Circles and Ash

Silence.
The sounds of absolute nothing hung in the air like a thick fog. Not a single wolf soul dared to break it, no matter how uncomfortable they felt in the dark circle that decided to meet at stark midnight. The Earth seemed still, and cold, and dark. It stayed like this for hours.
A young Fallele shifted her weight from side to side, barely able to contain the anxiety that poisoned her mind. Her golden eyes darted about in disbelief, as it seemed everyone else in the small group was relaxed to a near point of sleep. How could they be so visually silent after the fire that engulfed their home only moments before? She may never know. But for now, she knew her one and only daughter, Genevieve, was somewhere in the rubble. The real question was whether or not the alphess’ pup lived.
It had been a solid four hours before the sounds of heavy paw steps broke the silence. Fallele couldn’t contain herself anymore. “They’re back!” she yipped, jumping to her paws in a split second, “The rescue team is back!”
Slowly, six large males joined the wolves in the clearing, emerging from the thick cloud of ash they were assigned to search. Two of the six came bearing live pups in their mouths, and a mix of cries rang in the chill air. Four sounds of relief (likely the parents of the living), dozens more of grief. Only two pups had survived the devastating fire. Counting in her head, Fallele noted that seven more were missing; one being her own pup.
Denial sweeping over her like an aggressive wave, she chanted that it couldn’t be true, this wasn’t happening. It took her mere moments to reach the front of the circle, where the four search members who did not carry pups in their mouths soon arrived. Each one carried a heavy load upon their backs; some with rubble, others with corpses draped on them like cloaks. But no matter what their load, their expressions were all blank. They have seen the damage like no one else ever would.
Fallele quickly found whom she was looking for; her mate Derec. He had volunteered to search through the ashes of their old home with the others, sharing the same wish as his mate. He knew it was unlikely he would find their Genevieve, but at least searching for her would bring some sort of closure. Now Derec had returned with the others, his father’s limp body splayed across his shoulder, no daughter in his maw.
With one look, Fallele knew the outcome of his scavenge.
They no longer had a daughter.
Just to clear things up, this is after the forest fire that separated “Genevieve” (Jane) from her family. Her father went out on a search party with five other males in hopes of finding his daughter someone in the rubble. Of course, he didn’t, and Fallele is crushed after waiting in a clearing with other hopeful parents. And that’s the last you’ll hear of the pair. >3<

DUN DUN DUN! I'm scared to see what happens to Jane next  ;_;