none.
 "Where's Latch?"

3

Death

Latch bounded quickly through the park. The moon lit the path lightly and soon the westward wall was in sight. Latch quickened his pace. Immature? He'd show his sister. He could die, have a wander around the concrete jungle, and be back in all under Caluk's watch. Then he would have the knowlage of the man, and more than that feral idiot Kach. The wolf's haterid grew stronger and he licked his lips in anticipation.
 The wall was a low, stone obstical. With ease the wolf leapt over it. Taking one more look at the trees within the boundries, Latch started to trot into the city.

Lei was in a frienzy. She was the one who had last spoken to him, and he seemed pretty fed up. What if he was dead? No, her brother would never be as stupid as that. Or could he? The she-wolf stopped in her tracks. Her brother was known to prove his point rather than sulk. Also she knew Latch would without haste decide to die before thinking about the long term welfare of the pack and it's future generations.
 Kach stood next to her.
 "Have you found his scent?" he asked.
 Lei shook her head. Tears were welling up in her eyes. "Oh! It's my fault!" she cried "I was the last person to talk to him and I said he was immature and selfish and he's now gone off and left our territory and put us all in grave danger!" She burried her face in her mate's shoulder. He licked her ear lovingly.
 "We'll find him," he promised "And everything will be alright. He'll be back by tomorrow difa. Just wait and see."

A sign glowed dimmly. It read:

VIRGIL'S

Latch liched the dripping neck of a discarded beer bottle. His tounge felt warm and everything went fuzzy for a fraction of a second. A glass smashed and he skipped away.
 Reaching the end of the alley, the wandering wolf experienced things like never before. There were hundreds of smells, from chocolate to coka cola, from pies to peanuts. And new sights. The flashing screens of Times Square, the advertisemets of 'Ripley's Odditorium', musicals such as 'The Lion King' and 'Avenue Q'. Of course, the wolf couldn't understand these, never mind explain them.
 To be better than Kach I have to know more and be able to explain it Latch said to himself as he followed a back street. It was parallel to Broadway and down each alley he could see the fantasic scenery. There were cars and taxis blasting their horns and the air was filled with the sickening scent of exhaust fumes. He had to get closer to see more and get better than his opponant.
 Carefully, the wolf crept down the alley and peered out form behind a large bin full of kitchen waste. Even though it was the time of Caluk's hunt, men were everywhere! Some were singing, some were staggering drunkly and others were fighting. It was horible. Creatures of such power and influence fighting among themselves, imagine what they could do the the pack!
 Latch froze. He suddenly realised something he had done. Yes, he had found out some important imformation. After all, that was the reason he left in the first place. But by leaving, he had forced himself and the other wolves into a corner of danger. No doubt someone had seen him, he had been crossing roads in the open, and he had howled once or twice.
 The terrified creature turned-tail, and ran.

Lei had given up for the night. The sun had risen and the pack had settled into a nervous sleep, all except for Lei. Her eyes refused to close and her mind was filled with terrifying thoughts of Latch and the wolves' future. Over the fithteen hours of sunlight she tossed and turned, wishing and pleading for the nasty thoughts to go away, but they didn't listen to her. At long last the sun set and she could leave the claustraphobic den.
 Sniffing the air, their was no sign of Latch. Ahe sighed and walked slowly to the Bronze Canfa.
 Lei stepped carfully among the rotting leaves. She knew the pack's days were numbered, but still she continued to hide their existance. As she neared the bridge she stopped. Latch was nearby, she could smell him. Putting her nose to the ground, she snuffed about, quickening her pace, until she was at a large tree hollow near the boundry of the park.
 "Latch?" she asked. There was no reply, but then she heard some shuffling, and her older brother emerged from the crack.
 A sigh of relief overtook her and in a second she was hugging her brother. Lei had been terrified that Latch had got himself killed by a man. But her sibling pulled away from the hug, head held low. Lei asked what was wrong and Latch said quietly, "I think I've given away our existance."

4

Missing Member

A meeting started immeadiately. A wave of panic flooded the pack, even though it had only a small number of wolves. Kach stated a case of emergancy, that deep dens should be dug and food shaould be stored. He thanked Latch for warning the pack instead of keeping quiet.
 But Latch was shifty for the next few days. He felt uncomfortable around others, feeling heavily guilty. When Lei tried to talk to him, he just took flight.
 Jo and Toma felt a little depressed themselves. Their announcement was meant to be a happy time, instead the panic was a bad omen. It was partly due to this omen that they held back the second announcement.
 Although nothing had been said, Lei could relate to that. Kach was in no state at the moment to be told. He was in far too deep with plans of storage and security.
 Difa felt left out. The fact nobaody had spoken to anybody since Latch revealed his horrifying news was bad, but she was on her own, with not another wolf beside her in her den.
 Jeke had dedicated most of his time to Akila, who was getting better, but he feared that with the lack of food she would soon fall ill again.
 All knew that they could only stay hidden for a limited amount of time. If Latch had not given them away already, sooner or later one member would run into a human.

And one did just that.

Jo one day left her den at sunset while Toma was asleep. She needed to talk with Lei. The walk was long, for she and Toma lived in a small cave on a rocky outcrop in the North-Westerly area of the park. It was a luxery suite, for the view of the Manhatten skyline was magnificent. It seemed almost worth the damage to the atmosphere that the heavy smog caused. But it was so beautiful. The grey silhouettes of the skyscrapers merged brilliantly with the reds, oranges, pinks and blues of the setting sun.
 To save time, Jo took the straight route to the leaders' den.
 Pausing outside the entrance, Jo called a name. "Lei?" It was the first word that had been spoken amongst the pack in a week. "Lei, are you there?"
 There came no reply for a minite, then Lei's soft voice told her to come in.
 The underground den was quite large, and suprisingly well lit. Lei sat down in the centre, flicking her tail onto the ground repeatedly, as if drumbing her fingers. "So. Why have you woken me?" she asked with a hint of disaprooval.
 Jo looked down shyly. "I wanted to talk to you, get some advice."
 Lei smiled. She haddn't meant to be so grouchy. After all, as alpha female it was her job to be an outreach for the pack. And Jo was her half sister. "Tell me all about it."
 "Well," Jo said, thinking how to put it "Me and Toma are going to have pups soon, but I'm worried something will happen. Such as, there won't be enough food so they'll starve or the pack turn on them because they're more mouths to feed, or they get killed by a man or a slave canfa, or something horrible. I know it's only the alphas that are supposed to breed, but I've always wanted my own children and there couldn't possibly be enough room for two packs in the park-"
 "Whoa!" Lei laughed kindly "Don't worry. I'll make sure the pack doesn't turn on them, and I understand a she-wolf's needs in life. Pups are a big part of our reason in life. We all need a mother, even the greatest heros of the past had a mother, and without that mother, they wouldn't exist. Now get some rest."

Once the nervous wolf had left to get some more sleep, Lei had a moment of thought to herself. At least Jo had told Toma, that was one better than her. Kach had to know, before the meeting started. Tonight he was going to announce how much each wolf needed to hunt and store, and if he didn't know about her and Jo's pups then the poor children wouldn't last a month.
 Lei staggered to her feet. The clock chimed nine, she had half an hour to get to Kach so that he could change the information. Lei ran out of the shelter of the den. She was about a mile and a half away, then she colapsed, feeling sharp pains in her sides. She was in the open, alone.
 Great...

The wolves were already assembled at the Bronze Canfa. Kach paced the rocks worryingly. Where was Lei, this was certainly no time to skip the meeting. Then again, why would she? She enjoys the meetings, Kach thought to himself, she wouldn't miss them for the world. And she knew better than anyone that this was probably the most important meeting in the history of Canfa. He sniffed the air, but it was a wind coming from the South, blowing her scent further away.
 That was it. The meeting should have started a full hour ago, it was time to send out a search. Kach called his pack together. "Meeting canceled boys, and girls," he added apolgeticly "As you can see, Lei hasn't turned up. We need to find her. Jeke, you scout ahead and go to our den, Latch, take the West side and check all up there. Jo try behind us and Difa and Toma, try to get her scent."
 "Hang on!" Latch said, with a small hint of sulkyness "What about you?"
 "I will come when called. Nobody is to howl until they find her. Understood?" It was not in the nature of wolves to reply, so they split up into the several groups that they had been set.

Jeke did as he was told, he scouted to the alphas' den. But