still don’t know who I really am yet, even though I’ve been an Alpha for over a month. She sighed again, very deeply this time.

A nudge against her shoulder made her almost jump into reality. “Aleu?” A feminine voice of one of her fellow wolves entered her ears. “Aleu, are you feeling okay?” 

She let out a groan as she began to sit up. “I’m fine; I just needed a bit of time to think things over.” She lifted her head up high and spoke up with a sudden tone of hope as she gave her orders. “Let’s have the matured wolves split up into teams of three. Kayli, you lead your team of two other wolves to the right edge of the woods. Deelya,” She turned to Kayli’s faded brown companion that stood beside her. “your team will go to the left. Once you’ve both completed searching, try looking together in the center as a group of six.” The two elder females nodded, understanding her request. “If you pick up any sign of Lorna, send someone back here to notify me.” The quarter-wolf then turned to the remaining wolves. “The rest of you will remain here to help me protect the young ones and the camp, in case Riza decides to attack here.”

After a few minutes of settling, Kayli’s team, which included the young rebel Rino and the slightly younger wolf Haku, set off on their way. Deelya chose the two young and matured she-wolves, Hika and Mita, and scampered towards the left side of the forest. Meanwhile, Scarlet got Aleu’s permission to put Nuk, Yak and Sumac on high alert for danger as they continued to stand watch on Dahlia’s den. Although now the Kawa Clan was ready for any sudden attack or change of weather, Aleu still felt insecure and worried as she remained with another elder she-wolf, Sheka, and her almost yearling quadruplets that Aleu had spoken to earlier. Two other wolves, two-year-olds named Terry and Jade, helped to stand guard of the camp on the other side of the reflecting pool near the forest’s edge as the young Alpha stood by, awaiting to hear hopeful news.

Hours and hours had passed before the teams returned. There was no luck – Scarlet had even led Kayli’s team for a while, following the scent trail that he had sensed earlier from her cavern, but to no avail. Although everyone was upset that Lorna couldn’t be found or traced in less than a day, Aleu had a feeling that it wasn’t time for giving up. 

“We can’t give up hope, everyone!” Aleu reassured her saddened Clan. “She’s a part of us – our Clan, the Kawa – and I believe that she’ll be fine once we find her safe and sound . . . and hopefully, soon.” She lowered her ears in slight regret. 

Maybe I should have done more to watch her last night once she and Scarlet returned from Dahlia’s, Aleu thought as the rest of the Clan began to feast on their dinner of rabbit and squirrel kill that the elders had caught while on the final hour of their search for Lorna. Her emotions overweighed the feelings of hunger that the young Alpha had in her stomach. If I had asked her to sleep with me and Scarlet, . . . maybe . . . maybe she wouldn’t have left us like she did. A few drops of tears dropped into the dead fur skin of her rabbit kill. But why would she leave me? Why would she leave Dahlia, especially now that she has a new litter of siblings for Lorna to help look after? Why would she leave the Kawa since she’s a loyal member of our Clan?

Oh, I just don’t understand . . . Aniu, why did this have to happen to us? What have we . . . no, what have I done to deserve this? As Alpha, I suppose I can truly the one responsible for Lorna’s sudden disappearance. 

It’s my fault . . . It’s all my fault!

Aleu didn’t eat a bit that evening. She couldn’t eat or speak to anyone that night as the moon began to rise into the navy sky.  

Day after day, the Kawa Clan continued to follow Lorna’s slowly fading scent, hoping that perhaps there was still a chance to find their fellow sister alive before the next blizzard hit. Day after day, the wolves continued to return to Aleu empty-handed, making her even more depressed and weak. In Aleu’s eyes, the very fact that she blamed Lorna being gone as her fault made her almost begin to lose her will to lead.

After a few days, Aleu continued to refuse any food and remained inside her cave alone, only descending the rocky caves to lap up water from the reflecting pool below. Scarlet and the yearlings tried to visit her whenever they could, trying to make her smile once again, but it was no use. Usually she was asleep or just lying down on the ground, looking out emotionlessly at her ever-trying Clan of wolves that continued to search for their missing friend. 

A week after the Kawa had begun their constant search for Lorna, everything began to change as Aleu began to fade into sleep, even in her now weakened state. Once she closed her now-faded blue eyes, she immediately felt her surroundings shift from the inside of her cave, safely sheltered from the beginnings of a chilly mid-winter snowstorm, to a darker, cooler cave . . . a cave that she started to recognize after beginning to rise from the ground.

The rocks around her that formed the walls and ceilings of the cavern were a cool gray with random jags and cracks. Above her, a series of stalactites began to drip water onto the ground below; sometimes, the drops splashed onto the mousy-brown and gray quarter-wolf, from her nose to the fuzzy tip of her two-toned tail. Behind her was the soft rays of moonlight, although they felt brighter than she had last remembered as she felt a stray ray of lunar light glide against her coat. The gentle stroke of that light made her mouth widen; for the first time in about a week, Aleu was beginning to smile again. 

Suddenly, her dark sepia ears began to twitch forward as a faint voice coming from deeper within the cavern.

“. . . Listen, listen . . . can't you hear the wind calling you . . .” 

“Huh?” Aleu muttered under her breath. That voice . . . She began to think to herself. It sounds like someone I’ve met before . . . She continued to walk slowly towards the sound that continued to echo against the walls of cave.

“. . . Listen, listen . . . The spirits' melody is singing its tune . . .” 

Onward and onward the female Alpha treaded deeper into the cave while the vocals grew louder and louder. A dim white light was beginning to glow from in front of the quarter-wolf as she kept walking forward on the rocky cavern floor.

“. . . Fates and destiny intertwine . . . with the plans of the grand design . . .” 

Could it be . . . Aleu’s pace quickened as she switched from walk to canter, hurrying her way to the source of the light, hoping that she would be reunited with her spiritual companion. She had last seen him when she spoke her commitment to the Kawa Clan by becoming their Alpha, and she had waited for over a month to see the tiny spirit again.

“. . . Don’t try to change its course winding . . .”  

She sped up even faster, changing from cantering to a leaping run. It has to be him . . . It just has to be! Aleu’s mouth was now a hopeful grin as she avoided the tiny pebbles below her and the dripping water from the ceiling’s stalactites.

“. . . Just go with the flow and keep on striving . . .” 

The song remained dominant as she carefully placed one beige-tan paw after another into the brightly-lit core of the grotto where the tiny singer completed its song as she trotted towards the source of the brightness – a stone table covered in standing and tilted crystal prisms of various sizes and colors.

“. . . Listen, listen . . . Trust your heart and believe in you . . . Listen, listen . . . You have all the faith to guide you through . . .” 

The small creature was a brown field mouse, one with a high-pitched voice that carried quite a perfect pitch and note. The rodent suddenly burst into a soft but quickly loudening howl, just like a young wolf’s.

“Aaa-wwwwooooo . . .” Aleu melodiously followed his wail with her own, just like he had done in their primary meeting. They repeated their howling cries once more; this time, Aleu sung with a full smile on her face, happy to be in the presence of her spirit guide again. 

”Your singing is still music to my ears,” the rodent interrupted her last note with his comment.

“Oh,” Aleu lowered her ears and tilted her head to the side shyly. “Thank you. I’ve been practicing a lot lately.” 

“I see,” The small creature acknowledged the quarter-wolf’s presence without even turned towards her. “Wolves love to sing, no matter what occasion it may be – a successful hunt, the birth of new life, the loss of an old friend – and yet it always sounds beautiful with each carrying note.” He only continued to move and position his prisms ever so slightly as he spoke. “So, you’re finally ready to accept your quest, my young wolf friend?”

“Huh . . . huh, what?” Aleu slowly spoke up then did a sudden double-take. “What do you mean ‘accept my quest,’ Muru?” She leaned her head up to the stack of crystals until her large nose touched his tiny one. “Didn’t I do that already? You were there on the iceberg, remember?” 

The mouse let out a tiny chuckle. “Oh, I remember that,” Muru laughed again. “That was your acknowledgment of your duties in your quest, but I wonder . . . did you mean it . . . I mean, truly understand it with all of your heart?”

Aleu gasped in disbelief. “Of course!” She took a quick step backwards as she raised her voice. “You know I meant every word I said to the Clan – my Clan!” 

“So . . .” Muru halted his work and glared at the quarter-wolf. “Why are you feeling so weak right now, Aleu?” A thin coating of misty fog filled the interior of the cave, lining the crystals and the yearling for a moment. Suddenly, Muru’s high voice slowly morphed into a low, feminine tone.

“Why did you lose hope so quickly,