hide it from Nila.
 Suddenly, Nila stopped. She cocked her ears forwards, and listened. A dog was barking, and the noise was getting louder, and louder, and louder.
 In a flash she was sprinting for her life, leaving her sister far behind. Too terrified to care about anything else but her own suvival, she plunged into the end of a hollow log. She sat there, trembling, as hurried paws ran over the ground towards her. This is it. The end. It's probably got Fal by now aswell, and it's all my fault... she thought hopelessly.
 But the paws were not of a dog (a terrier to be exact), but of Fal. She shot into the log too, banging heads with her sister. For the moment they both forgot about their differences, and focused on getting through this mess.
 Soon the dog approached. The terrier sniffed the air and growled. Coming close to the log, nose to the ground, the wolf pups tensed. Suddenly the terrier leapt at one end of the log, forcing both sisters to shoot out of the other one. But as they ran through the minature trees, the two pups were separated.
 Fal's heart was racing faster than anything that ever existed. It felt like it was going to burst out of her chest any second. She began to slow, and eventually stopped for breath. Looking around, she found she was well and truely lost. And then the horrible baying started. Looking over her shulder, Fal saw the terrier coming straight for her. Starting off again, she tumbled down a large rock face. The last thing she remembered was the yapping of the dog, and a wolf's shadow leaning over her. Then she passed out.

9

Lost

Lei woke to the sound of loud barking and fierce growls. She almost surfaced the den but remembered the rules of safety. She lay back down, and counted her children for a motherly reason.
 "Targ, Fox-"
 She paused. She counted again. Two. There were only two puppies. She looked about her, franticly, praying to the Bronze Canfa that they were somewhere in the den. But she found nothing. Once more she was about to leave the old fox set, but realised there was nothing she could do. If she did leave the den, then what? The odds of finding her daughters without being seen was a million to one. All she could do was wait for nightfall and alert Kach as soon as possible.

Nila slowed to a halt. She looked through the trees. Nothing. Panting, she lay on her side. Her lungs ached. Her head throbbed. Her heart pounded. After a while, she got up and walked in a random direction. If she came to the edge of the park she could follow it to the Bronze Canfa, then wait to be saved by the pack! It was a perfect plan, impossible to fail.
 But she had not gone a hundred yards when the familiar yapping sound shivered down her spine. Staggering into a run, she found her legs couldn't take it. Colapsing in a pile of leaves, she waited for the terrier to do it's work. The dog soon found her, and a ear-piercing screech of pain rang through the air of Manhatten.

Lei heard the screech. "Nila." she sighed to herself. Breaking into a cry, she fell asleep.

Kach had a grave look on his face. He sat before the statue, growling to himself, as if trying to make contact with their God.
 "Why do you torement me Bronze Canfa? Why? What have I done wrong? Why? Why? Why?"
 Jo sat with Toma, putting a paw over her boys to give them a sense of love. Tooth was as quiet as ever, never making a comment, never giving expression. Buck was heavily depressed. He was best friends with Nila, maybe he even - loved - her. And he had only just met Fal. A waste of two fantastic souls. And the terrier wouldn't have eaten them, just got a taste of their blood for entering his territory. His depression turned to sickness, his sickness into anger, his anger into hate. He hated the tame canfa, and if he ever got his paws on one of them...
 Lei sat alone on the grass. She had litterly just taken to eating dandylions in times of stress. This was one of those times.

A few days later, Akila was out hunting. She had recently found it difficult to cope in getting food as she now lived by herself. Whilest prowling for a meal, she head a rumor via the squirrels. A white wolf pup had been seen wandering the park alone. Akila turned to tell Lei, then went back, killed the squirrel and took it with her.
 Lei was lying under a pine tree when Akila appeared. "This squrriel said there was a white wolf pup roaming the park!" she exclaimed with glee. Lei bolted upright. There was still a chance...
 "I'm going to find her. Don't worry about me, just tell Kach I'm gone!" she shouted as she vanished into the darkness.
 Nila stumbled again. This was hopeless. She listened with extreme caution. Her belly cried out for a filing, but she could not even find the carcass of a dead bird, let alone hunt. She heard a shuffling of leaves to her right. A soft voice called her name. It grew louder and louded until she recognised that voice. "Mother! Mother! I'm here!" she howled. A second later she felt the gentle clasp of a jaw on the scruff of her neck, and was carried safely home.

Kach sat with his mate on the edge of the lake. He flicked his tail as they watched the sunset. "So," he said, breaking the silence, "What do you think of this summer?"
 "What do I think?" Lei relpied. She gave her answer both thught and honesty. "I have lost one of my children, a wolf tried to frame my brother for my apparent death, and you almost got yourself killed. But all in all, we suvived."

The Central Park Pack is copyrighted to gemmawolf, Balto Source. No exceptions.