Chapter I

The procession of figures crossed through the shaded valley rigidly and hastily. High snow-covered slopes rose up on either side, only allowing the leader of the group to see directly in front and directly behind. His eerie yellow eyes swept over anything and everything he could see. Nothing was going to surprise him today. Nothing. He had important matters ahead of him... 

His white and silver coat blended into the bright snow around him and belied the evil thoughts racing through his mind. Now where was Hiatus?

The quiet group followed the huge white wolf until they were just about out of the narrow gorge. It looked like they had to slip past the few spindly pine trees lining the end of the gorge and they should be near Hiatus’s territory.

“Excuse me?”

The tall white wolf spun around to see a silvery female wolf, much smaller in comparison to him. Where’d she come from?!

“Hi there” the female piped again in a shy voice. “Do you know where we are? I’m kinda lost”

The white wolf glanced over his shoulder to another wolf who was familiar with the area. The other wolf shrugged so the tall white wolf focused his attention on the small silvery one, figuring she couldn’t be much of a threat.

“I’m Hawk” the white wolf crooned, carefully stepping closer to the female. “And where, may I ask, did you come from?”

“I don’t know exactly...” she replied sweetly and quietly, swishing a paw back and forth in the melting snow. “I’m not sure if my pack’s okay or not though... some strange wolf took them away”

A cruel smile curled across Hawk’s face but he quickly wiped it off when the silver female tilted her head curiously.

“You can come with us then” he offered with false kindness. “We’ll take you right to Hiatus. He’ll help you!”

“Are you good friends with him?” the female asked innocently. 

“Oh yes” Hawk crooned again. “We’re very close”

“That’s all we need to know” a darker voice said behind the white wolf.

Hawk spun around, but whoever was there was gone in the blink of an eye. A blur of grey flashed by and Hawk caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye. The few bushes that lined the rock walls rustled.

“Come along... uh, girl” Hawk called to the silver wolf, eyeing the bushes cautiously.

“It’s Comet” the silver female growled, dropping her quiet and delicate tone. “You’re trespassing and you have to leave”

Something swished by Hawk and the white wolf whipped around once more, anger rising. His pack started to loose it’s cool and began to spread out, mumbling among themselves. 

“Shut up!” Hawk roared at his pack. “There’s only two of them!”

“There’s more of us” another female, a black and brown wolf almost sneered. 

Hawk motioned for his pack to take care of her, but they were too distracted to listen. 

“I’ll just take care of you myself!” Hawk snarled, charging after the black wolf. The black wolf slipped away right under the trees and was gone. Hawk growled frustratedly, searching around for someone to attack. They were not going to make a fool out of him! Hawk spun around, and something else caught his eye, but this time it was a welcomed sight. The white and grey wolf, known as Hiatus, was approaching the fray with his own little group, amused smile playing across his face. Hawk dropped his guard and the moment he did, the grey blur that had been whizzing around before knocked him clear off his feet and right onto the ground, pinning him.  

“Ahh Quick... always such a pleasure to see you” Hiatus called loftily to the grey wolf securing Hawk.

Quick didn’t move. He had Hawk nailed down and another wolf, the reason for the attack and all of Hiatus’s hate, was standing between him and the great white wolf. 

“And Everest... of course” Hiatus said again, with a slight displeasure in his voice. 

The golden wolf smirked and nodded his head. “I think we need to talk”

Hiatus rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You really don’t get smarter, do you? How about this... you let my brother go and I won’t kill you today”

Everest glanced over his shoulder...Hiatus’s brother! Everest turned back to face Hiatus but all at once, Hawk managed to knock Quick off his feet and another familiar canine shot out of Hiatus’s pack to hit Everest head-on. Quick jumped out of Hawk’s reach, but Everest struggled with the other wolf for a few seconds until he too, managed to slip out of the fight. When Everest recognized Arrow, the urge to kill flickered across his mind, but he quickly recovered and stood tall.

“Fine” he finally said, stepping out of the way. “Go right on by”

Hiatus squinted, but he had better things on his mind. Whatever Everest had planned didn’t work, and that was all that mattered. 

As Everest watched the group leave, Quick, Tempest and Comet came out to stand next to him.

“You get away okay?” Everest asked Quick, without taking his eyes from the vanishing pack.

“Yup” Quick answered. “You feeling okay?”

“I’ll know when the other three get back, I think we bought them enough time”

They stood in silence for a few seconds more, making sure that Hiatus and Hawk were gone, then they picked up a jog and headed right toward the spindly pine trees that hid the beginning of a trail. They carefully made their way up over the slippery rocks and in no time, they had reached ground that was more solid. Then the trail started to slope down until the four wolves came to a dried riverbank. Three other wolves were already relaxing in front of it. When they spotted Everest and the others approaching, they sprang to their feet.

“Did you meet Hiatus’s brother?!” Odin asked eagerly. “Did you distract him?! Is he dumb?! Oh I bet he’s ugly!”

Everest grinned. “You bet! Did you get the others out of his cave safely while we held him off?”

Will nodded. “They were in a different cave this time... but they’re home free now!”

“Good. And Fly?”

“You know girls” Odin snorted. Tempest, Comet and Altea all glared.

“What about girls?” Tempest asked, standing up.

“Hehe...I, uh, meant that she just wanted to help...” the sandy wolf tried to laugh, voice trailing off. “I’ll...uh, shut up now...”

“That’s what I thought you said” the black wolf replied confidently, sitting back down again.

“She tried to help, but she’s got a bit of extra weight on her” Will grinned. “She wanted to come back here with us”

Everest beamed. Fly would be having his pups any day now! And as long as Hiatus didn’t find out who the real father was, he couldn’t wait. 

“She’s probably going to come here anyway” Odin yawned.

“As long as Hiatus doesn’t catch her, it doesn’t matter. She’ll probably have more news anyway”

No sooner had the words come out of the golden wolf’s mouth, a figure came wobbling up the treacherous slope. Everest cracked a smile and went forward to meet his mate. Fly returned Everest’s smile with a worried one then almost tripped, Everest reaching her just in time to steady her.

“I can still walk you know” she joked dryly. “It’s just melting snow”

“What are you doing up here?” Everest smirked, changing the conversation.

Fly frowned. “I think you did the wrong thing...” 

The pack, now close enough to overhear, flashed confused looks. 

“It shouldn’t have been that easy...” Fly explained. “He would’ve caught you if he didn’t want to lose his ‘hostages’”

“Well thanks for having faith in us” Odin grumbled, crossing his paws and placing his head on them.

“The wolves you saved were a distraction”

Everest furrowed his brow and thought it over. Fly was right. But it didn’t seem like too much to worry about. Fly on the other hand...

“You should head back before they notice you’re gone”

Fly rolled her eyes.

“That’s easy for you to say” she snorted. “It’s so easy to climb a mountain when you’re pregnant...”

“I’ll walk you back” Everest offered, knowing his mate wouldn’t turn him down. “I’ll be back in no time” he added, glancing over his shoulder to the pack. Fly led the way down, Everest nervously following after her, Fly chatting the entire way down.

“And I still don’t know why I can’t just stay with you and the rest of the pack” Fly mentioned disappointedly just as the got to the bottom of the mountain.

“You know why. You’re our little spy” 

Fly huffed but turned around to lick her mate one more time.

“Be careful” Everest cautioned.

“I always am” Fly smirked over her shoulder. But as soon as she turned, her smile faded. Now it was time to pretend Arrow was her mate. And in only a few short moments, Arrow was bounding toward her.

“Are you alright?! Are you hurt?! Are the pups okay?! Where were you?!”

Fly bit her tongue and faked a smile.

“Just got a little