Chapter 3

                                                   CHAPTER 3

Please read prologue and chapters 1 and 2 before reading this chapter.

River pushed her way through the crowd at the front of the den. Nobody noticed her trying to get through, as usual. Hedge was dead, she was sure of that. But now he was gone. And the rain...it was a pure color of gold.

Finally River got to the front of the den and looked closer at the stone.  No Hedge. She narrowed her eyes to see that the muddy outline of paw prints were all over the stone. What was going on?

As if on command, a faint howl was heard from near the back of the camp, not far from the stone. An outline of a wolf wandered around, swaying his head side to side as if he were very confused.

 River couldn’t take it anymore. She burst through the front of the den and outside into clearing. River spun her body around so that she faced the wolf. Wait…where was the wolf? It had seemed to have left. Others slowly followed River outside and into the rain.

“Over here!” Thistle said in a whispering yell. He pointed his head to the Alpha and Beta den. Next to is stood the dark wolf again. Wolves around River crouched down and snarled lowly at the shadow wolf. Something kept her from doing the same. The wolf moved familiarly. The way its stiff body moved up and down and the way its fur was drawn back into a V shape.

River’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be. She knew that wolf! It was Hedge!

“Everyone! Stop!”She yelled. Most turned their heads towards her although some acted as though she didn’t even talk.

“It’s Hedge!” She yelled “Can’t anyone else see that?!”

A low murmur went throughout the group. Some nodded, but others just thought of him as an invader.

“She just has his death stuck in her head!” Rose said with a smile. Standing beside her, Pond nodded and sneered.

River ignored the comment and looked back at Hedge. He looked around with fear and confusion. It was almost as if he didn’t recognize anyone.  It must have been too much for him to take in.

River padded through the wet grass until she was a few tail-lengths away from him. “Hedge?” She asked.

Hedge stared at her until he could not take everything in any longer. River watched as he fell onto the ground as if his body was holding up the entire pack. Gasps came out of surprise and the group behind her ran forwards. She saw Thistle run into the Alpha den and a moment later Hummingbird came out.

“Move!’ Hummingbird commanded. The crowd parted to let him in. He examined the body and then looked at the sky. The golden rain had turned to a small drizzle.

Each drop seemed to scare Hummingbird and make him shiver. He shook his head and then looked back up. “Get back to your dens. We will examine this more in the morning.”

Slowly each member left the circle and returned to their dens. Last to go was River. Each step felt like a tree was sinking into the ground. There was too much going on in her head. She almost felt like Hedge...

When she reached her den she leaned against the wall of the hollowed out boulders. She needed rest, and she knew it. Shaking her pelt, she padded inside to her moss bed.