3

Kate looked up, feeling intimidated by the tall, steep, and jagged cliffs that rose above her end and stretched for miles without an end in sight. She looked at her brother who was still a bit ruffled from his encounter with not one but two wolf-shifters. "Will we really be safe here?" He asked and Kate smiled, although he couldn't see it, before saying reassuringly, "We'll be sleeping in the quiet cavern. The only way in is the small crack that's just barely big enough for us. Wolves no matter their size wouldn't be able to fit in." Her brother only nodded before following a small stream that led to a crack in the great stone wall that was the cliffs. Kate followed suit and the two fox shifters settled into the quiet cavern.

Kate watched as her brother fell into a deep slumber but as he fell asleep with ease she did not. Uneasiness settled into her fur, causing her to shiver as if the winter wind was blowing through her. She was silent as she stood up and walked toward the entrance of the cavern. The night had a chill to it but she had grown accustomed to the cold winters in the forest and the snow that she walked through no longer froze her paws. She was twenty-five now and her brother was twenty, both had grown over the years. Learning how to hunt, meeting different shifters, and learning how to avoid hunters.

Kate let out a sigh as she reminisced about the years past but shook her head as she reached the snow-covered clearing. She took in a deep breath and smelled the wolf shifters. Wolves were deadly on their own but even more so if they were a pack and these ones definitely were but why were they here? Kate thought long and hard before coming up with nothing.

She decided then to go and see where the wolves were located. It was better to risk her own life than risk her brother if they were to meet the wolves in the place they were claiming as territory.

She walked through the forest listening to the silence that enveloped her until she saw lights coming through the tree line. It had been forever since she saw fire and as she perked through the treeline she stared in amazement at the many twenty that were strewn about the large clearing that was a meadow full of wildflowers in the spring. "Alex, what do you think of this forest? Is it the right home for us or are we going to move once more in the spring?" Kate heard a female ask a muscular yet thin man. "It's perfect but this forest is already claimed by two fox shifters. Their scent is everywhere and I don't wish to intrude if this is their home." The man, Alex, spoke calmly. "But couldn't we just drive them off? Their foxes I'm sure we could drive them from the forest and claim it for our own." A young man spoke and the man known as Alex glared at the man, who in turn bowed his head and bit his lip. "Leo we aren't like that. How would you like it if a group of shifters much larger than yourself drove you from your home?" Alex asked and Leo thought about it before replying, "I wouldn't like it. I would want to fight for it." Alex nodded, "Exactly, that's why I plan to go find the two foxes and talk to them peacefully. I'd like to settle here but I'd have to work out territory and boundaries with them, after all this is their home and I don't think they'd like a pack of wolves moving in unannounced." He spoke and the wolves around him nodded.

Kate decided then to go back to the cavern she had heard and seen enough. Tomorrow, she and Oli would meet him and negotiate territory and borders. The chill of uneasiness that flowed through her began to loosen and when she reached the cavern she curled up next to her brother and fell into a deep slumber.

                                                                            * * *

The sun was just beginning to crease over the horizon when Oli was nudged awake. "Come on we have to go somewhere," Kate said her voice cold and hollow. "Where?" Oli asked as he stretched his body and limbs out. "We are going to go meet the wolf that seems to be in charge of the pack that is near here." She said her voice unwavering yet Oli could detect a hint of fear in her voice. "Are they dangerous?" Oli asked and his sister nodded before saying, "Yes, but I believe that they mean no harm to us. I wish to talk to them to make sure they aren't going to harm us." Oli nodded and asked no more questions as he followed his sister's scent to the clearing where he had first met the wolves.

"Are we just going to sit around and wait?" Oli asked and Kate nodded. Oli wait for his sister to reply but heard nothing and let out a sigh before he heard a rustle in a bush. He scented the rabbit and crouched low, slowly moving before pouncing and editing a quick snap to its neck. He picked it up and dropped it next to his sister. "We should at least eat before they arrive." He said and his sister didn't reply but he heard her crouch down and tear off some meat. He joined her and the two ate in silence.

As they finished their meal, Oli sat up and sniffed the air, immediately standing up and fluffing up his fur, "They're here." He said and his sister stood next to him brushing her fur up next to his. "Calm down they can smell fear." She spoke calmly and yet fear showed through her voice as two large wolves came out of the bushes.

Oli took a deep breath, allowing his fur to lie flat but he refused to sit down. His sister felt the same. Kate eyed the wolves while her brother looked through them, his ears ever perked, always on alert. Each shifter stood, eyeing one another, sizing the other up. "It's nice to finally meet the two of you."