against the rocky ground as he began to feel like he had lost control of himself. He responded not with his words, but with his actions. His form lunged towards his brother’s, claws extended and ready for the chance to draw blood. Everything was almost in slow-motion now as he began to move closer to Tram’s mirrored attack . . .

 

I’m sorry . . . Brother . . . but it seems like I can’t control myself . . . It looks like I’ll have to fight you . . .

 

The girls, however, were left to watch the horrible sight. “This is awful . . . and it’s my fault . . .” Meanwhile, Sunny had had enough of this. She stood up, wanting to do something about this possible fight between brothers. “I have to stop them!”

 

Little Jadze stopped her with a paw-touch on the shoulder. “No, Sunny,” she told her. “You may get hurt again . . . or make the pain worse. You know how boys . . . no, how brothers are. I’m sure they’ll find a way to settle this . . . and hopefully, no one will get hurt.”

 

“But Tram said that about our father . . . my father . . .” Sunny’s silver-gray ears were now close to her neck fur. “You’re right about what you said earlier: I’m not weak . . . and I have to do something to defend Papa’s honor and proud name . . . as well as my own.” She paused for a second, sighing under her breath. “Jadze, . . . I’m sorry . . .” She smiled and ran towards the growling brothers.

 

But a sudden movement caused the gray to be taken aback – she felt like someone had grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her to her back. Before she knew it, a form of light-beige blazed past her fallen form.

 

“J . . . Jadze?” Sunny managed to utter from her mouth. “What are you doing?”

 

“I’m not so sure myself,” the young pup grinned back for a second. “but when I figure it out, you’ll know. You should get our moms, just in case.” And with that, Little Jadze was gone, delving herself into the brawl of the two brothers.

 

 

 

Saba and Aleu were beginning to enjoy these times of peace. Actually, it had been a long time since the Talbourne Clan had even had so much as a few months of no attacks from Shade and rivaling wolf packs and Clans that wanted to overtake them. Saba, on the other hand, was almost a year into her tenure as Alpha, but had never even had such relaxation in all her life . . .

 

I’ve always either been running away, sneaking around or been busy with other things to relax, Saba sighed as she rested her long muzzle on her powerful forelegs and closed her eyes. Plus with Sunny, Rife and Tram growing up at the same time, this moment of peace seems long overdue . . .

 

However, there was no doubt in her mind that what she told Aleu earlier was indeed close – this time of peace would cease and Saba would finally have her chance to show the leadership and strategy skills that Aniu had taught her while she was dead. Naturally, she knew that most of the Clan had yet to warm up to her as Alpha, but her methods of doing some basic tasks were slightly different from what they were used to when her sister was the leader of the pack. She still had a bit of a husky’s intuition within her – why else would she once try to return to her old life weeks after being reborn with a wolf’s likeness? At a moment of near-death, Saba finally learned from her crucial mistakes, knowing that she was no longer the pampered house-pet she thought she was born to remain.

 

But something else was causing her to fidget as Saba tried to enter into a relaxing rest. She hadn’t heard from Aniu within the past two months . . . ever since Aleu gave birth to Little Jadze, and she wondered what could possibly be wrong with the wolf spirit that was now a part of her. Where is Aniu? She pondered in her thoughts. Saba remembered that on the day of the memorial for Aleu’s lost four pups Aniu did not answer her at all. She seems to be communicating with Aleu through her dreams, showing her these horrible images of destruction, but why does she not speak to me when I call her?

 

The ultimate worry made her lightly gasp awake, despite not being fully asleep. Could this mean that my connection with her is weakening? Am I going to be overthrown as Alpha of the Talbourne?

 

Saba shuttered at the thought, shaking it away with her head. No, . . . no, that cannot be so. Saba knew much better than to believe something like that. Even though when she first joined the Talbourne she didn’t have any belief in the white wolf or the fact that she was also her grandmother, after dying, being trained by Aniu personally and having her life restored, Saba had grown quite respectful for the wolf deity. Besides, Aniu told me herself that the Alpha of the Talbourne has always been one of her descendants – that’s why both Aleu and I have been chosen to do so . . . No one else here is knowledgeable enough as a leader to take my place, so I’m sure that’s not the case . . .

 

She closed her eyes once again and sighed, hoping that if she was able to have any dreams today, they would calm her mind of this worry she felt. But she still felt worried about all of this.

 

Aniu, please speak to me again . . . please prove my mind wrong . . .

 

Aleu, on the other hand, was fast asleep, hoping for some advice on this dream that she had that morning. Again, she was in the coolness of the cave where she always met with either her spirit guide or the Great Aniu herself, but she summoned him herself.

 

“Muru?” She asked, hearing her voice echo through the cavern walls. “Muru, I’d like to speak with you, if you don’t mind.”

 

A swirl of white mist appeared on a tall rock in front of her, causing a tiny brown field mouse to take shape as the mist dispersed. “Ah, Aleu. It is nice to see you once again.”

 

“The same to you,” Aleu bowed simply before getting to her query. “but I’ve been wondering about something . . .”

 

“Ah. You’re speaking about the vision from today, am I right?” The rodent’s beady black eyes gleamed as the quarter-wolf nodded.

 

“Yes. What does it mean, Muru?” She asked with fear in her voice. “Shade . . . he destroyed them . . . and yet I was protected by everyone else, including a glowing wolf . . . I don’t understand . . .”

 

“It is not meant for you to comprehend it at this time,” Muru spoke bluntly. “Unfortunately, Aniu meant for you to see it, as horrible as it must have been for you to watch, but why . . . ah, not even I know myself. But right now, something else will take its focus and you must take immediate action.”

 

Always in riddles, Aleu felt her mouth slightly grin at the mouse’s words. “But I’m not in charge anymore, Muru. My sister, Saba, is the Alpha of the Talbourne now, not I . . . Why must I do something about this?”

 

“That, I’m afraid, is something you must wake up to find out . . .” The small voice faded along with the rest of the dream as Aleu returned into her right mind and quietly awoke. She sighed lightly, knowing that she hadn’t really gotten any closer to answers.

 

Meanwhile, the white Alpha was just about to fall into a restful sleep until a slight shaking motion stunned her awake.

 

“Mom . . . Mom . . .” It was Sunny, looking rather exhausted from her travels on an injured leg that still ached and was covered with dried blood.

 

“Sunny?” Saba’s ears pricked up in worry at the sudden notice of her daughter’s tone. “What’s wrong? Are you still hurting?”

 

The little gray shook her head. “Rife . . . Tram . . . fighting . . .” She panted out as she sat down. “Jadze . . . she’s trying to stop them . . .”

 

“What?” At the mention of her daughter’s name, Aleu stood up with a gasp. Her ears were erect, listening out for sounds of a fight. “Thanks for telling us, Sunny.” Without a moment to lose, she leapt forward, hoping that her little girl wasn’t doing something stupid. This must be what Muru was talking about, she thought to herself as she went to the cliffs.

 

“Rest now, Sunny,” Saba licked her daughter’s wound clean as the near-year old gray laid down to recover. “Now, why is Jadze trying to stop your brothers from fighting?”

 

“Tram just . . . appeared out of nowhere, Mama,” Sunny had her eyes closed, remembering what she had seen of the memory. “He wasn’t acting like himself . . . even worse from earlier today when he bit me . . . It was like he was someone else, . . . someone evil . . .” Sunny shuttered at the thought of what she remembered. “I was scared . . . really scared.”

 

Evil? Saba thought, trying to piece this problem in her head while calming down Sunny’s spell of shaking. That’s rather strange for her to say about her own brother . . . She knew that Sunny could sometimes sense how others were inside their souls – that’s why she was so quiet and shy mostly all the time – but it had never been like this before.

 

“You must have been imagining things,” Saba tried her best to comfort the gray child. “Tram’s not evil – he’s just . . . he’s very confused right now. He’ll be fine; you’ll see.”

 

Sunny shook her head, her shuttering ceased as she looked up to her mother with worried eyes. “No, Mama. He’s not fine . . . I’m scared that he’ll . . . he’ll . . .”

 

Before she could finish, a loud howl – it sounded like a childish one compared to the lower ones of the grown wolves – blared out loudly, almost as if it was a cry for help. It was hard to identify whose howl it was, since Little Jadze had yet to learn a proper howl and the two boys usually howled together. It was a single wolf’s howl, and based on what was going on, Saba could deduce the source of the cry.

 

“Rife!” Saba turned briefly to her daughter, giving her

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