Kalil walked off the body of the viscious wolf that attacked him and looked around. Najan was nowhere to be found and Kalil began to get very worried. "Najan?!?!" he cried out in worry and a rustling was heard in a nearby bush. Slowly, a small grey pup stepped out and looked at him. "Is it safe now Kalil?" Kalil ran over and nuzzled his brother happily. "Yes, it's over now..." Najan saw the dead wolf and pointed to him. "Is... is he-" "Yeah," Kalil cut in and started pushing him off, "Come on, let's find a cave or something we can rest in, away from danger." It took them all of ten minutes to find an empty cave and get settled in. "Goodnight big brother..." Najan said sleepily. "Goodnight Najan..." Kalil whispered and smiled as he heard a light snoring. Kalil rested his head, his shoulder hurting and stinging like crazy, but managed to fall asleep.

Chapter 6: Threats Lurk In The Darkness

Kalil groaned as he fell face-first into the dirt again. Come on! This is my fourth fall today! he thought as he struggled to his feet, a razor sharp pain running through his shoulder where he'd been bitten the night before by the wolf he'd killed. Najan ran up and looked at Kalil, his facial expression one of worry. "Kalil, you've hurt yourself," he said, "You need to rest a bit." Kalil laughed and started walking again. "Nonsense!" he said back, keeping his spirits high, "It's just a cut, it's not hindering me in anyway. Besides, it's noon already! We'll rest when nightfalls. I'll make it until then!" The next thing Kalil knew, he was on the ground again, Najan standing right in front of his face. "No you're not," Najan said in a matter-of-factly voice, "You're hurt. You keep falling." Kalil got to his feet again and did his best to ignore the pain in his leg and shoulder. "I'm fine," he grunted as he stood and kept on walking, limping slightly. Another ten feet and Kalil was down again. "Alright, you win," said a defeated Kalil, "I'll rest... but only for a bit. Then we keep moving."

Back home, Niran was sitting in their den, still overcome with unbearable grief for the loss of his sons. "Kalil... Najan..." he whispered, tears in his eyes, "I never should have let you go there. It's my fault..." The Beta walked into the den, Tychon right behind him. He took one look at Niran and sighed, looking back at Tychon. "He's here. I'm not sure why he summoned you, but he said it was dire," the Beta explained and bowed before walking out. Tychon took three steps forward and stopped. "Dad, you wanted to see me?" he asked. Niran quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up, walking until he stood a foot away from Tychon. "Tychon, son," he started and took a deep breath, "Now that Kalil is... no longer with us... by natural law, you are the next eldest born, therefore, you will take my place as Alpha when I'm gone. Do you understand? This is a big responsibility, but now it falls from Kalil to you..." Tychon almost cried out in joy. His plan went perfectly. "Yes Dad," he said solemnly, "I gratefully accept. I'm only sorry that it falls to be because of Kalil's passing... I wish he were still here..." Almost as much as I wish I was dead, Tychon thought bitterly and hung his head in fake sorrow. Niran placed his paw on Tychon's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do fine," Niran said and walked out. Tychon waited a few minutes before letting a huge grin spread onto his face. "Yessss!" he cried out in happiness and lay on his back, laughing a laugh both gleeful and evil as the last part of his diabolic plan fell neatly into place.

By the time the pain in Kalil's shoulder had subsided, it was already dusk and was growing darker by the minute. "Kalil," Najan said to him as they walked along, "I'm tired, and it's almost night." "I know," Kalil replied, looking around, "I've been trying to find shelter for the past half hour, but I haven't seen any, and after last night, I'd prefer not sleeping out in the open..." They carried on searching until it was almost completely black out. Kalil growled in frustration as it became harder and harder to see in front of him. Jeez, it's getting to be a real pain going home! he thought and stopped in a clearing, trying to find a place, anyplace, to rest for the night. Kalil heaved a sigh and looked down at Najan. "It looks like we're a little lost..." he said. "Lost, eh?" a voice said from the darkness and Kalil's glance snapped left and right, trying to find the speaker.

From the darkness stepped a grey wolf, smiling wickedly at them. "You took a wrong turn somewhere?" he asked in a sarcastic tone. Kalil put his guard on high alert as he eyed the wolf. "Najan, get back," Kalil commanded and Najan hid under his brother's strong frame, "Who are you?" "We..." said another voice as another wolf stepped into view, "Are the owners of this territory." Kalil looked from the one to the other as they circled him. "Stay back..." Kalil said angrily and heard a laugh in front on him. A third wolf stepped out if the shadows, his eyes a deep red as he scanned Kalil. "You're in no position to be making demands young one," he said and took a few steps forward, "You're in Bloodpelt territory, and you're talking to their Beta right now." Kalil stared at the Bloodpelt Beta and the other two wolves. Great, he thought, This is bad...

"Look, we don't want any trouble," Kalil told them, "We're just passing through. Show us your borders and we'll gladly leave." "Leave?" the Beta snapped back, "Oh no. You won't be leaving this place... alive." The other wolves snickered and Kalil knew that fighting was inevitable. "Any last words, stranger?" the Beta asked and smirked at him. "Yeah," Kalil said, and crouched down, "Goodbye." As soon as he spoke, Kalil lunged forward past the circling wolves and pinned the Beta. The two that had circled him had fortunately forgotten about Najan and ran toward Kalil. Kalil slashed the Beta's face before one of them tackled him to the ground. Kalil rolled to his feet and grabbed a wolf by his neck, pulling him to the ground and placing his jaws firmly around his attacker's neck, twisting until he heard a sickening crack. He dropped the body and was hit by one of the two remaining Bloodpelts, rolling until he hit a tree.

Kalil groaned annd stood up, opening his eyes to see the Beta making a fatal attempt at his neck. Kalil dodged just in time and hit the Beta with his paw and turned to the other wolf. The wolf leapt forward and pinned Kalil to the ground, attempting to bite Kalil's neck, bit missed in the increasing darkness and bit his already hurt shoulder. Kalil shouted out in pain as the wolf bit his wound and bit into the wolf's shoulder in return. The wolf howled in pain and got off of him, allowing Kalil to pin him. Kalil could hardly see hit target as he bit down randomly, hearing the wolf scream in pain and knew he'd gotten his throat. Kalil pulled back and ripped out the wolf's throat just as he was kocked down again. The Beta, he thought as he struggled to his feet again.

"You lucky b*****d!" he spat at Kalil, "You may have killed my comrades, but you'll die to Aran of the Bloodpelt Pack!" The wolf, who Kalil knew as Aran, bit his good shoulder and pulled him to the ground. He placed his paw on Kalil's chest and slowly dragged his claws across, cutting into him. Kalil struggled to get away, but found it nearly impossible. I'm gonna die, he thought as Aran hit his muzzle with his paw, sending him across the bloodstained ground, I'm gonna die. I let Najan down... Kalil's mind shifted to Najan and to the promise he'd made Najan a month ago, before any of this had happened. "I won't let anything happen to you Najan. You have my word." With renewed vigor, Kalil spun around and hit Aran in the muzzle, sending him backwards into a rock. Kalil ran up and bit into his front paws, then tossed him to the dirt. He leapt atop the bloodied Beta and bit into his back and grabbed his neck, tossing him into a tree.

No, that's impossible! Aran thought as Kalil bit into his front paws and tossed him to the ground, biting into his back. Aran screamed as he felt a white-hot pain sear his back. Suddenly, he felt himself being tossed and smack into something hard; a tree. That's imossible... I had him... Aran's world started to go black, blacker than it already was. That's impossible... Kalil walked up to Aran and saw his chest heaving, but he wasn't moving. "Sleep tight, you b*****d..." he said and spat out some blood onto the ground. He walked over to Najan, who was still quiverring with fear in the same spot he'd been and picked him up, placing him on top of his back. Without another word, Kalil walked on through the night, following the North Star, his compass home, as Najan drifted off to sleep on his back.

Chapter 7: An Emotion Never Felt Before

"Kalil, you gotta rest! You've been walking all night!" Najan argued as the sun finished rising in the East. Kalil grunted and shook his head. "After what happened last night Najan, I'm not stopping until..." he started and drifted off, collapsing to the ground, battling to stay awake. Najan ran up to his face and put his small paws on Kalil's muzzle, looking at him in the eyes. "Big bro,