Tale of Lupus

Lupus' Pov

"Lupus, to the right! Blane, take the left!" Alpha barked orders to our pack as we chased down our prey.

I may be getting on in years, but that doesn't mean I can't feed my pack. I bolted towards the Stag and snapped at its hooves. Sure this might not be the safest task in the hunt, but I would rather be kicked than a young one just starting to really serve the pack. It's the least I can do for the wolves who took me in when I was thrown out of my blood pack.

I was apparently too much of a threat to the Alpha female of my blood pack since I was not her daughter. As soon as I turned two, she personally chased me out into an exile that lasted six years. And for those six years, I searched desperately for a pack that would accept me or at the very least a mate to keep me company. When I did finally find a pack that would let me in, it was only because I was too old to pose a threat and was willing to do the dirty work to keep youngsters out of danger.

I have already outlived many of my pack-mates, but I still have so much to give to them. I can work harder than most because my death won't affect the pack much.

I jumped ahead of the deer to surprise it, but it was the one to catch me off guard instead. It threw its head up and hooked me with its antlers. I was thrown high into the air, only to come crashing down onto two of my pack-mates. The wind had been taken out of me, and all I could do was lie there as the two youngsters struggled out from under me.

"Lupus, are you okay?" I recognized the voice of Shadow, the beta of the pack. All I could do was nod in response.

"Thank goodness." Another voice, Heather whimpered and touched the side of my face.

"What in the world did you two think you were doing?" I struggled to my feet. "You two could have been hurt!"

"And you could have died. When are you going to realize that your live has more value than just doing Alpha's dirty work?" Shadow reprimanded me.

"Lupus, you don't have anything to prove. Just give it a rest." Heather brushed her shoulder against mine and I begrudgingly leaned on her.

The two led me back to the den and I dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. I had defiantly broken a rib or two. Star, a wolf in our pack who's well versed in herbs and remedies for illness, rushed over to me and began to check me over.

"Lupus?!" I heard Alpha call for me, and he didn't sound happy. I struggled to my feet, but was forced back down again by Star and Heather.

"Yes, Alpha?" I whimpered.

"Where were you? I needed you for this hunt!" He demanded.

I was about to answer, but Shadow beat me to it. "I took her home. She is hurt and I was worried for her."

"I don't need my beta to worry about an old outsider who nearly ruined a hunt." Alpha snarled, and I lowered my head shamefully. "I needed all three of you for this hunt and you just abandon your positions? Not a good thing to do, my beta…"

Alpha had turned his attention to Shadow, but our beta was not easily intimidated by anything. Shadow stood his ground and looked him evenly in the eyes. "Alpha, I value our pack members more than a hunt. We are not starving. We are fairly well off for a pack this big, so your bullying of a senior wolf that YOU took in is unnecessary."

Shadow had him there, but Alpha took his words as more of a challenge than anything. "I knew you would do this one day, but I didn't think you would do it over something so foolish." Alpha snarled.

It took Shadow a moment to realize how Alpha had taken his words, but to my surprise, he didn't back down. Shadow placed himself between me and Alpha and flattened his ears. I couldn't bring myself to watch the two fight over something so silly. I buried my head in my paws and tried to block out the sounds of the fight.

After the dust settled, I lifted my head to see something I didn't expect. Shadow beat Alpha. Heather and Star yipped happily for Shadow, but Alpha was shaking with rage.

"You have led this pack through favoritism for too long. I have beaten you and claim the title of Alpha. Leave this territory and never come back!" Shadow commanded.

The former Alpha had no choice but to do as he said, but not quickly. He took his time walking away from the camp. By this time, our other pack-mates had returned to the camp and watched in shock as the dark male slipped away. A new chapter was going to begin for all of us, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen.

The Next Year

"Lupus? Are you awake? Come on Lupus, you promised to tell us a story!" The tiny yaps of demanding pups drew me from my midday nap.

Shadow has taken Heather as his mate and during the spring, she gave birth to five tiny, energetic, pups. They were the pride of the pack and the bane of my existence at the same time. When Shadow took over, he named me and two other older wolves elders. Apparently, elders are retired hunters who teach their tricks to the newer generations. I was a bit unhappy at first. I still felt like I had so much to give to my pack, but I have gotten used to it. The other two elders passed on a while ago, though, and since the hunters are always out, the pups have decided that I am an easy target for their pestering.

It is annoying as hell, but they are pups, and none of us can stay angry with them for long. "What do you yips want?" I growled.

The pups doubled over, yipping happily. They knew I was just playing. "You promised to tell us a story today when the sun began to fall in the sky!" Shade, the youngest pup barked.

I looked up at the sky to see the sun was just below its highest. I let out an exasperated sigh, and then chuckled. "You pups do realize I meant when it began to get dark, not just after midday, right?"

As if on cue, they all tilted their heads to the side. "Pups, are you bothering Lupus again?" Heather called out to her litter from her watch.

"No mum, we aren't!" Sand yipped. The five small devils charged over to their mother, telling her of how sundown was actually near night, and not right after noon. I smiled and pulled myself too my feet.

"Are you going somewhere, Lupus?" Alpha Shadow asked, walking up to me with the rest of his hunting party.

"Out to stretch my legs. Don't worry, I won't go far." I answered.

While it was nice being an elder, it was terribly boring. I love being around others, but sometimes, I just need a little walk all on my own. I was a lone wolf for six years after all.

"Lupus…" A voice called my name. I perked my ears up towards the mountains. "Lupus." There it was again! Without thinking, I dashed forwards, towards the mountains where the voice seemed to emanate.

It was a longer run than I expected, but after some time, I found a cave near the base of the mountain. I let out a single bark, trying to hear how far it will go in the cave to judge how deep it went into the mountain side, and from what I could tell… it went far. My instincts told me to leave, to stay away from the cave, but then the voice called again.

"Lupus." It was much louder this time. I was so close.

Against my better judgment, I entered the cave. It was a long walk down the dark tunnel, but the farther I walked, the louder the voice got. I was exhausted, but someone, or something, could need help.

At the end of the tunnel, I was met with nothing. There was nothing in this cave. I cursed myself for coming this far away from the pack, but there wasn't anything I could do now. I turned to leave, but something was blocking the exit. It was a massive, bronze wolf.

After the shock wore off, I began to snarl at the creature. It was blocking my only way out, and I needed to get out. I tried to dart around the massive creature, but it dropped something in front of me. The thing looked like a sheet of ice, perfectly reflecting my image back to me, but it wasn't ice. I have never seen anything like it before.

"I have something you want." The voice I was following seemed to emanate from the ice thing. Its words stirred my curiosity, but panic was setting in. I lunged at the thing, but suddenly, my reflection changed. "Look and realize what you desire."

I felt my blood run cold as I watched the scene unfold in the mirror. A bear was attacking my pack. It was much larger than any of the bears I have seen before, and something about it was off. It was much more aggressive and appeared to be out for blood. Wolf blood to be precise.

"Let me go! I need to get to my pack! They have ever fought a bear like this before." My whimper turned into a snarl.

"I can give you the power to stop the bear." It angered me at how blunt the thing was about this entire situation. Pack is family. Does this thing not have a family?

"How?" I lowered my voice, trying to keep calm yet threatening at the same time.

"Come closer." The image in the ice changed again and in the place of the bear, an old, tan wolf stood.

I didn't want to do it, but anything that could help my pack was good in my eyes. I walked up to the ice thing and the wolf stretched its neck until its nose touched the ice. Without thinking, I moved forwards and touched my nose to the cold surface as well. A sudden rush of energy shot through my body and a blinding light flashed in the cave.

I had forced my eyes closed to protect them from the light, but what I saw when I opened them was surprising. The tan wolf was no longer in the ice, but we seemed to have switched places. It took me a moment for the dread to set in. The tan wolf smirked at me as I looked over my body.

"I suggest transferring your soul to the bronze wolf instead of keeping it in the mirror. You will have a better range of motion that way." The wolf laughed.

I knew what he had done, but I still couldn't believe it.

"You'd better hurry if you want to save any of your pack-mates from the bear." Anger coursed through my veins. Without thinking, I lashed out. The 'mirror' smacked the wolf in the side of the head, shattering his skull on impact.

I didn't care that I just killed a fellow wolf. I didn't care that I was now trapped in a bronze body with my jaws clamped over a 'mirror'. I just wanted to get home.

I charged through the tunnel and bounded down the mountain. The only good thing about this entire situation was that I was now twice as fast. Another good thing was that my old bones felt good as new. I felt like I could run forever and not get tired. I haven't felt this good since I was two years old!

I barreled into the camp like a stag and locked onto the bear. I tried to open my mouth, but I still couldn't let go of the mirror, so I did the next best thing. I swung my head up and the mirror smacked the bear, hard. It roared in annoyance, but as soon as it looked at me, it cowered in fear. Yes, my new body is intimidating, but I was not expecting this at all. I jumped at the bear, but stopped short of actually attacking it. It took off. If it had a longer tail, it would have been tucked tightly between its legs.

I looked around to my pack mates. So many were injured… There were several unmoving bodies among the rubble of the camp. I could hear the whimpers of pups and looked to see Heather standing over her litter. Snarling at me.

I could feel my heart break into a thousand pieces at the sight of my now broken family. I would not be accepted here any longer. I backed up only to step on something soft. I whipped around to see Shadow, our mighty alpha, dead on the ground.

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and ran back to the mountains. This bear was going to die for what it has done. If only I knew that my hunt would yield no results for three, long, years with no results. I would have given up much sooner.

Years later

Life in this bronze body was terribly boring. I couldn't eat or drink. I was almost three times smaller in my normal form, so for the first few years, I bumped into everything I walked by. Every living thing cowered and ran away from me as I moved through the mountains. Even the birds refused to sing as I slept in the warm sunlight.

Sometimes, though, I get a bout of activity from some humans trying to steal the mirror. I figured out the mirror was magical some time ago, but most of its magic eludes me. I can walk in the dreams of others, grant wishes for those who impress me, and even turn those greedy humans into wolves. I just wish I could use that magic on myself.

Because of my new boring life, I take pleasure where I can get it. I chase prey animals to get that familiar thrill, I watch my just turned wolves panic in unfamiliar areas, and I have recently begun to visit the dreams of the wolves I turned and who have regained their memories just to toy with them. I am much more callous that I used to be, but hey, at least I am doing something.

Present day

I never imagined the day that I would be free of the mirror would ever come. So many times, I wished to trick some poor pup to free myself of the mirror, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't subject another to this loneliness. Not after I experienced it firsthand.

I bounded out of the mirror, completely ecstatic, but then a thought hit me…

I can't go home.

My pack doesn't exist anymore. All of my friends are either old or dead, the pups probably don't remember me, and that territory has been abandoned for years.

These thoughts weighed heavily on my mind before I realized what I wanted- no, what I needed to do. The only thing that will reunite me with my pack.

"Mirror, I wish to exchange my life for the life of this elder." I motioned to the silver, grey, female who sacrificed herself for her pack.

The mirror shimmered lightly as I thought of the tan wolf again. I have come to find out that he spent his final days feeding a young bear cub live wolves in an attempt to intimidate others to trading places with him. He finally succeeded when he targeted my pack rather than me directly, but his freedom didn't last long. I killed him not five minutes after his release. "Heh. You and I are gonna have a similar end, huh? Only your end was in blood. My end will come with life."

I touched my nose to the old female and felt my body grow cold. Her body began to change as my life began to end. "At least you will be normal again after this mess."

My body fell to the side, and my eyes closed. I could hear Bloom and her pack near me, yet far away. They were thanking me and celebrating the revival of their friend. I smiled slightly. At least they are happy.

"Lupus. Where have you been?" I jolted up at the sound of Shadows voice. I was no longer at that fairy school, but back in our old territory. The familiar sight of my pack mates brought tears to my eyes. "Come on, we can't start the hunt without you!"

I jumped up and ran to meet my family.

I had been going back and forth about making this story for some time now, but hey, It's Christmas, so why not? I really wanted to give Lupus some more depth in the chapters, but her story never really fit in the chapters, so I have made an extra chapter to explain some things. And before you ask, yes, the bear is the same bear Bloom killed. Also, Lupus' pack once lived where Bloom's pack moved to, and they moved again once Shade took over as alpha to where they are during the story.

Just to clear up some loose ends, the winx turned back once they didn't need to be wolves anymore. The pups grew up, and the brothers left to build their own packs, so there was no reason for them to stay as wolves.

And just to make this clear. This is it for Mirror of Lupus. There is nothing more I can add to this story nor do I want to add anything. My first Fanfiction is officially over.

-Echo