The grey wolf looked at its six pups and in that moment, it realized that nothing was more important, not life or death, not heaven or earth.
Five of the pups looked like typical grey pups with grey fur from their short snouts to their tiny feet, but the sixth pup was a different story. It was the smallest, barely half the size of its siblings, and on top of that, it was as white as snow making it stick out like a sore thumb. The grey wolf looked at this strange pup and scrutinized it from head to toe but still concluded that it was without a doubt its offspring.
With the birth of its six pups, the grey wolf worked harder to hunt larger prey such as small foxes and rabbits. Although the pups could not eat the meat, the grey wolf mother needed the increased food to produce the large quantity of milk needed by the pups.
This went on for a few weeks before the pups started feasting on meat like the true carnivores they were. When the grey wolf mother returned from her hunts, the pups would lick their mouth and she would regurgitate the meat for the pups to eat. After two months, the pups were fully weaned except for the little white wolf who for some reason kept on breastfeeding for a few more weeks.
When the pups reached two years old, their mother started teaching them how to hunt small animals, how to track other creatures by their scent, how to hide their tracks from predators, and many other things that could improve their survival.
Time went by and the little wolves became seasoned hunters able to live independently of their mother, but they chose to stay with their loving mother, who did not chase them out into the wild to survive on their own. The den became cramped but the small family stayed together and the wolves could even be said to be happy.
With time, the wolves became as powerful as their mother and so the family formed a pack.
They hunted together and with their combined skills and strength, they were able to hunt larger prey and even expand their territory.
Even with their new strength, the pack did not become arrogant from the little power they had. They knew that stronger beasts roamed the forest.
They kept their territory at a manageable size and avoided conflict.
Their happiness was short-lived. A passing white tiger decided to take over their territory.
In this forest where might makes right, conflict was rarely solved with communication. The white tiger, a level two (Nascent) demonic beast simply showed up one day at the wolf den and began its unprovoked attack.
The wolf pack had grown stronger over the years but seven level one (Fearless) demonic beasts were no match for a single level two (Nascent) demonic beast.
The battle was hard and long. It went on for the entire night. This was the night the happy wolf pack came to an end. When dawn came, the white tiger retreated into the thick forest leaving three members of the wolf pack dead, shredded to pieces, and the rest injured with another on the brink of death.