answer him. "It would take forever to tell you everything, so I'll give you the abridged version: she didn't like you at all. She thought you were a little too... possessive."

"Is that what you think too?"

Another pause; Mias didn't like talking about his brother's faults, but he couldn't ignore how he had seen Mayak act. "I'm not going to lie to you. You sometimes act like something should be handed out when it should be earned… love is one of those things."

Once again, the anger started to build in Mayak. He hated being talked down to and never allowed it when he was alpha. "Let me guess, you earned her love while I did not?"

"Yes, I did," Mias replied, this time with much more confidence. "I told her I always thought life should be filled with choices and she made one herself. She chose to follow her heart and when she did… there was no stopping it."

"Are you sure?" Mayak queried. "You could have chosen to turn her down."

"I know, but… " Mias stopped and sat in the snow as he thought about the right way to say it. "I couldn't deny what was in my heart too," he replied as Mayak sat in front of him. "Sami is so wonderful. She's always looking for a greater adventure, a new horizon to explore. She wanted to see the world like I had and I couldn't turn that down. I couldn't crush her dreams like that - I'd never forgive myself."

"So you fell for each other because you wanted to go on a little adventure?" Mayak asked, and Mias nodded. "Well tough luck, because you still have to do your duty for my pack. I won't have you taking my authority from me."

"I never wanted to take your authority!" Mias barked back. "I don't care what the others say; you're the alpha and I don't want to take what you worked so hard for away from you… which is why I'm leaving." This caught Mayak by surprise; Mias would actually leave and turn down the chance to challenge him? He never thought that his brother would be so humble…

'But if he leaves, then that means Sami could be mine.' Earlier, Mayak would have despaired at the idea of his brother leaving, but after this... it might actually be to his own advantage.

"I talked with Sami, and we agreed that's it's best for you and everyone else if we weren't around," Mias explained.

"Well, I'd hate to have you leave like this… wait, what do you mean 'we'?"

"I mean Sami and I," Mias replied, "It's obvious that seeing us together all the time is causing you a lot of grief, so we're gong to leave and find our own way. You can lead your pack and find a new mate, and we won't bother you." It may have seemed like a good deal in Mias' eyes, but for Mayak, it was almost as bad as finding out Mias and Sami were together. He saw Sami as his and his alone and didn't want Mias to take her far away, where he'd never see her again.

As Mayak tried to take in this new defeat, he spied something poking out of the snow. It was a large, dark ring with a trip in the middle. He remembered that Mias had told them about a similar device. It was a trap, and if stepped on, it would snap shut and painfully hold the trapped animal until the human who laid the trap came by to kill it. Mias didn't seem to notice it, and while Mayk would have usually told his brother about such danger, something held him back. 'Why bother telling him; he didn't bother to tell me about him and Sami. A dishonest soul doesn't deserve honesty.'

"I know it's a lot to take in, but it's probably for the best" Mias continued, unaware of the real reason for Mayak's silence. "I do care about you brother, and I hate seeing you in such pain." Mias stood up, and despite the sympathy for him in Mayak, the alpha wolf remained silent, even as Mias stepped back towards the trap.

'Warn him… but he's taking Sami away… he's your brother… but he lied to me,' He watched, in slow motion, as Mias' final step fell towards the trap. He was torn between his love and his jealousy, and he lost focus of what was about to happen in front of him...

It was only when it snapped shut and Mias let out a sickening cry of agony that Mayak returned to reality. His brother collapsed and howled in pain, looking back at the trap he was in. "No, not this, anything but this," he cried as he tried to pull free, but the trap dug painfully into his flesh. "Brother, please help me," he pleaded with desperate eyes.

Mayak looked at him, but then he said something that would forever define who he would be from then on. With this, it was obvious which side had won the struggle in his mind. "No... I won't let you take her away from me!"

"What… Mayak?" he gasped in shock, but the alpha only turned away from him, leaving his own brother behind. "NO! Don't do this Mayak! Help me! I'm your brother!" he cried out, but Mayak just continued walking. "Help me! Somebody please help me!" Mias bellowed, but Mayak kept on walking. A few humans had heard the cries, and knew they had something good. The trapped wolf's cries reached a fever pitch when he saw the human approaching, knife in hand, but Mayak kept on walking. Mias' cries for help persisted, right up until the moment the human slit his throat, silencing him for good. Mayak paused briefly when he heard his brother's cries end, but after a moment he kept on walking.

---

Chapter 3: Defeat From Victory

It was a move beyond belief, beyond what anyone thought would be possible, but there was no turning back now. In the space of less than a minute, Mayak had let his brother die. It wasn't a planned move, even though Mayak had been thinking of ways to punish his brother for this humiliation. It was a crime of opportunity, provoked by the news that he would be taking Sami away from him. Even though she had made it obvious that she was more interested in Mias, Mayak had entertained the thought of taking her back for himself... and now that Mias was out of the way...

'But you can't just waltz in and get away with murder,' he thought. 'You're going to have to cover your tracks.'

He broke into a run, putting a panicked expression on his face. As far as anyone else knew, he didn't have anything to do with Mias' death, and he wanted it to stay that way. He found a group sitting together and darted in front of them, his eyes wild with shock. The group noticed his fearful look, and knew that anything that could scare their alpha must be bad.

"Mayak, what's wrong?" one of the wolves asked.

"They - they got him!" he cried out. "The humans got my brother!"

Everyone gasped. "What do you mean they got him? What happened?"

"We were out in the woods talking when he stepped on this… this thing, some sort of trap. I tried to help him, but we heard the humans coming," he gasped. "I tried my best, but Mias wanted me to run. I couldn't leave him, but there was nothing else I could do for him," he lied, making sure his voice cracked at the right moment. "I ran, and I heard him growling at them before… before… they-" he stuttered before collapsing on the ground, wailing in anguish. "They killed my brother!"

As he pulled off his stunning reproduction of real sobbing, some of the wolves went to find the rest of the pack to give them the grave news. Outwardly, Mayak seemed consumed by grief, but that was one of the abilities of his cunning mind. He was not above lying to get what he wanted; indeed, that was part of how he was able to depose the previous alpha of the pack. He was a skillful manipulator, and right now, he wanted the pack's sympathy for his brother's death.

Finally, the one he was waiting for arrived. "Tell me it isn't true. Tell me Mias is alive!" Sami cried at him.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," Mayak replied. "There was nothing I could do for him."

"No, he could be alive," she said, before dashing away from the pack. Mayak quickly got up to follow her, except this time his concern was genuine. He didn't want Sami to get caught by the humans as well.

"Sami, no! It's too dangerous!"

"I can't leave him behind, not after all we did together," she cried.

Mayak dashed in front of her, blocking all her attempts to go around him. "I know you want to be with him, but the humans are still out there. I don't want anyone else to get hurt!"

"Get out of my way!" she said as tears streamed down her muzzle.

"Look, I know we may not be on the best of terms, but right now I don't want anyone else getting hurt," he said. "I don't think Mias would want you to get hurt either."

"Why would you care? I thought you'd disowned him because we were together," she said. "You don't know what he means to me."

"No, but he was my brother and that still means a lot to me," Mayak said, making sure to have his voice sound like it was going to crack again. Sami looked down in defeat as she believed him. "Look, this is a tragic day for us all… and I know you don't like me much… but I can still be there for you. His last wish... was that I'd take care of you." he finished, putting his paw on hers. She let it hold there for a moment, but something inside her didn't