again.

“Rallan, you killed me… and now, I’m going to destroy your life as well…” Typhoon answered evilly before biting through Rallan’s neck. Rallan gasped and went limp, his vision going completely back as he heard his father’s triumphant laughter ringing in his ears…

“No!” Rallan shouted and shot to his feet, spinning around frantically as he searched for his enemy. Krystal woke up as well and began to look around for any trouble as well. When none was to be seen, she sighed softly and looked at Rallan, who was panting heavily with a look of pure terror on his face.

“Rallan, are you alright?” Krystal asked softly, her eyes warm and empathetic, “You look as if you’ve just seen a ghost or something…” Rallan exhaled heavily and shook his head, lying down again and facing away from Krystal.

“I may as well have…” Rallan murmured sadly, sounding on the verge of depression, “Why does he keep torturing me like this?” Krystal was now greatly confused.

“Who keeps torturing you, Rallan?”

“My father…” Rallan replied neutrally. Now Krystal felt completely lost. Rallan’s father had been dead for years!

“You mean your dead father?” Krystal asked, giving Rallan a strange look, “Rallan, he’s dead… He has been for years now… Someone killed him, remember…” Rallan was shocked beyond belief now. She had been there at his trial and yet even she seemed to believe he didn’t kill Typhoon. But by now, Rallan’s conscience had taken over and had convinced himself he’d been to blame…

“Not someone, Krystal… I did…” Rallan said, not daring to look at her to see her reaction to his words, “I killed my father… Me… I did… I’m a murderer… And if it wasn’t for my mother voting me as Innocent, I would have died that night…” Krystal sighed and shook her head.

“Your mother didn’t vote you Innocent, Rallan…” Krystal corrected. Rallan’s ears and head shot up, staring at Krystal.

“What do you mean?” he asked, clearly perplexed, “So she voted me as Guilty?!” Once more, Krystal shook her head in disproval.

“No Rallan, she refused to vote that night… She didn’t know what to belief and since she had the power of Alpha Female, she refuted her right to vote…” Rallan was flabbergasted by this information, but proceeded to question Krystal.

“Then… Then who voted me as Innocent?” Krystal looked away for a moment, then back to Rallan, blushing slightly.

“I did…”

Rallan stared at Krystal for a long while. All this time, he’d thought everyone except his mother had voted him Guilty. Now that he heard this, he knew that he’d been sorely mistaken in his assumption. He wasn’t saved by his own family, but rather condemned by them! Instead, his life had been spared courtesy of his best friend, the female lying just literally two feet away from him. Krystal hadn’t just been a loyal companion, but now that he knew the truth, she had also become his savior.

“Krystal… Y-you voted me Innocent? You saved my life?” Rallan asked, still bewildered by the sudden burst of information. Even though he asked it, he didn’t need Krystal to confirm it. He knew she was telling the truth, since out of the year he’d known her, she’d never lied once. Krystal’s ears lowered in slight embarrassment as she nodded slowly.

“Yeah… I did… I guess I did save your life, huh?” Krystal replied with a small smile. Rallan didn’t know quite how to react to this.

“Why Krystal? Why did you vote me Innocent?”

“Because I believed you… I believed that you had never intended to kill Typhoon and that it had all been an accident…” Krystal answered softly, “I know you, Rallan… You’re a kind, sweet, gentle wolf who’d never harm anyone unless it was in defense… That’s why I voted you Innocent… Because out of the entire pack, only I could see you were telling the truth…” Rallan stared at Krystal, then beamed widely and pulled her into a grateful hug.

“Thank you so much Krystal… You have no idea how much it means to me that you believed me… That you followed me… That you trust me…” Rallan said softly. Krystal hugged him back, smiling happily to herself. Finally, both their lives were beginning to look up… But it wasn’t easy Rallan… Krystal thought to herself, memories coming back to her…

            “Well, at least justice has been done to that ungrateful little bastard… He’ll get what he deserves: a swift, painful death out in the wilderness on his own…” Talon said as he paced back and forth inside their den. A year-old Krystal sat against the wall, giving her father an upset look.

“Dad, how could you say such a thing? Rallan’s been my friend since we first met and I know him! He’d never do anything like that!” Krystal argued. Talon shot her an angry look and turned to face her.

“He was turned into a power-hungry little monster by his father! Typhoon had the boy’s best interests in heart and look what the fiend does to him! He’s dead now because of him!” Talon snapped back, “Rallan may have been your friend, but Typhoon was mine and I know him as well! Typhoon would never harm his own flesh and blood like that devil said he did!”

“Stop calling Rallan a devil! He’s not evil or anything like that!” Krystal shouted back, eyes reflecting sorrow and misery, “Rallan didn’t do anything! Why won’t you see that?”

“Krystal, hold your tongue! You’re still young… You have no idea what the world is like!”

Krystal couldn’t believe this was happening. Her own father didn’t believe her either! With tears running down her muzzle, Krystal turned and ran out of the den. Talon watched her and sighed heavily. Desert looked up at her mate and gave him a stern look.

“Talon, that wasn’t right… You shouldn’t have done that to Krystal…” she said, shaking her head.

“Well you know I’m right! You voted Guilty as well!”

“Yes, but I didn’t go yelling at my own daughter for what she thought…” Desert remarked, looking up at Talon again, “Well aren’t you going to go get her back?”

“No… She needs some time alone… Besides, she can’t runaway… The border guards would stop her before she even got past them…” Talon said, lying down beside his mate, “She’ll be back by morning… Trust me…”

Krystal continued running until she came to a stop at the river where Rallan had been so brutally trained for six months. She’d sometimes hide in a tree downwind of them, watching as Captain and Typhoon turned Rallan into the wolf he had become. She collapsed beside the water, tears dampening her fur where they fell. She lay there sobbing for some time before she finally gathered up her strength and stood up again, raising her muzzle to the sky.

“RALLAN!” she called out, desperately hoping he would hear her somehow, “RALLAN!”

The bright orange sun broke through the darkness of night, bringing another warm summer morning across the land. Rallan’s eyes fluttered slightly as he began to wake from his slumber again, a soft, cold feeling pressed against his muzzle. His brow narrowed slightly as he tried to see what it was, his vision finally settling to see it was Krystal! The two wolves had fallen asleep in each others paws and now they were lying nose-to-nose!

Rallan gasped softly and quickly pulled back, his face going hotter than fire in embarrassment, his heart racing as well. He slowly and silently slipped out of Krystal’s grasp and walked out into the morning sunlight, stretching out his lean body before walking off toward the stream again. The day was bright and the air was brisk, the sounds of songbirds filling the air. Rallan smiled widely.

At least that means Rayne’s nowhere near… he thought to himself with a smirk and a chuckle. A few minutes later, he arrived at the small, slow-current river. He sighed softly and dipped his muzzle to the clear surface, lapping up the water. A soft giggle reached his ears and his head shot up, glancing all around. No one was nearby… He shrugged and continued drinking until he heard the soft sound again, grinning this time.

“Come on out, Krystal…” Rallan called out, not lifting his head from the water. A moment later, someone barreled into him and both of them came crashing into the cool water. Rallan shot to the surface and coughed slightly, looking around and spotting a drenched female gray wolf near him, a playful grin on her face.