to Arial.

She had bite marks all over her body, and her legs were stumps, that ended about six inches from her shoulders. Her head was gone.

Aleu shivered and stepped back.

She couldn’t see the missing…. pieces anywhere.

Aleu backpedaled away from the horrible scene.

“What about the kids?” Aleu thought.

She turned… and saw the pieces.

All four of Arial’s legs were stacked up against each other, Teepee style, and on top was her head.

Arial’s eyes had been dug out of her head, after she died or before, Aleu couldn’t tell.

The black, empty eye sockets seemed to threaten to suck her into them, and Aleu back pedaled again, until she ran into the pup’s body.

She jumped, and looked down, then promptly threw up again.

When she finished, Aleu looked back up at the bodies before her, then she turned and ran out of the room.

It had been almost an hour since Dalchei ran off.

“I wonder what’s keeping him?” Dash thought. “Surely he’s not still running after that deer.”

Dash decided to go make sure he was alright.

He stood up and glanced around him, then he started walking through the woods.

Steele was watching Dash.

“I have a little surprise planned for you.” He thought. “I hope you like it.”

He had to suppress the urge to laugh, as he didn’t want the wolf to know where he was.

Steele was covered in blood.

The kill back at the cave had been messy, very messy, but that was okay.

Steele had set a new record for himself.

He’d kept the female wolf alive for forty-five minutes.

That had been fun.

He could still hear her, as she pleaded for her life.

“No, no please, PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!”

Steele laughed, he couldn’t help it.

Dash went through a couple of bushes, and exited out into a clearing.

Dalchei was standing across the clearing, facing away from him.

“Hmm,” Dash thought, “That’s strange…”

Dash walked over to his friend.

“Hey, Dalchei!” Dash yelled. “Dalchei, come on, this… this isn’t funny.”

Dalchei didn’t move.

Dash reached his side.

He smelled something terrible, but he didn’t know what it was.

“Hey Dalchei, come on, let’s get out of here.” Dash said, placing his paw on his friends shoulder.

Dalchei’s head slid off, and hit the ground.

Dash jumped back, as the rest of his friend fell to the ground…. in pieces.

“Oh my God!” Dash thought.

He started backing away, and backed into a bush, which tripped him.

He fell, and jumped up.

He looked at the pile of bloody….

He didn’t even know how to describe it.

Dash turned, and ran for the cave.

Chapter 12

Dash made the climb to his friend’s chambers.

“God,” he thought, “what was it June said, just come back? I’m sure she was joking, now…. now how am I going to tell her what I saw?”

He made it up to their chambers then, and walked inside.

June smiled, and walked over to him.

“Hi Dash!”

Dash just nodded, still in a bit of a shock from what he’d seen.

“June….” Dash started, but he stopped, unable to go on.

The smile on June’s face disappeared.

“What? What is it Dash?”

She looked around.

“And where’s Dalchei?”

“June… June I’m sorry.”

Dash looked at the ground and sighed.

“He’s…. he’s not coming home.”

June looked as if someone had just shot her; she stepped back a few times.

What…. what are you saying?” She asked, tears starting to roll out of her eyes, and down her muzzle.

She looked at the ground.

“You mean he’s….”

Dash nodded.

“Oh no,” she said, her voice barely understandable now, she was crying so hard.

Dash stepped up next to her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

“Oh no…….” she said over and over, as she sobbed.

Dash walked to his chambers in a daze.

He’d spent the last hour with June.

“Shasta’s probably worried sick,” Dash thought.

“Dash!” Shasta said, as he walked inside.

The look on his face must’ve betrayed his inner feelings, for her smile vanished.

“Dash? What’s… what’s wrong?”

“Everything…” Dash thought.

“Dalchei’s…”

Dash looked at the ground, then back up at Shasta, who looked worried now.

“… he’s dead.”

“Dalchei!?” Shasta said, “but… but how?”

Dash shook his head slowly.

“I… I don’t’ know, he was….”

Dash dissolved into tears then, as the horrific memory came back to him.

Shasta walked over to him, truly concerned now, because Dash was always so strong… he never cried, not like this.

“Dash,” Shasta said, “what’s wrong? What happened?”

“He was… was torn to pieces.” Dash said. “I… I think it was Steele.”

“And you were out there!” Shasta said, almost yelling.

Dash said nothing.

“What if I had gone after that deer? What if it was Dalchei telling Shasta, instead of me telling June… What if…….”

Many questions forced their way into his mind, but… he had none of the answers.

Dash looked over to where his kids were playing behind them, unaware of what had happened.

He realized then, as he watched them, how precious, and fragile life was.

“Would I have been ready?” Dash thought.

“Dash?”

Shasta’s voice brought him back to the present, back to reality.

There was a concerned look on her face.

“Are you alright?”

Dash shook his head, and then nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be….”

His voice broke.

“…I’ll be fine.”

Shasta just stared at him for a moment.

Dash sighed.

“I’m… I’m going to go sit with June for a little longer,” he said. “She’s…. she’s taking this really hard.”

Shasta nodded.

“Okay.”

Dash started to walk away, then he stopped and turned back to her.

“Shasta….”

He sighed again.

“I… I don’t want you to leave this cave, alright? Not until this is resolved.”

“But… but Dash, you know I’m supposed to go out with the pups tonight, their first hunt is tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t…”

He stopped.

“Actually… I do care, but… but I don’t want you to leave… them… well, I can’t control that.”

“You might not be able to control me either.” Shasta said, a bit of annoyance coming into her tone.

The look Dash gave her melted her heart.

“Please?”

Shasta sighed.

“Oh alright,” she said, “I… I won’t go, not if you don’t want me to.”

“Well I don’t.” Dash said.

It was silent for a few minutes.

“I.. I don’t know how long I’ll be with June, like I said, she’s taking…. this really hard.”

Shasta nodded.

“I’ll see you when I get back.”

He turned around, and started to walk away, but stopped as Shasta ran in front of him.

“Shasta?” Dash asked.

Shasta had tears in her eyes.

“Dash I… I love you.”

Dash smiled, for the first time since he’d found Dalchei.

“I love you too Shasta.” He said, then he walked out.

It was very late, and Dash was only now leaving June’s chambers.

She wanted him, had asked him to stay longer, but she needed to sleep, so Dash decided to leave.

He crept through the silent cave, not wanting to wake anyone up.

As he walked into his chambers, he noticed with some disappointment that Shasta was asleep.

He thought about waking her, very much wanting to talk to her… but then thought better of it.

“She needs her rest too…. And so do I.”

He realized for the first time that day that he was dead tired.

Dash looked around.

His children were all gone, having already left with Shadow for the hunt.

“I hope they’re safe,” Dash thought. “At least they’re with Shadow, he’s the best protection they could have.”

He lid down beside Shasta and promptly slipped into a deep sleep….

Chapter 13

Steele stood inside Balto and Jenna’s chambers.

He looked over to where Balto was sleeping.

“Aww,” he thought, “and why aren’t you next to Jenna? I certainly would be…”

He laughed quietly.

Steele shifted his gaze to Jenna.

“Who would have thought that something so simple as the death of your son would shatter you completely. Certainly not me. I thought you were stronger than that. You still surprise me Jenna.”
He thought of ho easy it would be, to take Balto out first, or at least wound him so he couldn’t get away, and then he’d set a new record with Jenna, and all Balto would be able to do is sit and watch.

“I bet I could break an hour with you.” Steele thought.