push her toward the dark hole. Like last time, the black wolf found she wasn’t alone. Once her eyes adjusted, she could make out the shapes of a few wolves, probably loners, against the clawed out walls.

“Hello?” Tempest asked cautiously.

None of the wary wolves responded. Maliky and Phantom shivered against Tempest and the black wolf tried to comfort them. A few moments later, Fly trotted into the cave.

“Tempest?”

            “Right here!” Tempest whispered hopefully.

“I can’t stay too long but I know what Hiatus is trying to do! I tried to sneak away but Hiatus is watching me really closely… I think he knows. But Everest is going to get you out of here soon anyway…”

            “So?”

“He’s trying to get help. I think someone related to him… but he’s sending out a few wolves to get a message to them. He thinks if Everest knows, he’s going to try to intercept them, which we both know he would. So he’s trying to create a distraction by killing a whole bunch of loners”

Tempest’s eyes widened.

“Well I’ll try to get you out somehow but Everest will probably have taken care of it by the time I come up with something…”

            Everest’s eyes flashed open. Where am I? Did Hiatus catch me? It smelt like the den, but it was too dark. Slowly, he stood to his feet. The voices of his pack reached his ears but they were muffled. This was the den… but it looked like snow was blocking the entrance. A single beam of light shone through the wall of snow. As he got closer, he could hear what the pack was arguing about.

            “… well Everest is the one who always comes up with the ideas!” Odin moaned.

                        “But we can’t wait around forever. I promised to protect Maliky and Phantom” Mataki argued desperately. “I’m not going to leave them with that monster!”

            “Well if someone hadn’t knocked him out, we would’ve had them back already!”

Everest cleared his throat loudly. Although he couldn’t see outside the cave, Everest knew everyone was probably looking at it.

“Can someone please explain why I’m imprisoned in my own cave?” Everest asked calmly, trying to keep the rage out of his voice.

No one said anything at first.

            “Well you were kind of going crazy” Altea’s voice explained.

                        “You were going to kill Arrow…” Comet’s voice added sadly.

Then it was silent again.

“So what are you going to do now?” Everest asked, trying his hardest to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

            “What you planned to do” Will’s voice answered defiantly. “We’re going to trade Arrow for Tempest and the pups”

“No!” Everest barked sharply.

Silence again.

                        “But Everest, we have-.”

“I said no!”

            “We have to take him back Everest” Quick’s voice finished. “Get him out guys”

Everest gritted his teeth and desperately began to claw at the snow blocking him in the cave. Snow flew everywhere and the small hole that allowed a beam of light in widened.

            “Fine! Stop! He’s staying here!” Will barked.

Everest stopped.

            “But you are going to help us save Tempest and the pups, right?”

Everest didn’t respond at first.

“There are more important things to be taken care of” Everest finally answered coldly.

It was quiet again.

            “Fine!” Will finally growled, voice quavering with anger. “We’ll go save her without you! Quick, stay back here and watch him”

Now managing to see out of the hole, Everest saw Quick nod and settle down while the rest of the pack headed for the Ublureak territory. Something scuffled in the smaller cave across the riverbed and Everest’s eyes burned. Keep it together! You only need to wait until Quick falls asleep…

Chapter IV

            It only took a few moments for Everest to claw a hole in the wall of snow big enough for him to slip out. As soon as his paws hit the ground, Quick scrambled up, wide awake. Everest ignored him and started toward the cave holding Arrow.

            “Everest! Stop! You know you shouldn’t do this!”

Everest ignored the grey wolf until Quick darted in front of him.

“Get out of the way” Everest growled quietly.

            “Remember what you said earlier? About losing control? You’re really losing it! Come on Everest”

“You’re one to talk” Everest spat. “For all I know, you’re probably still on Hiatus’s side and you’re protecting Arrow”

Quick paused, not sure of what to say.

            “Fine” Quick finally answered, stepping out of the way. “Go ahead and tear him to shreds…”

Everest focused back on the cave and charged it, clawing away at the snow as soon as he was close enough. As soon as Everest had moved, Quick had taken off; only one wolf could knock sense back into Everest now. This time, clawing through the snow was faster. Arrow had already been digging through his side. Both paused when the last of the snow was pushed away, both unsure what to do. Then with a smooth motion, Arrow darted out of the cave before Everest could do anything, but stopped only a short distance away.

            “Are you gonna fight me?” Arrow taunted.

Fur bristling and heart beating faster, Everest didn’t reply.

            “Good. I’ve been waiting for this ever since my dirty-blooded father let you join our pack”

Everest bared his teeth and dived for Arrow.

“Alright, everyone know what they’re supposed to do?” Will asked the pack.

The group nodded.

“Good! Let’s go save Tempest, Maliky and Phantom!”

Altea and Odin went one way while Will, Mataki and Comet went around the other way. The snow that had been steadily falling since the night before was a good cover. Will doubted any of Hiatus’s guards could see anything. The group of three picked up the pace through the storm and soon found themselves in the heart of the Ublureak territory. But once they made out the silhouette of the cave, their heats raced. The group waited a few moments until Kourtney and Odin caught up, both surprised that they hadn’t gotten caught yet.

                        “Well that wasn’t so bad” Odin grinned. “Maybe luck is on our side this time”

“You guys just get stupider and stupider, don’t you” came Hiatus’s amused voice.

            Quick ran as fast as he could, the icy snowflakes stinging his eyes as he ran through the storm. He could barely make anything out as he ran but the shapes of familiar trees along the trail gave him confidence. In a few short moments, he came upon a few more figures. Fly, Ice and Wave. Quick flattened his ears and launched himself at the two Ublureak, bowling them over in the snow. Fly, at first shocked, whipped around to defend herself, and then grew annoyed when she recognized the grey wolf.

            “I could’ve done that myself you know” she stated.

“There’s no time for pleasantries” Quick smirked. “Something’s wrong with Everest… I can’t stop him”

Ice mumbled a little and started to get up, but Quick dunked his face back into the snow. Fly studied Quick quizzically, but her grudge against the grey wolf was overruled by her concern for the golden one.

            “Where is he?”

            Everest’s legs shook. Both he and Arrow were bruised and cut, tufts of fur sticking up where the other had managed a quick bite. The once unmarked snow was torn apart with paw prints and small specks of pink, but neither had hurt the other seriously.

“Getting tired?” Everest heard his unusually cruel voice taunt.

Arrow