Penn and the pups had been running for weeks on end. The poor pups were exhausted and terrified, but Penn couldn't afford to stop. With a killer like Alpha Codax on their trail, they just didn't have that luxury. She had to get them across the mountain range to safety as fast as their paws would take them.

At least, she hoped it would be safe on the other side. She could only pray to the Moon goddess that the Orthos Pack would take the pups in. The little orphans' Luna had told Penn she could trust the Orthos pack to adopt the pups as their own because Orthos was her birth pack. However, Penn had her reservations about birth packs. Her own had kicked her out ten years ago and she couldn't help but think packs weren't that reliable when you really needed them.

In any event, she was mentally preparing herself to fight to get them to keep the pups because she knew there was no going back to Griffin territory for these little ones. If anyone asked her, she'd bet her canines that their parents, as well as the pack's Alpha and Luna, were all slaughtered by now. 

And there was no way the orphaned pups could stay with her. She couldn't possibly protect them long term from Codax, and she wasn't willing to sacrifice herself for a bunch of kids she wasn't related to in any way. She didn't do pack-life. She wasn't interested in taking over as their Luna. Penn was only driving them across the mountains because their Luna, Penn's only friend in the world, had been desperate to get the kids to safety and Penn was their only way out.  It was as simple as that.

Sighing with regret, she looked over the kids as they rested in a small hidden valley in the mountainside. The littlest ones to the oldest ones were clinging to each other for comfort and warmth. They knew better than to ask for a fire anymore.

Every night for the first two weeks of their hurried escape, the children had begged and cried for a fire to warm themselves. Of course, Penn had outright refused knowing a fire would lead Codax's pack right to them. She told them they would have to rough it to survive. She explained in her curt way that a fire was a death sentence, but still they whimpered for one, until finally she growled low and menacingly at them all.

That put a stop to any more requests. She didn't feel sorry she did it, or sorry for the sheltered pups. They could all transform into their furs and sleep in wolf-form to stay warm if they wanted to. It's not like they were at any risk of freezing. They just needed to learn to toughen up. 

Penn knew she sounded harsh, but, in the end, her way was going to preserve their lives and that's what really mattered. The warmth of a fire was overrated and the pups' feelings, well, they'd get over her briskness and her icy attitude. It's not like she was trying to build lasting relationships with these pups. She was just their escort over the mountain range, and, once she got them to Orthos territory, they'd part ways. End of story.

Her stomach growled loudly and interrupted the miserable train of her thoughts. She needed to hunt up some hares or fowl for her and for them. Penn was use to looking and being half starved. That's how life was when one lived out in the wilds alone, in wolf-form. But the pups, they lived a pampered pack life in a village with electricity, running water and the latest technology. After a few weeks on the run with Penn, they were looking pretty haggard.

At this rate, it looked like some of them would not survive the journey. Penn felt frustrated. At the back of her mind she didn't want to let Lara down. The two of them had sort of become friends. Or, at least the closest thing Penn had to a friend since she was forced out of her birth pack. And, as a friend, Penn didn't want to disappoint Lara - even a dead Lara. The she-wolf had put a lot of trust in her to get all the pups to safety and Penn wanted to prove she was worthy of that trust.

But, the truth was, it was difficult enough caring for herself all these years alone in the mountain without someone hunting her down. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to adequately care for these inexperienced pups and keep them safe from any crazies out there chasing them. It was looking more and more like an impossible task. She cursed under her breath as she stood and stretched her muscles.

That simple action brought all the pups' attention straight to her and they looked anxious. She knew they were afraid she was going to tell them it was time to go again. It wasn't often that they got to rest and she usually didn't let these rest periods extend past ten minutes, if that. Too much of a good thing and they wouldn't find the strength to get going again. But, this was as far as they were going that night. So, they had nothing to worry about.

Penn motioned for the two oldest – 17 year old Cassidy and her 15 year old brother Jackson – to come to her. The two obeyed right away but they kept exchanging nervous glances with each other. Penn couldn't blame them. She wasn't exactly the warm and welcoming type. Though, she had good reason not to be. Another sigh escaped her lips.

"You two are on guard. Take your wolf forms and guard either end of the gully. I'll hunt."

"S-s-so we are staying here?" the girl called Cassidy asked. Her eyes were wide with hope.

Penn just replied with a nod.

"How long will you be gone?" her brother Jackson asked quietly but clearly.

Penn just shrugged a shoulder. Hunting was unpredictable. The pups knew that now. She might go out for hours and find nothing or be gone ten minutes and have something for everyone. It was anyone's guess.

"Get to it," Penn ordered the two oldest when she realized they didn't have anything important to ask her.

She was referring to changing into their wolf forms and guarding the little gully. In wolf form their senses would be heightened and they would be stronger - less vulnerable. So, Penn was always getting them to transform. But, she quickly discovered that living in their fur was pretty new to them.

Apparently, they led very easy lives in the Griffin pack and spent more time in their skin than in their fur. The pack was lax about when pups transformed and how often. It hadn't got around to teaching them the basics of the hunt or how to hunt as a group, which Penn felt would have come in helpful over the last few weeks. It seemed they were taught very little about how to be a wolf and even less about how to survive alone in the wild. The poor things were getting  a very rude awakening.

Penn watched, from the corner of her eye, as the two teens nodded and then awkwardly stripped in front of Penn before transforming into their wolf forms to carry out her orders. She'd been making them do this for three weeks and they still got embarrassed every time they shed their skin for their fur.

Penn didn't see what the fuss was about. It was all very natural. In fact, she felt now, after all her years in isolation, that it was even more natural just to remain in one's fur, but the pups weren't likely to ever agree with her about that. The thought made her want to laugh.

Penn looked over at the other children as she prepared to strip down herself and get ready to transform. They were watching her warily. She knew they were a little fearful of her. She might have saved them from certain death but she never smiled, never talked softly to them, never held them when they cried, never comforted them, and never made any attempts to mother them during this difficult time.

They didn't need a mother though. They needed someone to get them out of this situation alive - a guide, a hunter, a killer, a survivor. And, if anyone could do that - be those things - Penn could. She'd been living wild for a decade and no one knew the wilderness or how to stay hidden from predators like she did.

Lone wolves had plenty of enemies when the land was divided up very tightly into exclusive pack territories. Packs hated solitary wolves. They hunted them down and killed them. Penn had been hunted too many times to count now. The hunting only stopped when she came to live on the edge of Griffin territory.

Lara wouldn't let her pack hunt and kill Penn after Penn rescued her from certain death on the mountain. Codax, an Alpha from a small but aggressive pack, had sent his best wolves to abduct Lara from her own territory a few years back. Lara had fought them and got away, but not before she was badly injured. Drugged, bleeding and unable to transform into her wolf form, she was going to die of exposure in the mountain just outside her own territory.

That's when Penn found her and brought her back to her dwelling to keep her warm and fix her up. At the time Penn didn't know she was the Griffin pack's Luna. She just knew she was an injured she-wolf who needed help. Lara and her mate, Alpha Preston, showed their appreciation for Penn's selfless act by not tracking her down and killing her.

Eventually, she and Lara even formed a quasi friendship of sorts, which led to Penn being responsible for the Griffin pack orphans now. Save the Luna of the pack once and she thinks you'll save all the pack's pups in the future without question. Penn didn't know whether to be flattered or ticked off.

And, until she could settle it for herself whether having this responsibility thrust at her was a blessing or a burden, just doing the bare minimum for these kids - helping them survive - was asking a lot from her. If they were looking for a mother figure in her, they were looking at the wrong wolf. Besides, if they all lived, they'd get all the mothering they needed from the Orthos pack's Luna once Penn got them there. At least in theory, Penn thought with a bitter inward laugh.

Turning her mind back to the pups in front of her she ordered, "None of you leave this spot."

Then, she transformed into her wolf form and padded away. Penn had no doubt they would be right where she left them whenever she returned. These pups were too afraid of her to rebel in any way - not even in little things like moving over four feet to show her she wasn't the boss of them. It was just as well. Penn didn't have time for pup-sized mutinies. She let out a huff and leapt up the side of the valley in a few of bounds before disappearing down the hillside beyond. The hunt was on now.

The forest was alive with sounds. There were small birds chattering away, squirrels and chipmunks alike who were fighting with each other and arguing over territory. There was a breeze blowing the needles of the jack pine. Their long limbs squeaking and squawking against each other in the crowded canopy.

On the wind Penn could pick up the scent of small woodland creatures such as pika, shrews and the odd hoary marmot. She licked her nose and stood with her snout to the wind hoping to pick up a fresh scent. It didn't take long and off she ran through the woods, hardly making a sound herself with her softly padded paws, as she chased down a meal. Luckily the area seemed to be teeming with life. She managed to kill 5 hares before long and snatched 2 ptarmigans. They were going to have a feast tonight, but she'd have to transform into her skin in order to bring all her goodies back at one time.

The idea of walking alone, naked in the woods did not phase her. She'd gone wild a long time ago. Whether in her fur or skin made very little difference to her now. She had lost the socially constructed sensibilities concerning nudity. Being in her skin was always a risk though. She had no claws or teeth to protect herself with in that form. So, she rarely walked around that way anymore.

However, that evening, she had not smelt any wolves in the area, not even old faint scents. It was likely that this part of the mountain was rarely visited by pack or lone wolves. So, she was sure she and the pups were very much alone. Therefore, uninhibited by her nakedness, she quietly made her way through the woods, slipping effortlessly over the soft, bright green moss carpeting the forest floor with her bloody kills in hand.

It didn't take Penn long to reach the hidden valley she'd left the pups in. She strained a little to hear them. They were quiet like she taught them. With a pack of nasty wolves on their trail the children had to learn to make themselves practically invisible in the forest. It wasn't easy to teach them what now came so naturally to herself after being exiled.

She'd been on her own so long now that it seemed normal – walking silently, leaving little trace of herself, and living in complete silence most of the time. She'd come to adjust. This kind of solitary life usually killed a pack wolf. It was contrary to everything they knew and understood. Penn knew her pack, the Phoenix pack, probably expected she would die shortly after being exiled. But, she wasn't the type to give up and die.

She'd always been a very solitary creature, even from infancy, and living in the pack had been difficult for her. She never fit in, she didn't take orders well, and she was never going to conform. The pack left her alone for the most part until their female Alpha, Sophia, found a mate – an alpha male named Carson from another pack. He was powerful and very dominant. He required obedience above all things and submissiveness from every member of his new pack.

Penn laughed now, when she thought back on it. She must have given him a terrible headache. Her lack of conformity to rules and traditions and her lack of fear must have seemed like a challenge to his authority. Something a new alpha could not abide. Sometimes she wished she'd been smarter – learned to hide who she was. But, the fearless don't think to hide.

A terrible scream pierced the air and ripped Penn from her pensive thoughts. She dropped her kills and sprang into her wolf form to charge up the hill and into the hidden gully. She could smell it – bear. Bear could be so dangerous and with all those pups it was bound to be a massacre if she didn't get there fast enough.

She spurred herself on, crested the top of the gully and scanned it quickly. All the pups were cowering at the left end while the two oldest – the teen siblings – were in wolf form, crouched to attack, and growling a warning at a huge male brown bear who was ripe for a fight for some reason.

Regardless of the reason, this was bad news. The animal got up on its hind legs and the young pups screamed with fright. Penn saw her golden opportunity. While it was up on its hind legs she leapt down from the edge of the gully and tackled the animal to the ground. It went down fast and hard when only on 2 feet.

While it was stunned, Penn sunk her canines into its neck and bit down with all her might. The bear roared and flailed and tried to get up. It was next to impossible for a lone wolf to kill a grown male bear unless the bear was old and feeble. Penn had no illusions. Her aim was to wound him so badly that he couldn't put up a fight and would eventually wander off to lick his wounds. As he got back up on his feet Penn made sure to leap far from the powerful reach of his massive 3 inch claws. They could kill her quicker than her fangs could kill him.

He was enraged and tore after her. She lead him to the right – out of the little hidden valley and away from the pups. He was fast, even with blood gushing from his neck wound. He swiped at Penn's hind legs with his claws and she just barely managed to dodge them. They were razor sharp and would cut the tendons in her hind legs like a warm knife slicing through butter.

If he managed to immobilize her, her life was forfeit and the pups wouldn't stand a chance trying to find their way across the mountain rage to the Orthos pack. No matter what, Penn knew she couldn't risk a single mistake. Here and now with this bear barrelling down on her, she was going to have to be faster and smarter than him, if she wanted to fulfill her promise to Lara and get the pups to safety.

Once out of the gully Penn zigzagged through the woods with the pissed off male bear crashing and smashing through everything like a monster truck at a demolish derby. Eventually Penn came back around and lept on his back where she sunk her canines into his neck again. This time she bit down and ripped fur, fat and meat from his neck. He shook violently and then smashed his body up against a tree to dislodge her.

It worked, and once again she was running ahead of him trying not to get caught by his claws. He was young and strong. So, despite the blood loss, the adrenaline kept him pushing faster and harder. Penn doubled back a second time to leap at his back a third time.

Her nails dug into his hide and tore at his flesh as she tried to remain on his back and sink her teeth into his neck again. He roared and came to a sudden stop. The momentum sent Penn flying off his back and she landed with a thud on the ground while coming to a stop only after she'd slid into a tree. For a moment she had the wind knocked out of her and was completely vulnerable.

This bear was not a seasoned fighter though. He was not smart enough to go for the kill. He over estimated his strength and underestimated his opponent's smaller size. Instead of crushing Penn when he had the chance, he shook his whole body, from head to toe, trying to alleviate the pain and discomfort that had become all too obvious in his neck. He huffed and groaned and shook himself again.

Penn laid perfectly still on the ground and watched him. She was ready to leap up and attack him the moment he moved in her direction. However, after a few more minutes of his grunting and groaning, he wandered off through the woods to lick his wounds. Penn sighed with relief. Despite being winded and sore from crashing into the base of a large spruce tree, she was still in one piece. Clambering to her feet she wasted no time dashing off after the pups.

She hoped to the goddess that none of them had been injured.