win, because you don’t care about the outcome, you’ve got to care.”

Lightning thought about this for a moment.

“Did you say your team?”

“Is that all you got out of that?” Gia asked, already getting exasperated with this wolf’s attitude.

Lightning stepped back, a little afraid of the female.

“Yes,” Gia said, “I did say my team, I’m the leader, you got a problem with that too?”

“No, no,” Lightning stuttered, “no problem.”

He cleared his throat.

“So um what is your team exactly and what is your business here?”

“Well considering the fact that we kicked your little tail, it shouldn’t matter,” Gia said, “but I’ll enlighten you.”

“We are from the north, we came from the Giat clan.

“The Giat clan?” One of the wolves on Lightning’s team said, as he walked up.

Lightning reached back and stomped on the wolves paw, ceasing him from saying anything else.

The wolf howled.

Gia looked at the wolf confused.

“Anyway after the clan uh split up, we became rovers.”

“Rovers?” Lightning said, “that’s long gone isn’t it? I mean all of us got past that stage, and live in packs now, right?”

“Well you tell me,” Gia said.

She hit Lightning in the face with her paw, and he fell to the ground.

“No telegraphing at all, I couldn’t tell the slightest difference before she hit me,” Lightning thought. “She’s good, she’s taught.”

“Am I real?” She asked.

Lightning stood and shook his head, keeping his distance from her this time.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Well then we still exist don’t we?” She said.

Lightning said nothing.

Another of the black wolves walked up, as Gia stomped off.

“You’ll have to excuse her,” he said, “Gia is somewhat… emotional.”

He smiled.

“My name is Euean.”

Lighting nodded at the wolf.

“Lightning, of the Talbourne clan.

“What are you guys doing here?” Lightning asked. “I asked her, but I didn’t get exactly the response that I wanted.”

Euean laughed.

“You rarely will with her.”

Lightning stretched his sore jaw.

“Is she always that… irritable?”

Euean laughed again.

“Pretty much,” he said.

Lightning stared after the wolf.

“You know,” he told himself, “she is pretty cute. No, you’ve already messed that up pretty thoroughly, just see if you can talk to her.”

“So ,” Lightning said, “you were saying?”

“Oh yes,” Euean continued, “we were part of the Giat clan, but when they split up, we just became rovers, wondering around, helping out packs who need extra muscle, in return for food and shelter, then we move on.”

“You’re certainly good fighters,” Lightning said, still watching Gia.

He turned to Euean.

“Where’d you learn that?”

“We were the security team to the Giat pack,” Euean said, “by the way, never bring that up to her, she’s a little touchy about that.”

Lightning had resumed watching her,

“She’s a little touchy about everything.”

“What?” Euean asked.

“Nothing,” Lighting said quickly.

“Did I say that out loud?” he thought.

He walked over to Gia.

“So,” he said, as he neared her.

She spun around, crouched down, ready for a fight.

“Wooah,” Lighting said, as he took several steps back.

“I just want to talk.”

“About what?” Gia asked, still not having relaxed much.

“I think we may have some work for you,” Lightning said.

“Really.” Gia said, unimpressed.

“It means free food,” Lightning said, “and

bedding for as long as you’re here”

Euean stepped in between them.

“There is a pretty nasty storm on its way.”

Gia glared at Euean,

She smiled.

“Take me to your leader.”

“I’m telling you,” Lightning said to Aniak, “this is the best answer to our problems, all of them. We start the war, and get rid of Aleu, and all they want in return is food and a bed.”

“Shadow is an extremely good fighter,” Aniak said, “as well as Aleu and Dash, and Timbre. I don’t know..”

“Trust me,” Lightning said. “They’ll be able to handle them, they took down my whole team in like ten seconds.”

“That’s part of my problem with this,” Aniak said, “They killed three of them, what am I supposed to tell their families?”

“I don’t know,” Lightning said, “tell them they died protecting the pack, I don’t care, Aniak, everything they did, they did in like ten seconds.”

Aniak looked uneasily at the floor.

“Alright,” she said, “show them in.”

Gia backed Euean into a corner of the cave, where they could not be seen.

She suddenly hit Euean right in the face.

He fell to the ground.

“Gia!” he yelped, “what was that for?”

She drug him up, and pushed him against the wall.

“Never let anyone know anything about us again,” she said, as she gritted her teeth.

“Okay,” Euean said, “but you didn’t have to…” Gia slammed him against the wall.

“Oww.”

“Listen to me,” Gia said, “and listen good. Nothing, understood? Everything that happens in this team, that as happened to this team, that will happen to this team, stays in this team, do we understand one another?

She let him fall to the ground, and walked back toward her team, leaving Euean in the dark.

Lightning stepped out of Aniak’s chambers, and saw Gia.

“She wants to see you,” he said.

“And my team?” Gia asked.

Lightning nodded, and the rest of them followed her.

Euean glared at Lightning as he limped by.

“Wonder what that was for?” Lightning thought.

“So let me get this straight,” Gia said, “you want us to go into this other clan’s territory, sneak in and eliminate this Kilu, and then come back? That’s all?”

“And Aleu?” Aniak said.

Gia laughed.

“Oh yes,” she said, “we can handle it.”

She looked at Aniak.

“The question is… can you handle us?”

“I believe we can,” Aniak said, “if you’ll follow Lightning here, he’ll show you where you and your team can rest, then in the morning, we can talk of support and…”

Gia cut her off.

“Actually if we’re going to this thing with Kilu, I’d just as soon get it over with, I hate waiting, and as for support?”

She looked at Lightning, and laughed.

“I’ll let you know how it went.” She said, as she walked out of the room.

The team had snuck up through the Onasie clan’s territory, dodging all of the sentries, and keeping nice and quiet.

Gia had to especially careful.

This was a night op, and at night, her silver hair shone like a lantern.

“So far so good,” She thought.

The team snuck up to the side of one of the cave’s entrances.

“The alpha of that pack said that Kilu would be on guard tonight, hope her intel is good.”

She crept up over the hill, to see a wolf that fit the description she had been given, to the letter.

“Looks like you did your job,” Gia thought, “Time for us to do ours.”

She nodded another of the black wolves, and he split off from the team, going around the back, he moved absolutely silently, not even making a sound in the snow.

Gia waited for a few moment’s, then she heard a howl.

“Good job Baeowe,” She thought, as Kilu walked out of the cave, into the clearing a ways, to investigate.

“He moves like an amateur.”

Gia looked back at the remainder of the team

She signaled Tyruoe to come up to her.

He crawled up the slope.

“I’ve got this one,” Gia said.

Tyruoe crawled back down the slope, to relay the message to the others.

Gia stood up slowly looking first left, then right, to see if anyone had heard her.

Then she took off running across the snow.

Kilu never even heard her, as she extremely light on her paws, and had been taught to move silently.

“Taught by the best,” Gia thought, a little sorrow creeping into her mind.

Then she slammed into the young wolf.

The two of them went flying through the air, crashing into a snow bank.

The rest of the team stood up then, ready to give their leader assistance, if she needed it.

“She won’t,” Baeowe thought.

He was correct, as Gia already had the young wolf on his back. He tried to bark, to howl, to do anything to let his pack know he was in trouble, but the paw in his throat prevented it.

Gia suddenly tore into his throat, blood sprayed onto her face.

The young wolf’s eyes widened in surprise.

Then he was still.

Another wolf walked out, and the team tensed up, ready for a confrontation.

“Why?” the wolf said, “What have you done?”

Gia looked at the wolf, smiled and licked some of the blood off of her face.

“This is from the Talbourne clan,” She said.

“Guards!” The wolf yelled.

Gia took off, her team in hot pursuit.

“That was too easy.” She thought.

Chapter VI

“So it is done then?”` Lightning asked.

“Yes,” Gia responded, “your Kilu is dead.”

“You’ll excuse me,” Lightning said, “I must tell my