Porcupine Ridge For a mother, a brother and me

The howl, deep and urgent, sent Diane streaking along the Ridge, so swiftly that she didn't even realize how sure-footedly she was traveling. Her tail, which in a previous life was used as a rudder, now automatically served to balance sharp movements as she bolted the quickest route down the frigid territory. Nothing mattered, except that every fiber of her being bade her to answer the arresting call of the Alpha.

The scene was frightening, and pungent with scents warring with her docile nature. But even the meek are not immune to instinct, and the aggressive front put her on the edge of something unfamiliar: wild, and dark. Diane approached stiffly, ears up and tail sitting like a spiked rod between the hocks of her hindlegs. Her expression was relatively blank, but her wide, distressed eyes traveled from her packmates to the strangers respectively.

There were two dark wolves, opposites in just about every way except their allegiances, and a young male, as uncertain as she but just as willing to aid. Diane hung back, dreading a fight but expecting it, all of her poised rigid and bristling. Later she would wonder at herself, and perhaps idly she did in that moment, but all of her was focused on being prepared to close the last few yards between her and her new family.

Can I do this?

Her breaths came in shallow pants, scarcely leaving enough space between her lips for air to pass.

It doesn't matter if you can or not. Be ready!