One of Runts

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six: June

        I pant lightly as we slow down after what has to be seven hours of travel. "That's it," Azrael states, coming to a full stop. "Were stopping for today. Ever's leg isn't doing too well with all that running."

        I stand up tall, my injured leg laying against the ground. "I'm fine," I tell him, shaking out my fur and taking a step forward. My front legs tremble slightly, but other than that, I'm fine. I expect everyone to be okay with me running longer, but they all heavily object.

        "You're hurt!" Raven, our only medic, states, nuzzling my leg slightly. "It'll take longer for your leg to heal if you put too much stress on it."

        "You're exhausted," Conan states, eyeing up my trembling legs. I shake my head back and forth, denying what they're saying.

        "We're setting up camp and that's final," Azrael states, his tone firm. He doesn't put any power in it, though everyone else seems to bow down as if he did. I lower my head and pin my ears back.

        My lip curls lightly. "Fine." I turn around and swiftly limp away from him, despite the pain in my leg. I can feel everyone's burning stares on me as I disappear through the forest.

        I sit down for a few minutes and lap up some water from the creek nearby. My ears twitch around towards the rest of the squadron as they shift and begin setting up camp for the night. Why aren't they sleeping in their wolf form? I ask myself, confused.

        I shake my head, my legs no longer trembling. I close my eyes and lift my muzzle into the air, scenting it. Luckily, there is no snow where we're currently at so I easily scent the earthy and grassy scent of a rabbit. I tilt my head down and open my eyes, jumping across the river. My leg causes me to stumble and I hold in a whine as pain flares up. I shake my head to clear the pain before tracking the rabbit.

        I easily find the small creature and pounce on it. My leg buckles, though I already have the creature in my mouth. My jaw clenches and its neck snaps. I lift myself off the ground and lightly trot towards the camp, too tired to do anything else.

        The sky's already getting dark, but that's to be expected as it's winter. Maybe it is a good thing Azrael decided to stop. A puff of air leaves my nose as I spot the small fire through the trees. If they're trying to keep a low profile, they're doing a poor job of it, I think to myself, eyeing up the column of smoke.

        I break through the trees to see a circle of three tents surrounding the campfire. My ears stand stiff as I look at them. Do these guys seriously need tents? We're leaving in the morning. Everyone's sitting on logs and turn their heads towards me as I enter the camp.

        I cock my head to the side in askance. What? I mentally ask them even though they can't hear me. I take note of the wolves here and notice Conner missing. Most likely hunting. My ear flicks as I spot Conner come opposite me, a rabbit in his maw.

        "You two don't really do the whole campfire thing, do you?" Seth asks us, looking between Conner and me, and the rabbits in our mouths.

        "Whenever we are needed for overnight hunts, we usually catch our own food," I share with the whole group, limping over to the tree next to the smallest tent.

        "One time we ended up staying out for two weeks," Conner says, tearing the fur off his rabbit. I swiftly do the same. "We only hunted once and that was a bull moose. Rest of the time we used our rations. Luckily the day after we ran out of food we found the small pack of rogues so we were home in time for dinner."