grandfather was a wolf. But I don’t know if it’s true. – she looked at him, curious. – Why are you asking that?

- I just noticed some traits. – he commented, raising his shoulders.

- Is that a good thing? – she asked.

Dan smiled.

- Of course it is. – the hybrid assured, giving her an affectionate nuzzle.

Luna was going to ask why, but suddenly they both felt a disturbance. Their ears shot up. Dan got up silently, sniffing the air.

- Now what? - Luna whispered, getting up too.

- I smelled something. It looks like a group of... - he sniffed again, and he recognized the kind of smell, surprised and worried.

- Wolves… again. – Luna completed, recognizing the scent too, surprising Dan, who thought his senses were sharper than hers, because of his wolf part.

- Think Ohanzee’s with them? – the brown-gray canine asked, observing the husky.

- I’m not sure... Should we check out? – she asked then.

- Yes, but let’s step carefully. We don't want them to hear us. – he warned, and started walking silently towards the woods behind them, following the scent.

They saw a clear at distance. There were many wolves sat or laid around there. But almost all of them were silent. There were voices coming from somewhere more apart from there. The couple followed the sound, getting away from the rest of the pack. The voices were coming from behind a tree gathering. Luna stopped Dan.

- I'll get closer, you stay hidden. – she said. – I’m smaller. It’ll be harder for them to see me. – she added, seeing Dan’s worried expression.

- Luna, no. - Dan protested.

- I'm not as weak as most of the human females. Now hide. – she finished the discussion.

She silently walked towards the tree gathering.

Dan stayed hidden behind some bushes. Luna stood behind a large pine tree. She was close enough to hear the conversation.

- Our pack is dying, and you know it's his fault! - a male voice exclaimed.

- Quiet, Adahy! Do you want any of his guards to hear us? - another male voice reprehended.

- But there’s no how to deny it. He lost his mind, and he's obsessed in this hunt for hybrids. Isn't it, Chaska? – A younger male voice stated.

- You're right Ahanu. He even killed that wolf, Nava. It wasn't even proved that he was helping that hybrid from the city. – the wolf called Chaska answered. – And even if he was, who cared? He was doing us no harm, and now we’re starving again, and without a leadership, we can’t make a good hunt. Almost all preys we manage to get go to Ohanzee and his guards.

- Well, I think we need a new leader. - Adahy declared.

- But who? Besides, there are too many warriors loyal to Ohanzee. Anyone who ever challenges him has to handle with them, and they're the best fighters in the pack. - Chaska said, concerned.

- I say there's no how to get out of this! You're all discussing this for nothing! We'll just die here. - the reprehending voice exclaimed.

- Yiska, if you can't say anything useful, stay out of this! - Ahanu complained.

Luna heard the wolf called Yiska walking away from the group. She rounded the tree, so she could see the group better. The four wolves were in a circle, whispering. Chaska looked to be older than the other three, with brown fur. Adahy was the biggest, with gray fur. Ahanu was he youngest, with dark brown fur. Yiska was away from them, backwards. His fur was gray striped with lighter tones, and he appeared to be the oldest of them. Luna was thinking if she should go back to where Dan was, but suddenly she heard steps behind her. She turned around quickly and saw a big, dark gray wolf, looking at her with a grin.

- Hey cutie, we’ve been looking for you. - he said, stepping closer.

She noticed two other gray wolves behind him, one of them holding Dan’s neck with his teeth, forcing him to stay on the ground. Luna snarled in anger and lunged at the bigger wolf, tackling him to the ground, pushing his throat with her paw, cutting off his air supply. She bit every part she could reach, and clawed the rest. The other two wolves were shocked by the female's fury, and were about to run in their friend's aid when Dan rose and tackled one of them down with a claw strike. The other one noticed what was happening and rushed towards Dan. The hybrid slid to a side, evading the attack, and bit the wolf’s neck. He thrashed his subdued enemy, and threw him aside. The wolf stayed on the ground, motionless, yet not dead. The first wolf that Dan had already beaten up got up and lunged at him, but was frustrated when Dan dodged and held him with his paws against the ground, immobilizing him. The hybrid grinned.

- Don’t feel bad. I am pretty good. – he said, as he released his opponent, who ran away, yelping.

Dan turned around to help his girlfriend.

- Luna! Are you… - he started to ask, but got startled with what he saw.

Luna was standing victorious beside the unconscious, injured form of the big wolf that was trying to attack her.

- I'm okay, but I’m not sure about him. – she indicated the beaten wolf.

Dan chuckled and approached her.

- That's my girlfriend.

Then he noticed she had some light cuts on her back and rear paws. He stared at her, worried.

- I'm okay, better than you at least. What happened? – the husky asked, assuring she was fine.

- I didn’t see those guys coming, I was distracted watching you. – Dan explained. – Then one of them just attacked me and held me by my neck. – he rubbed his throat with his paw. – Like it wasn’t hurt enough before.

- We better get out of here. The one that escaped will tell Ohanzee about us. – Luna said, concerned.