Forest dodged to one side, and suddenly he heard a cry of alarm cut short, as well as a sickening thump. There was a moment of silence. A cry of grief and anger could be heard. Forest’s blood turned cold as he slowly swivelled around. Under the fox was Pod’s body. Pod’s mate ran up to the fox and barreled into it so strongly that the fox was knocked off its paws. While his packmates were fighting the fox that took the life of one of their own, Forest stared at the body, his mind whirring with disbelief. 

“No, no, no, this can’t be. I was supposed to protect him. He trusted me to fight with him. I let the fox kill him.” Forest muttered frantically.

He was shaking uncontrollably with shock and horror. Why am I so useless today? he asked himself. 

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked as she put a comforting paw on his back.

“It should’ve been me.” Forest murmured.

“What do you mean?” 

“He trusted me to protect him. Now he’s dead. I let him down, Rose, I let Pod down. He-he shouldn’t have died.” 

“It’s not your fault For-” 

“It is. I let someone who trusted me die.”

“Pod dying really isn’t your fault, Forest. If you insist on beating yourself up, you can do it later. Right now the pack has just lost a member, and it’s the first wolf we’ve ever lost. The pack needs leadership. You might have really let Pod down, but if you don’t step up you’re going to let the whole pack down.” reprimanded Rose.

Forest looked around. All the foxes had already been driven away or killed, and his packmates were now gathering around the body of Pod to mourn him. Pod’s mate, Spark, lied down beside him and wept, nuzzling his pelt which was already beginning to cool down. 

“If it’s ok with everyone else, we’re going to take our pack home now,” said Forest.

“Yeah, of course it’s alright. Go home and rest up.” Leaf replied.

Spark and an Eta picked up Pod’s body, and together they carried it back to camp. Even though they had just won a battle, the mood of the whole pack was sombre. No wolf spoke a word. As Forest marched back to camp, he picked up a horrid but familiar scent. He couldn’t put his paw on what it was, and he thought he must’ve imagined it. They laid Pod’s body at the centre of camp, and Spark lay down beside it again, not even wanting to leave her mate for a second. Forest awkwardly settled down beside her. He knew he had to speak with the pack soon, but he owed an apology to Spark.

“I’m so sorry. I was fighting a fox with Pod when the fox leapt at me. I dodged, but I didn’t know that Pod was behind me. The fox landed on Pod with full force and-” his voice got caught in his throat “it killed him. It was my fault. I should’ve protected him.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Forest. Pod, like the rest of us, knew what he was getting into when he went to battle. He willingly died for the pack. There’s no point blaming yourself. Pod wouldn’t have wanted that.” Spark replied, not a trace of resentment, bitterness or anger in her voice.

He nodded to Spark, grateful for her forgiveness.

He went on the tall rock, where Rose was standing already, waiting for him.

“Pack meeting.” Rose called.

The pack turned their attention to Rose and Forest.

“Don’t tell everyone that it was your fault, because it really isn’t, Forest. You were not responsible for Pod’s death. Don’t give your packmates the wrong idea about you.” warned Rose.

“Fine, but I’ll never stop blaming myself because if I had done something-” Forest replied.

“Shh, it’s ok, Forest. Talk to the pack, they’re waiting for you.” advised Rose.

“Today we successfully drove the foxes away, but at a very, very high cost. Pod, a young, bright and loyal member of our pack, was killed by a fox. He died bravely defending his pack. We’ll mourn his death and remember him as a brave, intelligent wolf who did whatever he could to serve the pack.” Forest announced, his voice low and mournful.

The whole pack howled in grief. 

“If anyone wishes to say their last goodbyes to Pod, they may do so now.” informed Rose.

After Forest’s speech, every wolf with injuries lied in the middle of camp while Theta, Iota and all the other uninjured wolves went around healing their wounds. The Theta paid special attention to his injured paw and shoulder, where large, gaping wounds were. 

“The wound on your shoulder is infected. It’s inflamed and red around the edges. I’ll grab you some chervil to stop the infection and bind it with some cobwebs to stop the bleeding. You need to go easy on that shoulder for a while, ok?” the Theta said.

Forest nodded, and soon the Theta came back with the herbs. He hissed with pain as the juice of the leaves dripped onto the open wound. He saw that, around the camp, others were given similar treatment. His heart ached for his pack. They shouldn’t have to go through so many disasters, especially so soon after the pack was formed. He hoped that a period of peace and prosperity was upon them.

Just before prey sharing that night, Dove and Gravel, the two oldest members of the pack, went up to Forest and Rose and said:

“We’ve been thinking about this a while and we’ve decided today. We want to retire and become Gammas.”

“How old are you?” asked Rose.

“I’m 75 moons old and Dove is 73 moons old,” replied Gravel.

They were both over the 72 moon threshold required to become a Gamma. Sure, they had only joined the pack for two moons, but it would be against the rules to not allow them to retire.

“Then yes, you may become Gammas. We’ll announce it during prey-sharing tonight.” decided Rose.

That night, after everybody had eaten, Forest and Rose stood up on the tall rock and called for everyone’s attention.

“Dove and Gravel, who are two exceptional pack members, are going to become Gammas from tonight on. They’re both over 72 moons old and have contributed a lot to the pack ever since they joined it. We wish them a long, peaceful and restful retirement.” Rose announced.

“Thank you, Alphas. “ replied Dove and Gravel.