Angel closely watched the rabbit, who cluelessly ate grass off the ground. She crept forward, her dark gray fur camouflaged in the shadows of the forest roof. Even though this animal was small, about anything could help right now, as winter was coming, and food was strangely scarce. The previous year, there had been plenty of deer and rabbit for the whole pack to eat and spare lots for winter. But recently, a shortage in food had left the Alpha's call for drastic measures. Food was rationed evenly, though, even that wasn't enough. There had been complaints that a wolf's brother or pups had been feeling sick and the Alpha's have not been able to help them. Angel wasn't about to let any lives go.

She never wanted to be a Wolf Hunter in the first place, she wanted to be a Healer. It had been a warm summers morning when Angel decided to take a stroll outside to study some berries she could use. Her friend, now her mate, Arius, had tagged along to get lessons. He wanted to be a Healer along with her, even though he wasn't as good as recognizing the herbs and berries that were and weren't poisonous. As Angel studied some shrubs for any sign of berries, Arius wandered off to a nearby cave and yelled into it, Angel still doesn't know today why he did. There was a growling from the inside and a bear came thrashing out and it rammed into Arius, knocking him backwards. Out of pure instinct, she charged and jumped in its back, lashing out with her sharp claws furiously, eventually sending it running back into the cave. News spread around fast, and everyone knew about what happened. The Alpha Male, Dontas, later called her into the Alpha Den, implying that she be a hunter. She was really let down, because all her years of learning to recognize herbs and healing techniques had gone down the drain. She was never good at hunting, and everyone still thought she was the best. Except Naomi, the hunting leader.

She lept out of the bushes quickly, but the bunny was faster. It strafed out of the way and ran into its burrow, leaving Angel to land in the dirt. She muttered a few swears under her breath and she slowly trudged back to the den. Naomi will kill me, she thought as she shook the dirt off her fur. Her blue eyes targeted the hill where a small hole sat; her home.

She entered the den to find the main entrance room was quite packed with wolves, whom most were heading to the bedrooms or escorting a pup, or even just chatting. In the corner she spotted Arius, who was watching a small black pup with gray eyes chew a translucent red ball. It's quite entertained with such a simple toy. Angel's mind reminisced of when she was a pup, so easily attracted to foreign objects to her such as a simple sphere. Arius looked up as Angel approached

"Hey." He greeted as Angel sat down next to him.

Angel smiled. "Hello, there." She replied, looking back at the pup, who she then recognized the energetic pup to be Kade, whom belonged to Baylee, the Master Healer. She then looked at the red ball Kade had been gnawing on. How had Arius found that? Objects were usually hard to find around their den.

Arius seemed to read her mind. "I'll tell you in our room." He replied. He placed Kade on his back and they walked together through the small crowd of wolves to the den rooms. There was a long hallway, on each side there was about twenty small burrows. Each enterance had a purple curtain in it for a bit of privacy. Each pair of mates would get one of the forty den rooms to stay in. Torches lined then walls around each door. A door in the back blocked by a colorful curtain was where Angel knew the Alpha male and female slept. She had a small hope to be Alpha Female one day, but she never held her breath.

They entered through one of the purple curtains, which mystified Angel how past wolves hung them. Someone started a rumor that early Alpha wolves got the help of a human, but it was ceased quickly by Dontas. Arius let Kade down, who immediately ran to a corner and plopped down, still chewing on the red ball. Arius lay down on the soft pile of leaves, and Angel lay down next to him, her head resting on Arius's back.

"So..." Angel continued. "How'd you find the ball?"

"The ball? Oh yeah." He looked at Kade, who was now asleep. "Well, I was collecting some Wylre flowers, and I heard laughing. So, I crept behind a bush near a trail."

Angel gasped and lifted her head up. "Arius, there are hunters there! You could've been killed! Remember Wallus?" Indeed, Arius shivered. Three years ago, Angel had been walking through the den with Arius, and a wolf came into the den crying. She barged through everyone and into the Alpha den. It was later confirmed that this wolf was a mother of a Scout named Wallus, who was shot and killed by a hunter near a trail.

Arius sighed as Angel lay her head by his and yawned. "Anyways," Arius continued. "It wasn't a hunter. It was a small human and a larger human."

Angel groaned. Arius was sometimes careless, doing things like watching humans. "What did they do?"

"Nothing really, just hiking. But apparently one of them saw me."

"So they ran." Angel speculated.

"No, shush." Arius replied. "They just looked at me, at first kind of scared. But then they knelt down and were watching me, fascinated."

"Arius, there has to be a catch to this."

"Yes, yes I'm getting there. So, after a while, they took out some weird circle food with small little holes in them."

Angel blinked. "I think I know what those are... Crackers, I believe?"

"Yeah, that's it. Anyways, they threw some to me, and I ate. Eventually the crackers where gone, and they got up and advanced towards me." Angel gasped at this part, so Arius got up and acted it out. Angel laughed some, and Arius sat back down and smuggled with Angel. ''I was done with them, though, so I barked at them." Angel kept laughing. "When the smaller one ran, the red ball fell out of his pack. So I picked it up and ran."

Angel laughed some more and lay against Arius, smiling and dozing off. Eventually, she got up and yawned. "I need to go see Naomi. I'll see you later, Arius."

Arius smiled as she walked away and said "Don't get killed. I don't think I can live with Daisy if you die." Angel laughed and said, "I'll make sure to tell her that." And she left the room into the crowd of Wolves.