Frostbound

"Chris, the wolves are circling again," Abigail said as she approached the stump I was sitting on.

As we pushed on toward the first marker in the chain we had set, we were beset by a number of things hindering our travel. The snow and weather the least among them.

Animals and beasts roaming the area had gotten increasingly cumbersome to get through and it only got worse as the days went on.

Coyotes and felines were the more opportunistic predators. They only attacked smaller groups, but others who were more aggressive tried to attack the main caravan.

Wolves and bears being the worst of them.

Wolves roamed in large packs and they didn't fear our numbers as much as the more solo predators while bears just didn't care. They took our intrusion into their territory personally and it didn't matter how many people were with us.

They only ran off if there was a person of sufficient strength to bully them off, otherwise, they would fight against the numbers even if they faced certain defeat.

Wolves, on the other hand, were just plain annoying. They circled and looked for weaknesses, attacked when they felt an opening and hit softer parts in the caravan where the levels were lower or there were fewer people.

They were smarter, which was the worst kind of foe.

The pack stalking us now was the largest yet and it seemed they ranged in the area of the lake we were approaching. They didn't take our presence in their hunting grounds lightly. Over a hundred of them were out and about, circling us and getting a reading.

The alpha had yet to make its presence known but it was only a matter of time before they attacked. A day or two at most before they found their opportunity.

As we stopped for the night and began to set up camp, nerves began to fray. The constant of being on edge wore on people and it only worsened as the sun descended and the darkness set in.