against her fur. “I don’t want a bath! I know that Sunny’s waiting for me and I can’t be late!”

 

“Oh, where are you two off to today?” Aleu asked. She knew that Saba and Everest liked the fact that their three children now had a playmate, but since Sunny, Tram and Rife were a few months older than her daughter, Aleu knew they were bound to play roughly. But it was nice to know that Little Jadze had someone around her own age to play with. After all, the little beige pup could learn a thing or two about fighting from them – although the trio of pups were born in the tame world, they did not have enough time to get used to the presence of humans.

 

“It’s . . . it’s nowhere special, really . . .” The cream-beige she-pup responded innocently with a tricky grin on her face, despite the gentle strokes of wet tongue on her chest.

 

“Hmm, . . . well, hopefully it’s not somewhere you’re not supposed to be.” Aleu did know that her little girl could be rather troublesome at times, and she loved to take Saba and Everest’s pups on the ride. “I know how you like to run off and get into trouble.”

 

“Not all the time,” Little Jadze let out a small comment under her breath, but slightly hesitated with the rest of her response after hearing her mother’s tone bearing down on her guilty conscience. “Besides, we’re . . . um, we’re just going to explore the top shelf, Mom,” the pup answered, having no choice but to give into the dread of having a bath. “I promise, we’re not going anywhere else.”

 

“Well, I guess that’s all right,” Aleu said after touching up her daughter’s tiny tuft of fur between her large ears. “Just be careful when you play. Your father and I don’t want you hurting yourself by rough-housing or getting into trouble.”

 

“Oh, it’s all right – I’m just curious about where they live on the top shelf, so I won’t be reckless like Sunny’s brothers are,” Little Jadze’s head began to tilt to one side as she suddenly posed a question to her mother. “Oh, I don’t understand it . . .They live up there, and we’re always down here near the bottom – why is that so, Mama?”

 

Aleu’s eyelids lowered. “Well, for one thing, their mother, your aunt Saba, is the Alpha of the pack – she has to be protected, so her family lives up there so that nothing happens to them.”

 

“Well, that’s not fair,” Little Jadze whined. “They get to be protected while the rest of us are all in danger – shouldn’t we all be protected from trouble, Mama?”

 

“We are protected, little one,” Aleu smiled at her curious daughter. “You remember how I told you about the Great Aniu?” Little Jadze nodded. “Well, she protects us from harm and makes sure that everyone that believes in her power stays safe. She even performs miracles – I was brought back to life, thanks to her . . . and how else would I have had you?”

 

The pup’s ears fell in shame. She was old enough to learn about the circumstances of her birth weeks ago and many still considered her as either a miracle or a curse upon their Clan. “I’m sorry, Mom . . . I just . . . I . . . I . . .”

 

Aleu nudged her daughter, comforting her. “Oh, I understand. You’re just young right now, but in a few months you’ll understand why things are the way they are here.” Little Jadze stood up after enduring her bath and giggled as her mother nudged her in the flank. “Now, I do believe you have a play-date, yes?”

 

“Yeah!” the little pup leapt up and down in excitement. “Will you take me there, Mama? Please?” Little Jadze begged.

 

“Oh, why not,” Aleu agreed, much to her daughter’s happiness. “Besides, I have to speak with Saba about something, so we can do that while the two of you explore.”

 

“Okay – let’s go!” the bright beige pup scampered out of the den and yipped, waiting for Aleu to follow her lead.

 

“Don’t run off too far ahead, little one,” Aleu barked as she slowly made her way out of the den. “I don’t want you to run off.” Within a minute, mother and daughter were together, beginning to make their way to Saba’s top-shelf home.

 

As they walked, the thought of that vision continued to ring through Aleu’s mind, despite Little Jadze’s cheerful leaping and bounding in front of her as they climbed shelf after shelf to the highest dens.

 

I really don’t understand what this means, Aleu thought, remembering seeing the faces of those she loved being killed by Shade’s evil power. Why did it all feel so real? A tear dripped down her cheek, but she shook it off easily, so as not to worry her little pup. Saba must know something . . . and if she doesn’t, I should still warn her of this possible threat . . . I know Aniu would want me to tell her what I saw . . .

 

However, one other thing bothered her just as much: I just don’t understand – why was I the one that was being protected by everyone else? Even if there was a threat to the Talbourne, Saba would easily be first priority over me . . .

 

I’m only a former Alpha now, just a regular member of the pack . . . I shouldn’t have special treatment just because I can’t be revived anymore . . . I just want to be normal, just a normal old wolf . . . and not someone that everyone has to protect . . .

 

I don’t want anyone else to die because of me . . .

 

 

Chapter IX

 

“Catch the pebble, Jadze!” Sunny, a gray she-pup shouted to the creamy beige. She was a beauty, about nine months old . . . maybe a little older, but there was friendliness in her matching blue-gray eyes swimming in gold. By the light silver-white markings on her face, she looked more like a husky than a wolf, but her color shone like a glimmering flash against an indoor pool of sparkling water. With one of her marked paws, she hit a small rock towards her playmate.

 

“Got it!” The swift Little Jadze slid to catch the pebble with her front paw, blocking the shot. “Whew! That was a great shot, Sunny!”

 

The two friends ran to each other, not expecting to tackle themselves with their paws. Naturally, Sunny was on top, pinning down Little Jadze with her size and strength. They giggled and tried to maintain their positions. Of course, the younger of the two tried with all her might to push the larger pup off of her with her hind legs. It worked, but suddenly the two females were run over by the fast red blurs of Sunny’s two brothers, Rife and Tram.

 

Rife was the darker of the two males, looking a little like his father with his ivory legs and chest against his red coat. His eyes were a reddish-brown, a mix of his grandfather’s as well as Everest’s, and swallowed up in gold like most of the wolf-like members of his family. One of his eyes – his left – was patched in white. He was as gentle as his sister, but still he was a male just the same, one that liked to pounce and play. The oldest pup, Tram, was a lighter and brighter burgundy shade of red, more like Saba’s color prior to her transformation, but his markings of white-gray were only around his muzzle, down his chest and belly, and on his ankles. Unlike his siblings, his eyes were a cold icy-blue surrounded by white; however, he was the rougher of the three, always with a sense of fighting and pouncing in his eyes, so he naturally was the one to lead the charge towards the two girl pups.

 

“Hey! Get off of me!” Little Jadze grunted as Rife kept her pinned down.

 

“Yeah – we were playing and you ruined it! Let us go!” Sunny joined her friend’s retaliation as she tried to free herself from Tram’s grip. He only growled at her, nipping her right forepaw. “Ouch! That hurt, Tram!” She tried to defend herself by hitting him back with her paws. Each time Sunny tried to land a hit, she would miss him, causing the older pup to sneer and chuckle wickedly. Perhaps Tram liked to see his sister looking so defenseless underneath him . . . one could only guess.

 

Rife tried to imitate his brother, but hesitated to harm Little Jadze underneath him. All he did was growl at her, but it wasn’t like he enjoyed it – he actually liked the creamy beige pup as a friend, and he really didn’t want to hurt them like Tram did. He was the more chivalrous of the brothers, so he hoped that the girls would accept his forgiveness in the end; besides, he was only playing around.

 

“Hey, stop it!” Sunny barked, but when the boys seemed reluctant to release them, the gray had no choice but to get the authorities. “Mom! Tram and Rife won’t let us play!”

 

The white form of Saba was watching from afar with Aleu, just doing nothing but observing the actions of their growing children, but after hearing Sunny’s cries for help, both of them rushed to their side.

 

“Boys, get off of your sister and niece!” Saba scolded the brothers with a growl of warning. When they refused yet again – mainly it was Tram who was relentless in stopping – she had no choice but to physically remove them by force. “Come on, you two. That’s enough.” Saba grabbed the older pup with her jaws as Aleu took the other, moving them to a safer area, as well as putting themselves in between the boys and the girls.

 

“Mom, why did you do that?” Rife asked with a whine after being placed on the ground. “We were only playing with them with our pouncing and growling.”

 

“There’s a difference between playing and fighting, little one,” Saba spoke motherly to the darker son. “You of all pups should know that by now. You’re almost yearlings yourselves.”

 

“Your mother’s right,” Aleu joined in, turned her attention to the older brother. “Playing with each other is fine, but it’s not okay when someone gets hurt and says to stop.”

 

“Yeah, right,” Tram commented with an aloof expression towards the two

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