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Black Wolf

Chapter 12 – The Past that Haunts Us

The mercy that the black wolf showed to the female from the Mongol pack went a long way toward countering the Colonies First party's contention that the intelligent wolves were nothing but a threat. The difference of opinion caused a split between them and their coalition partners, the Liberal Planet Party, but the C-F quickly formed a new partnership with the New Conservative Party, a right-wing group that had once been very powerful but had lately found itself out of power. The next round of elections looked to be a toss-up as many of the younger generation were disappointed with the old choices.

A new party that supported galactic exploration and the work of the Science Council, including the Wolf Project, emerged from the ranks of the disenchanted - the Pan-Galactic Party. Rhiannon informed Meili that there was a lot of energy and drive in the group. She had been one of the first to join and had already volunteered to work for the fledgling party.

Meili's happiness for the way things had turned out for the wolves and for Rhiannon's new-found purpose in life was tempered by bad news from the Science council; Doctor Robert Dupuis had died after a short illness. It was sad because he was only eighty-one and should have been looking forward to at least another twenty-five years of good, productive living.

It just goes to show that you never know what the future will bring or when your time will be up, she thought, and that made her think of wolf 302 and everything that had happened to him in his twenty-eight years.

The average age for a wolf in the Yellowstone area was thirty, but the black wolf seemed to be just coming into his prime. Menace had been like that, and he had lived to be an unprecedented forty years old. He might have lived another two or three more, but he had died of exposure above the tree line of a mountain far to the north of the Druid territory. Meili suspected that 302 had the potential to match Menace's record, but she was still worried about him. He was spending just as much time brooding now that he was back in the Druid pack as he did during his seven-year exile.

She was dying to know what it was that was on his mind, but to date he had told none of the other wolves.

That cannot go on forever, she suspected, not with his brother Bruiser acting the way he was.

* * * * * *

Black had taken to sitting on the hill overlooking the Druid den after the evening meal and staring off into space until Moon Gazer came to take up her watch. Rain or shine found him on the hill, his only concession to the weather a waterproof cape made of otter hide or one of bison when it was very cold.

Moon Gazer had similar outfits for her nightly duty, but she stayed in the den whenever it was too stormy to see the moon and starts. Black did not, however, and more than once stayed the night through on the hilltop while the storm raged around him.

This night was pleasantly warm though, a late spring treat that promised an early summer. When Moon Chaser came up to join him he was wearing only a loin cloth, as was she. Black noticed that she had bathed earlier in the day because the warm breeze made the fine hairs on her breasts ripple like those on the hide of the mink.

He stood to leave as she sat but she put a hand on his arm to stop him. He sank back onto his haunches and waited for her to speak. While they did not ignore each other, they did not talk very often either; only when Moon Gazer wanted to pass on some pack news he had missed. But there was no rushing her, she would speak when she felt the time was right.

She did not keep him waiting long. “Have you decided to stay or go?"

Black looked at her, slightly shocked. He had told no one what was in his mind, so how had she known? Or was she just guessing? Either way his reaction had told her that what she suspected was true, even though Black himself had only lately come to admit it himself.

“What do you think?"

“I think that you have decided to leave, because you are no longer happy here."

“Is it that obvious?"

“To me, yes, and a few of my sisters. You've changed, black wolf."

It was true, he admitted to himself. He no longer found please in mating or joy in teaching to cubs how to hunt. There had been no new pregnancies since they had retaken the den because Black could not bring himself to complete the act. When he looked at the sisters he had previously mated with he only saw the face of Trapper reflected in them, a face that ran red with blooded in his troubled dreams. The cubs just reminded him of the ones he had lost that night seven years ago.

“The ghosts of my kin haunt me." He told Moon Gazer. “And not just hose that were killed here. Those of my grandparents, aunts and uncles who will not rest until all traces of the pack that destroyed their home in Mist Valley are gone."

He was staring down at the female Howler, who had decided to stay as mate to one of Black's sons. She had initially tried to seduce Black and when he ignored her she turned her attention to Bruiser, with similar results. Now she was playing with the affections of the oldest males, who had survived the massacre in the Druid den because the invaders thought that they could be assimilated into their new pack at their tender age. Howler evidently thought that one of those three would become Alpha after Bruiser and Black passed. Black thought she was wrong. Those wolves were scarred by that night as much as he, and none of them had the natural leadership skills that his younger sons, those born in exile, had. One in particular, who had been named stoic for his calm, firm dementor under any circumstances, seemed the most likely.

He would likely get his chance sooner than he expected, Black thought.

Since retaking the Druid den Bruiser had resumed his old habits of eating to excess and lazing about when not actively engaged in a hunt. Even then he took up a comfortable station and demanded that the chasers drive the prey to him, where he used his still considerable strength, and the extra weight he was carrying, to wrestle it to the ground so Black and his sons could deliver the killing blow. Several of Black's sons were now as large and as strong as Bruiser was in his prime and others were gaining strength as they grew. Often when the prey turned at the last minute it was one of them that held and delivered the killing blow, so they really did not need Bruiser and his bravado any more.

Black could hear the grumbling behind Bruiser's back when he took credit for each kill, even if he was nowhere near when it occurred. Similar grumbles could be heard when Bruiser attacked Black from behind and threw him to the dirt.

Black's gaze had shifted to Bruiser, who was still eating long after the rest had finished.

“Your sons do not know why you put up with the humiliation of his attacks." Moon Gazer said, guessing his thoughts.

“He and I are the last of my Grandfather's pack, and the last connection I have to my mother." Given her age and the difficulties of life in the mountains Black supposed that his mother was dead by now, and possibly his older sisters too.

“Long life is a curse." He concluded. Knowing she would understand.

“Have you made provisions for the gap in leadership your parting will create?"

“Yes. I've talked to my oldest from before and after the attack, male and female, proposing a cooperative leadership under an Alpha of their choice. No more wasteful fights to the death or exile for the loser. I went as far as to suggest that they should approach the neighbouring packs with a proposal, that they exchange whatever females are willing to relocate in order for all the packs to grow."

“That's quite a departure from the rule of the strongest and exclusive mating rights. Do you think the other packs will agree to it?"

“If they don't I told them to come back and steal those females that howl at the edges of their territory for a mate. If the captives have not found what they're looking for once they have lived with the Druid for a few cycles they can return to their home den. I suspect that few will."

“And Bruiser?"

“He can stay, but if he raises a hand to any of my offspring the oldest will deal with him."

“Challenge and exile? I thought you said those days were over?"

“They are, hopefully. No, there is an old bull bison with a dozen scars from the times that we or other packs have almost got him. I think that Bruiser will have met his match if the chasers run it to him and no one steps up to make the killing blow for him."

“The cruellest part of that plan is that Bruiser won't suspect anything, even as the creature gores the life out of him. He still believes that he can take on anything living single handed."

“Do you think less of me for it?"

“No. You are who are, a black wolf with no name who brings change and then moves on. It will be interesting to watch your offspring and see if they do manage to create a pact between the packs."

“Can you do me a favour, Moon Gazer? If Howler ever manages to convince anyone to mate with her successfully could you make sure that the cubs spend more time with you and your sisters than with her?"

“I will do that for you gladly." She answered. Then she leaned in close to him. “But I have a favour to ask of you also."

“Anything, it's yours."

“Best wait until you hear what I want first. You may not be able to deliver."

“Try me."

“I want you to increase the population of this pack one more time before you go."

Black frowned. “Now that you've forced me to see my feelings I was thinking of leaving soon, even as early as tomorrow. But if you want me to stay another season I will. Which one of your sisters do you think I should favour? They have all been after me to lay with them again."

“None of them." She said, placing a hand on his thigh. “I want you to mate with me."

He was surprised. Moon Gazer had shown as little interest in mating as Bruiser all these years. But tonight she had come to him freshly bathed and smelling of sweet herbs that she usually reserved for her sisters. He had thought that she smelled of them because she had been preparing a batch for Flame or Fleet but now realized that she had rubbed them on herself, around her ears and in the ruff around her neck, and on her breasts.

He gulped as feelings that had laid dormant since retaking the den rose up in him. “I'll stay as long as it takes."

“Don't worry, it won't take more than once." She laughed, for the first time that he could recall. “I have been studying the cycles of my sisters as well as that of the moon and I know when the best time for successful mating is. My time is now, tonight." By the last rays of the setting sun Black could see that she was blushing, another first for her.

“Alright. Should we go to your chamber or mine?"

“Neither. Let's stay up here on the hill. The night is warm and the moon is full. I feel that it's pull will help."

“Fine. But I think we should move to the other side of the crest." He indicated the group of wolves gathered around the fire in the twilight, some of which were looking up at them, probably wondering what they were talking about.

“Oh! Yes, good idea."

He helped her up, more aware of her scent now than before. She had applied herbs and sweet grasses that Flame claimed heightened the desire of a male. They seemed to be working.

Once over the crest they stopped. Moon Gazer stood awkwardly; her boundless self confidence gone for the moment. “We should lay down, I suppose."

Black stepped up until his body and hers were separated by a hair's breadth. “I think that this is one area where my experience is greater than yours. Allow me."

He put one arm around her and drew her against him as he bent to touch muzzles with her. She tilted her head back to meet him and they rubbed noses as he swayed gently with her. He licked the corner of her mouth and she responded in kind. Before he could kiss her she put her lips on his and pressed them against his teeth. She opened hers when his did and her tongue naturally sought out his.

Black knew what her sisters liked but was experienced enough to know that she would be more like Honey or Daisy than Flame and Fleet so he kept it slow and gentle. He caressed her back, paying particular attention to the hollow just above her tail. His other hand came up to cup one of her small, firm breasts. He found the nipple was already hard and protruding. When he had a chance he broke off their kiss and bent to lick and suck it gently.

His own nipples were responding to the warmth of her body and she rolled one of them between her fingers. “Should I kiss yours also?" She asked.

“Yes, it feels good for me too."

While she lapped and sucked on his nipples each in turn he found the knot on her loincloth and undid it with one hand. Then he did the same to his, pulling back just enough to let them drop to the ground at their feet. He kicked them to one side.

His parts were beginning to swell but ad not yet risen. It got like that sometimes when he had not mated for a while, growing long and thick and heavy with blood before rising to the challenge. It usually indicated an epic session of mating was in the offing, something he had not experienced since long before the attack on the den.

Even thinking of that night did not interfere with his desire. This was the point where he would recall the broken faces of Trapper and his cubs and his parts would deflate like a water bladder that had sprung a leak. But not tonight. Tonight, instead of the blood and the gore, he remembered the look of ecstasy on Trapper's face when she her fantasy of tailhole mating came true, and the contentment she exuded when she was carrying what turned out to be three cubs, two males and a female.

He recalled the faces of every one of his cubs, those that were killed or who died of illness as well as those that still lived. He recalled their smiles and their squeals of joy when he thought them to play the pinecone game, among others.

Cubs were the real strength of a pack, he thought, and knowing that this act would result in at least one made his parts swell even more.

He reached between her legs and rubbed the mound of her sex. It did not take long before it became damp and opened like a flower in spring. He ran the ridge of his first finger between the protruding lips, searching for the button of flesh at their apex.

Mimicking his actions still she put a hand on his parts, recoiling at first from the heat coming off them. She overcame her fear and wrapped her fingers around it, squeezing and stroking it instinctively. After a few caresses It was standing up hard and rigid like a spear between them. Clear fluid dripped from the tip, making it easier for her to stroke it.

He had two of his fingers inside her now, sliding them in and out as she became wetter. The nub he had been seeking grew out of a fold of skin and he teased it with the tips of his fingers as he probed her.

Her breath was coming hard and shallow now and her skin felt like it was burning. If it had been daytime he knew he would have seen her skin turning red under the thin fur on her chest and belly. Her hips had started grinding against his fist and her kisses had turned into nips on his lips and chest.

She had said that tonight was the best time for her to get pregnant, but now he knew that she was ready to accept his seed. Placing one hand on her buttock and the other between her shoulders he lifted her off the ground and lay her down on the soft spring grass.

“Black wolf ... I ... I'm afraid."

“Shhhh, don't worry. It may hurt a little at first, but I'll go slow. Stop me if it is too much for you though."

He lay down on top of her, holding his weight up off her with his strong arms as he shuffled in between her legs. When he was in position he reached down and found her opening, still wet and willing. He rubbed some of the liquid coming from it on his aching parts and then rubbed them against her sex, feeling the hard knot at the top as it bumped along the veins that stood out on his shaft.

He eased the tip inside. By the light of the rising moon he saw her bite her lip, but she made no protest. He pushed it farther in, felt a little resistance, and pushed through it.

She gasped and he stopped. A warm wetness joined the coppery fluids that were coming from her; blood, he knew. Unlike some of her sisters she had never experimented with fingers or the blunt, polished wooden pegs that were used for rolling hides so they remained subtle after curing.

“Are you alright?"

“Yes. No. I mean, I don't know. Honey said there would be a tearing, but ..."

“We'll give it a moment."

Black stayed still, his body a straight line from knee to shoulder as he held himself up off of her. Looking down between them he could see his parts partially inserted in her, and he could feel her trembling on his shaft. The sight and sensation made his parts swell even more.

“Ahhh ... it's getting bigger inside me!"

“It's because you are so beautiful, so sweet." He eased his hips back as he spoke, pulling his parts out until just the tip remained nestled between those sweet lips. Then he allowed his weight to bring it forward again. There was no resistance this time, and the smell of her desire had washed away the scent of blood. He continued forward until he felt her begin to stretch and then he pulled back again.

Slowly, surely, the width of a digit at a time, he drove in father and deeper. He had never felt this big, nor had a mate ever felt this tight, and he wondered if he would be able to get it all in.

“Black wolf ... I ... I think you should ... wait. Oh, no. No, don't stop. Don't stop."

Black took the cue and pressed on harder than before. In three more stokes he felt his balls slap against her buttocks before he pulled back, and on the next he felt his pelvis grind against hers, smashing her sensitive button between them.

He moved faster now, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as if desperate to hang on. He lowered himself to his elbows so that the length of their torsos were in contact but without crushing her. Rising up on his toes he angled his shaft so that its entire length rode against her nub on the downstroke.

Although it had been some time since he had last mated Black was able to hold back the urge to finish. He kept at it for several hundred breaths as Moon Gazer grew wilder beneath him. She was mumbling about the gods and sins that were unfairly irresistible one moment then biting the thick fur on his shoulder the next. When she could do nothing more than gasp with her head thrown back he knew she was ready to finish too.

He rose up on his knees between her legs, lifting her buttocks right off the grass and sliding his parts in and out as fast ash he could. He held her steady with one large hand on her hip while he found the nub of flesh with the thumb on the other and rubbed it vigorously in little circles.

“Plant them deep." She gasped. “It works best when you plant them .... aghhhhhh!"

Steaming fluid shot out around his pounding parts as she finished. She bit him hard on the shoulder to staunch her cry and he felt her claws dig into his back as she drove her hips against him in a frenzy.

Black kept going until she had stopped convulsing and when he could not hold back any more he thrust himself into her as deep as he could and held it there while his balls emptied. It seemed to go on forever as wad after wad shot through his shaft, but none escaped the tight seal of her sex around his.

Her belly twitched as a new type of pleasure filled her. “I can feel my womb sucking them in." She said. “It's like sucking the juicy parts out the hard-shelled beetles, but inside me."

Black could feel it too. It felt like a series of soft kisses drawing the seed from his shaft. He could not recall ever feeling this sensation, but then again he had never held himself so still and deep long enough to feel it before this. Either way, it was new and pleasurable, leaving him with a sense of accomplishment.

Spent, he lowered himself down on her so that she bore his full weight. She seemed not to find it unpleasant, as she nestled her muzzle against his neck and wrapped her arms around him as he lay there between her outstretched legs. They stayed like that for a span of the moon before Black rolled off to lie beside her.

“I think you were right, Moon Gazer. I think that I have given you a cub or two to carry through the next nine moons."

She rolled onto her side and swirled the fur around one of his breasts before answering. “I am certain of it. I can feel it. But ..."

“But?"

“Don't you think we should do it again? Just to be sure?"

“You're starting to sound like Flame." Black chuckled. “Are you sure that it is just the cubs you are interest in?"

“Well, my sisters used to go on at night about how good it felt, mating I mean. But I never imagined it was like this."

“It isn't always like this. You made it special."

“You know I can tell when you're lying, don't you?"

“I know, but I'm not lying."

A sad look passed over her face. “I know." She threw herself on top of him and hugged him fiercely. “Hold me, black wolf. Stay with me until dawn. And if you want me again before then, just take me. For tonight, I'm yours."

Black did not say anything, because his parts were already twitching with desire.

* * * * * *

Black was like a young wolf again that night. It seemed that every span of the moon's passage saw him hard and ready again. He took Moon Gazer from behind lying on their sides. He took her on her hands and knees in the traditional position. He took her standing, balancing both their weight as he lifted and lowered her on his shaft. When she was too sore to take him again he showed her how to use her mouth on him, and then he used his on her to sooth her swollen tissues. The last time they joined together, Moon Gazer rode him as he lay exhausted on his back gazing up at the stars. She was silhouetted by the setting moon, the fur around her head flying wildly as she teased one last load out of him with grinding hips and smooth stokes. Black thought that she looked like a goddess, and wondered if he would ever meet the gods that had put this collar on him.

That made him think of Menace and his journey up the mountain and he wondered if the big Alpha had found the peace he sought.

But this was not the time to think, as Moon Gazer lay against him, rocking her hips as she neared the end. He let the sensation take him and managed to finish at the same time as she.

After the climax she continued pumping his parts for a time, gradually slowing to a stop. She was still laying on him with his shrinking shaft inside her when he heard soft snores coming from her.

He eased her off him, laying her on her side with one hand under her head and one knee pulled up so that she would not roll off the hill in her sleep. He retrieved their loin cloths and draped hers over her like a blanket, more to protect her from the bright sun that was rising than for modesty. He put on his own loin cloth and left her like that.

Black went down to the den as the sun rose, as he had so often of late, and no one gave him a second glance. The hunting party was already formed and waiting on Bruiser, who had decided to wolf down some cold venison before heading out. Black told them to go ahead without him as he wanted to wash before setting out.

Black did not join them on the hunt, and when they returned to the den they found no trace of him. A check on his chamber showed that his favourite ax-club and spear were missing, as were his water bladder, his travelling sack and his latest set of snow feet. Some small tools, dried meat and a small supply of the preserved meat paste were also discovered missing.

None of the females or cubs who stayed in the den that day had seen him go. They looked up to see if he was on his hill but only saw Moon Gazer standing there in her loincloth, staring down at them. No one thought to ask her if she had seen the black wolf go, but that night instead of taking up her station on the hill she joined her sisters in their chambers as they mourned for their loss.

* * * * * *

Meili had not been awake when wolf 302 and the one called Moon Gazer were having their tryst on the hill. She did not have a drone assigned to cover them either so when she rose the next morning she had to watch the entire night's activity to catch the bits of conversation between their couplings. She had to concentrate to translate from what his collar picked up, but she had to admit that she was impressed with his stamina that night, both of theirs, actually. She also had to admit that she was a little turned on after watching their marathon mating. Perhaps it was a good thing she didn't have drone footage to go with it or she would be tempted to produce a little wolf porn of her own.

It took so long to go through the video and audio that it was almost two days later before she realized that the black wolf had left the pack.

“Dammit, 302. Where have you gone off to?" She knew from his conversation with Moon Gazer that he had intended to leave but she never thought that he would go straight away. Fortunately tracking him was easy thanks to his collar. She found him south and west of the Druid territory, close to the service road in an area still shunned by the wolves, all the wolves except him, that was.

By bringing his track up on the screen it was evident that he had gone from the Druid pack to his old den on the EOS-1 side of the road to rest overnight before moving on again. She supposed that because he had told his children about the den he did not want them to find him there if they came looking for him.

He turned out to be correct about them coming to look for him. Using some of her drone time she followed two of his sons, one from before the Mongol attack and one born in exile, as they travelled to all the places their father had told them about, the old Druid den, the tunnel under the road and his old cave in the cliff face.

She followed developments in the pack from afar, reading their body language since she had no source of audio without bringing the drone in dangerously close. From the visuals she determined that there was a bit of a power struggle at first, with the Mongol female Howler proposing the wolf she had finally chosen as mate, a son from before the attack, as Alpha. Bruiser's attitude towards that was easy to read as he postured and strutted about, occasionally stopping to catch his breath.

There were some shouting matches, loud enough to be picked up by the drone, from which Meili gleaned that Howlers mate had no desire to be Alpha but would if it was a choice between him or Bruiser. Younger adults that were born in exile proposed that one of them should take over. Some of the older female offspring thought that it was time for a Matriarchy, like they had heard of in Dawn's pack. Bruiser tried to bully and shout down all of them.

Bruiser dropped dead suddenly, apparently of an aneurism, during a particularly loud argument. Before he was cold the older son withdrew his name from contention, which started a battle royal between him and his mate, Howler. She felt that as the only mated pair they should naturally be the new Alphas. From the posture of the rest of the pack Meili could tell that idea was going over like a lead balloon.

Then the one called Stoic stood up and spoke quietly for almost half an hour. The drone could not pick up what he was saying, and he did not move at all, making translation nigh impossible. But as he spoke the pack drifted closer and their postures changed from sceptical to interested and finally respectful, except for Howler, who stomped of to her chamber in a snit. Thereafter she lived up to her name by howling at every slight, real or imagined, against her or her unambitious mate. Not even her subsequent pregnancy, which surprised everyone including Meili after her seven-year dry spell with Thrasher, served to mellow the frustrated foreigner.

In the end it appeared that there was no clear Alpha, but most showed deference to Stoic, who lived up to his name by leading them through a harsh winter as calmly as if it were a summer's walk. Meili would have to get that one alone somehow and collar him soon so she could keep track with developments in the Druid pack.

Meanwhile she kept tabs on wolf 302.

Her black wolf spent the rest of the year wandering around the edges of the territories, following the road through the hills where no wolves dared to go. He wandered down to elevations that had only recently been decontaminated, lower than any intelligent wolves had gone before. If he kept going, she speculated, he will meet some of his wild cousins, and what will happen then? She trembled to think of it, but whether from fear or excitement she did not know.

The winter was not so harsh down there though, and the black wolf had no trouble getting around on his snow feet. He had made fire from the electric fence before moving on and he kept embers alive by damping them with moss in a small tent like structure he had made with a thin flat rock on the bottom so they would not burn through. He hung it from the end of hos spear when traveling, gathered firewood and kindling as he walked and built a new fire each night. When he had gone far enough south that the plants and animals were still showing signs of the contamination left by the end of days wars he turned and headed back north, eventually reaching the edges of the inhabited territory again as winter came to an end.

He survived by hunting small game when he could, and occasionally scavenging larger animals that were killed by the electric trucks. He did not talk much, so Meili had no idea what was going through his mind, but whenever he found a freshly killed animal on the road he would mumble something about gifts and gods before taking its meat.

She was left wondering if he thought the roadkill was a gift to him from the gods. It would make sense, given that any wolf with a collar thought of themselves as favoured by the gods.

She pondered the nature of their religion. We ambush them, chase them in a magic flying machine, shot them full of drugs they may or may not have an adverse reaction to, poke them and prod them and take samples of their fur, skin, poop and saliva. Then we slap a collar on them so we can spy on them even in their most private moments and leave them in a field hoping that coyotes or bears don't find them before they wake up with the world's worst hangover ... and they consider themselves blessed?

If that's what it took to be the chosen ones, she thought, it was no wonder the Jews had such a hard time on this planet.

As a scientist, she thought of herself as an atheist, but she still swore by her people's gods when she was startled, surprised or afraid. Such as she did the morning she came to the monitoring room and put on 302's collar camera to see him facing five fairly large male wolves who were armed with spears and clubs.

“Oh, 302." She addressed the monitor. “How are you going to get yourself out of this one?

Based on The rise of Black Wolf

Produced by National Geographic Television, © 2010 NGHT LLC