Chapter 1-Wolves, Roads, Memories and Cold
A dark blanket of frost floated over the expansive forest of Wintertop Trees.
The frost covered the entire forest, obscuring the soft grass, the wild flowers, and the orange and red leaves. Tall pines scratched the canopy of the icy woods, short oaks stood on large hills, looking over the bitter blackness like a green lighthouse on a cold night. Wolves patrolled the forest like watchmen, scouring the frozen ground for dead animals, poking their heads through thin holes to find prey. Searching as they went the cold grew stronger. The tops of the pines froze as if they were leaves of water. The thick trunks became brown, long cubes of ice. Moss that hugged the base of the trees died and became green lakes of frozen water.
The wild flowers that made the forest look pretty and beautiful now withered as the brisk of the night drowned out there happy colours.
Leaves cracked underneath the wolf’s warm paws. The grey fur that quilted the wolf’s naked body insulated the heat that radiated out from it. The wolf’s eyes were detecting any form of life that could be eaten, her cubs needed to be fed. They tagged along like a bride’s dress tail. They all had grey hair at the top and white underneath their abdomen. Little black hairs poked out through the grey ocean sometimes however. The packs bronze eyes were almost frozen so they decided it would be necessary to head for the cave of wolves to the west. They called it Fangclaw. It was tremendously deep and held many wolves there for the arctic nights to come. The cavern had hundreds of little tunnels and dormitories for the wolves to nestle in and keep warm. There was a mediocre sized lake outside with a cascading waterfall on the other side. The lake held many fish for the wolves to feed on and they also washed themselves in it. The cubs usually played in the lake too, not in this weather though. The lake was covered in a greatly thick layer of ice. The fish had all died from the immense cold and the waterfall had stopped because of the delayed flow of water. So, the wolves had to set out scavengers for the hundreds of packs to gain food.
The family headed for the cave, it was noticeable because the mountain it was nestled within had a gaping hole in the side. Looking like a scar standing out against pale skin.
In the dense forest the family huddled together and walked quickly towards Fangclaw. The smallest wolf, which was around 2months was falling behind, the mother had to stop every two minutes for the baby to catch up. This meant the heat from the huddled group was released and cold could enter the group’s bodies.
After many stops and starts, the mother finally grasped the baby cub with her jaw and began to run with the pack, towards Fangclaw. The baby whined like she was in great pain, yet she wasn’t. She did it for complete attention.
The pack was only 5 miles away from the cave. They were making good progress.
The freezing night air was howling against the wolves face, gnawing away at it like erosion.
As the pack ran with speed, the cub on the right of the group was too, falling behind. Yet, he had a good reason to fall behind. The mother stopped, as did the rest of the group. She placed the baby within the elder sister of the packs mouth and realised the 4 year old wolf needed some help. This annoyed the rest of the group because they were just 3 miles from the cave. The pack circled the 4 year old wolf and started running, this meant the wolf had warmth and was being pushed along by the rest of the family. His reason of being to cold was now dissolved.
The family realised the way they were taking was now becoming sloped. The trees slightly faded away and snow began to fall. The snow fell upon the towering mountain and lined the ground of it with ease. They were now 1 mile from the cave, and could hear the many wolves howling from the gargantuan cavern. There were many other wolves now surrounding Fangclaw, and there were families leaving and going.

The pack had eventually reached the great feat that is…Fangclaw. The mother was greeted at the entrance of the cave by a large brown bear. He nuzzled his nose against hers and patted her head with his hefty, furry paw.
Once they entered, their lives and many others would be changed forever…