passed before everyone except Aleu was accounted for. Nava gathered Balto and several warriors, hoping to make some sort of plan.

It took about an hour of the same pace for the group to reach Niju’s pack. Aleu realized that Niju was smart; keeping the rest of the pack a far distance away would make them far harder to find. When they finally did reach it, Aleu looked around, mortified again by the condition of the ordinary wolves in the pack. Niju offered Aleu a place to lie down on the edge of a circle of dirt-covered ground, and she accepted it. “It shall only be a short time,” Niju said, “until the evening meal. I would recommend that you stay here until then. I would also advise you to cooperate with me. Since there is no hope of your rescue, I have no worries about harming you in some way, so do make the mistake of thinking you are so valuable as to be out of danger of pain.” He walked off and spoke with a few of his warriors, and Aleu stayed there as Niju had suggested. A few wolves from the pack spoke to her, albeit tentatively. It was a small glimmer of happiness for Aleu to be able to talk with someone in relative comfort. She didn’t inquire as to how any of their lives were, assuming that Niju would become angry with them if they complained. Before long, wolves began congregating there and lying down, waiting for the hunters to bring around the meat. Aleu expected that the ordinary members of the pack would eat separately, but she was wrong; the whole pack gathered in the same place. Niju and the warriors were served first, followed by the rest, although he ordered them to serve Aleu along with him. She was being forced to lie at his side. He hadn’t made any advances on her or even given a look to suggest it, something that surprised her greatly, considering the look he had given her when he first saw her. He did, however, vehemently reprimand anyone else that tried to do so. “Maybe he just kidnapped me for pride,” she thought. As she ate, she tried not to listen to the conversation Niju was having with some of the warriors, something about an idea of butchering a small pack. A commotion started at the other end of the circle the wolves were gathered in, and Aleu looked to see what was happening. A puppy had been making a great deal of noise, speaking loudly and bouncing around, and his mother was desperately trying to make him stop, terrible fear in her face. “What’s wrong with her?” Aleu thought. Niju looked away from his conversation and his meal, giving the puppy an annoyed look. “I like to eat without that sort of noise,” he said slowly. “Be quiet.” Aleu was unnerved by his voice, but it was nothing in comparison to the puppy’s mother. She seemed to nearly be panicking, and she begged the puppy to be quiet as Niju went back to speaking. After a few moments, the defiant child shouted again. Niju stopped talking and turned his head slowly toward the puppy, spitting the meat out of his mouth. Chills ran down Aleu’s spine at seeing the look on his face, a frightening amalgam of anger and cold. He stood up, and the rest of the pack silenced, causing the puppy to look at him. Crossing the circle with purposeful, patient steps, he stood in front of the child, a slight smile on his face. “Well, little boy, you seem to have some sort of problem. There is something you need to…understand.” He spoke in a slightly hushed voice, deliberately condescending, but with a horrid, icy undertone. The mother held the puppy. “Oh, please,” she whispered. “Niju, I beg you, please, no…” “Not one more word out of your mouth,” he growled, and she quieted, tears running down her cheeks as she stifled sobs. He continued speaking calmly to the puppy. “When I eat, I like there to be no noise aside from the conversation. You were making noise, and I told you not to, but you continued. That annoys me.” He leaned down toward the puppy. “And what you must understand is that in a wolf pack, it is not always such a terrible thing to annoy the elder…” His voice built to a furious growl. “But it is when it is I!”

He lunged forward and clamped the puppy’s paw in his mouth, and the boy yelled as Niju’s teeth pierced him. Niju growled, twisting his head slightly, and the puppy screamed. Aleu watched in horror as Niju ripped one of the child’s toes off. He dragged the puppy across the ground with one paw, stopping right in front of his face. “NOW BE QUIET!” he roared. The puppy was crying and nearly screaming, but he was able to reduce his noises to agonized whimpers and nodded. Niju smiled after a few seconds. “Alright. Back to the meal, everyone.” He returned to his place and lay down as Aleu stared at the puppy. “Mama!” he cried softly. “Mama!” Blood was all over him, and now all over his mother, who was holding him and licking his paw, crying hard. He was sobbing with pain, but Niju acted as if nothing at all was wrong. Aleu was trying not to vomit. She now knew where the strange mutilations had come from. “Why…why did you do that?” she whispered. Niju looked at her, totally placid. “I handle the discipline sometimes.” “You tore…his toe off.” Niju shrugged, speaking matter-of-factly. “He annoyed me.” “But…did you need to be so harsh?” “Yes. I just taught that puppy a valuable lesson in obedience. The consequence he suffered is permanent; he shall remember it forever. Come now, do not be so mortified. Enjoy the meat; it is good.” Aleu was able to eat something when she didn’t look at the puppy, who finally stopped bleeding. His mother took him away from the circle, for which Aleu was grateful. After dinner was over, Aleu wandered about the pack, making a point of avoiding Niju’s warriors. Too disturbed by the condition of most of the pack to speak to them, she quickly became bored. Not knowing what else to do, she decided to find Niju, who had disappeared after the dinner. She wandered around the edges of the pack’s resting area until she heard noises coming from a large depression in the ground. She went to it and looked in. Niju was standing inside, seeming to be battling invisible foes all around him. He spoke in wolf language as he moved about. “Camyar skytola…” Niju whirled and bit at the air, turning to his right after he finished. Aleu watched him, curious. “Azelaa miinsha tronhe…” He spun around, bit the air, then spun back and bit again. He stopped when he saw Aleu. “Mido-gor freyam os preiska.” “What are you doing?” Aleu asked. “I am practicing the combat arts of the ancient Shirae wolf pack. They were not evil, but they were universally feared for their fighting skills. Their arts teach you to train your mind and body for battle. The words are for the mind. They emotionally influence you as you fight, like the way elders can influence the emotions of others.” He sat down, resting.

“Have you ever heard of a wolf named Shadow?” Niju asked. Aleu shook her head. Niju nodded, continuing. “That is not surprising, if you are not a wolf. Shadow was a wolf who lived a very long time ago. Some say he was the most evil wolf in history. He learned the Shirae combat arts well. Very well. Eventually, he was all but invincible in battle, and he amassed a pack of his own, prowling the tundra and seeking out other packs. It always proceeded the same way. He would come and steal food, allowing his pack to rest, killing if he had to, but before they left…he would go through the pack alone.” “Why?” “Shadow had one thing in the entire world he sought besides power. I do not think I need to tell you what.” Aleu shivered, and Niju continued. “Always, one unlucky girl would be selected by him. He would find the one he fancied most. It did not matter who she was, whether or not she had a mate or a mate-to-be, or anything. He would simply take her away, the night would pass, and he would come back…alone.” Aleu was trembling slightly, and tried to keep it from being seen. Niju went on. “He always dispatched them. Always. He would do as he liked, then kill them without a thought. Many husbands and families wept because of him. They would hold their poor wife, or daughter, or sister, or mother, and weep as they said they loved her…because they knew she would not return.” “Why…why did he kill them?” “He had no use for them, and he enjoyed inflicting pain. Besides, he would have considered it an insult to have them share that with anyone else after he did.” “Did something…happen to him?” Niju smiled. “Shadow made merely a single mistake. It was his first…and last.” “What was it?” “There was a girl, from some ordinary pack. Her brother was killed by Shadow himself. She was very young and beautiful…Shadow liked that the best, when they were very young. He said that when they were very young, they…felt fresher.” Niju chuckled, and Aleu’s face contorted with revulsion. “That’s horrible!” she choked. Niju smiled. “He was a horrible wolf. Anyway, she made her presence known to him, hiding its deliberate nature, and pretended to be afraid, but curious as to how it would be. Shadow also liked it when they were more afraid. She fed his ego, telling him that it was almost an honor to be added to his list of passion conquests. He was seduced very quickly, and took her the first night, as usual. He had a marvelous time, they say. It was so good that, for the first time, he did not kill the one he had taken. He let the girl live, and lulled her to sleep with song. He went to sleep himself…and that was his mistake. The girl was not really asleep. When he drifted off, she got up silently…and clamped her teeth onto his throat. He was dead before he could even awake, and the next morning, she threw herself off a cliff. Before she died, she told her best friend, the wolf she trusted more than any other, that she had ended Shadow’s life, but had been forced to let herself be defiled, and that she wanted to be with her brother, whom she had avenged. If you think about it, Shadow practically committed suicide. He made an exception, knowing the danger, and it killed him instantly.” Aleu