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"Of course," Sadie said, some ice returning to her voice. "Go tell Ai where we are, let her ruin our lives. Don't forget to share my message with her."

Sadie stalked off, leaving Ryan alone. When she returned to the hollow log, she looked at Rio. "We have to start moving. Now."

"It was Ryan, Sadie said bitterly. "And he was spying for Ai."

"You said we would only swim for a little bit!" Juno complained loudly.

"We won't swim for long," Sadie assured him. "Don't worry about that."

"Momma, you've been talking about Ai and Ryan like they're bad people. But we still don't know who they are. Why are we running from them?" Laika asked, her voice slow and her head cocked.

Sadie stood stock still as surprise radiated through her. She was speechless from her pup's acute observation skills. She finally looked towards Rio. We have to tell them, her white eyes said.

"It wasn't because of you, Rio," Sadie corrected. "It was because of me."

"What do you mean, Momma?" Laika asked, thoroughly confused.

Juno whimpered softly, expecting a frightening tale.

"You see, our leaders now used to fight. They were leaders of two different packs. I was in one, Rio was in the other. We were enemies, told stries of how horrible the others were since we were pups, not much older than you. One night, we ran across eachother. We soon became friends, realizing the stories were lies." She paused briefly. "Rio's pack found out, and he was exiled, trapped in his den. He would have starved to death if he hadn't found a way out. I found him again, and helped him, glad he was okay. We eventually stopped the war, and along the way met Ai and Ryan."

"She was jealous that I was friends with Rio, and that we liked eachother. So she tried to kill me." A gasp rose from some of her pups, but Sadie continued. "It didn't work, and I got away with the help of Ryan and Rio. After a while, she proved to be friendly once more, apologetic for what she had done. But during a battle, she tried to kill me again, with the help of Hiro and Grant. This time, she almost succeeded. I have the scar on my neck to prove it." Sadie wished she didn't have to tell this to her pups, but she couldn't stop now. They had to know.

"I healed eventually, and I had you guys, my beautiful, brave pups. We thought we had killed Ai, along with Hiro and Grant. But now we know that she survived. Ryan was a friend of hers, and I think she tricked him into helping her, and he was spying on us. That's what I went to check just now. He was, and now I have further proof Ai lives, along with her partners." Sadie paused, tension growing in the air. "And she wants revenge."

"Is that why we ran, Momma? Are we in danger?" Laika's voice trembled.

"Not if I can help it," Sadie said, nuzzling her daughter comfortingly. "That's why we're running. We're going to escape, and we're going to be safe."

"What sort of revenge does she want?" Juno asked, fearing the answer. He burrowed into her father's side.

Saide looked towards Rio helplessly, at a loss of what to tell their frightened pups. They both knew it would have to do with them.

Kyle and Michelle were both very afraid now.

"My guess is she wants to do something-" He stopped, and started to think, not wanting to fear the pups more.

"They want to do what?" Kyle said.

"They just want revenge on me and Sadie. That's all. We need to escape." Rio said.

"Then why are we coming with you?" Michelle asked.

"Well-" Rio started but couldn't think of what else to say.

"We can't leave you guys alone. We're a family. We stick together," Sadie jumped in, saving herself and Rio from frightening them more.

"I wanna go home," Laika said, voice growing shakier.

Juno whimpered again.