VOICES:

-Buck: Mark Harmon

-Kaya: Sasha Alexander

-Bristol: Patrick Swayze

-Bear: William Lee Scott

-Yukon: Toby Maguire

-Atka: Jennifer Morrison

-Nero: John Cusack

-Boss: Brian Blessed

   After days of patiently waiting for the exhausted moose to give in, we almost had our meal. We almost had it….

Suddenly, the moose jerked forward and Nero lost a little of his grip on the leg he was holding on to. Without that grip, the shaggy beast was able to launch an attack of it’s own. It kicked out and broadsided a wolf. It wouldn’t have been that bad, except the wolf who got kicked was me. 

            “Sorry!” Nero barked, letting go of the leg he was holding onto.

“Don’t!”

It was too little to late. Without Nero’s help, the moose shook it’s massive head and bucked, sending wolves flying everywhere. Away went our dinner without another thought. For a moment, everyone was quiet, but then it hit. No dinner again. The wolves started to pull themselves up.

“Is everyone okay?” I said, surveying the damage.

My pack nodded; everyone was on their feet and no one had broken anything. Bear and Xenia shook off and scrambled after the moose.  

“Let it go… we need a break” I said, still panting.

            “Sorry” Nero almost whispered, lowering himself to the ground.

“It’s okay…”

The wolves around me grumbled and plopped down on the ground. They knew it wasn’t okay. Kaya, who was thrown to the other side of the clearing, finally made her way over to me.

            “You okay?” she asked, nuzzling my chest.

“Yeah, just a kick, I’m fine…” I smiled.

Kaya glared at Nero. The poor hybrid caught Kaya looking at him and tried to make himself shrink.

            “I can’t do anything right in this pack…” he mumbled, looking at the ground.

“Why don’t you go look after the pups? You’re good at that…” I offered.

            “It’s the only thing I’m good at” he moaned. “And it’s not even a really good job”

But he reluctantly picked himself off of the ground and headed back to the den, head low and tail trailing on the ground. I watched the pup go and couldn’t help to pity him. Kaya must have felt the same way.

            “He’s not that wild like his brother and sister is he? Maybe we shouldn’t have taken him in…”

                        “We shouldn’t have!” Bear spat. “He just cost us a meal and we haven’t eaten in days!”

“Watch it Bear!” I growled. “He’s still part of the pack. If you’re so hungry go get your own food”

            “Lets just go home” Xenia whined.

“We might as well… it’s getting dark and we’re not going to catch anything else today anyway”

            As we started back, the cold, overcast sky reflected the pack’s mood. The dusty snow that had fallen but only just manage to stick blew out from under us. Before going home, I stopped the pack at the creek to get a drink. Since it was almost fall, the creek that wound through our territory had a film of ice over it. It was thin, but it still took a lot of effort to break through. After breaking a little chunk, the pack solemnly drank.

“Come on you guys, cheer up” I said, trying to be cheerful. “We’ve gone longer without food before! t’s not winter yet and no one’s even tried to start a fight”

No one said anything. And no one seemed to cheer up.

I shrugged and we continued back to the den.

But as we reached the wide ledge that connected to the den, I could tell there was something wrong. Something was very wrong. It was absolutely quiet.

Where were the pups?!

            The pack, with it’s mood already sour, started to swarm around, looking for signs of our missing family. There was no doubt that if this was anyone’s fault, everyone was going to blame Nero.

Then as the search began, a horrifying discovery was made: obvious signs of a struggle mixed in with a blend of scents, both familiar and despised. As soon as the scent hit our noses, the pack leapt off, like one wolf instead of a dozen. The scent grew stronger as we rushed on. My heart beat rapidly, faster then it ever had before, but fatigue didn’t touch me. Only adrenaline did. The scent was leading us down to the northern territory. Just before reaching the vast open of the border, the sounds of fighting reached our ears. With a giant leap, I lead the pack to what was sure to be a fight.

Nero threw himself at Boss, who had Dakota. In a flash, Boss dropped Dakota and dove for Nero. What happened next was a blur. Fangs met fur, black mixed with red. And Nero fell to the ground, dead.

Silence fell like a rock. Atka, who was being held by an enemy wolf, looked like she was going to faint. Yukon lay unconscious at her feet. The two wilder hybrids were badly cut up, but not nearly as bad as their dead brother.

Fury built up within me. For the first time in my whole life, I wanted to kill. Boss cracked a grin when Nero didn’t get back up to his feet. Time started to move again when Boss returned to five month old Dakota. Wolves moved in all directions, sounds of teeth clicked and growls broke out. I dove for Boss, who scooped up Dakota in his teeth and took off. As I ran through the blur of wolves, I saw Kaya wrestle Anyu away from an enemy wolf. Sitka, who had freed herself, was trying to attack Talon, but Talon was after me. The last thing I saw was Atka and the just awakened Yukon, mourning their older brother, a hero. The sounds of war faded away as I weaved through trees and shrubs. Boss led me up the trail that would bring us to the den and the lookout to the northern territory. At the cliff overlooking the northern territory, Boss stopped and spun around, grinning. Two wolves were with him now. A scuffle over my shoulder told me that three others had followed me up. 

 “Did you really plan this all out just to get me?!” I said quietly, ready to explode.

            “I helped!” Talon sneered.

“Shut up traitor!” I snarled.

Boss dropped Dakota on the ground.

                        “Do you want him? Take him” he grinned again.

Boss gave Dakota a little shove and I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out what he was going to do next. Dakota took a small step and I walked closer, trying to keep an eye on all six wolves. Boss just grinned. I jumped for Dakota and Boss did too. I swept up Dakota into my mouth but felt Boss’s jaws close around my neck. But I was stronger and smarter since the last time we had fought. I rolled over and flipped him, pushing his head into the snow as I got up.

            Talon and the other four backed me into a corner while Boss struggled to get his head unstuck. He pulled it out and shook furiously, gasping. Then he turned back to me, grin gone and eyes burning.

                        “You’re going to pay for that” he snarled.

I dropped Dakota on the ground and stood in front of him.

“Stop where you are!” I roared.

Boss stopped, confused.

                        “You’re not in any place to make orders”

I glanced down the trail. Boss laughed.

                        “Your packs not going to help you this time! They don’t even know you’re gone!”

“Then there’s only one thing I can do” I said dangerously.

I snatched up Dakota again and sprinted toward Boss. Boss laughed and sidestepped- like I had hoped he would. Then they gasped as I leapt right over the edge of the cliff.

The only good thing that came out of fighting in the heart of your own territory was that you knew it better then your attackers. For example, the cliff I had just jumped wasn’t actually a cliff. It might have looked like the most dangerous part of the surrounding cliffs, which was probably why Boss had brought us here, but it might have well have been a grassy hill. But it was still rocky. As we started to fall, I did my best to tuck myself into a ball and keep Dakota from hitting anything. I hit the rocky wall and we rolled, making everything a blur as the world spun around us. Then we hit the ground but instead of stopping, slid. When we stopped, I opened my eyes. We were on the frozen creek. I looked behind me and could easily see the hole in the ice I had created. Other