#pack death

Wolf death: Finch | Joined Spring 1, Lost Winter 7

A founding member of The Sanctuary Pack, Finch was born into captivity and raised to be used in dogfighting matches, passed off by his unscrupulous owner as a high-content wolfdog.

He escaped this captivity with deep scars both mental and physical, and when the Pack found him he was a prickly, standoffish wolf, slow to trust and lacking in any manners-- having been raised away from other wolves, he had little idea how to act around them.

Heartsick from the violence of his youth, he swore off fighting, and became a pupsitter; he decided that he would rather protect others than shed blood ever again. He also served as a surrogate father for many of the pack's litters.

He became mates with the herbalist Saturn early in the pack's history, but the two broke up quickly after having their first litter, and Finch spent a long time bitter over the breakup, blaming himself. He considered himself broken and unlovable, and thought this breakup was clear proof he was right.

Over the years, Finch mellowed slightly, and maintained a good relationship with his pups- Dace, Grackle, Grayling, and the adopted Carnassial. His close, loving ties to friends and family gradually drew Finch out of his shell. In particular, his friendship with another captive-raised wolf, Hat Trick, helped to show him that a wolf with no 'innate' wolflike manners could still have successful relationships and be worthy of affection and respect.

By his old age, Finch was in a healthy enough place with himself that he was able to enter into another relationship, and spent his twilight years happily mated to Hayseed, raising three pups with his new mate- Maize, Holiday, and Farrier.

While he never lost his prickliness, Over the years Finch did come to realize that he wasn't the violent, unlovable monster he once considered himself to be.

He leaves behind a tight group of friends and a large, loving family.

Far from cruel or bloodthirsty, Finch lived his life as a nurterer and protector, and he will be remembered as a father to most of The Sanctuary Pack; even those pups he didn't sire or raise himself grew up in his pupsitting den, and Finch's comforting presence is a fixture in the puphood memories of the majority of Sanctuary's wolves.

Wolf death: Seven | Joined Spring 1, Lost Summer 8

The founder of The Pack At Sanctuary, Seven was raised as part of a nature preserve’s re-population effort. Spending a safe and peaceful pup-hood under the complete protection of the wildlife sanctuary, her eventual release into the wild was a rude awakening.

Seven and her brothers had an extremely hard time adapting to the wild; out of a litter of eight, Seven was the only survivor.

A social, sheltered wolf, Seven was desperate to find other wolves to help her face the harsh, strange world she’d been released into. Following this goal, she met Rover, and the two founded The Pack together, and eventually became mates.

For a long time, Seven lingered in the past, wanting nothing more than to return to her safe and easy life in the wildlife sanctuary. Even with companions, life in the wilds was harsh– when her firstborn pup, Rime, was nearly lost in a snowstorm in her first winter, Seven very nearly gave into despair.

She felt she wasn’t up to the task of leading a pack; she had never looked for the responsibility, and in some ways resented it. Her and Rover clashed now-and-again about Seven’s lingering in the past, and her difficulties making hard choices in the present.

However, over the years, the pack grew, and the weight of responsibility lightened; it was no longer Seven’s to bear alone, but something she shared with her trusted friends- Hoot, Hat Trick, Finch, Rover, Saturn, and eventually with the pack’s next generation, too.

While she grew to accept the responsibilities of leadership, she was still glad to pass the mantle of leader on to her successor, Dace, and spent her retirement in contentment, watching on as Dace led the pack Seven had founded into the future.

As a young adult, Seven had longed for the lost safety and comfort of her puphood. In her old age, she had brought a group of wolves together, and with their help had created that same safety and comfort for others– had created a Sanctuary of her own.

Pack Death: Hat Trick | Joined Summer One, Lost Winter Eight

A founding member of The Sanctuary Pack, Hat Trick was- like Finch, Rover, and Seven- born in captivity, raised by a human woman in an experiment on wolf socialization.

Hat Trick grew up without the company of other wolves, and learned social cues and manners from her human caretaker, Anita, picking up on strange mannerisms- eye contact, 'smiling'- which wolves usually found offputting.

Hat Trick loved Anita as a mother, and was happy to have her little family, but still-- she felt a certain loneliness, never knowing another animal like her. So much of what Anita did, Hat Trick couldn't understand, couldn't share in; and wolves were meant to live in packs, not to pour all of their affections into one person.

But when the experiment ended, and Hat Trick was sent to live in a facility with other captive wolves, things got even worse. The other wolves took issue with Trick's lacking social skills, and shunned or outright bullied her when she reached out to them.

Abandoned by Anita, and apparently despised by her fellow wolf, Trick was lonelier in this "pack" than she had been living alone.

And then-- Finch. Another captive-born wolf, Finch had been raised for dogfighting, and took issue with any wolf living captive. When he heard from Sanctuary's scout- Rover- about a thin, miserable young wolf living in a human facility, he charged off at once to break her free.

With the help of the entire fledgling pack, Trick was released from captivity-- but at first did no better at Sanctuary than she had back home. Sanctuary's wolves, while kinder, also found it hard to connect with Hat Trick, and Hat Trick herself had become painfully shy, anxious of other wolves because of her repeated rejections.

There were some compensations-- her new packmates were kind if not warm, and Hat Trick excelled at hunting, learning the joys of the forest; of running through the underbrush, dewy and fragrant. Of hot blood, of the chase and the kill, of feeding her packmates by the strength of her teeth and claws.

But still-- she was as lonely as ever.

Only when she was injured on a hunt and confined to the herbalist's den did Hat Trick finally make a friend. Saturn, The Pack's kindly herbalist, grew to understand Hat Trick during her long convalescence, and came to see through the strange manners to the sweet, clever wolf beneath.

With a friend, Hat Trick finally began to come out of her shell; all she had needed was that little bit of encouragement. She worked hard to overcome her shyness, and while she remained quiet and somewhat awkward all her life, she found acceptance with the other pack founders, and slowly came to see them all as dear, dear friends-- as family.

It was this newfound inner-confidence- as well as her cleverness, and even her strange manners- that drew the loner, Hoot, to Hat Trick. Hoot; a brash, confident, handsome she-wolf, seemed as different from Hat Trick as two wolves could possibly be. When Hoot began to court Hat Trick, the other pack founders even pulled her aside for a shovel-talk, warning her off their friend and vowing that if she ever hurt Hat Trick, there would be hell to pay.

They needn't have worried. Hoot's confidence only bolstered Hat Trick's, and Hat Trick's cleverness combined with Hoot's strength made the two a formidable hunting duo. With someone always in her corner, Hat Trick was able to come even further out of her shell, and her and Hoot became mates, even having a pup in Slough Creek.

Wolf Death: Saturn | Joined Spring 1, Lost Autumn 3

A founding member of The Sanctuary Pack, Saturn was born into the Oaktree Pack, in rich lowland forests. Though she would have stayed her whole life if she could have, she was eventually chased out by her younger siblings, as the pack was considered too crowded for wolves to hang around too long after growing up.

After fleeing, injured, from her birth pack, Saturn was found by Seven, the Sanctuary Pack’s leader, and took up a place in The Sanctuary Pack as an advisor on the ways of wild wolves, vital to her captive-born packmates. This later transitioned into her role as a healer, which she would hold for the rest of her life in Sanctuary.

Saturn became mates with the grouchy but loyal Finch in the pack’s first year, and the couple had two pups, Dace and Grayling, shortly after becoming mates. This unplanned litter strained Finch and Saturn's relationship, as Saturn was uneasy around young wolves. She grew distant with her mate and her pups, and broke off the relationship. 

The estranged family eventually reconciled when Finch and Saturn were forced to track down Dace and Grayling after the two went missing in a winter storm. However, the family remained somewhat distant; Saturn and Dace never grew warm with one another, and Saturn and Finch later became friends, but never got back together as mates. 

For the rest of her life, Saturn maintained her decision not to take another mate or have more pups. But she never wanted for company, having many close ties within the pack already. She became particularly good friends with her apprentice Eight, her son Grayling, and the hunter Hat Trick. She also maintained ties with the rest of the founding wolves of the pack-- Seven, Rover, and Finch.