my teeth, but Kaya’s struggle caught my eye.

“Let her go” I repeated. “You have nothing against her”

Boss glanced over his shoulder at Kaya. He looked between me and Kaya, a smile cracking on his face.

                        “This your mate now?” he sneered.

“No” I said flatly, squinting my eyes again.

Boss walked over to Kaya, motioning for One and Two to drop her. Kaya bristled up and growled at Boss, who just came closer and closer. Panic started to grip me.

“Leave her alone!” I said weakly, ears starting to fall back.

Boss didn’t listen. He leaned forward and licked Kaya’s face. Kaya shot backwards and snarled.

“Leave her alone!” I thundered.

Boss whipped around. I dropped to my stomach and flattened my ears.

“I’m sorry for whatever reason you hated me or my family for”

Boss’s pack started to whisper and Boss glared at them.

                        “He’s no hero!” Boss snarled. “And he’s going to pay for what he caused me!”

Boss lunged and knocked into me, sending me rolling on the ground. I tumbled and stopped in front of Kaya. The fight and thirst for revenge was gone now. Kaya looked down at me with fear and worry in her blue eyes.

“Kaya, you have to go!” I whispered quickly. “I don’t want you to get hurt”

Before Kaya could reply, Boss whipped around by my back leg.

“I don’t want to fight you, you’d win”

                        “Get up and fight you filthy half- bred!” he snarled.

I stayed on the ground and shook my head no. Boss looked around and his eyes locked on Kaya again. Why didn’t Kaya run when she had the chance?! Boss stomped over to her and before she could react, he pinned her down and put his teeth to her throat.

“Stop!” I yelped. “I’ll do whatever you want!”

Boss looked up and grinned, letting Kaya slip away.

“Just let me talk to Kaya” I almost whispered.

Kaya walked over to me, the look on her face was impossible to read.

“Listen Kaya, you have got to go. He’ll kill you the next chance he gets, I’m sure of it”

            “You can’t take him on your own” she whispered, ears going back.

I grimaced and looked at the ground for a second.

“If I don’t make it out of this Kaya…”

Kaya furrowed her brow, eyes starting to brim with tears. I tried to smile for her and she nuzzled me quickly, then took off. Boss flipped me over and I yelped from shock. Kaya hesitated and looked back.

“GO!” I yelled.

Kaya shook her head and ran as fast as she could.

The sun was starting to set and the lower it sank, the more I thought that going out to pick a fight with Boss was stupider and stupider. Boss started to circle me and I bared my teeth and circled him. He was defiantly bigger then me. He snarled and dived and by some chance I dodged him. He leaped again, I tried to dodge but wasn’t as lucky. Boss didn’t bite, but the force of the hit sent me flying backwards. The powdery snow cushioned my fall and I scrambled to my feet just in time to take another hit and crash into a tree. I got back up and shook my head. The alpha stood there waiting.

            “This is too easy. Stop holding back” he snorted.

Before I could tell him I wasn’t he charged again and this time I jumped, landing on his back. I snarled and grabbed the scruff of his neck and shook my head like I had earlier. It was almost like it had no effect at all. He growled louder and grabbed my foot in his teeth. Just before he pulled, I let go of his neck and grabbed his ear. He threw me and I yanked his ear hard. Boss howled in pain. I jumped back up to my feet and saw my chance. I grabbed onto his tail and shook, yanked and pulled. Boss yelped and lashed out blindly, hitting me across the face. I hit the ground, but not as hard as before and charged, thinking that I might actually have a chance.

Boy was I wrong. His brothers, One and Two came to fight me while their brother recovered. One, the bigger grey, grabbed the scruff of my neck and dragged me while Two crouched down, ready to beat me up. I stretched around and grabbed One’s front paw in my mouth and bit as hard as I could. One cried and scrambled away. Two tucked his tail between his legs and retreated without me even looking at him.

 Boss seemed to be fine now. He rolled his shoulders and grinned. We both ran at each other at full speed. There was a few seconds of dead silence before we clashed. We slammed into each other, teeth clicking from snapping and paws slashing even though our nails weren’t very sharp. Even though I got in a few bites myself, I received a few bites that sent a shock wave through me. Finally, we fell away from each other to take a breath.  He looked at me and laughed at something, making his breath a cloud. I tried to catch my breath, but it was like my lungs just couldn’t pump enough air. What was wrong with me?!

Boss didn’t give me a chance to think. He charged once more but I couldn’t make myself move. He broadsided me and I flew back, smashing my head on something hard. Everything went black, but only for a few minutes. Someone was sniffing me. I struggled a little and managed to find my feet again.

                        “He’s still alive Boss!”

I heard voices murmuring...

            “That’s not impressive at all” Boss growled. “Anyone can survive that!”

He grabbed me by the back of my neck and dragged me to the creek and tossed me in a spot where a wolf had dug a drinking hole. He tried to push me in, but I pulled him in with me. His weight made me sink underwater and I choked on the water I swallowed. I struggled but couldn’t squirm away. I couldn’t get away…but I couldn’t give up. I sank my teeth in whatever part of Boss was holding me under water. Even though I was underwater, I could hear Boss’s howl of pain. He leapt off of me and I thrashed over to the opposite side of the creek, sputtering and coughing. I was too cold, too tired, too sore to fight anymore. I plopped down on the ground and shivered.

            “Get back up and fight!” Boss spat.

I stayed frozen where I was. I was going to lose this fight big time. But Kaya should have gotten the pack…I might have some chance.

            “Fight!” he thundered.

My legs shook as I tried to stand again. Boss knocked into me and I rolled in the snow. I didn’t do anything. There was nothing left to do… I felt drained, as if all the energy was sucked out of me. Boss came over to me again, towering over me.

“You win” I said, voice cracking. “I can’t fight anymore”

A big smile stretched across Boss’s face. Boss called One over to him. Half of his pack didn’t look like they wanted him to win.

            “You’re a sad excuse for a hybrid, even a dog” Boss said, making a tsking noise.

One rolled me over on my side, and I was too tired to care. I had no idea what they were doing until One moved my head so that my neck was exposed…

 “Buck?! Buck?!”

            As if on cue, my pack, lead by a very angry Ataneq and worried Kaya, rushed onto the scene. Even though Boss’s pack had a new alpha, our pack was still stronger and chased them across the ice and back over their side of the creek. Kaya was the first to reach me and nudged my head.

“Buck! Stay with us okay? We’re here now! Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep!”

                       “Why do you have to be like you’re father?” Ataneq said standing over me.

“I’m fine! I’m still alive!” I said warily. Boss was still on the other side of the river.

                        “Hey Ataneq! How bout you and me have a go! Aniu’s pup isn’t going to last much longer! You should be even easier!”

            “Buck’s fine! He barely has any scratches!” Ataneq thundered back.

                        “Look at his chest!” Boss called boastingly.

Ataneq whipped around and Talon pulled me to my feet. The white fur on my chest was stained with red. The snow where I had just been lying was pink. Now that I saw it, it started to hurt. The cold water had probably numbed it. Kaya started to clean it furiously.

            “Why did you