a feeling Moondust was becoming more and more uneasy the further into the neutral lands they went. 

"I promise you, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll make sure you get back to your pack in one piece and without harm." 

"That's not what I'm worried about. You're certain we can trust your friend? His pack?" 

"Of course we can. Being on neutral pack land no one can lay a claw or fang on anyone, which means you'll be able to speak with their medic without problem. This may have been a blessing in disguise on your behalf." 

Moondust had to admit, Drifter did have a point about the neutral pack lands. It was an unspoken pack law, no fights were allowed within the neutral pack lands. If anyone dared to lay fang or claw on another while in neutral territory, it was an immediate exile from pack lands. If one tried to return from being exiled, they were either chased off or killed on whoever's territory they were trying to slip into. It wasn't a life anyone wanted to have or be forced upon them, so rules were quickly and rightfully followed. 

"Will he allow me to speak to their medic? Have you even mentioned it to him yet?" 

A sheepish look slowly slid onto Drifter's face while he turned his electric blue gaze away from Moondust. He hadn't exactly gotten that far, not when the mention of Moondust being out there had become Gambit's new mission. He had wanted to go out there immediately and get her to safety, meanwhile, he himself had been worrying over her non-stop. He should have gone back earlier, but it took Gambit's lead to get him moving. 

"I'm sure he will. I was getting to asking him when we decided to come find you." 

Drifter's comment surged Moondust's brain back to the odd scents she had been smelling throughout the forest. Her curiousness drifted into her ice blue orbs, silently urging Drifter to continue with his explanation. However, it wasn't Drifter that continued, it was his friend; 

"The humans are scrounging the forest and fields, which is why we have taken refuge in the neutral pack lands. Normally they don't come till the next full moon, but for unknown reasons, they decided to come a full moon earlier. They smoked out our pack dens and made an attempt to grab some of us, but we escaped. . . just barely." 

Sudden worry pierced Moondust like a claw to the chest. Humans were roaming the forests, which explained the odd scents flitting around in the air. However, her pack was weak at the moment and needed help. If the humans were to find them and smoke them out, there would be no way they could escape or find safety here in the neutral pack lands. They would be caught and the humans would do with them what they will. 

Drifter easily spotted the worry and strike of fear that rippled off of Moondust like a wave off of the lake. Rather than explaining more, he turned his attention onto Gambit, becoming more serious than he had been at their first meeting. 

"Gambit, she really needs to speak with your medic. Her pack is in trouble and if she doesn't find help, the river wolves are going to be at the mercy of the humans. They could be wiped out." 

Okay, maybe not the best way to explain while Moondust was standing right beside him. From the corner of his eyes, Drifter could see her ears droop and her icy blue orbs begin to water. They looked like an endless frozen lake, melting from the heat of the sun. He regretted the way he explained it, but he had to get the urgency of the matter across to Gambit. 

And across to him it got. 

Gambit let his eyes shift back and forth between Drifter and the she-wolf he helped get to safety. It was way too apparent that Drifter was indeed telling the truth by the she-wolf's reaction. If her pack was in need of that much help, then he saw no reason why she couldn't just speak to their medic. However, anything else and they would have to go through their alpha before anything more could be done. 

"Very well, give me a moment to go seek her out." 

While Gambit turned and walked into the close knit crowd of terrified looking wolves, Moondust turned to face Drifter once more. The panic and fear never left her face, swirling together in her icy blue eyes as if that's where those emotions were meant to stay. 

"You don't think my pack is in that much danger, do you? I can't have them being wiped out by humans. It's bad enough that we're losing members due to whatever is ailing them so quickly." 

The desperation and sadness in Moondust's voice broke Drifter's heart. His tail drooped a little and it no longer swayed in its carefree and happy manner that it once did. Instead, it just hung still as he too grasped the entirety of the situation that Moondust was dealing with. 

"No, your pack is going to make it. They're a strong bunch and I promise I will do everything in my power to help you help them. I'm not going to let you go through this all on your own." 

Moondust wanted to believe drifter, she wanted to believe that he wouldn't leave her side or allow her to go through this alone. However, he was a loner, a drifter by nature and preferred to be alone. Loners enjoyed the solitary life, moving from one place to the next, living and doing as they liked without the rules of a pack to follow. She had only known him for a short time, having met him that day. 

How could she fully trust he would be by her side through this whole thing? 

How could she trust he wouldn't leave her when she needed him most?

"Hey, stop your thought process right now. I know we just met and I'd be thinking the same thing you are, but you can trust me. I'm probably the most trustworthy one around here." 

"Yeah, about as trustworthy as a bug under a rock." 

Both Drifter and Moondust turned their attention to the wolf interrupting their conversation. The new she-wolf's comment not exactly a reassuring one towards trusting Drifter like Moondust wanted to do. 

"Ivy, now you know that's not true. Let's not scare Moondust over here, not when she's asked me to help out. . . and I brought her to someone I figured had more answers." 

Ivy was a beautiful she-wolf, tall and lean with powerful muscles to fill out her lithe body in all the right ways. Her fur was a beautiful sheen of auburn, shining like dark sparkling embers in the sunlight that shone down on the dank world that was the neutral pack lands. Her eyes were just as bright as her dark auburn fur, shimmering as green as freshly grown grass in the fields outside of her own territory. The little bit of Ivy she had wrapped around her neck with a beautiful set of purple and red wild flowers attached at the center, complimented her green eyes perfectly. 

Beautiful barely touched the surface with this she-wolf. There were no words that could describe how divine this she-wolf truly was. 

A bubbly laugh worked its way out of Ivy, her head thrown back as she let out it free. Though, she slowly turned her bright green eyes back down to Drifter and shook her head. Something about the way the two looked at one another and spoke, they obviously had passed history together. Why that bothered Moondust so much was a mystery to her, but she was going to try and not let it get to her. 

"Oh Drifter, if she hasn't run scared from you as of yet, I doubt my comments would frighten her away." 

There was no pause between comments, Ivy shifting her attention to Moondust. Her eyes softened and her whole demeanor seemed to change. It was like Ivy had turned into an entirely different wolf right before Moondust's eyes. It was nothing like how Sunny or Thunder worked within her pack. They were always all work, seriousness, and by the book when it came to the pack. They never seemed to get out of work-mode, always keeping an eye on their packmates and keeping them from getting sick. 

Ivy seemed as if she turned into your best friend, making you feel comfortable and relaxed. Maybe their two medics should take some notes from Ivy, then things wouldn't be so tense back home in the medicine den. 

"So, I hear you needed to speak to me about something? How about you join me on a small walk and tell me what's on your mind."