The pack caught nothing that night, but a quarter moon later we awoke to the bellowing of the elkryn. It was a strange sound, halfway between the howl of a wolf and the moan of a dying horse, and it pierced the night.
Rissa raised her head and sniffed the air.
“It is time for the pups to join the hunt,” she said.
My ears rose, and I could feel my heartbeat quicken. Next to me, Marra yipped in excitement. Rissa had refused to let us join the hunt for so long, I was sure we’d be a year old before we got to chase prey. Ázzuen and the others were six moons old, and I was nearly so, but Rissa had not let us anywhere near large prey since the stampede.
Marra was the first to reach Rissa, and Ázzuen and I were not far behind. We leapt in excitement, imitating the hunt dance we had so often seen the adults perform. Unnan came more slowly and was more reserved in his greeting. Rissa looked at us all. We were nearly as tall as she, and growing strong. She smiled for what seemed like the first time since Reel’s death.
“It is time,” she said, almost more to herself than to us. “I cannot keep you in the den forever. We will go to the Great Plain to hunt the elkryn.”
Ruuqo came over and touched his nose to her cheek.
“They are ready,” he said. “And we will watch them carefully.” He glowered at us. “The elkryn are dangerous prey,” he warned. “We used to hunt their smaller elk cousins, but the humans have driven them from the valley. Elkryn are aggressive and dangerous. You must pay attention.” His eyes swept over us to make sure we were listening. He howled once more, and then led us to our first prey. Even his glares could not dampen our excitement, and we tripped over one another leaving the clearing.
We ran through the woods on a soft pelt of newly fallen leaves. I tried as best I could to remember the hunting instructions we had been given over the past moons. But I could not focus. I had been waiting for the first hunt for as long as I could remember. The hunt is what makes us wolf. Long ago the world was divided into hunters and prey, and wolves were made the best hunters of all. Our lungs give us breath and the strength to run long and hard. Our teeth are built from a piece of the wolfstar to be sharp and strong. We have ears made large enough to hear the very thoughts of prey, eyes meant to track its motion as it flees, noses meant to capture each drop of prey-scent, and legs to run across the world. But none of it matters if you have not the skill and courage to hunt. We would have our first chance to demonstrate that courage and skill this night. Proving ourselves in the hunt was one of our most important tests. If we hunted and survived our winter travels, we would be full wolf, and Ruuqo and Rissa would perform the ceremony that would bring out the scent of Swift River adult within us. From that point on, wherever we traveled, we would be known as Swift River wolves and successful hunters. I knew we were not expected to kill anything in our first hunt, but if I could, if I could show Rissa and Ruuqo that I was a strong hunter, I would be that much closer to being pack, to receiving romma. No one could question my rightness as wolf.
I couldn’t believe how quickly we reached the Great Plain. It had seemed an impossible distance before. I placed one paw and then the other on the grass. I had not been there since we had crossed it from our den site so many moons ago. I almost expected it to swallow me up or make me feel as weak and hopeless as I did as a smallpup trying to make my first journey. But it did not. It was rich with Ruuqo and Rissa’s scent marks, left to show other wolves that the plain belonged to us. It did not smell so different from the Tall Grass plains and the other hunting grounds around our lands. It was just one more part of our territory. Except that now it was covered with elkryn.
As far as we could see in the clear moonlight we watched their tall, proud shapes. The aroma of their flesh was so strong I could barely smell the grass we stood in or the beetles and ants that crawled past my feet. The heat from their rich skin warmed the night. They were huge—much taller than horses, and well more than the height of two grown wolves. They were powerfully built, with round, blunted muzzles, and their long legs looked like they were made for running. But most amazing—and most frightening—were the giant antlers atop the males’ heads. They were broader across than the elkryn were tall. I could only imagine how strong the beasts’ necks must be to support those huge antlers. And I didn’t want to imagine what those antlers would do to a wolf that got in the way of them.
Just to our left, next to a large, half-moon-shaped boulder, one large male elkryn had gathered what seemed like a hundred females around him. Far across the plain another male had half as many. As far as I could smell, there were clusters of elkryn made up of one male and many females. Other males, young ones, wandered the edges of the groups. As far as our ears could stretch, we could hear the males bellowing in strident, braying tones. I saw that Werrna, Yllin, and Minn had reached the plain before us and were already running among the elkryn. Ruuqo sprinted to join them.
“This is lush elkryn hunting time,” Rissa said, leading us out around the perimeter of the herds. We ran along the edges of the plain at an easy pace. It was the hunting run, a relaxed lope that a wolf can keep up for much of the night while seeking prey.
“The elkryn are healthy and strong from summer’s good food,” Rissa continued, looking back over her shoulder as she ran, “but their minds are on mating, which is good for us.”
As if agreeing with her, the male elkryn nearest to us lifted his head and bellowed, telling others for miles around that the females belonged to him. I almost jumped out of my fur. It was one thing to watch these beasts from a distance and another thing entirely to run so near them.
“They gather females they wish to mate with,” Trevegg explained, breathing easily in spite of our run. For all he talked about being an oldwolf, he easily kept up with Rissa. “The strongest males are alert at this time of year and are best left alone,” he said. “They are unnatural prey and will actually attack hunters. Most large prey will fight back if they must, but male elkryn like to fight us. This time of year we hunt the females. They are gathered together and not all can be strong. We can also hunt the young and old males who have worn themselves out trying to steal mates. They are the weakest of all.”
“None of them look that worn-out to me,” Marra said, a little nervously.
“They look like they might fight back, too,” Ázzuen said.
“That is one of the things you must beware of,” Rissa said. “Watch the others and see how they test them.”
Rissa stopped running and so did we, our flanks heaving, more with excitement and anxiety than fatigue. Ázzuen and Marra pressed themselves against me. I could see that Ruuqo, Werrna, and the youngwolves were running easily among the prey. The elkryn seemed to take no notice.
“It’s like the elkryn know we aren’t serious about hunting yet,” Ázzuen said.
“They do,” Rissa answered. “Prey that runs when we are not even hunting hard shows itself as weak. They learn when they are young how to tell when a wolf is ready to hunt.”
“Otherwise they’d tire themselves out running all the time,” Trevegg added.
Suddenly Yllin turned sharply and ran toward an elkryn, not really charging it, just angling herself slightly in the female’s direction. The elkryn raised her head and lifted a foot. Yllin turned just a little bit and ran past the prey, as if that was what she intended all along.
“The elkryn is showing that it would be hard to grab her by the neck,” Trevegg said. He snorted. “Yllin should know better. That one is not nearly ready to die.” His voice took on an instructive tone. “Prey selection is the most important part of the hunt, pups. If you cannot select prey, you will run yourself to starvation before you catch anything. It doesn’t matter how swift your legs or how sharp your teeth, if you do not use your brain you will fail. Our brains are what set us apart, what make us great hunters.”
I sighed. We had heard all of this before. Every time the adults took us with them to watch the hunt.
“Listen, pups,” Rissa said sharply, but with amusement in her voice. I was not the only one getting impatient. Marra was growling loudly enough to be heard across the plain, and Unnan scuffed his paws in the dirt. “Watching the hunt is one thing. Participating is another. When you are running with the elkryn, you will be so caught up in the hunt that you will chase anything that moves unless you remember to select prey well.”
I thought back on the mistakes I’d made when I first tried to hunt the horses. I would not make them again. My ears rose and I stood straighter. I listened for the breath of a young female who ran past us. It was even and unlabored. I tried to catch the eyes of a nearby cluster of elkryn to see if they were weak or strong, and I couldn’t help but creep forward a bit on my belly. I stifled a groan as my forelegs ached from so much crouching to watch the humans. One of the female elkryn saw me and looked straight at me. My heart leapt into my throat and stayed there.
Who are you to think I am prey? she seemed to say, pinning me with her haughty gaze. I have many years of running left, many calves to bear. Do not anger me. I have stomped wolves for less. I shook a little. She reminded me of the horses right before the stampede.
“That one’s not prey, youngwolf,” Rissa said with a laugh. “Pay attention. Sometimes you can sniff out worms in them, which make them tired and slow. And the old ones often have a disease that makes their joints stiff. You can smell that and hear it, too.”
“And sometimes,” Ruuqo said, striding back to join us, “you just watch them. You can tell when prey is ready to die. It hangs its head or startles when you come near it. If it is afraid of you it is because it has reason to be. If it is not afraid of you, it also has reason.”
“You can tell by the way that one stands that she’s strong,” Ázzuen said softly, indicating with a nod of his head the elkryn that had challenged me. “Also, you can see that her pelt is thick and shiny.”
“That’s correct, youngwolf,” Ruuqo said, surprised. “That is what you should look for, pups.”
Ruuqo lowered his muzzle to touch Ázzuen’s face in approval. I was proud of Ázzuen and glad that Ruuqo saw his smarts for once. I think it was the first time Ruuqo had noticed that Ázzuen was clever. Ázzuen stood and licked Ruuqo in thanks. Then he turned to me. I nosed his face as well, and he thanked me as he had Ruuqo. Marra came to sit beside us. Both their ears and tails were a little lower than mine. Unnan glared at us and lowered his tail a little.
Ruuqo glowered at me. His expression made me fear he would bite me. But he allowed his eyes to sweep over all of us and then back out to the plain where the other wolves were still running among the elkryn. Minn and Yllin caught his eye and ran to join us.
“There is no easy prey,” Minn said as he and Yllin flopped down next to us, panting. Werrna still ran determinedly among the elkryn. “We will have to run them.” He seemed pleased at the prospect.
“When no prey makes itself easily available, we must test the elkryn by running after them,” Trevegg said, snapping at a fly that landed on his faded gray muzzle. “With a herd this size it is often the best way. It is one of the reasons youngwolves like Yllin and Minn are so important to the pack. They do not know as much strategy as the older wolves”—he glared sternly at the two young wolves who slapped their tails on the ground in response—“but they run quickly and can test many prey without getting tired. That will be your role if you stay with the pack next year.”
Ruuqo stood and stretched. “Yllin and Minn will run the elkryn. When they have selected a potential prey, you will join them. You may hunt as a team or one-on-one with an adult wolf. There is value in both ways of hunting, and you will eventually learn them both.”
“I will hunt one-on-one,” Unnan said quickly. “I am not afraid to hunt on my own.”
I hesitated. I would have liked to hunt on my own, but I still felt a little guilty about going to the humans without Ázzuen and Marra. I looked at them. They just looked back at me, saying nothing.
“Well, pups?” Ruuqo asked. “What are you waiting for?”
Ázzuen and Marra were still looking at me expectantly. I waited for them to say something. Marra cocked her head. Ázzuen twitched an ear.
“The three of us will hunt together,” I said in a small voice.
Marra dropped her front legs down and wagged her tail. Ázzuen gave a pleased yip. For the second time Ruuqo glared at me, his expression pulled between anger and confusion. Before he could say anything, Trevegg spoke.
“She’s the dominant pup, Ruuqo, haven’t you noticed?” He seemed to be taking satisfaction in Ruuqo’s discomfort. “She has been since the horse frenzy. The other two follow her.”
Ruuqo’s growl was so deep in his throat that I felt it in my paws rather than hearing it.
“Very well,” he said. “I will take these three. Unnan, go with Trevegg.”
Trevegg narrowed his eyes at Ruuqo but obeyed, taking Unnan with him out among the elkryn.
Ruuqo led the three of us forward, so close that we were almost touching the elkryn. My heart pounded in my chest. At last we were hunting. Through the forest of elkryn flesh, I saw Yllin and Minn testing the prey. Minn charged an old, thinnish elkryn, but the elkryn stood her ground. Minn caught Yllin’s eye, and the two youngwolves ran together to the middle of the herd as they had before. But this time their attitudes were different. Before, they had seemed almost playful, but now they were serious and their eyes took on the set of a hunter. The herd immediately sensed the difference and shifted restlessly. Without any warning I could see, Yllin and Minn sprinted toward a clump of elkryn. The elkryn ran. Yllin and Minn chased them, scattering them in many directions. They ignored the fastest group and followed a slower one. When that group split in two, they followed the slower of the two groups. They split them and split them again, until there were only two elkryn left running in front of them. One broke to the right, followed by Yllin, and the other ran left, chased by Minn. Minn closed in on his elkryn and out of the corner of my eye I saw my packmates sprinting toward them from every direction. Rissa and Werrna were the first to get there, and then Yllin left off chasing her elkryn to join in. With a gleeful yip, Marra dashed after the elkryn, her legs seeming to blur as she caught up with the older wolves. At the same moment, I saw Trevegg and Unnan running, a bit more slowly, to join the hunt.
“Come on!” I shouted to Ázzuen, and began to run, Ázzuen at my side. Suddenly, Ruuqo stepped in front of me.
Startled, I stopped and looked up at him.
“Where are you going, pup?”
“To hunt,” I said, trying to temper my impatience and show him proper respect.
“Not you,” he said, “not today.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Do you question a leaderwolf? I do not wish you to hunt today. If you cannot obey me, you are not pack. You will stay here.”
Ruuqo ran to join the others. By then the elkryn had made her escape, which was not unusual. Hunts fail ten times out of eleven. But I was stunned.
The pack tested three more elkryn before giving up for the night. Each time I was the only one to sit out of the hunt. Finally, the pack wearied and returned to the edge of the trees.
“Why did you not join the hunt, Kaala?” Rissa asked. “You must join if you are to be wolf.”
I was afraid of what Ruuqo would do to me if I said anything to her. She did not wait for an answer, but gave a sigh and lay down to rest. “We will stay on the Great Plain,” she said sleepily. “The next hunt will be better.”
As the sun rose, the other members of my pack settled into the soft-sage beneath the trees at the edge of the plain and slept. Ázzuen and Marra both tried to sleep beside me, but I chased them off. As soon as I knew everyone was sleeping, I crept away. Tlitoo was waiting for me, and flew above my head as I began the long walk to the human homesite. The humans were why I was different and why Ruuqo disliked me. They held the secret to who I really was, and whether I was bad luck—and to whether I could ever really be a Swift River wolf. I was done with waiting.