mate!”

                        “Anyu?!”

My brother, smiling from ear to ear ran up to me and nuzzled me. Sitka shrank away and lowered herself to the ground in submission.  

“Is this really happening?” I asked, smiling.

Dakota puffed out his chest.

                        “I’ve been planning this for a long time. It’s going to happen!”

I smiled and nuzzled him again.

“Well I’m glad to see you’re okay!”

                        “Come on!” Dakota said happily, nodding to a raised rock. “We’re going to attack tomorrow!”

            Happy as ever, I led my two sisters up to the tallest rock and stood boldly on top. I couldn’t believe that it worked! The rest of my pack had already returned and they rested below with the other small groups of wolves we had managed to round up. Our new group wasn’t that big, but added to my father’s old pack, we might equal Boss’s. I cleared my throat and everyone below stopped talking and listened.

“We all know why we’re gathered here!” I announced. “Boss needs to be taken out of power and we’re the only ones who can do it! There are already other wolves in Boss’s own pack that will help us fight! We attack tomorrow as soon as night falls! And we will get rid of Boss forever!”

The wolves below me cheered and the noise filled me with pride.

            Dakota turned around and headed back towards us. Anyu smiled and nuzzled him.

            “Dad would be proud of you” she said warmly.

He smiled wider and headed past me without acknowledging me. Anyu looked between us, confused. Once our brother was out of site, she turned to me.

            “What’s going on between you guys?”

I felt my own ears fold back and my eyes went to the ground.

“It’s kind of a long story… mostly embarrassing on my part. And now Dakota hates me”

            “He could never hate you!” Anyu said, nuzzling me.

“He said I was like Boss!” I said, feeling my eyes get watery again. I wasn’t going to cry again!

Anyu just smiled warmly.

            “Don’t worry… you know Dakota! He’ll have forgotten about all of this by tomorrow after Boss is gone”

I smiled back at her and we went down to the joined pack together.

            The next morning, I woke up before the sun started to rise. We would be moving into our old territory in less then a few hours…Most of the other wolves were asleep but McKenzie was awake. He must have been thinking the same things I was. I walked over to where he was gazing up at the stars.

“Hey” I crooned, nuzzling him.

            “Hey” he replied faintly, nuzzling me back.

“What’s on your mind?”

            “This whole fight” he said softly. “I thought we would be done with it once we got you away from all that, but I guess I was wrong. And I heard some other wolves talking about this… it’s not just some little fight. We could die in this Anyu”

I nuzzled him again.

            “What happens if neither of us go back to see the pups? They would grow up without us… orphans. And I’m not brave enough to do this!” he added, voice cracking a little. “I’m not brave like you or Dakota”

“Of course you are” I said, looking into his eyes. “You wouldn’t be here right now if you weren’t and you know I’m just as scared as you are”

He sighed.

“We’re doing this for our pups too. They could just as easily be pulled into this as I was. And no one should have to go through that”

            “You’re right” he said, licking my forehead. Then glancing at the sky that was starting to lighten up, “We should probably sleep a little more then if we’re going to be ready”

            The sun was high in the sky… I barely noticed though. All day, I felt like I’d been in some kind of fog. This was happening for real. And I was the cause. If this failed, all blame would fall on me…but if it actually managed to work, I’d be a leader of a pack. What would happen… both ideas were nerve wracking.

A few other wolves greeted me, but I barely even noticed they were there. Instead, I went off by myself and stopped in a clearing. I needed to seriously meditate or something. I looked up at the sky, thinking of every bad thing that could go wrong. I planned out our attack. But I still didn’t feel ready. I wonder if this was how my father felt before his first attack or plan.

            I fidgeted nervously. Skyler and I had already made up for any fights we had gotten into, making me feel a little better, but I still wanted to smooth things over with Dakota. I had seen him go into the woods a little bit after noon, but he still hadn’t come back. The sun started to set… I needed to find him before the fight started.

I picked up his scent and tracked it. It led me through unfamiliar woods, but finally, his scent got stronger and I found him sitting, facing away from me in a clearing. I walked up quietly and sat down next to him. Both of his eyes were closed, but I could bet he knew it was me that was sitting next to him. For a while, we sat in uneasy silence.

“Dakota?”

            “Um-hm”

“I just wanted to talk to you” I said quietly, folding my ears back.

My brother opened an eye and gave me a sideways glance.

“I know I’ve said this like a million times, but I’m sorry”

Dakota didn’t say anything.

“It was really hard for me to control myself… I just came back from dog –fighting and it was really hard to get used to being in a pack again”

Dakota still didn’t say anything.

“I just thought we should make up in case something happened to one of us…” I said faintly, voice trailing off.

            “Nothing’s going to happen to anyone on my watch” Dakota said determinedly. “Especially not you”

He nuzzled me and smiled. Then he looked up at the darkening sky.

            “We should go now”

I nodded and we went back to the pack silently.

            Adrenaline made me move in quick, jerky steps. Dakota led the way: his group, one of the four, would be the “bait” and start the fight in the open northern territory. Tanner, his best friend, would come from the south, to make sure they couldn’t escape, and Sitka and I each led our own groups, and it was decided that we’d come in from the east and west. With a quick nod from Dakota, the four groups split. My heart thumped. No one made a sound… I wasn’t sure if it was just because they meant to be quiet or if they were as nervous as me. In the distance, we could see two of Boss’s scouts, but before they had even seen us, two wolves from my pack rushed up and silently knocked them out. Then we continued on as if nothing had ever happened. We came closer to the northern territory, but everything was still silent. I halted the group for a second and looked up. It was bright and sunny… belying what was sure to come. And as if on cue, Boss’s voice rang out when he saw Dakota. The fight was on…

            “So you decided to come back and fight me?” Boss cooed. “Like a big boy?”

My temper was drowning out the fear.

            “With your little pack?”

Boss hadn’t seen Anyu or Sitkaleading their packs yet and I hoped he’d cry like a pup when he saw that we almost out numbered him.

                        “Look who’s still ugly!” Sitkalaughed darkly.

I smirked. Every hint of her being shy and sorrowful was gone. Boss frowned when he saw the other two packs, but didn’t say anything. His eyes rested on Anyu for a second longer, but I never let him finish surveying his rivals. I darted and made a leap