Sleek

Sleek was born to her mother Hollow and father Deer, along with her adopted brothers and sister Alder, Birch, Frost, Ginger, and Spark. Sleek had a good relationship with her parents and adopted littermates, and played often with Spark. She often listened to the stories of their pack's senior warriors with Frost and Birch. Hollow was authoritative and strict, while Deer was lenient and uninvolved. Sleek was closer to Hollow, but also held a good relationship with Deer. Sleek loved playing moss-ball with her adopted littermates.

Sleek values love dearly. She is extroverted, sarcastic, sympathetic, and amiable. She follows her heart over her head, and is gentle, observant, impressionable, obedient, kind, and not easily discouraged. She has an allergy to certain leaves and barks. She doesn't have a strong opinion on pack politics, preferring to stay out of it.

Sleek and her adopted littermates were living happily in their pack until, one day, disaster struck. As the world began to change and cryptids and cataclysms filled the lives of all living things, Sleek's pack was caught up in one of these cataclysms. They fled their home, only to run into a group of chupacabras. The chupacabras scattered the pack, and Sleek fled with her littermates.

Several of the chupacabras pursued them, and the poor pups ran and ran until they were panting and tired. Sleek could feel the hot breath of a chupacabra at her tail, when Alder, in the lead, veered off to the side. He led them toward a bunch of bushes and right through the bramble thicket. Sleek felt her paws slide from under her and tumbled down a steep slope and into a sandy hollow.

As she lifted her head and looked around, she scanned the hollow quickly. Three of the walls were steep and tall, unclimbable for pups, though there were niches and stones where adolescents or adults could climb easily. The final wall, the one they'd tumbled down, was shorter and more gently sloped, but still steep enough that a pup would be unable to get out. The entire rim of the hollow was lined with thickets of brambles, save for one small patch where the brambles interlocked in such a way that wolves would be able to get through. But that part wasn't noticable unless you looked closely.

At one end of the hollow was a tall oak tree. Its thick, gnarled roots poked up out of the ground, leaving a gap that led into a cavern below the ground, shielded by slanted rocks supported by the tree and overhanging vines. Around the edges of the hollow were bramble dens, each one with the scent of several wolves clinging to them. Nearest the oak tree was a split rock that shielded the entrance to a hollow in the ground.

Finally, Sleek noticed the wolves all around the hollow. They all seemed to be frozen in place, staring at Sleek and her littermates. Sprawled by the oak tree was a white she-wolf with black flecks along her spine, curled beside a fiery ginger male along with a mottled silver pup and a ginger pup.

A white-blue she-wolf sat beside a cream she-wolf and a ginger-and-black she-wolf, with four tiny pups at their paws: a brown male with reddish tints along his spine, a gray she-wolf, a second gray she-wolf with the same red tints along her back, and a dark mahogany red-brown she-wolf.

Another silver-blue she-wolf was lying with a gray-blue male, a black-and-white she-wolf, and a brown male. A younger black male lay with a much younger gray she-wolf, along with several pups: a mottled white-and-brown she-wolf, a mottled white-and-black she-wolf, a brown-and-white she-wolf, a brown-and-cream she-wolf, a pale brown male with bluish streaks, a pale cream male, and a gray-and-cream male.

Suddenly, the silent spell was broken by the chupacabras leaping over the brambles behind Sleek, racing down into the hollow. One of the chupacabras lunged for Sleek, but suddenly the white-and-black she-wolf was there, rearing to meet the chupacabra's attack. The chupacabra faltered at the sight of the angry she-wolf, and it tried to scramble backward. Too late. Her fangs met its throat, tearing through the flesh, and the cryptid crumpled to the ground. The she-wolf bared her fangs at the other chupacabras as the other wolves of the pack growled, ready to defend their camp and their Packmates. The chupacabras retreated back up the steep slope, hissing and flicking serpentine tongues at the wolves.

The she-wolf turned to face Sleek, faint amusement on her face. "You pups are the second group of loners to drop into our camp on the run from those stronger than you." Her nose twitched and she frowned. "You smell strongly of other wolves. Where is your pack, young ones?"

"The chupacabras scared them off," Birch whimpered. "There--there were so many of them. They ambushed our pack in the grasslands and we all scattered, and those awful demons chased us and--!" He whined, flattening himself to the ground. "We're sorry! We didn't mean to lead them here! We're sorry!"

Sleek leaned back from the she-wolf. This wolf had just frightened off a chupacabra pack and killed one of those demons. She clearly commanded respect from her pack and Sleek suspected she was the Alpha. She could order her pack to kill Sleek and her littermates with a single twitch of her ear, and surely that was what she'd do as punishment for their leading the chupacabras right to her camp?

The she-wolf cocked her head. "Don't be sorry, young one. If you hadn't brought those demons here, they would have killed you." Her ears angled back. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid they have done exactly that to your pack. If your pack was unaccustomed to dealing with those demons, they stood no chance against them. The chupacabras only respond to dominance. You must stand your ground, not lose your nerve and panic. If your pack scattered and fled, the chupacabras would have pursued them and taken them down easily."

Sleek whimpered, looking at her littermates with fear in her eyes.

"So where do we go now, then?" Alder whined.

"Go?" the she-wolf echoed. "Why would you go? You can stay with my pack and grow up here. We will protect you from those evil demons that ravage the land." She drew herself up, an air of ferocity around her as she drew back her lips. "No demon creatures will harm any wolf under my protection if I can help it."

Adopted litter-brothers: Alder, Birch, Frost, and Ginger
Adopted litter-sister: Spark
Sons: Puma, Tiger, Owl
Daughters: Feather