Forest's Journey

Two days later, Forest and Rose were sleeping when they were invited to visit the Pack of the Sun and Moon along with all the other Alphas.

“So this is the Pack of the Sun and Moon.” remarked Rose.

“Yep.” replied Forest.

“I see that all of you have established your packs!” Beech exclaimed.

“Yes, we have.” answered Forest.

“Since there are so many new faces here, let’s all do a little self-introduction. I’m Ivy, I’m a member of the Pack of the Moon and also Forest’s grandma.” suggested Ivy.

“I’m Beech, I’m a member of the Pack of the Sun and also Forest’s grandpa.”

Everyone tried to suppress their laughter at the comical introduction.

“I’m Forest, and I’m the Alpha male of the Pack of the Forest.”

“I’m Rose, and I’m the Alpha female.”

“I’m Bush, and I’m the Alpha male of the Pack of the Bush.”

“I’m Holly, and I’m the Alpha female.”

“I’m Leaf, and I’m the Alpha female of the Pack of the Leaf.”

“I’m Pine, and I’m the Alpha male.”

“I’m Grass, and I’m the Alpha male of the Pack of the Grass.”

“I’m Heather, and I’m the Alpha female.”

“I’m Flower, and I’m the Alpha female of the Pack of the Flower.”

“I’m Marsh, and I’m the Alpha male.”

“Now that the self-introduction is out of the way, let’s talk about borders. You need to discuss with your neighbouring Alphas to set a border for your pack. Here’s a map for your reference.” instructed Beech as he created a clear map of the territories from seemingly nothing.

Forest and Rose bent their heads down and discussed where they wanted the borders to be. They wanted to have enough space to get enough prey, but also not so much space that the other packs wouldn’t have enough. Finally, they made up their minds and went to talk to Leaf and Pine, who had also seemed to finish deciding.

“Hey Leaf, long time no see! Was creating a pack stressful? It was for me, but Rose helped me out a lot.” greeted Forest.

“More like Forest helped me create a pack.” corrected Rose.

He gave her a good-natured flick on her eyes with his tail.

“It was hard and a little stressful, but Pine helped me out too.” replied Leaf.

As much as he wanted to have a chat with his friend, he reminded himself to get back on topic.

“We think the narrow dirt track between our territories that lead to the Main River is a good border.” Forest suggested.

“That’s what we thought as well, because the dirt track is distinctive and it divides our territories fairly. So we’ll set the border there?” agreed Leaf.

Forest, Rose, Leaf and Pine nodded.

They turned around to talk to Bush and Holly.

“Hi Bush, how are you?” Forest greeted.

“Good, thank you. I was thinking that the border could be a straight line from this really large bush all the way to the Main River.” Bush replied.

Forest was shocked by his coldness. What had happened to his friend?

“It’s a good distribution of space, but the border is too indistinct and wolves might accidentally cross over it all the time. I suggest that the border could be the straight line of bushes from the East River to the Main River. You lose a little bit of land, but we eradicate the risk of wolves trespassing on each other’s territories.” Rose suggested.

“Kind of unfair for us to lose land for something we’re both gonna benefit from, isn’t it?” argued Holly.

“Well, we could make the border one wolf-length from the line of bushes.” reasoned Forest.

“Yeah, and just how much prey are we going to find in one wolf length’s worth of land?” retorted Bush.

Forest sighed, this was going to be difficult.

“We just need a distinct border, ok? Something even a Psi can quickly tell from.” said Rose.

“Of course you would say that, because there are no distinct markers in your territory, so having a distinct border would mean encroaching into our land. The straight line from the large bush to the Main River is the only thing we’ll agree on.” snapped Holly.

Forest sighed and looked around. All of the Alphas were gone already.

“We needed to make a decision quickly. Everyone else is already gone.” Forest whispered in Rose’s ear.

“Let’s just agree on what they said. If wolves keep crossing into each other’s territory, we can just change the border again.” decided Rose.

Forest nodded.

“After some consideration, we accept your recommendation for the border. But if wolves from both packs accidentally cross the border many times, we’ll change the border to what I recommended.” declared Forest.

Bush and Holly nodded, and darkness swirled around them until only the darkness of their sleep remained.

“Since when did Bush become such a miserly wolf?” Forest wondered the next morning when they woke up, “Did becoming an Alpha really change him that much?”

“The wolves on his territory are much more aggressive than ours. Perhaps they changed him.” suggested Rose.

Forest’s head drooped sadly. All that friendship they built when they travelled together was all gone because of their packs. Forest shook away the sad thoughts. It was time to properly mark their borders and claim the land that was theirs. He told the Zeta to gather up all the Etas, and Forest and Rose took them to their borders with the two neighbouring packs, where they all scent marked it so they knew where it was. He told the Zeta to send patrols to those two borders, as well as the two borders with the East River and Main River, every morning, afternoon and night. And thus the borders of the pack were established.