Jace

Just a bit of a story of the early days/weeks of Jace's life. I may or may not post more later.

Originally from Alaska, though you wouldn't know it by speaking to him, Jace was born to a female Alaskan Grey wolf. That alone would make for an interesting story, because his father was an unknown Great Dane, one that was bred to hunt the wolves; how those two got together, nobody knows. Jace was only a few weeks old when this fact would seal both his and his mother's fate. You see, the pack she belonged to didn't like domestic dogs, and it was usually a mutual dislike with rare exceptions. Their interactions with this hunting breed had never been on friendly terms. Her Alpha had lost a pup to one, and would never forgive a Hunter for that. Jace was the only one in his litter, and for a few short days, he was safe in her birthing den.

Though it didn't take much for the others to notice the odd scent of a domestic canine nearby. It would take just that to get the wolves agitated and either looked to escape or to hunt. It would depend on how many of them they'd smelled and how close to the den they were. Their experience was with hunting dogs, trained to track and kill wolves, so when one of the wolves charged with guarding and patroling the territory caught the obvious scent of the hunting dog, she went to investigate. It was the combination of their medic and the hunting dog that concerned her as she went to find its source. She was concerned one of them had taken their medic, a sizeable wolf that had been missing for a few weeks, and killed her. Though, as she found out the reason for the scent, careful to be quiet as she snuck closer to the den to be sure. She smelled no blood, but still, it smelled strongly of the Hunter-dog. She soon found that she also smelled a different scent, of a new pup. This was distraction enough from the Hunter scent, at least for the moment. Leaving the mother with her pup, silently she retreated. She headed straight back towards the den, to report to the Alpha pair, the only pair in the pack allowed to mate, and therefore give birth.

The female that was Jace's mother, Aramai, remained well hidden, knowing her transgression would not be forgiven by the pack, let alone the Alpha's. Thinking only for herself and her lone pups' survival, she moved from den to den, for weeks. Never staying in the same spot twice, in a vain attempt to avoid the inevitable fate she faced as long as she could. This was quite a feat, as it was months before she was found out, her entire pregnancy and seven weeks into the life of her pup. She knew their hunters, and they were very good at their jobs. She guessed they were told to search her out, and knew they would likely not be gentle about it either. They had in fact been given permission to bring her back to the den by any means, should they find her, by th Alphas. She was gifted with good hearing and an excellent sense of smell, despite the herbs and other remedies she often kept near, and due to this, she'd been able to hear them approach or scent them nearby, which would be her signal to leave, with her pup in maw. She knew she'd do this as long as she could, but in either case, knew that her days were numbered. With a pup in tow, she could only run so far, so fast.

One fateful day, almost exactly seven weeks into the short life of her pup, she was found out while taking one of the short naps she'd had throughout the day. Raising a pup was unsurprisingly tiring on your own with no pack to help out. She had to hunt for herself, and care for him on her own. He was nearly weaned now, only getting milk when she allowed him to. She slept with her body wrapped around her pup, he slept often though still quite boistrous when he was awake. As they slept for this short nap, she was found by a wolf that was a mere scout, looking for potential trouble, and keeping an eye on nearby packs. She knew she was nowhere near large enough to take on the sizeable white wolf. So instead of making her presence known, the smaller wolf simply returned to her Alpha and reported on what she'd seen. When Aramai woke from her nap much later than she'd anticipated waking, she knew she'd been found. The scent of her friend Boone had been too close. She knew though, that it had been hours since she'd been there at the entry to their den and was now too late to move. She knew they'd see her with her white fur, and the pup with his odd spotted fur, darting through the darkening forest. Instead she would hide her pup, hoping he'd be safe enough from them.

She hopped up, waking the still sleeping pup for a moment, she hoped. Looking around in a near panic trying to figure out where she could hide him. He was the only one she was concerned for as she knew her life was likely over, unless the Alpha's were feeling gracious. She found a small crevice in the rock, near a very small opening out of the den. She placed her pup down, making sure he'd stay there before she continued grabbing excess foliage and placing it around him. Both to hide his scent better and to hide his presence. Not because she thought they wouldn't smell a pup, but because she didn't want him killed in their rage against her. Perhaps killing him first, if he was found.

After hiding her still-sleepy pup and telling him to stay quiet as he could, no matter what happened, she moved back towards the entry to her den. She sat and waited to face the Alphas she knew would be coming. She knew it was enough of a transgression that they would come themselves with maybe a pair of extra wolves in case she fought. At least thats what she'd thought. Her tail wrapped around her paws as she sat, awaiting their arrival nervously, running all sorts of ugly scenarios through her head. What if they found Jace first? Would they kill him first, or me in front of him? Would they take him in? No, they'd chase him to his death, or kill him if they found him. Her thoughts raced as she went still, hearing a small yawn from his hiding space. He must be falling asleep again, unable to help the small smile that appeared. Her worry would continue though, until they finally arrived. Winter isn't far, will he live through that even if he survives tonight? She didn't know, but she hoped. That was all she had left, hope that her pup would survive.

Unfortunately, in her ability to evade them for months on end, she'd angered the Alpha's, and so rallying their subordinates, they arranged a pack hunt, only this time their prey would not be an elk, or anything on their menu. All except the few needed to keep an eye on the Alphas' pups would be in on this hunt. There would be no prize tonight, only justice in their eyes, for what was a betrayal of the worst sort. To mate a wolf-hunter. That was the only thing they could come up with that would explain the scent surrounding her wherever she went. Though the scent had faded over the weeks she'd been in hiding, there was no denying it. The pack left their den, and would chase the trail Boone had left them. It was quite a ways though, and would still take time. Luckily, or unluckily, depending who's side you were on, wolves can run for a long time before exhaustion.

A few hours later, their hunt had found her den. Their teeth were bared, as the scent got thicker. The scent of the hunter-dog infuriating them. She was hiding no longer, though she had expected a quicker response than what had been, and now it was too late to run. She was thanking the moon that her pup had fallen back asleep, though she doubted he'd stay that way long. Ten wolves, she smelled the scents of outside her den. The pack was here, nearly entirely, save for two, and the pups. She'd known many of them personally, and treated quite a few as their healer. She sat rigidly, awaiting the Alpha's knowing they'd be the last to arrive, and the first to attack if it came to that. She still held onto hope that she'd be pardoned, but didn't expect it.

As the Alphas approached, she ducked her head, flattened her ears, tucked her tail and dropped her body low in a manner of both respect an apology, she rolled onto her back, baring her neck and stomach. This was something she only ever did for the Alpha's. They would still smell the wolf-hunter on her, however, as her pup carried his scent and his blood. The scent would likely incite them all against her. Jace didn't smell of wolf, and he didn't smell of wolf-hunter either, she knew, it was the odd combination of both that he'd had. As she had that thought, she hoped he'd stay quiet, hidden, or at best, stay asleep. The Alpha's bared their teeth disprovingly, snapping their jaws and pinning her to the ground by her throat, showing they were not so easily accepting of her apology for her transgression, and his scent didn't make that matter any better. Their Alpha male, Pierce, held her there until he regained his composure and allowed her up, if only for a few moments; long enough for her to roll upright and back up a few paces, not taking his eyes off the submissive failure of a wolf. His teeth still bared, and growling as she moved. He was beyond angry, as were the other wolves. His lips pulled up high showing all his teeth, ears pinned as he growled agressively.

She began to sit up, albeit still holding her low posture, she could never hold herself taller than the Alpha's or it would mean the untmost disrespect, and she knew that would mean her death in this instance. Despite her situation, she still respected Pierce and Anna, silent but teeth bared and hackles raised. Though she hadn't expected what came next. The Alpha pair charged her her simultaneously, followed by the eight other members of the pack, and she was no match for them, despite her size. Too many claws and teeth, she knew she would not survive the encounter. Her last thoughts as she lay there in her own blood, the warm liquid staining her white fur, were of her pup, who had, during the maylay, woken and run from his hiding spot, and out the small hole in the back of the den. Unluckily for him, he had been noticed. Annaliece had seen him bolt. His white spotted fur standing out in the dim light of the den. She went to her mate and told him of the pup. Stopping his attack on the dying white wolf, he looked towards the small hole, where she'd seen him escape. Unfortunately for Jace, he would be chased and hunted by the Alpha himself. He would not allow the progeny fo such a pairing to survive. After she was gone, the rest of the wolves followed the hunting-howl of their Alpha and gave chase of their new prey, hunting a merely weeks-old pup across rocky ground and towards towards the base of a cliff.

The pup ran, his feet rarely used in this manner, but he was in a panic. He'd just seen what those others did to his mother, though he didn't know if she lived, he knew she couldn't stay there. His heart was beating quickly and powerfully in his chest, it felt like it might just burst through his fur. In a momentary look backwards, his paw met air instead of the ground that should've been in front of him, and as he put weight on that paw he tumbled into a dark and narrow hole head first, knocking him unconscious as his body followed him in.

The pack stayed there for hours trying to get into the small crevace he had fallen into. He was unconcsious, helpless and irritatingly within inches of their teeth and claws. The Alpha would eventually bore of this and call off this hunt. He could smell the cold coming, it would storm tonight. He won't last the night. Let the storm have him, he thought as he glared into the hole seeing the exposed stomach of the pup and his odd coloring. He growled but walked off, in search of edible prey. He needed something to wash the scent and taste of this tainted wolf blood off of him.