CHAPTER 1

THE ONE THING that Aleu wanted most in the world was to see her father again. She had not seen him in three years, and he was never far from her mind—he and the rest of Nome, everyone and everything else she left behind years ago.
Every night, when she fell asleep, she thought of them. No matter how hard she tried, she could not avoid it. She thought of her father and mother, her siblings, her friends, her favorite places…
But she couldn’t ever see them again. She could not leave the wolf pack, not even for a little while. She was their leader, after all, and as their leader, they were her priority.
Aleu was hundreds of miles away from Nome, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Three years ago, she had run away from Nome, angry at her father for keeping a secret from her for her entire life. The resulting journey had turned into a quest—a quest for self-identity, which led her to a wolf pack in need of a leader. And just when her father had shown up and volunteered, she realized that it was her place to lead.
But why?
Nava had told her that she had been destined to lead the pack, to take on the full identity of a wolf, but she had never wanted this. She missed her family, her home back in Alaska—and with each passing day, this responsibility seemed more and more like a burden than a gift.
Her thoughts ran wild as she tried going to sleep. She had been tossing and turning for over an hour now, with no luck. Resigned to the possibility that sleep would not come tonight, Aleu slowly got up and walked over to the nearby water stream. The pale crescent moon hovered near the horizon, turning orange as it began to set. It slight reflected off the water, allowing her to see with almost perfect vision.
As she began to drink, she continued to let her thoughts run free. She knew the meaning of “destiny,” and she didn’t like it one bit. If it was her destiny to lead this wolf pack, did that mean she even had a say in the matter? Or was she doomed to live here, against her will, for the rest of her life?
Angry, she slapped the water, splashing herself on the face. She didn’t care.
She almost felt as if her wolf quest were not over, even over three years after it had begun. She longed to go home. She didn’t care if there was nobody to adopt her in Nome, nor that she could never show her face in public ever again. She just wanted to go home and be happy.
Back when she was young, she thought that finding a home would make her happy—that a home would make her feel complete. And yet, her life was not complete, without her family. She couldn’t even remember the last time she saw her mother or siblings, and she had long regretted never saying goodbye to them.
It had been three years since she had left the Alaska shoreline and arrived on this island. Three years since she had last seen her father, though she dreamed about him occasionally. In one dream, she saw him saving a dog from being killed by Saba—such a dream was unrealistic; Saba would never threaten anybody. In another dream, she saw Kodi’s job being threatened by an airplane, and her father saving the day. A more recent dream showed Tydye giving birth to pups.
I wonder what they’ve really done since I left?
The more she thought about it, the more she desired to leave. But she had led this pack of wolves—nearly doubling in size since she started—for over three years, and knew that she would continue to do so until she died. There was no way out of it….
She sighed. It is my destiny. She walked back to her sleeping quarters—a small patch of soft grass, surrounded by the strongest of the pack’s wolves, which served as her bodyguards—and lay back down.
To her relief, sleep arrived very soon afterwards.

Aleu jerked awake to the sound of howling wolves. She bolted to her feet and looked in the direction the howls came from.
Already, her four bodyguards were awake and surrounding her, standing in preparation for something to go amok. “What’s going on?” she asked.
The one directly beside her, Snape, responded first. “We first heard the howl about twenty minutes ago from that direction, but thought nothing of it. Then we heard it again ten minutes ago, but it was coming from over there.” He pointed in the exact opposite direction. “And now we’re hearing it from in front of us as well.”
Aleu’s mind was fully awake now, so it did not take long for her to think of an explanation. “Do you mean…?” She gulped, realizing there was only one possible reason for the howling.
“It means we’re surrounded,” another guard, Taku, confirmed solemnly. “And by the sounds of it, there are far more wolves than we can hope to fight.”
“Already ahead of you,” Aleu replied, stepping out of their circle. “We won’t fight.”
By now, the rest of the wolves in the pack were up and gathering around her. They whispered to each other, their voices betraying the terror within them. Most of the wolves were old, few worthy of a fight, but all unwilling to surrender. When they heard Aleu’s remark, they grew silent and stared at her, waiting for further words.
Aleu had them ready. “We will not fight them. We will wait for them to appear, and see how many there are. If there are less than us, we will offer them a place in our pack—as has happened many times in the past with some of you now among us.”
“And if there are more wolves than us?” someone asked.
Snape whispered in her ear. “And there are more wolves, Aleu. Just hearing the number of howls will tell you that.”
Aleu gulped, dreading the exact number of wolves they were now up against. “If there are more than us, then we will see what they wish to do with us. If we are able, we will simply move to a new location, or give them what they want.”
“What if they want to kill us?” another wolf asked.
“Then we run,” Aleu responded. Before she could add anything else, the wolf howl sounded again—far closer this time.
“Everyone, I have the word on what happens,” Aleu reminded them, before the entirety of the pack turned around to face the woods.
The woods completely surrounded the pack on all sides, except the small part where the stream flowed. They were densely packed, to the point where the approaching wolves could be on the very edge of the woods, on all sides, and they would remain hidden until they leapt out.
After a few tense seconds, however, a lone wolf emerged from the woods closest to Aleu. He was obviously large, strong, and young—something very few of the wolves from the pack could match. And since he was black, it was all they could do to make him out in the night.
“I’m seeking the leader of this pack,” the wolf called out, his approach steady and quick.
Another of Aleu’s bodyguards, Pyura, stepped forward. “I am the leader,” he called, obeying his previous orders from Aleu to act as decoy in such a case.
The black wolf approached all the quicker, finally coming to a full run. He stopped mere inches from Pyura, growls escaping his lips. “Do you think I am a fool?” Before Pyura could answer, the wolf bit down on his throat and threw him aside, an deadly action that took less than three seconds.
The pack, including Aleu, gasped at the action. Pyura was one of the best warriors in the entire pack, and in just three seconds he had been killed.
The wolf glared at the other wolves. “Do you think I am a fool?” he asked again, this time in a much lower voice. He started pacing among the wolves, eyeing them as he went. “The tales have spread to far-off lands, of the one who is wolf but does not know. The she-wolf who was once a dog—a dog who lived in a place no living wolf has seen—and abandoned it all to lead a pitiful pack. And now, for three years, she has led you, and I wish to see her.” He walked straight up to Aleu, looking into her eyes. He smiled. “And here she is.”
Unable to hide her identity, Aleu gulped and stood as tall as possible. “What do you want with me, and with my pack?” she asked.
The wolf, who seemed to like walking while talking, began to pace circles around Aleu, ignoring the warning growls from the three remaining bodyguards. “You had a home once, didn’t you, dog?” he asked in a quite voice, almost quiet enough to be a whisper. “I wish to know where that home is. I have an army—one so large, you cannot begin to imagine what it is capable of. I wish to find your home, and claim it for myself.”
Aleu froze, aware of how serious the threat was. “Why would you want to do that?” she asked.
The wolf stopped in front of her face. “That is not your business,” he snapped. “And if you value the safety of your pack, you will give me the location of your old home. Remember what I said about my army.”
Aleu glared at him. “My home,” she snorted, “is with my pack.”
The wolf remained silent for a few seconds, before nodding. “As you wish,” he whispered, before he raised his head and howled. Then he looked back at Aleu. “Then I will destroy this home, too.” 
Aleu quickly yelled to her pack, “Prepare for attack!” She was unable to get anything else out, for the black wolf was all over her in an instant.
She knew how to defend herself, but this wolf fought with such brute strength, she was barely able to keep her ground. The wolf bit at her, scratched her, threw his body against her—all at the same time. Soon Aleu began losing ground, being pushed farther and farther back.
She was barely aware of the