“Did you have another dream from Aniu that’s bothering you?”

Aleu nodded her head. “It wasn’t just another ordinary dream this time . . .” She glanced at the symbol of the butterfly and sighed. “I learned about many things . . . things that make me worry about my own ability to set things right for the Clan . . . and something about me that you wouldn’t believe even if I told you.” 

Scarlet smiled sweetly at the quarter-wolf. “Try me. You know I can stand anything you tell me.”

“Okay . . .” Aleu replied in a hesitative tone as she leaned her lips closer towards Scarlet’s red velvet ear, murmuring her secret. 

“Wha – Are you for real, Aleu?” Scarlet’s eyes were wide after he heard her secret. “Aniu . . . the Great Aniu . . . is your grandmother?”

Aleu nodded. “Aniu told me herself in my dream, and I trust that you will swear this to secrecy.”  

“I will,” Scarlet swore, nodding his head and holding up one of his front paws. “You can trust me with anything.”

The light-brown female, knowing that she definitely had Scarlet’s trust, continued on with her recollection that her spirit guide had told her. “Years ago, she was reborn on Earth as a white wolf with special powers, but no one, not even her, knew that she was actually the Great Spirit. At a few years old, she broke the sacred taboo of wolves and dogs by laying with a husky, my grandfather, and after being exiled from her home Clan, she gave birth to three half-breed pups – one of them being my father. He never told me that she was his mother, especially since they were separated when he was a pup and she and her husky mate were killed while saving him and his siblings.” She paused for a moment, catching her breath. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think he knows that Aniu’s his mother either.” 

“Oh, I see,” Scarlet understood. “He didn’t seem like a wolf at all, although he clearly looked like one. When I talked to him, he seemed more like a dog, but he clearly had a lot of love for his daughter.” He let out a slight sigh. “I guess I’m a lot like him, Aleu. I can understand what it’s like to not have a mother around . . . just like he has.” 

Of course, Aleu thought to herself. His mother and sisters were stolen when he was very young during the Clan raids. Scarlet only had Nava to take care of him after that . . .But after seeing the look of sorrow on the mud-red lupine’s face, the yearling Alpha decided to change the subject.

“But I heard another prophecy in my dream . . .” Aleu began to speak, instantly getting Scarlet’s attention again. “One that deals with me and my quest to figure out my destiny.” He nodded, allowing her to speak the chant that Muru had told her to remember. “’Belief is the key . . . When all believe in the light, only then you will find the path to what you seek . . .’ I don’t understand what it means, Scarlet.” She looked at him, hoping he could help. “Do you know what it could mean?” When the dark red wolf shook his head sadly, the Alpha sighed deeply and loudly out of frustration. “Okay, thanks anyway. Oh, I don’t think I’ll ever get this.” She sighed again. “For someone that receives these visions and prophecies, I must be pretty slow, huh?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” Scarlet nuzzled her affectionately. “You’re young, confused, and only part wolf, but you are still a great leader so far. Your strength and your determination to be an Alpha to the best of your own ability is what helps you grow. Perhaps your abilities take time to grow, so that in time you will understand what is being sent to you.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek with his tongue. “Your grandmother couldn’t have made a better choice . . . because no one else here could do a better job at leading than you could, Aleu.”

The mousy-brown yearling was taken aback, both shocked and touched by Scarlet’s words. “But . . . but everyone respects you more than I do! You’re a purebred wolf, unlike me – a tame-born . . .” She let out a shutter when she spoke the hurtful comment about herself. “How can I lead everyone to the caribou when we’ve found no trace of them? I wouldn’t be surprised if others begin to follow Riza’s example and leave the Clan because of me . . .” Aleu began to shed a few tears as she lowered her head in defeat. 

“Stop thinking negative!” Scarlet almost screamed out, but his voice was still quiet enough to keep the Clan asleep. “You are strong, stronger than you think you are. I know that all of these events are causing you to lose faith in yourself, but you can get through this! You used to be vibrant and filled with energy – what happened to the Aleu that I –” He was about to finish his sentence by saying ‘the Aleu that I fell in love with,’ but something inside his mind made him stop before going that far. He wasn’t even sure if she loved him in return, but his words somehow caused the yearling to lift her head up from her sudden slump. “I still have faith in you, Aleu,” he continued calmly, his voice shining like a ray of hope. “You know since the moment you arrived and stated who you were, I’ve always believed you could do what was right. Sure there’s been some tough times and we’ve all done some things that we wish we hadn’t, but we’ve survived . . . because of you.” Aleu’s blue eyes suddenly lit up a shade of shining gold, unknown to the speaking lupine; images of the difficulties of the Clan’s past and the recent events of the fighting and rebellion flew through Aleu’s mind, each vividly backing up everything she had learned. “Perhaps Aniu sent you here not just because Nava’s prophecy asked for ‘the one who is wolf and does not know’, but because these problems that have happened since your arrival can’t be resolved by wolves alone; I have a feeling that they can only be set right by someone like you – one that is both husky and wolf.”

Aleu took a moment to reflect on Scarlet’s words. Clearly he inherited his father’s wisdom, she thought. But . . . maybe he’s right. Why else would I have been given this knowledge about everyone’s past and the history of my father and Aniu unless . . . unless I’m meant to know it to change the future of the Kawa Clan? 

She turned the red wolf with her mouth slightly open, her eyes had returned back to their normal blue and yellow hues. The Clan raids of a few years ago . . . Dahlia’s secret about the birth of Niju . . . the prophecy of the ‘Dark Child of Destiny’ and how its arrival could lead to the destruction of our world . . . Scarlet’s memories of Nava’s internal conflicts with losing his Clan to the raids . . . Lorna’s disappearance as well as the missing caribou herd . . . There are so many things that have happened to the Kawa, and yet my arrival as Alpha only seemed to strengthen the severity of these events . . .

But I guess it really is up to me to set things back to the way it was . . .  

She didn’t respond to the wolf with words; she only laid her head against Scarlet’s neck and sighed, but her young face was with a slight smile. Aleu knew that her decisions would save the Clan that she had now called her family.

Aniu chose me to accept this destiny . . . and now I have to figure out how to do it . . . and soon . . . 

(Part FOUR – completed 8/3/07)

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