yellow eyes. The wolf stared at Aleu in sudden amazement for a moment, then smiled and gulped harshly. “I was scared you weren’t going to make it…You are alright, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Aleu assured, ignoring her stiff limbs and aching head, “Are you?”

“The truth? I don’t know,” Linder said, “All I know is it’s good to see you up and moving again.” Aleu hadn’t known how much she meant to Linder until now. They had been good friends, but this felt more like a mother-daughter relationship, closer, yet separate. It made Aleu twist inside.

Aleu’s head jerked up as she thought of a question she knew she had to ask Linder. The inquiry would be cruel, but it would give a snap of reality to the weird world Aleu had woken up to. “Where’s Senna?”

Linder’s white ears drooped, and her black nose twitched. “Over there,” she said stonily, gesturing to the back of the cave with her head.

Aleu padded quietly into the darkest of darks while being greeted from all sides by nods and acknowledgements: “It’s Aleu.” “Well, look who’s up and about!” “See, didn’t I tell you? Aleu didn’t die. You owe me three bones. Pay up.”

A lump of ragged fur and skin shook silently on the floor at the back of the cave. Aleu slipped over and stood above the lump, which was Senna. The former leader didn’t give her any acknowledgement as her yellow eyes stared off into space, but Aleu was too busy examining Senna’s wounded body to speak.

Senna’s light brown fur was shredded and torn, along with skin that had opened and poured out blood. There was a long, crooked dried gash on her side and her legs and face were raked with dry crimson. Aleu could hardly believe Linder had turned such a headstrong, stubborn leader into this weak, sniveling pile of flesh and bones.

“Didn’t know you had such loyal friends, did you?” Senna said quietly, her voice quivering slightly as her body trembled. Aleu expected a spurt of anger to burst up. After all, this wolf had tried to kill her! But even as small coals of rage heated up inside her, shock and pain for Senna’s weakness splashed cold water on them. “No one would’ve killed for me when I was leader,” Senna muttered, “So I guess you’re in charge now. Feel free to do what you want with me. I’m just going to die here anyway.” Aleu noticed there was a small pile of food lying near Senna’s muzzle, but she hadn’t eaten any of it. Maybe Senna really wanted to die.

“Senna,” Aleu began tentatively, “Don’t be like that! You don’t have to die. We can find a place in the pack for you…as long as you don’t try to kill me again…”

The light brown wolf’s yellow eyes flicked up to catch Aleu’s gaze. “Before you came, my life had a point. I led this pack. Now look at me…I won’t be of any help, and I don’t suppose I’ll ever be trusted again.” She closed her eyes.

Aleu sighed and scraped her claws down the hard floor. Senna had a point, but Aleu didn’t want to see another dead body again…Especially since she had almost been one…

Aleu gasped as the pale light from outside flashed on something in the stone of the cave, making it glitter. She cocked her head for a moment as the glimmer disappeared, then crossed over to the other side of the cave, searching curiously.

Milk-white snow waved and parted to send slices of mellow light in to cause the glittering once more. Aleu spotted the rock that was bouncing colorful spangles against the wall, and thrashed it with her paw.

A beam of rainbow shot out to splash the cave walls with rich hues. Heads whipped around in astonishment, sleeping wolves woke up in confusion and amazement, and even Senna slowly lifted her head and raised her eyebrows at the wondrous display.

Aleu frantically dug away at the rock, and after a few minutes of hard work she revealed a large band of crystals, though it was slightly smaller than Muru’s. The other wolves stared breathlessly, entranced, as Aleu tilted one of the crystals very slightly.

A shaft of blood red sprang from one crystal into another. The second crystal produced a ripe orange that sank deep into the next crystal, and out sang a stripe of deep green. Aleu smiled as the colors twisted through the crystals, one by one shooting out golden yellow, night-sky blue, rich magenta. The finale was a woven web of rainbow, and the beauty flew up onto the drab gray walls to touch the faces and hearts of the wolves.

Aleu looked up to see Senna’s hard face gazing at the colored crystals. She thought she was going to see stoniness or scorn, but out of nowhere a radiant smile shone on Senna’s face, washing away sorrow and age. Senna’s yellow eyes filled with the image of the lighted cave…and then she slumped forward, the glowing smile falling from her face. Aleu uttered a harsh cry, and the rainbow of crystals paled slightly as the snow blowing outside became momentarily thicker. Whether from starvation or grief, wounds or hopelessness…Senna was dead.

Spring

After many long weeks of nearly-fruitless hunting and bleak weather, no sound had ever sounded the most lovely to Aleu as the squelch of mud beneath her paws as she stepped into the weak sunlight one morning. She glanced down and watched her white paws shift in the loose earth, then gazed around at the new sprigs of grass growing fresher and greener that what had grown around her first pack cave near the sea. She breathed in the cleansed air and said aloud to herself, “This is more like it.”

There was a soft, understanding chuckle behind her. “I know what you mean.”

She whirled around. “Flint! If you’re going to sneak up on me, at least let me know so I can get some fun out of it too!”

“I wasn’t sneaking up,” he said, coming to sit beside her, “I was just watching you.”

“And why would you be watching me?” Aleu said without thinking. She realized too late how weird that sounded, and looked over at Flint, who was fidgeting uncomfortably. She felt a little embarrassed, too. “Sorry. That came out wrong. I guess I am up a little early, huh? Is that why you were following me?”

“Well, I can see why you couldn’t resist getting up early,” he said, watching the horizon glow a faint orange, “Spring is here.”

They both gazed at the rumbling river before them as its foam spun into diamonds and its water glinted the color of melted sapphires.

“Ever wondered why the river is called the Golden River?” Flint asked suddenly.

Aleu tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. “Well…no, but-”

“C’mon, I’ll show you,” he said eagerly, and sprang away so Aleu had to sprint to keep up with him. He led her to the edge of the river and stared intently at the water, motioning for her to follow his lead. She stepped cautiously towards him, shaking scenes of battle from her head.

“What are you…doing?”

“You’ll see,” he told her, “Now, look into the water.” With an unsure sideways glance at him, Aleu peered down into the depths.

The sun rose in a fanfare of flaming colors that lit the water like fire. The light rolled over the waves, and as it passed, flashes of gold appeared, peppering the sides and bottom of the river. Aleu stared down, speechless, then said, “Is that real gold?”

“I’m pretty sure it is,” Flint replied, touching a paw to the water and sending ripples out to meet the sun, “It’s a fantastic sight, isn’t it?”

“It’s beautiful,” Aleu agreed, dipping her paw into the cold water and sending out her own series of ripples. Flint smiled softly at her, and she found herself grinning back as something sparked inside her, something warm, dizzying, and above all, something new…

“Hey, Aleu!”

She whipped around to see a golden-brown wolf standing at the top of the riverbank and looking down at her. “Hi, Blake!” she called, “What’s up?”

“Are you going to lead the hunt this morning?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Aleu said, knowing she needed to get out and enjoy the good weather, “Why?”

“Would you mind if I joined you?” Blake asked.

Aleu paused before answering that one. Blake was one of the two omega wolves they had now. If she let him join the hunting party, which had doubled in size ever since the Golden River battle, he might get pushed around by the other wolves because he was so small. “Um, sure,” she told him, “Are you sure you’ll be okay with all the other wolves?”

“No,” he replied, “But I feel like I should see how good or bad at hunting I really am.”

“Is anyone else awake yet?” she yelled to him.

Blake backed up, looked over his shoulder, then returned to the ledge. “I think you should hurry. Nearly everybody’s standing around waiting for you.”

“Oh,” she said, “Oops.” She pulled herself up the sagging mud with Flint right on her tail and emerged at the top, kicking wet earth off her paws. “Sorry I’m late, everybody. C’mon, let’s go!”

“Someone’s perky this morning,” Linder commented, catching up to Aleu at the front as the pack ran swiftly across the