grinned, gaging the other’s reactions.

“Well that’s just great” Quick snorted. “Me and Will didn’t find the pack yet either... so I guess this means we’re going to have to scout even more?”

“Yup” Everest answered simply. “Let the others know too. If you find the pack, howl and we can try to handle them”

Quick groaned but Will obediently nodded and hurried off. Quick jumped after, mumbling “Suck-up” under his breath.

“They’ll find me you know” Portly insisted as Everest laid down in front of the den.

“I’m sure they will” Everest yawned sarcastically. “Just like Hiatus’s pack found us”

“You’re underestimating them! My pack is much stronger then yours and Hiatus’s! You’ll be sorry!”

“Well until they get here, why don’t we chat?”

Portly didn’t respond. His angry mumbles echoed in the den, but Everest didn’t understand any of it. Not that he cared. 

“I bet you’re related to that other Illiivat wolf... aren’t you”

“Nope” Everest replied without opening his eyes. “Nice try”

“Well you know her...” Portly mused frustratedly. “You knew her name”

“Who doesn’t” Everest replied, adding with a grin, “She’s pretty”

Portly scuffled around the den, thinking silently to himself. 

“Well you know what I’m going to do once my pack gets me out of here?”

“Kill me, kill Hiatus and kill Fly?” Everest mumbled, starting to doze off.

Portly laughed eerily, making Everest open his eyes. 

“That’s what’ll end up happening, but you got the order all wrong” Portly chuckled as if Everest should have known better. “First we’ll drag you along to Fly and kill her. Then we’ll kill Hiatus. Then we’ll throw you around a bit-”

Everest stood up, and walked right up to the den so that him and Portly were almost nose to nose. Everything inside the gold wolf was yelling to tear the fat wolf to shreds but Everest only smiled, half-closed eyes hiding everything.

“Well good luck trying and get comfortable” he grinned, shaking the heavy log. “‘Cus there’s no way you can move this and we’re not letting you out anytime soon”

Everest’s pack was working twice as hard as it was before they had found Portly and as the sun set and darkness shadowed the territory, they took shifts stopping at the den to rest and make sure Portly hadn’t gotten out. 

Quick, more then anyone else, was glad. Every once in a while, he’d pass Will, Comet or someone else, but for the most part, each of them was scouting on their own. It would be easy to sneak away and the grey wolf doubted that one less scout would hurt anything. 

So double checking to make sure no one was around, Quick trotted off into the darkness. At night, his slate grey coat seemed to blend into the grass that was far darker then the usual snow. It made it much easier to sneak by Hiatus’s guards too. But even if they did spy Quick, he wasn’t too worried. They weren’t going to chase him.

The Ublureak pack that Hiatus dominated was lounging around in a different part of the territory then Quick was in. But they weren’t what he was looking for. He was looking for his sister Tosca. As he trotted along, he was careful to slip by Fly’s den. Hiatus wouldn’t chase him but Fly could tell Everest if she saw Quick. 

Thankfully, she seemed to be asleep. A few moments later, Quick found his sister’s den. The grey wolf made one last check around, then quietly called into the cave. “Tosca? You in there?”

Something scuffled around and Tosca’s voice echoed out. “Quick?”

“Yeah. Did you have the pups?”

“Yeah!” Tosca whispered excitedly, peeking her head out of the den. “A boy and a girl... Hunter and Angela. I had ‘em a few days ago”

“Are they okay?”

“Yup, perfectly fine”

“That’s good...” Quick said, voice trailing off. “Has Hawk come here yet?”

“Yeah and he’ll probably be back in the morning”

They were quiet for a bit before Quick finally decided to head back. “Gotta go before Everest notices I’m gone... I’ll talk to you later”

With that, Quick padded away. Just as he climbed the slope leading back to the pack’s territory, he spotted Hiatus and Arrow and froze. Hiatus’s yellow eyes jumped right to him and Arrow followed Hiatus’s gaze. All three just stared, then Hiatus calmly continued on his way, Arrow throwing Quick a dirty look before following after. 

Quick hustled along, reaching the territory line just as he spotted Comet. 

“Spot anything?” she chirped happily, fresh from taking her turn to sleep.

“Uh... no” Quick answered.

“Neither did I” Comet replied, trying to start a conversation. “I just took my rest at the den. Portly’s still there and I don’t know who’s taking their break next... I think Odin?”

Quick shrugged, he was too tired to try to talk.

“So-”

“Gotta keep on scouting” Quick interrupted. “Before anything sneaks by”

Comet nodded, lowering her ears. “Uh-right. I mean Everest would be mad if we were talking when we were supposed to be scouting”

Quick trudged away and Comet glanced after him awkwardly before sighing to herself and continuing on in the opposite direction.

On the other side of the territory, Everest yawned. He’d just passed Will who was on his way back to the den for his shift to rest. The moon had already started to set and Everest wondered if Portly’s pack was nearby at all. Maybe they were just as lost as Portly had been.

He travelled around, passing a weary Altea who was too tired to say hello. Once the sun started to rise over the Ublureak territory mountains, Everest started to head back to the den. It was finally his turn to rest. He needed it!

As he climbed up the dried riverbank, Will’s scent was still fresh. He had probably just left. Everest finally reached the flatter ground by the den, eyes drifting around in case- someone moved the log!

Heart skipping a beat, Everest dashed to the log and the empty den. Peering into the darkness, Everest could clearly see that no fat, brown wolf was hiding in the shadows. Claw marks tore up the ground where the log had been as if someone had tried to dig Portly out first. Several different scents floated on the breeze... probably enough to make a whole pack. 

“They must have gotten him right after Will left” Everest growled to himself, cursing under his breath. He titled his head up, took a deep breath, but before any sound could come out, someone tackled Everest. 

Everest struggled out of his attacker’s hold only long enough to get a clear look. He didn’t recognize the furry, grayish wolf, but it didn’t give him a good chance before trying to jump at the gold wolf again. Everest dodged around it, leaping on top of the den only to come face to face with another unfamiliar wolf. Gritting his teeth, Everest whipped around and jumped off the side of the bank and over the first wolf... but it was hopeless. More wolves seemed to come out from either side of the bank.  

The pack crept closer, surrounding Everest, but Portly’s chuckle made them hesitate. Everest’s blue eyes leapt to the fat wolf, who stood on the opposite side of the bank proudly.

“I told you they’d find me” he smiled. “You underestimated us”

Everest stared at the wolf hatefully but didn’t say anything. Instead he studied the wolves around him, looking for an escape route. 

“Don’t even try” Portly gloated, reading Everest’s mind. “They’ll just stop you. And I wouldn’t howl if I were you either... we’ll just kill you now instead of later”

Everest closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, not believing he’d let this happen. He was better then that... 

“Well let’s get going then” Portly chirped, making Everest’s eyes pop open.

“Go?! Where are we going?!”

“We talked about this yesterday, remember?” Portly replied, glancing over his shoulder. “We have to go find Hiatus and Fly! Remember now...?”

Everest’s heart started to beat faster, but he kept his face blank. Two of the wolves shoved him forward and Everest reluctantly climbed up the bank after Portly. 

Not a problem yet... I can escape later. Everest thought to himself. 

“And just to be sure you don’t get too far if you manage to get away...”

Portly turned to one of the other wolves. “Cripple him”

The two wolves that had pushed Everest got a tight grip on the gold wolf. Another dove for Everest, whose eyes were burning as he fought to get away.

Since it was almost half a day since she’d had a good rest, Comet was starting to get tired again. The sunrise was pretty and even though she was on-guard, she couldn’t help but to sneak a few glances. There wasn’t anyone close by anyway. She’d know if there was. 

She tried not to think about the previous night... Quick must’ve thought she was kicked in the head as a pup. He didn’t seem to like her at all either. The