just, kinda tripped…” Krystal answered, feeling completely foolish for messing up like that, “Can you free it? Because if not, just keep going… I’ll stay behind…”

“Nonsense… Just keep calm…” Rallan said, ripping through a couple more roots and gently pulling her paw free, “There you go… Now come on, we’d better high-tail it!” Rallan and Krystal began to run off, but Krystal yelped sharply in agony as immense pain filled her leg when she tried to put it down. Rallan stopped again and went back to her.

“I can’t run anymore… Just get out of here Rallan…” Krystal said, glancing back to make sure Hunter wasn’t nearby.

“Krystal, look at me…” Rallan said, staring into her amber eyes calmly, “No matter how many times you say it, I’m not going to leave my best friend behind… It’s not broken… You probably just sprained your ankle… Come on, I know where it’ll be safe…”

Rallan walked over to a tree and quickly leapt onto it, digging his claws into the bark. He climbed up a short distance and stopped, motioning to Krystal. She walked up to him and climbed up his body without using her hurt leg, Rallan helping her up slightly and soon she reached a branch just out of view. Rallan then dropped down and ran around the nearby area a few times before climbing up and laying on a branch next to Krystal. Both of them were now out of sight…

A minute later, Hunter dashed by beneath them and skidded to a stand-still as he suddenly smelled Rallan’s scent everywhere, but he was nowhere in sight. He searched all around, but the wolf they were hunting was nowhere to be found, despite his scent everywhere.

“Oh jeez… I’m in trouble…” Hunter said to himself as he saw Rayne approaching him with Drake and Hunter. She looked around and then gave Hunter a stern look.

“Alright Hunter, I’ll bite… Why are you just standing around here when Rallan’s scent is everywhere?” Rayne asked, staring Hunter right in the eye, making the larger wolf shiver slightly, “Think carefully… Your life may depend on your answer…” Hunter swallowed hard.

“Uh, w-well Rayne… He’s gone…” Hunter answered, taking a few quick steps backward, “B-but I checked all over! His scent ends here but he isn’t here! He just… vanished…” Rayne snarled furiously.

“That’s not good enough! No wolf just vanishes without a trace!” Rayne said, thinking to herself for a few moments before turning to the others, “Fan out and search the area… And for the love of God, keep your damn guard up!”

Drake, Hunter, and Valley nodded before turning and carefully and silently slinking off through the forest. Rayne also began to search, direly desperate to locate her murderous brother. Rallan and Krystal waited silently until the four wolves were gone before Rallan looked at her.

“Do you know of where we should go next?” he asked in a hushed whisper so only she could hear him. Krystal thought for a moment, and then nodded leisurely.

“Yeah… I have a den not far from here… If we can just sneak off toward the west again, I can lead you there… Hopefully, we’ll be able to stay hidden for a while…” Krystal said, glancing down at the ground.

“Alright… Westward bound it is…” Rallan said lowly, glancing down as well, “I’m gonna jump down, then you drop down onto my back, alright?” Krystal nodded in understanding and watched as Rallan stood up and quietly jumped to the forest floor below. He then positioned himself beneath Krystal as she dropped down, landing square on his back. Rallan bucked down slightly under her sudden weight, but quickly stood up again. Krystal didn’t seem to weigh very much to him, but then again he’d gotten rather strong from his years of exile.

“Ok, now hold on tightly…” Rallan said to her as he began to run back toward the river in the west. Though his speed was decreased very slightly from Krystal’s additional weight on him, he still ran pretty fast and stealthily. However, partway there, Rallan froze and quickly ducked behind some bushes, gently lowering Krystal to the ground. Having learned her lesson the first time, Krystal didn’t ask him what was going on.

Everything was dead silent for a long time… Then the sounds of pawsteps began to approach them, getting louder with each second. Within minutes, the light brown form of Drake came into view near the bushes they were behind. Rallan glared slightly and rose up, sneaking silently up to Drake. He tapped his former friend on the shoulder and glared right into his hazel eyes as he turned to face him, a surprised and frightened look on his face.

“Rallan!” Drake managed to say before the gray wolf hit him forcefully on the side of his muzzle, slamming his head into a tree. Drake stumbled and looked up at Rallan again as the wolf slammed his head into Drake’s, knocking him out and sending him to the ground. Rallan shook his head to clear the slight daze his attack caused and walked back to Krystal.

“Alright, he should be out for a short while… Come on, let’s get moving again!” Rallan said, picking Krystal up on his back and running off toward the west. Drake was still barely conscious, watching as the gray wolf ran off. His eyes then drifted slowly to the sky, spotting the afternoon sun. Their target was headed west. With a weak grin of accomplishment, Drake blacked out.

Rallan ran and ran endlessly, ignoring the burning in his lungs as he panted heavily. He knew that if he could at least get across the river safely, they’d be home-free and safe for a while and then he could slow down. Krystal just lay on Rallan’s back, marveling at his strength and stamina. Soon, they arrived at the river and Rallan wasted no time, rushing in and doing his best to swim across with Krystal on his back.

After nearly going under three times, Rallan finally reached the west shore and climbed onto the land, gasping for air as he rested for a few minutes. Krystal smiled down at him and chuckled softly.

“You really didn’t have to carry me all the way, Rallan…” Krystal said humbly. Rallan chuckled breathlessly before answering.

“Yes I did… You were in no condition to be walking anywhere…” Rallan said with another grin. Krystal smiled wider and sighed softly.

“Well, we’re safe for now… Just keep heading west for now… I’ll tell you which ways to go as we go on…” Krystal replied. Rallan nodded in accord and ran off again into the forest, but at a much more decent pace for himself. Now safe, he knew that he and Krystal would be able to have lost Rayne for a good amount of time…

Chapter 2

            It took Rallan roughly about six hours of nonstop running before Krystal finally led him out into a large clearing, a den set into the side of a small hill. To the west were the coastline and an overlooking to view the sea. Just a little bit to the south was a group of hills with huge assortments of wildflowers blooming all over, and to the north was a small river that ran into the larger one to the east. Her den was set at a clearing just at the edge of the forest, so there were trees, but not too many and enough variation of environment to make any wolf think of this place as paradise.

Rallan immediately took Krystal into her den and laid her down on the soft brush she had as bedding. It was easily large enough for two adult wolves and the den alone could hold about four. He sighed softly as he sat down to rest as well, staring at Krystal as she relaxed on her bedding. She glanced at him and locked eyes with him, laughing softly.

“What is it?” she asked, looking at him with interest as he shrugged.

“I’m just thinking about something…” he replied. Now he’d gotten her interested.

“Thinking about what? Me?” Krystal asked, clearly intrigued by what was going on his head.

“Yeah… I was just thinking back to the Lylrite Pack, and what it was like for us back then…” Rallan answered softly, nearly lost in the reminiscing, “We had such fun together as pups and adolescents… But I was always busy training, so we never did get to play much… I can’t believe it’s nearly been two years ago since then…”

“It’ll be two years- when? This winter?” Krystal asked, surprised by this fact as well, “Wow, time sure does fly… It’s mid-summer now and soon it’ll be fall, then winter again…”

“You’ve grown so much since I last saw you…” Rallan said, almost completely oblivious to what Krystal had just said, “An adult female wolf