right now, and it had been a few hours since the clash between the young relatives; Sunny and Rife were fast asleep in a nearby room, but one would fear that the loudness of the father’s voice would accidentally wake them.

 

“First, you disgraced your mother, the Alpha of our Clan, with your degrading words . . . then you made your sister’s leg bleed when she clearly told you to stop . . . and you even tried to attack your own niece, who is only a couple months old . . .” The rugged husky male paced back and forth in front of the seated male pup. His voice was fatherly yet stern, but none of the strict tone caused Tram to change his straight, expressionless face. “You’re not full-grown yet, Tram, but you need to learn to act like you have some common sense!”

 

“Hmph,” Tram turned his head away from Everest aloofly. “Whatever.” Maybe you’re the one who needs some common sense, Father!

 

“Tram, pay attention to your father this instant!” Saba barked at him, trying to make him understand. The pup only looked back at them with a glare, still feeling unafraid and completely unaware of how his actions made them so cross.

 

“Maybe I don’t want to,” Tram scoffed under his breath. “I’m old enough to do what I want!”

 

“Tram, we’re only your parents, and we know that you are into your wolf heritage more than your siblings, but there are still rules that you must learn to follow,” Saba’s tone went calm and motherly, thinking that perhaps the strict way wasn’t the right way to settle Tram’s rebellious streak. “Just because you’re not a pup anymore doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you want in a Clan.”

 

“That’s right, son. Even we had to learn to follow the ways and rules once we took refuge with the Talbourne Clan,” Everest finished the little speech, also following his sister’s example. “And as long as you live here, you must learn to follow them also.”

 

“I’ll just run away,” Tram stood to his paws with a loud voice. “Then I won’t have to live by your stupid rules!”

 

“You’re too young to be out on your own, Tram,” Saba told her oldest son. “Besides, you’re better off living in a Clan, where everyone helps out for the good of all.”

 

“. . . Oh, you’re not going to let her talk to you that way, are you?” Tram could hear the voice calling him in his head.

 

“That’s what you think,” Tram huffed at his mother, acting quite confident in himself after that boost from the voice that believed in him. “I betcha I could last years on my own . . . without any of your help!” A growl found its way out of his mouth.

 

“I’ve lived out in the woods alone for almost four years, and I can tell you that it is not easy,” Everest explained, hoping that his son would take his wisdom to heart. “Defending your home, finding food, keeping warm . . . I struggled to survive, but somehow Aniu had a higher plan for me.”

 

“. . . Aniu . . . hmph! That’s nothing more than a fairy tale . . . a farce . . . Only the weak would actually believe in such nonsense . . . No wonder those two don’t understand that you are strong . . .”The voice commented, causing Tram to chuckle deviously.

 

You’re right, the pup replied back. When I run away, I’ll find others that will notice my strength . . . and then . . . I’ll prove to them that I never needed them!

 

“Well, perhaps there is a higher plan for me too . . .” Tram began to walk past his parents, still not bothering to care for anything they said. “But my destiny lies out there – away from you!” His gait turned into a sprinted run as he made his way out of the Alpha’s den.

 

“Wait!” Saba barked at him, hoping that her newfound agility would stop her son from making such a reckless mistake. “Tram, stop!” Never before had she felt so fast and fleet-footed as she leapt in front of the den entrance.

 

She was able to block his much smaller form, but what he told her next made her almost paralyzed to where she stood. His voice sounded not like his own, but there was another voice that seemed to be overlapping Tram’s . . . it was a sinister tone, one of pure evil . . . They spoke together, cursing her with a promise.

 

“The next time we see each other, you’ll regret that you ever defied me . . . I swear it . . .”

 

Saba couldn’t move a muscle, but she managed to gasp. That . . . that voice . . . It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t recognize it because of how faint it was compared to her son’s voice. Tram smirked at the sight and bolted quickly past her before she could recover the strength to try to retrieve him.

 

“Tram!” Everest darted towards where Saba and his son were, but it was no use. Tram had already made it to the bottom shelf of their main den. He barked to the guards at the main entrance to their caverns – “Guards! Stop that runaway!” – but it was to no avail; the bright-red hybrid pup had leapt over each of the lupine guards and was now in the wilderness, freed from the bonds of the Talbourne Clan.

 

So long, Talbourne . . . Tram simpered with a final look back before running forward towards a destiny that awaited him . . . somewhere out in the Alaskan wilderness.

 

“May you soon rest in piecesssss . . .”

 

 

 

“His trail is faint, buried in the fresh snow,” Shadow announced to the wolf council. “I fear he could be miles from here by now, but it’s impossible to track him by now.” His ears fell. “I’m sorry, Saba, but he’s long gone.”

 

“Thank you,” Saba nodded to her sister’s mate, allowing him to be seated. Beside her was Everest, who was trying his hardest to keep from showing his real emotions. It was only an hour after Tram had run away, but she managed to call an emergency meeting with the Talbourne wolf council almost immediately. “Although he is my son, we must fear for our safety now that he is running free.”

 

There was mainly elders present, that’s what the council was made up of. It was mostly the same ones from when she and her family was inducted into the Clan nearly a year ago. Aleu was there too – as a former Alpha herself, her knowledge would prove useful to the Talbourne Clan.

 

“She’s right,” Aleu commented on her sister’s words. “Tram, although he is young, knows vital information about our Clan . . . information that could prove useful to rival Clans that are our enemies.”

 

Nava stood up to comment. “Based on what I see, young Tram is reckless – he does not know how much he has affected the rest of us with his selfishness. We are all in great danger as long as he roams free.”

 

“We tried to tell him that, but it seems that he wouldn’t hear us out,” Everest told the council. “Based on what our daughter has told us, she sensed something different about Tram . . . something sinister and evil . . .”

 

An orange wolf named Haroe stood up. “That’s preposterous, Everest.” He let out a small scoff of disapproval. “Perhaps your daughter is merely imagining these things. Everyone knows that pups have a vivid mind for making things up.”

 

The red male glared his brown eyes at the orange lupine; just the sight of the angered Everest with his scarred eye made Haroe slightly jump back – when he wanted to be, Everest could strike fear into the hearts of those that upset him.

 

Most of the other wolves murmured amongst themselves before another wolf, a gray female named Kema, offered a response. “How should we know whether Saba’s daughter is right or wrong in her theory? She could be right.”

 

“But she could be wrong,” Haroe barked back, causing the two of them to growl at each other before another bark silenced them.

 

“Enough!” Saba spoke out loudly, causing a hush to blow over them all. Once everyone was quiet, she began to speak again. “I know that it sounds strange, but I know Sunny is telling the truth.” A fluttering of light gasps swept across the cavern, but she continued to explain. “When Tram attacked my son, Rife, Sunny mentioned to me the same thing that she told Everest. However, it was when Tram ran away that I realized that she was right.”

 

Again, there was more mutterings and murmurs amongst the elders and the rest of the council.

 

“When he said something to me before he ran off, it . . . oh, I’m not sure how to explain it . . . but it wasn’t just his voice I heard . . . There was another voice mixing with his, a faint but threatening one . . .” Saba shook away the sudden cold chills she got just by thinking of it. “It was one I had heard before, but somehow I couldn’t recognize it off-hand.” Her ears fell, making her feel almost like a failure. “I just have this feeling that . . . that something is going to happen because of this . . .”

 

“A calm before the storm . . .” Aleu murmured, causing Saba’s ears to rise. Maybe this is what Muru meant, not the attack on Little Jadze and Rife . . . Although that made sense now to her, still the vision she had earlier in the morning continued to perplex her. Does this have something to do with Shade returning, although it’s impossible for him to do so?

 

Saba nodded, remembering the conversation that she had with Aleu earlier that day. “Aleu’s right. I fear that perhaps our times of peace may be nearing an end. We must take these signs seriously and not let our guard down.”

 

“I agree – we cannot risk being caught off-guard,” Shadow concurred. “As a leader of a main sentry and attack team, I know we should do whatever it takes to make sure that all guards are up to speed on battling and defense tactics.”

 

“Yes, and I’ll help you with that too,” Everest volunteered. “We’ll need to be in tiptop shape should anything come up.” He turned to Saba with a slight smile on

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