Passage Eleven

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“I never thought I would explain this,” he whispered. “But I…*gulp* I was M-m-m-Marashu.” He gulped and looked around us, watching the growing eyes.  If we hadn’t had such great ears, we wouldn’t have heard what he said.
     “I am ashamed of what I did. My great deed, oddly enough, was creating such creatures. I have had a curse for slaughtering Angel though. I shall never be able to eat prey; the animals shall forget who I am. If one ever comes across me, they attack me, slash their tails and claws without even thinking,” he sighed, looking around for probably a mouse.
     Mooki pounced on a small squirrel and pushed it over towards Roush saying, “I don’t care what you did in the past, that’s over with. You’re a new you!” Roush relaxed and nuzzled Mooki’s coat.
     “I thank you greatly,” Roush whispered, nuzzling Mooki’s coat and looking up at her with big eyes.
     “I would have never guessed my own grandfather was such a murderer! Even though he’s a grandfather, I suggest we kick him out!” Sunny sniffed her nose high and indignant. Roush glared at her.
     “Creating dragons and creatures isn’t a horrible thing to do! Okay, so I killed someone. I have enough punishment, not being able to eat or be praised the rest of my life! I realized what I did was wrong, and tried stopping it, but the stupid followers kept killing their whole stupid lives!” Roush hissed. Sunny turned her back on him, the worst thing you could do to an Elder, the most unrespectful thing.
     “Get a life Sunny!” shouted Tray, seeming surprised at his own words. He stalked away towards us. “That idiot is going to get herself killed!”
     “Glad to see you’ve noticed,” I sighed, staring at the she wolf as she wandered off into the forest. “Probably won’t be coming back. The worst part would be if she joined up with Fred. Then, she could tell all about us and our Meetings. Being a double agent with her would be terrible!”
     “I’m sorry! She seemed like a nice person before she turned!” peeped Tray, staring off into the stars. “She was a bully, but she never really was a true bully in her heart, only in her mind.”
     Tom wandered to a high rock in the middle of the clearing. He cleared his throat and looked upon us all with great sorrow in his eyes.
     “We have been discussing what to do now that we have spotted a fallen one. More patrols will go out, and we shall stay wolves without question. Those of you living in human houses pretend to move away to another nest, and come back to join us within three hours. Be off!” He growled, and wandered off towards his own den inside the rock.
     “I think that means we have to go move,” I whispered to Tanya, who nodded her head, and we raced off to find our adopted wolf moms.
     Nights were full of grim patrolling. Every wolf got their share, and even Tanya and I had to wander about the forest, keeping our ears on the sound of anyone. Sunny had disappeared, some had said she’d return, but four full moons had passed and she’d never come back. If anyone saw her, we were ordered to direct her to Tom or the Elders. I found a rabbit hopping down a dirt path, I pounced, and the rabbit became another bit of prey for the pack.
     We had to hunt for the pack because prey was again becoming scarce, and we couldn’t show ourselves to humans right after we were supposed to move. Tanya looked at the edge of the forest eagerly every night, hoping there was a way to escape and get back to Dylan. After she had met him, she had never been the same. She often tried sneaking out of the forest. Now, whenever she went on patrol I had to go with her so she didn’t run away. Dylan had been sad to hear she was moving, but was happy because she’d have a nice life wherever she was going.
     “We’re not going to see him again,” I whispered one night, with Tanya shying away towards the edge of the forest. “And if you sneak out, we will all get into trouble! Tom will smell his scent on you, so I’d suggest not doing that.” In my head I said again, but I didn’t want Tanya hearing that.