nudged the shaking pup toward Tempest. 

“Get him back to Fly’s den as quickly as you can. Fly will lead you there”

Tempest nodded, scooped up Ozark and took off.

“Keep your eyes peeled” Everest said to Odin, who was silent for once. 

Suddenly, Everest spotted a wolf running off, carrying something brown in his mouth. 

“Axle” 

Everest and Odin were right behind the wolf in a second. The other wolf tucked it’s tail and ran even faster, leading both of her pursuers out of the territory. Everest was tiring out quickly so it was Odin who finally tackled the other wolf, forcing her to drop the limp thing in her mouth with a yelp. 

Everest jumped over Odin and skit to a stop just before the small, brown figure. It wasn’t alive... but it wasn’t Axle either. 

“It’s only a rabbit!” the she-wolf cried. “I haven’t eaten for days”

Everest growled, kicking the rabbit and hustled back to where all the fighting was taking place. By now, the pups could be long gone!

When Everest and Odin finally came back to where everyone was before, they found themselves alone. 

“They all disappeared” 

The two stepped out into the open cautiously, finding that the only things around were what was left of Portly’s pack. Grimacing, the two searched for any familiar faces but thankfully didn’t find any. They couldn’t find Portly either... but he was the least of their worries now.

“Maybe the others found them” Odin offered hopefully, as they started towards the den. 

After a few moments of silently walking through the woods, they spotted the group waiting by Fly’s den. As soon as she spotted Everest, Fly gasped and rushed forward hopefully.

Everest’s heart sank. They hadn’t found all the pups...

Before Everest could say anything, Fly collapsed, sobbing and Everest had to dive forward to catch her. He could feel his own eyes starting to fill with tears as Fly buried her face into his fur.

The others shuffled around, head and tails low. They knew Everest wouldn’t blame them for any of it but it still hurt that they hadn’t been able to do what they were supposed to. 

“We lost Axle and Ishkur” Fly sobbed. “Comet and Will saved T-T-Theo but the other two...”

Everest closed his eyes tightly and tried to forget before he let it get to him. 

“I’m staying here tonight” Everest said to the others, voice cracking a little. The others nodded and started back to the den. Everest and Fly stayed huddled on the ground for what seemed like hours, mourning the loss of the their two pups. When they moved, it was only to move into the den to try to explain what had happened to Theo and Ozark. 

The pair’s sorrow had also blocked out something else... someone else was missing too...

Not far off, in another den, three figures stood out. Hawk frowned, face a mixture of anger and something else while his mate, Tosca, was curled at her feet. She was just as sad as Fly was but was desperate not to seem weak. So se covered her eyes with her paws and stayed curled in a ball. Of the two pups she had, only one was left. In the confusion, one of Portly’s wolves had followed Tosca back to her den and took one of her pups too. Unlike Everest and Fly’s pups, who might be able to manage on their own, Tosca’s pups were still defenseless. 

The third figure was Quick. He shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to do. He was horrible in touchy situations and he didn’t know what to say to make Tosca feel better. Nothing Hawk or Quick said seemed to console Tosca either.

“I can’t believe I let them get away with Hunter” Tosca finally squeaked, curling into a ball.

“Uh... it’s ok” Quick said awkwardly. “You can... have more next year...”

Hawk gave Quick a dirty look and Quick shrugged. “At least I’m trying”

“Well he’s right...” Hiatus crooned, seemingly coming out of nowhere. “It’s not hard to just have more”

Tosca looked up forlornly at Hiatus, afraid to say anything or disagree with him. Quick shifted, eyes flicking between his sister and the white wolf. Hiatus focused his attention on Quick.

“Well I can’t say, this couldn’t have been done without you”

Quick nodded, a familiar, bad feeling rising up in his chest.

“Honestly, I didn’t think that we’d catch up to them, but thanks to your directions, I guess we ended up being in the right place at the right time”

Quick frowned and got up. “I really should head back before anyone notices I’m missing”

Hiatus gave Quick a half-smile. “I’ll hear from you later. Maybe next time, you can bring me Everest instead of a rebel pack”

Quick paused but kept walking, taunted by Hiatus’s snickers as he left. Once Quick was gone, Hiatus looked down at Tosca, disgust flickering across his face.

“Oh pull yourself together and stop whimpering” he hissed. “Just make more next year”

Everest and Fly were still huddled in the den. Fly had finally calmed down enough to breath normally but she was still too sad to talk. Everest, on the other hand, was still trying to soothe her.

“We’re going to find ‘em... they’re tough like us and they’re still out there...”

Everest, Fly, Quick, Will, Tempest, Hiatus, Arrow and Axle (Indy) (c) me

Hawk, Tosca, Hunter, Angela and Theo (c) FallenAngel

Comet and Ozark (c) Jett

Altea and Ishkur (c) Saske Italian Wolf