Stray
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Part one: (A world on fire)
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Prologue

The breath from the panting canines swirled in lofty circles above their heads, and the cold night made them shiver. The wetness on their slipstream bodies from melted snow had frozen again. 
“Have we lost them?” The female asked fearfully. Her words were partially muffled from the mewing pup which dangled by the scruff in her maw.
“No, my dear, I don’t think we’ll ever.” The larger male wolf that stood beside her was shaking his head sadly. “They are Vedri, the fastest step wolves of the Siberian packs… and we are simply…”
“Cowards,” The female interjected, “fools?”
“Neither. We are outcasts.” 
“So then it is my fault.” The female said, as if she’d already accepted it, “for mating with you.”
“No Sven… don’t you ever say that.” The male’s tail rose, and there was a passionate growl lacing his words. “It is both of our faults, and together we shall escape this tyranny.” Suddenly crestfallen, the Female, Sven, looked down at the pup.
“But what about Him Kazimer, how will we raise a pup in this harsh world… one where we’re always pursued, always on the run. You know as well as I that it is essential to have a good upbringing… and we can’t give him one. We’ll always be on the move.” Kazimer nodded and his jaw clenched. He was preparing to explain his bizarre plan.
“My dear Sven, you are right, it would be unfair to raise him like this… I’ve come up with a plan.” Pain emanated clearly in his cool green eyes, and the Female dropped the cub to the ground in surprise.
“Abandon him… is that what you’re planning Kazimer. Let the forest have my dear pup?” After barking the last words, she went to stand defensively over the young’un. “I won’t let you.”
“But Sven!”
“Enough… at least our cub will have a chance with us… I won’t let you.” She said again, lowering her head as if preparing to solve this through a fight. The older male wolf did not challenge her though, and instead, went up to her and licked her muzzle.
“Sven… I know that this is hard for you…”
“Do you? Do you really, my love… you do not. This is all I have left; I can’t lose this one as well.” The male seemed to be offended.
“You have me.”There was desperateness in his deep tone. “I will always be here for you… you know this, right?” The female’s initial aggressiveness collapsed, and she began to whine sadly.
“Of course I do… but still, how will our heritage continue, our blood line?”
“It won’t…” This blatant truth was like a noose, tightening around the necks of the two mates till they could hardly breathe. They both knew all too well that with the grim situation they were in, the only hope for even one generation after them rested in the young pup at their paws.
“Everything rests now with our cub.” Now both of the mates were looking down. And Sven spoke up.
“It is unfair.”
“What is?”
“That such a young’un must have such a grand responsibility.”
“Life is unfair.” Kazimer responded, possibly too simply. “Now let me tell you what I’m thinking.” 
With a broken sigh, Sven sat down beside her prized pup, and started to lick the copper fur around his nose. 
“Very well.”
“Thank you.” After giving his mate a second lick for good measures, he explains. “Over this mountain, there is a city… Vladimir. A farmer there is renowned for his love of animals, and has taken numerous orphans in already…” Sven’s eyes widened and she stopped grooming her pup.
“Send my pup to a Human… never!” Kazimer growled at the utter stubbornness of his mate.
“Dear, this is no normal Human.”
“What do you mean?” 
 “Rumor has it, that years ago, when the farmer was young and his pack was traveling to Vladimir, they were attacked by barbaric marauders! The family was killed, but the youngun was speared.”
“So the Human has a dark past, why does this matter?”
“Because, my dear, instead of the forest taking the infants life, a wolf pack found it, and raised the human as their own!”
“You don’t say.” His mate seemed to be genuinely surprised. “How strange... are you positive that this is the truth?”
“Yes, and as strange as it seems, it happened.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know…” Kazimer didn’t seem to want to expand, and Sven wasn’t having it. Rising to all fours, she again stood defensively over her pup.
“At times like these Kazimer, rumor can only get you killed… we’re not going unless you can prove to me…!” Finally Kazimer’s patience snapped, and he turned on Sven, snarling… beneath the slender chest of his mate, the pup started to whine. 
“Sven, this it is our only option! If we bring him with us, he will die, or be captured and brought up as a slave… an Omega! He will be abused and most probably raped by those basterds, the Vedri… is this the fate that you’d want for our Cub!?” Panting in exertion, hackles still raised, Kazimer finished his rant with an intimidating step forward. Bashfully, Sven lowered her tail.
“No.” Calming down as quickly as he’d gotten riled up, Kazimer resumed his hushed and tense demeanor. 
“Then this is what we shall do. Leave now and make it over the mountains. Give up our Cub to the farmer… and who knows, maybe if the future is good, we can once again return to him.” This seemed to reassure his mate, and she nodded.
“You are right, my dear.” She reached down and delicately picked the pup back up by the scruff. “We should get going.”

***

The weathered farmer awoke to the sound of howling. Throwing the covers off of himself, and quickly tossing some logs on the smoldering hearth, he put on his overcoat and grabbed his dagger. 
As he went outside, again, the howl came. It broke apart the crystalline night, and amplified tenfold as it struck the looming branch off of the Carpathian Mountains. The farmers ears perked, and he found himself blindly walking towards a dark patch off in the distance. As his eyes adjusted, and he approached nearer, the blotchy patch became two wolves, and in the maw of one, was a young’un. Sheathing his blade, he approached the pair. As he neared, the female growled, so he sat down.
“Is this for me?” He asked, knowing that his tone was what they were hearing. No response and the two just stared. “This cub of yours… it is for me… give it here then… camon, I won’t bite.” His voice, originally reassuring, spiked with humor as the meaning of his words ‘I don’t bite’ registered.
 Picking up on his calm and relaxed state, the male wolf nuzzled the female. After a soft whine, the female put the pup down, but stood over it protectively. Slowly, ignoring the snow caked ground that froze his hands; he crawled up and reached a hand down to gently grab the pup.  A snarl, and then a flash of fangs… and suddenly the female’s powerful jaws were clutching his hand. He felt the pointed tips of the canines dint, but not pierce his wrinkled flesh. 
Relaxing again, he knew that this was simply a warning; that she could crush his frail wrist, and then go for the throat, if he decided to do anything that would appear aggressive. 
Soon, the female’s intense stare diverted from the farmer to her mate, as he gave an anxious sounding whine. When the mother looked back at him, her eyes appeared less feral, almost like a dogs stare… actually, he noted, almost as an afterthought. The jaws were wolf though… that he knew.
After another minute of the farmer and the wolf staring at each other, the female gave a whine and released his wrist, enabling him to pick up the snarling infant, and cradle him in his arm.
As he stroked the young wolf with aged hands, he nodded at the pair. “Your son is safe with Me.” as the male turned away, the female walked up to him and licked his hand. She was whimpering, as if she were trying to tell him how important the safety of her cub was. When she still didn’t move, and instead just stared at the farmer, he nodded a last time and turned away.
As he arrived at his door, the mysterious cub had gone silent and the two wolves had disappeared like apparitions.