land.

“I’m just glad winter’s over,” Aleu replied, slowing herself a little so she could talk easily, “The snow and ice and everything is pretty, but after awhile they can’t cover up the bad weather, and the bad hunt. Hey, what happened to my training session this morning?”

“I figured you could use a break,” Linder said, “You’re turning into a pretty good leader, and I doubt in a few weeks you’ll even need the training. Besides, you had company.”

“Flint?” Aleu said, “He was just showing me the river. You could’ve interrupted us any time.”

“I could’ve?” Linder asked, raising her eyebrows, “I guess I’ll remember that for next time.”

“How do you know there’s even going to BE a next time?” Aleu said, getting a little annoyed, “…Wait. Was the whole pack watching us?” Linder didn’t need to say anything. It was all in her expression, and the eyebrows that rose even higher. Aleu angrily kicked a stone out of her path. “You’d think they’d learn to mind their own business…” she muttered to herself.

“You’re our leader,” Linder pointed out, “In a way, you are our business.”

Aleu was about to snap something back, but the almost overwhelming scent of many, many caribou reached her nose. She slowed down and slunk forward as she followed the scent, and her eyes shot up to see a huge herd of caribou filling a greening field.

Her blue eyes widened until they almost popped. “Holy…”

“This is our lucky day,” Linder murmured with a grin.

Aleu turned to signal the pack, but before anyone could move a golden-brown streak charged out of the pack and headed straight towards one of the sick caribou off to the side.

“What in the name of all that is mighty is he DOING?” Linder exclaimed.

“Blake!” Aleu cried, jumping out of her hiding place and running after him. The rest of the herd looked up, then started stampeding away into the spruce and alder trunks. Aleu could almost hear her pack split in half: one side went after the caribou, the other followed Aleu.

Blake had bitten deep into the sick caribou’s side and now was trying to get at its stomach. The beast moaned as Blake growled softly, then the small wolf slammed into his prey and sent it tipping slowly into the mud. Aleu leaped onto the huge animal to protect Blake, but Blake slit the caribou’s chest and quietly watched the blood flow steadily. Aleu pushed herself up and pulled Blake off his kill.

“Okay, I admit that was pretty amazing,” Aleu said to him, “But what were you thinking? That might as well have been a suicide attempt! Next time wait for the rest of the pack!”

“It’s my thank-you to you,” he said with a straight face, “You’ve worked to be a good pack leader despite everything. I just wanted to say thanks.”

Aleu didn’t know what to say. She flicked her tail around nervously for a few seconds, then finally came up with something. “Well, thank YOU. But next time, please don’t nearly kill yourself over me, okay?...You’re insane, you know that, Blake?”

He grinned slyly to himself. “Only when I have to be.”

Meanwhile the pack had been attacking the dead animal and pulling it back to their cave. Aleu hurried to catch up with them, and saw a white and rust-colored male wolf had taken the whole back end of the beast to carry by himself. She knew he meant it to seem effortless, but there were wrinkles of strain folding in around his eyes.

“Need a little help?” she asked.

He shook his head emphatically. “Nope, I’m-fine.”

“Okay…” she said, wondering why in the world all the males in the pack were acting so weird. ‘I’ll ask Linder,’ she thought, but she never got the chance until that night, when she asked Linder to talk privately after everyone else had gone to sleep.

“I just don’t understand it,” she groaned to Linder as they stood on the riverbank, “First it was Flint, then Blake, then every other guy throughout the day. What is going on? Why are they all showing off?”

“Aleu, you ever heard of spring being called the season of love?” Linder asked calmly.

“Um…” was Aleu’s reply.

“We’ve gone almost a year without an alpha male, and the males know in spring you’re bound to be more interested in them,” Linder explained serenely, “They’re just not in love with you; they’re in love with your power. They know when one of them becomes alpha, he can take over the pack and lead it, because he’ll have power over you.”

Aleu’s ears were flushing red in anger and embarrassment. “We’ve come this far without an alpha male. We don’t need one!”

“Yes, we do,” Linder said patiently, “Listen, Aleu. If you don’t choose the alpha male, we can’t continue the pack with pups. The pack’ll die out. But when you do choose a mate, he will have the power to ignore you and even take away your position as alpha female. You won’t be the leader anymore. But it’s either that, or no pups and the pack dies…I know this isn’t going to be easy.”

“The lousy, stuck-up, stinking idiots…” Aleu ranted under her breath.

“One of them will be saving the pack,” Linder pointed out, “I guess you think that one will be the darn biggest ‘idiot’ of them all?”

Aleu spun around. “Why don’t you just…shut up! I’m sick of everyone trying to tell me what to do and arguing with me! You’re supposed to help me, not…hassle me!”

“I’m not ‘supposed’ to be doing anything,” Linder said icily, “From the start I could’ve left you by your lonesome. Instead I’ve helped you ever since.”

“Well, maybe I don’t need any help anymore!” Aleu cried, “I know what I’m doing!”

“Yeah, just like you knew what to do about the males today,” Linder murmured sarcastically.

“I don’t need any comments from you, thanks!”

“Fine,” the female wolf whispered, “I’m ‘resigning’ this post. From now on, you’re on your own.”

“Fine by me,” Aleu hissed back, though regret for this argument was already beginning to creep up on her. Linder swung around and stalked off into the cave, the moonlight washing her fur in pale color so she looked like a ghost wolf until the dark consumed her.

Aleu flopped down on the riverbank in a huff, furious at herself and at Linder. The fury dissolved into sadness, though, when she realized what she had done. There would be no helpful advice or guardian watching over her now. Any mistake she made she would have to fix herself.

In her sadness a howl sprang from her throat, but it sounded so small and lonely that Aleu shivered and curled up smaller when she heard it echo back. She rested her head on her paws and peered up at the stars until she fell asleep.

A peach color pressed against the dark insides of Aleu’s eyelids. She shifted away from it, muttering, but it kept on coming, and Aleu forced her eyes open to be greeted by the sun rising. She rose sleepily, stretched, and watched the speckles of gold set in the river mud sparkle and flash as cascading light hit them. It was still a pretty sight, but her face grew solemn as she thought of Flint.

As if on cue, footsteps behind her made her stiffen and frown. “Hi.” Flint came to sit beside her and noticed the hating expression on her face. “What?”

Aleu glowered at him. “This is all part of your plan, right? You’re only sucking up to me so I’ll make you the alpha male. Well, that’s not gonna happen, pal! You betrayed your pack because of your leader’s breeding. Are you going to take her power away from her once you’re alpha so you won’t be embarrassed anymore?”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down!” Flint exclaimed. He stared at her with one eye nearly squinting shut. “You think I’m talking to you just so you’ll choose me for alpha?”

“Oh, no, never,” Aleu said with sarcastic venom, “This time of year just happens to be the time where there needs to be an alpha male and female to have pups! And yesterday you just HAPPENED to be up early and following me, and you just HAPPENED to remember to show off the scenery to me!”

“I think you’re taking this the wrong way…” Flint started, but Aleu interrupted him.

“I know pretty soon everyone’s going to be up to this game! But you know what? Maybe there won’t be any pups this year, because maybe I won’t pick an alpha male! I won’t have some puffed-up, pompous canine bossing me around!”

“The one reason I wouldn’t want to be your mate is because you won’t shut up!” Flint yelled.

Aleu was struck dumb with rage. Her chin shook as she glared up at Flint. He sighed and looked down at his front paws. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. But maybe if you listened for a second I could tell you that you’re wrong. I’m not trying to compete for alpha, because I already have a position in this pack that I’m happy with, and I don’t need a promotion. I was just trying to get to know you, Aleu; you’re a really