daughter, giving her a last lick. “Sunny, stay here. Everything will be fine, sweetie – I promise.” Finally, she leapt forward herself, running the same direction that Aleu had only moments prior. “Hang on, Rife! Mama’s coming!”

 

Sunny only felt tears drip down her face in worry as she continued to hear the howling cry from the other space. “Please be okay, Jadze . . .” She prayed, knowing that her friend was only fighting to protect her from getting hurt again.

 

 

 

The little cream pup had no real idea of what she was doing; Little Jadze just knew that she had to do something to stop this fight. “Stop!” She cried out as she leapt into the fray. “Stop this, you two! That’s enough!”

 

The two red males looked at this interruption, surprised by the fact that their little niece was in front of them, growling in a defensive stance. Naturally, Rife was surprised to see Little Jadze of all pups trying to cease the fight, but Tram was more amused just by the sight, chuckling as he approached her.

 

“So, you’re going to try and stop me?” Tram stepped forward, only smirking at the tiny beige pup in front of him. “You’re too young and weak for this sort of game, dearie . . . especially since you’re a girl.”

 

Little Jadze only lowered her eyebrows and growled louder at the taunt. She wasn’t weak just because she was a girl – she-wolves were just as strong as any other wolf in the pack, so why should he judge her just because of her gender and age?

 

“Huh, aren’t you a defiant one!” Tram’s facial expression grew more devious than ever the closer he got to the much younger female. “Maybe . . . maybe I’ll have some fun playing with you instead . . .”

 

“Please, I don’t want to fight you, Tram,” the pup growled a warning at the bright-red hybrid, lowering herself once again. “You may say that I’m weak just because I’m a she-pup,” Her ears were nearly buried within her neck-fur, angered and ready to spring at the male as a strange look of strength grew on Little Jadze’s face. “but perhaps you are actually the weak one, not me!”

 

Tram was shocked speechless by the remark. It stung him like a thorn, nearly weakening his pride. No one had ever called him weak before or even dared to say such a thing whenever he cowered over them, so the feeling did not fare well with him at all.

 

“Are you going to let her – that weakling little she-pup - say those things to you?” The voice within Tram’s mind shouted at him, sensing the near-yearling’s emotional breakdown was near at hand.

 

N . . . no . . . NO! He wasn’t weak, he knew for a fact that he wasn’t! How dare she tell me that lie! Tram’s back bristled, restoring his lost pride. I’m not weak at all! I’m older and stronger than she is – of course I’m the stronger one!

 

The conscience within him chuckled at his pupil’s sudden progress – he was indeed pleased by the quick recovery. “Good . . . very good . . . Now you know what needs to be done . . . Put her in her rightful place . . . Show her who the real boss issssss . . .” As sinister the act was, Tram knew the voice was right – his little niece had to pay for those words.

 

Yes, she must die for saying that to me . . . I am the strong one, not her!

 

“That’ssss right . . .” The voice continued to add more fuel into the fire burning deep within the hybrid’s soul. “You are much stronger . . . and only you can make your power known to all . . .”

 

Every thought of outrage caused Tram’s anger to flare more and more until he charged forward with an all-out attack towards the much smaller Jadze, who continued to stand her ground. I’ll kill all that dare to oppose my strength, even if they happen to be family!

 

“I . . . AM . . . NOT . . . WEAK!” Tram barked shrilly between breaths as his widened jaws of sharp teeth prepared to strangle the she-pup without wavering. He shouted loudly as he drew ever closer to his target, his little niece.

 

Although frightened by the charge, Little Jadze was not going to back down.

 

“Jadze! Move away and save yourself!” The dark-red male barked at his friend, hoping that he could get her to reconsider; however, not even the cries from Rife would be enough to make her change her mind. She was headstrong and willing to defend herself, despite not having any real training.

 

Well, neither am I, Tram . . . Neither am I! The beige pup clenched her teeth tight and angrily dug her clawed paws into the ground, ready to brace herself for the worst . . .

 

The hit never came. Instead, Little Jadze saw a red blur shoot from in front of her, deflecting Tram’s charge away from the smaller pup.

 

Her face grew wide with surprise and complete amazement. “Rife?” The dark pup was now down on the ground, bleeding in the spot on his side where he had taken his brother’s hit. “Oh my gosh, Rife!” Little Jadze gasped at the sight of the thin stream of blood staining Rife’s white belly.

 

Tram was knocked away from where his brother and niece were, panting and recovering from the impact a few yards away from the other two pups. He was furious that his own little brother would actually protect his target like he did. “You . . . you coward . . .” he murmured with a growl at the sight of Rife’s form on the ground. Still, he did not bother to finish him off, only sitting down with a huff of frustration. “I’ll get you . . . next time . . .” His icy-cold glare was directed towards the she-pup, as was his thoughts of revenge. And next time, you won’t have anyone around to protect you . . . I swear I won’t miss . . .

 

Rife was still alive, but he didn’t move from the ground much. His breaths were slow to contain what remaining strength he had left, as well as to not bleed to possible death. Luckily, Little Jadze was immediately by his side, still in shock.

 

“Thank you, Rife . . . please hang in there . . .” Tears fell from her eyes as she spoke calmly to him, hoping that nothing else would happen to the brave pup that protected her.

 

She didn’t know why it happened, but the cream-beige pup felt her head lift up and her eyes close as a sudden howl slipped from her lips. It was a feeling she had never felt before, but it was almost like second nature. The clear, serene sound of the howl was merely a song, a song remembering the act of a wolf that risked his life for another’s. As childlike as the cry was, it was filled with pure emotion and sorrow.

 

When Aleu arrived to the scene, she saw her daughter’s actions in front of her, still standing above Rife’s fallen form with one of her forepaws slightly in the air. “What . . . what happened here?” She asked her daughter once she made it to the cream pup’s side when she finally stopped her cry.

 

“Oh my . . . Rife!” Saba made it there moments later; seeing her son wounded on the ground, a gasp escaped from her lips. She too was surprised to see that it was Little Jadze, not Rife, that had made the howl she and Sunny had heard; however, her son was a higher priority right now. Running to where Rife was, she moved Little Jadze from Rife’s side and tried to make sure he was okay. “Rife . . . Rife, please wake up . . .”

 

“What happened, dear?” Aleu repeated her query once more. “Are you all right?”

 

“I . . . I’m fine, thanks to Rife,” She told her mother, still in a bit of disbelief at what had happened in a matter of minutes. “He and Tram were about to fight each other, but I stopped them.” She sighed deeply, still catching her breath. “Sunny wanted to defend her brother, but I wouldn’t let her . . . and Tram charged at me,” She turned to the glaring almost-yearling with his light-blue eyes, trying hard not to taunt him by sticking out her tongue. “but Rife took the hit in my place.”

 

“That was very brave of you, but it was also quite foolish, Jadze,” Aleu scolded her, giving her a nip on the flank. Oh, she is so much like her father, . . . maybe a little too much, the mother thought to herself with a slight smile, but this was a serious situation. “I’m sure that your intentions were pure and well, but you’re still much younger than they are,” Aleu explained to her, knowing that Little Jadze was probably wondering why she was being punished. “It could have been you bleeding on the ground where Rife is if he hadn’t saved you, you know.”

 

“I know, but I felt like I had to do something, Mama,” The she-pup whined sadly. “I could have taken him on . . . I know it.”

 

“I’m just glad that you’re okay,” Aleu licked Little Jadze’s head, trying to cheer her up. “Besides, you’ll be formally trained starting tomorrow morning.” She turned her head back, looking at her sister with worry. Hopefully, Saba will be fine enough to train both of us, the former Alpha thought in her head while watching the white wolf try to lick the blood off of Rife’s wound. “We both will, actually. I’ve arranged for Saba to teach us together, so that when you learn, I’ll relearn, okay?”

 

Little Jadze nodded. “Okay.” This time, she turned to where Rife was finally stirring awake in the presence of his mother and smiled. “Maybe next time I’ll be the one protecting him.”

 

Aleu looked back at her daughter with a look of surprise, but relaxed and joined her in a smile. “Maybe, my dear . . . maybe.”

 

“Is Rife . . . I mean, will he be okay, Mama?” Little Jadze asked, still not taking her eyes from him.

 

“I think he’s in good paws,” Aleu murmured, basing her response on her observations.

 

 

 

“What were you thinking, young man?” Everest was growling quite furiously in the Alpha’s den.

 

There was only him, Saba and Tram in the room right now, and

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