(Wolf Den)

Up ahead was a cave that branched off from the ravine.

Baylee stopped, which caught Jacer by surprise, and he almost fell."Sorry," he said. "Stay here. I'll get Tamalee." Baylee squeezed through the hole.

Twisty sat down next to Jacer. "So... where do you live?"

"No where specifaclly. I like to travel around." He replied while shifting his paws.

"That's cool," Twisty said.

Baylee came back out with a red wolf following him. "This is Tamalee," he said, flicking his tail to the red wolf.

(Tamalee)

Tamalee had a bunch of leaves in her mouth, which she carefully placed on the ground. "Which paw's twisted, sugar?" Tamalee asked.

Jacer winced on the inside. He wasn't "sugar". But he ignored it and stuck out his right forepaw.

"Not much of a talker, are ya, sugar? Well I'll get this all set for ya."

Jacer resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Tamalee wrapped his paw in the leaves.

"Now, sugar, there's a reason those leaves are 'round your paw. Don't touch 'em." Tamalee said. "And stay off it as much as possible. I'll let ya know when ya can practice walkin on it. For now ya need to rest it." Tamalee turned to Baylee and Twisty. "Help him inside, ya two." Then, she disappeared through the hole.

"Did she have to call me sugar every five seconds?" Jacer grumbled.

Twisty snickered. "Happens to the best of us."

Baylee snorted. "No, it happens to all of us."

Jacer rolled his eyes, holding back a laugh, and crawled through the hole. He was surprised to see that the den was bigger than expected.

There were holes in the roof where sunlight shone through, and there were tunnels branching off from the main area. The grayish black stone felt nice and cool beneath his paws.

"Wow..."

"Pretty cool, huh?" Twisty whispered.

"Yeah."

Suddenly, a little wolf pup tumbled out of one of the tunnels, and another one jumped over the one who tumbled.

"Heyyyyyy..." The one who was on the ground, a golden brown pup, jumped up.

"Who are those little pups?" Jacer asked.

Baylee gave a snort of laughter. "Thats Juniper and Midnight. Their mother is Gothliea, who should be out soon."

(Midnight and Juniper)

At that moment, a pink wolf came out from the tunnel and wrapped her tail around her pups.

(Gothliea)

"Alright, settle down young ones," She looked up and saw Jacer lying next to Twisty and Baylee. She flattened her ears and pulled her pups closer. "Who's that?"

Twisty waved her tail. "This is Jacer. He twisted his paw, so he's staying here until he's all set to go."

Gothliea still looked as if he would slaughter them all. He ignored her and just lay there.

Midnight pushed past her mother and scrambled up to Jacer. "How'd you get here? How'd you twist your paw?"

"Midnight, don't pester Jacer. He needs to rest." Gothliea said, though she looked more concerened at getting Midnight safe then keeping Jacer sane.

Midnight reluctantly walked back to her mother, and Gothliea dragged her and Juniper back down the tunnel.

Then, wolves started pouring in from the entrance, and they all stared at Jacer, but they went to different spots in the main area.

A gray wolf approached. "Twisty? Baylee? What is going on here?"

Twisty stood up and bowed. "Leader, this is Jacer. He was being chased by a shadow wolf and twisted his paw. He is staying here until he is well, if you shall allow him."

"Jacer, eh? I'm Darox. Welcome to our home. You may stay as long as you like."

(Darox)

"Thank you, Darox." Jacer said, dipping his head.

Darox left, leaving them alone once more.

Jacer looked around. "Who are all these wolves?"

Baylee stepped forward. "That white one over there is Snosali."

(Snosali)

"That green one is Moslern."

(Moslern)

"Over there, that purple one is Fosleet."

(Fosleet)

That yellow and grayish black one is Liflean."

(Liflean)

Twisty jumped in. "Right there, that pale yellow one, is Kasern, our father."

(Kasern)

Baylee nodded. "That magenta one with the blue tail is Pilis."

(Pilis)

Twisty flicked her tail to a teal wolf in
the corner. "That's Iveena."

(Iveena)

"

Over there is Trenso."

(Trenso)

"

And finally, that's Quanti."

(Quanti)

"That's cool." Jacer murmured.

Later that night, during their meal, the wolves kept giving him looks, as if they couldn't trust him.

And maybe they couldn't.