time to hunt, or what you call ‘eat lunch’.” She smiled at him. Demon had never eaten from a bowl or sat on a couch. He had never been pat on the head by a human or given a hot bath. He was completely wild. A real wolf, unlike her poor mother. If she remembered correctly, her mother wasn’t even a wolf. She had also been a mix, like her and her brothers. “Bred to be strong and smart.” She thought. Demon stretched and stood up. “P.K., when could you come with me to my pack? I want you to meet my family.” He watched her carefully as she closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “Demon,” she sighed “I don’t think I’ll ever get to. If I’m gone too long, my human will come looking for me, and when he finds you, he’ll be sure to kill you and your family.” Demon’s ears fell flat to his head, and he whined sadly. “Well, maybe…maybe if you…well…” “No.” Kate said “I don’t think I ever can.” He sighed, and sat down, his face toward the ground. It killed her to see him so sad. She ran up to him, and nuzzled him gently. He grinned slightly, and finally looked at her. “P.K.” he said sadly “I’m sorry I asked again.” She smiled at him and walked towards the base. When she looked up at the sky, the sun was not even close to the middle of the sky. She smiled, and turned back towards where she had left Demon. “Demon!” She yelled, just before he had begun to run home. “Demon! Why don’t you take me to your pack? I’m sure I have plenty of time to say hi and bye before I get in trouble. And if I do get in trouble, it’ll be worth it.” He ran about her happily when he heard her say those words, and without hesitation, he led her to his pack.

They ran for about 30 minutes before reaching a small clearing with a wolf pup den in the middle. There, huddled in a group around the den, where 3 wolves. Demon yipped to alarm them of his coming home. They turned to face him, but did not greet him. They had noticed P.K. Demon ran to them, with P.K. just a bit behind him. “Olive, Derumbe, Mocku! Look! This is P.K.! The wolf I have been telling you about!” They immediately smiled and stood to greet her. Derumbe and Mocku were both black and white, with similar markings and dark chocolate brown eyes, so they were obviously brothers. Olive, the only female other then P.K., was a light brown with cream on her muzzle and tail. Her eyes were a greenish brown. P.K. walked up to them and greeted them. After a short introduction, P.K. asked “So, which member of your pack is having pups?” They all looked down at the ground. “No one this year.” replied Mocku. “Our alpha male, Olive’s mate, was captured by some hunters. They didn’t kill him, but they took him away and…” He looked sadly at Olive, who turned to look at the opposite side of the forest to avoid having to look at them. “And we haven’t seen him since.” finished Derumbe. P.K’s ears went down. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” Demon glared at Derumbe and Mocku. “You guys could have just said that no one was having pups. You didn’t have to remind anyone of anything, or bring back memories.” Mocku looked at the ground in submission, but Derumbe glared right back. “No need to get hostile Demon.” Demon growled lightly, but said no more.  

“Bit of a rocky start, don’t you think?” P.K. said to Demon as they walked back to the spot where they had been resting earlier. “No.” Demon said. “It could have been worse. I think they like you a lot.” P.K. smiled, and looked at the sky. “Oh my goodness! It’s almost lunch! I better run home! I’ll see you tomorrow Demon!” Demon yipped a small goodbye while P.K. sprinted towards home. ‘Wow,’ she thought ‘Today was pretty good! Can’t wait to get home and train some rookies in army.’ She was almost home when she picked up the smell of burnt oil, metal and powder. She froze. Something was wrong. Something felt horribly wrong. She ran faster towards her base, and when she got there, she screamed. The entire base was in shambles, including her used to be home. She looked around at the rubble and trash in a state of shock. Bits of cloth and bodies of soldiers were on fire, and the smell of gun powder was heavy. She walked around the base slowly, and surveyed the scene. Many men she had known were dead, yet she was relieved that she had not found her brother’s bodies anywhere. One certain soldier caught her eye. She looked at him sadly, and walked over to his body. It was Jake, his uniform soaked in blood, his body covered with wounds. Blood rushed down his forehead and slowly trickled to the floor. She held her breath, and tried not to cry. Several bullets had pierced his chest. She turned away from the scene, and looked around again. Then, she looked near the house and screamed once more. There, among the rubble and fire, laid her general. His body was covered in cuts and bullet wounds, and blood left no spot uncovered. He was sprawled on the floor; a bit of his sleeve was barely catching fire.

P.K. turned away from him as her stomach began to roll into knots. It didn’t take long before she ended up throwing up on the floor. She walked away from the base, and lay in the grass, crying. Her home was ruined. Her family was dead. Her brothers were missing. “But…,” she said to herself “Who did this?” After thinking for a short bit, she immediately knew who it had been. The other army they had been preparing to fight. “The rebel army.” She said to herself. She then thought of a depressing thought. ‘What would have happened if I had been here? Why did I have to be gone! Why couldn’t I have been with the general! I could have protected him!’ she thought. “I’ll kill them.” She said to no one in particular. “I’ll kill them if it’s the last thing I’ll do! I swear to it!!” She stood up, and howled out in honor to her lost brothers of war, both human and siblings. She looked at the base once more, and looked around to see if anyone was alive. No one was. She walked away from the scene were she had grown up, and turned away from what had been. And as she walked away, she saw her brother’s smiling faces, her general’s loving face, and an image of the battle yet to come…