Spring Steps

"Drink this." The leader's kind golden eyes sparked with unfathomable wisdom. The small wolf before her blinked up with unreadable eyes. The small wolf had agreed to it, it was an important role in the pack, and the leader had chosen them specifically. Raising their muzzle with determination, the smaller wolf leaned down to drink the liquid pooled within the special herb gathered from the sacred grove.
Suddenly, their eyes rolled to the back of their head and their body was overcome with seizures and a sudden pelt burning fever.
The compassionate leader closed her eyes as her packmate's suffering peirced her heart. "Take them to the medicine den." She spoke softly, and the small wolf was gently lifted by a few of the warrior wolves and carried to the den to recover.
Waking up was disorienting, the young wolf raised its head and blinked eyes blurred by the sunlight streaming into the den. The fever had broken in the night, as the change completed not long after. Lifting their hind leg, they niticed that they were no longer female. A deep sigh escaped the wolf's muzzle as it stood and stretched. He felt oddly stronger, as if he could take down a massive elk and not have any issues. How curious.

The wind rippled through his fur and his eyes scanned the land. He was in a hunting party. And he had never felt so alive. His packmates around him tracked the prey, while he scanned the landscape for danger. With a quick step, he sprinted after the prey as it was startled into view, with a mighty leap, he took it down.