The howl, the call of wolves, and together they would gather on the cliff. Together that night they would all gaze upon the crystallite full moon. Larken followed her two older bothers through the trees, and up the crag, kicking some pebbles as she went. Her white coat sparkled as if silver in the nighttime light.

Mekale, her eldest brother, crept over the edge of the mountainside above her head and disappeared completely. Then Chase followed. Larken halted before getting to the top and turned. She always loved the view from the top of Full Moon Mountain. This was her favorite spot because it always gave her a sense of freedom. Then she saw another group of wolves coming, so she turned and took her place behind the crowd.

Many of the wolves were already there. Mothers were trying to calm their pups down as they played and scuffled in the dirt. The other pups that didn’t need their parent’s watching over them were quietly whispering to each other. Every once and a while once would decide to bite another’s ear and then they would get snapped, but they would keep that down to minimum. Their leader, Shaldron, and his son, Leander, were sitting in the front, facing the crowd, while Mina and Kate, his mother and sister, sat at their sides. All of the rest of the males in the pack sat at the front in attention, like cement statues.

Shaldron gave a mighty howl that seemed to make everything stop at once. All wolves stood at attention as if time itself has frozen all with it. Then they all watched as Shaldron stepped back and Leander pawed to the front.

“Another full moon,” He began, “another full cycle.” His Black coat reflected the moonlight as he spoke. He continued, but then Larken’s attention turned to the side of the mountain where a group of dogs were coming up. Among them were Larken and her brother’s best friends, Lanari and Carter. Lanari and Carter were siblings.

Lanari saw them too and she calmly made her way over, followed by Carter. “Are we really late?” She whispered so silently that Larken could barely make out what she was saying.

“You think?” she mouthed sarcastically. Then they saw Leander take a deep breath and let out the first howl. Lanari and Carter may have missed the speech, but this was the fun part, nothing but howling at the moon. Hoooooooowwrrrrrroooooo!

She wasn’t sure how it happened, But that moment seemed to go on forever. A howl is like sneeze when you let it rip you can’t seem to keep your eyes open. You lose all your senses and then it seems to be over so quickly after so long. When she opened her eyes, all she could do was let her muzzle drop as the hairs on the back of her neck and ears stood on end. Mina was in a panic and Shaldron was frantically eying the cliff-side. . . Leander was gone.

When Shaldron turned his pupil’s had grown small with almost uncontrollable rage. “Split up find him!” He barked. With that fifty wolves began to run down the cliff-side. The air suddenly grew cold with an unwelcome blast of air, as if reading the stress of the moment and then incorporating it in to the weather. “Find him! Bring him back!” They heard Shaldron still commanding from above.

The ground felt as if it would crumble under the many pounding paws of the wolf stampede. However, there was no sign of Leander or any other wolf before us. The trees could have concealed the culprits, but they would have been able to smell them as they rushed by. Only one animal carries that “no animal” smell. The one particular sent that only one of its kinds can smell. The stench that came from those that crept into little pups’ nightmares, the Alpha-prowlers. They were wolves as well, but larger, stronger, and much more sinister. You could see it in their eyes.Usually, you didn't have to worry about them. However, tonight was different, they had a captive, and there must be a reason for those blood-thirsty wolves to have stolen the leader's son.