Hidden In

the

Shadows,

Book one: Kamatz the

Lone Wolf 

Chapter 1 

The lone pup’s beginning 

A wolf pup, with his snow-white pelt glistening in the moonlight and his storm-blue eyes shadowed by the trees. All he knew was that he was hungry and the winter months were coming nearer. Only two moons of warmth remained. The last thing he remembered was a silvery she-wolf placing his sister beside him. 

The rain was soaking him to the bone and his sister looked the same. This 7 month old pup was named Kamatz. His sister, Kahoko, remained by his side no matter what happened.  

Kamatz heard the rustle of leaves nearby. He turned his head and saw a mouse scuffling through the undergrowth. Kahoko followed his gaze and leaped on the mouse, killing it. As they sat down to eat, Kamatz caught the faint smell of dry earth. He followed the scent and reached a cave that dipped into the ground. He began walking down into it, Kahoko reluctantly following. 

Soon the tunnel opened into a wide cave with a strong smell of fox. 

“Turn around!” Kamatz Yelped to Kahoko. The she-wolf turned around and bumped straight into the long orange muzzle. By the smell of it, a mother fox and her kit were entering the cave. Kamatz grabbed Kahoko’s tail in his teeth and raced down another tunnel, the mother fox hot on their trail.  

Kamatz crashed into the end of the tunnel and the fox slowed to a stop mere feet from them. Kamatz forced his sister behind him defensively. The fox’s teeth were now only inches away from his own. He leaped on top of the fox and bit down on her shoulder to hang on. Kahoko quickly joined in by slashing at the fox’s muzzle.  

The angered creature buried her muzzle into her neck. 

“Don’t you hurt my sister!” Kamatz growled as he ran his claws through her fiery pelt. Soon the blood began to flow from the fox’s sides in a river and she toppled to the ground. Immediately Kamatz ran to his sister’s side and saw that a crimson pool was forming on her white pelt. Kamatz helped her up and she limped into the cave with him. 

The fox kit attacked her and scratched into her a couple of times before Kamatz could help. By then, it was too late. He watched the kit scuttle away through a tunnel. He was old enough to survive on his own, but was Kamatz? The white wolf sat down beside Kahoko. With every breath came more blood. When more blood came, the more Kamatz’s fur stained. But how could he care at this point? 

Kahoko was slowly dying in front of him. He couldn’t stand the pain. Kamatz hared through a random tunnel out of love for his sister, fear, and anger. He hated himself for letting his sister die without him, but he simply couldn’t bear seeing her like that. 

The white wolf burst into the storm and stopped to try and see the moon. The clouds parted slightly, revealing part of it, then covering it again. Anger filled Kamatz with energy. He raced through the undergrowth, putting as much space as possible between him and the scarlet filled cave. Throughout this period of time he couldn’t stop thinking, I must live on my own now, and I will survive and carry both our spirits.  

It may have been the end of Kahoko’s life, but it was a new beginning for another. Kamatz stopped under a towering oak tree and collapsed on the cold, wet earth and fell asleep to forget these troubles.  

~ 

The two moons have passed and the first snow of the year floated down on the dried leaves and broken-hearted wolves alike. Kamatz had run into many more foxes, but his painful memories helped him defeat them and settle some of the injuries he carried mentally. 

A long scar from a male fox’s claws crossed Kamatz’s right eye. Several more flowed along his snow-filled pelt. Although, none of it could compare to the real pain that he felt deep down inside. But he carried on, hunting bigger game than mere mice and birds made him look and feel much stronger. 

Right now he was hunting a baby caribou, well hidden behind the legs of its mother. Kamatz licked his muzzle as he prepared to launch into the herd of animals. He shifted his weight slowly on each individual paw and leaped straight into the herd and crashing into the caribou calf’s mother who stumbled but quickly regained her footing and raced away with the calf.  

Kamatz doesn’t give up easily, however, so he pelted after them. With every second, he had drawn a tail-length closer to the caribou. The calf let out a squeal as Kamatz leaped on it. The calf’s mother turned around and launched herself at Kamatz. His plan was working! 

He spun around and landed squarely on her back. With a quick bite on her neck she crashed to the ground. The perfect meal.  

As Kamatz settled down to eat he heard a noise coming from a nearby bush. He could smell a coyote hidden and waiting for the right moment to join the feast. “You don’t eat until I say you can,” he growled. The coyote whimpered but remained in the same spot. 

Kamatz raced into the bushes and slammed his paw into the coyote’s skull, killing it instantly. He turned around and continued eating the caribou carcass. The calf could still be seen trying to follow the herd away, slowly but surely.

Once Kamatz had eaten his fill he left the carcass open for other predators and walked over to a small mountain and climbed into his cave den. After he thought a bit he decided to go off and explore the mountain better. When he left the cave he saw three wolves at the caribou carcass. They were all a bit smaller than him and were all different colors, gray, brown, and white with some gray on their back.

            Once there were only bones left, the three wolves slowly started walking away. Kamatz grinned to himself as he silently followed them from a distance. He followed them a bit deeper into the forest and around a bunch of trees until they reached a huge valley with scent markers all around it and the occasional bush throughout the valley. There, the three wolves were greeted by dozens more.

            Kamatz remained hidden in the trees. One white wolf caught his eye but was soon lost in a wave of various pelts as they padded away together.

            Kamatz followed them, crouching in the snow and hiding behind bushes, trees, rocks, and whatever else was nearby when he could. They all stopped below a tall rock in the middle of the valley and looked at the top where two different gender wolves sat. Obviously they were what Kamatz learned were the alpha pair of a pack.

            The black male announced, “Let us welcome back Bardolf and Salena after leaving and traveling throughout the land!” All the wolves cheered as a silver and white female wolf and a black male wolf hopped onto the boulder.

            The alpha female announced after the cheering died down, “Moonlight Shadows pack is dismissed to their dens!”

            Immediately all the wolves padded to the back of the boulder and disappeared. Kamatz crept around to the back and saw several large caves that the wolves were entering. Kamatz noticed that all of the wolves were the same type of wolves as him and much older than him, obviously, but he was still a bit larger than them.

            “Let’s go hunt!” a russet colored wolf suggested to the others. All of the wolves agreed and sped out after him into the valley. Kamatz slipped from tree to tree as he followed them to the forest where an elk herd was grazing on different plants. All of the 37 wolves that Kamatz had counted separated a calf from the herd and killed it.

            That’s all they’re eating? Kamatz thought. Just to be nice he chased the herd out of sight and brought down the biggest buck in the herd and dragged it back to them, remaining hidden.

            A few of the wolves started smelling it as Kamatz climbed his way into a tree. Two of them, likely the omegas, located the large elk and called the others over to check it out.

            “It was killed by a wolf, not some natural disease or something….” The alpha female said in amazement.

            “Did you say a wolf!?” another wolf said as she looked at the single set of teeth marks on its neck. “Couldn’t it have been a bear? I mean it’s got a huge set of teeth marks on it,” the alpha male said.

            “No,” an orange colored wolf began, “the teeth marks are clearly wolf.”

“They’re fresh too,” said another. “Wouldn’t we have smelled bear,” a black she-wolf said. Nine wolves lifted their noses into the air and began bristling, “I don’t smell a Familiar wolf!”

            “It must be another pack trespassing on our borders!” The wolf called Bardolf said.

“No, I mean I’ve never smelled it before at all,” the alpha female said.

            The white wolf that caught Kamatz’s eye earlier remained at the back of the group, pain in her eyes.

            The alpha male turned to her and looked concerned. Others followed his gaze until all eyes were on her.

            A brown wolf walked up to her, “what’s wrong?”

            The white wolf looked up and forced a smile onto her face, “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

            Kamatz felt familiar with her voice, even though she spoke almost to fast to understand, especially in all of the confusion that was swirling around the wolves like mist.

            “Are you sure?” three wolves asked her at the same time, concern hidden in their words, “You can tell us anything if something’s wrong.”

            “Listen, I’m fine. Can we turn our attention on the elk? Meat doesn’t last forever you know.”

            “Even though you weren’t born in the pack, you will always be a member. You don’t have to hide anything from us you know.”

            The white wolf with blue eyes looked away, unsure of something. Then Kamatz realized why this wolf seemed so familiar and the alpha female confirmed his guess, “If Kahoko doesn’t want to talk she shouldn’t have to.”