VOICES:
-Dakota: Zac Efron
-Anyu: Claire Danes
-Sitka: Ashley Tisdale
-Kaya: Sasha Alexander
-Bristol: Patrick Swayze
-Bear: William Lee Scott
-Boss: Brian Blessed
Dakota (in bold font)
Anyu (in italic font)
I flew through the air and landed right in front of my mother. There was a huge crashing sound behind me and I struggled to my feet, shaking off the snow. I whirled around, expecting my dad to be right there, following me. But the only thing left where my father and Talon were standing was a giant hole in the ice. No one made a sound. I expected to see my dad climb out of the hole in the ice, but he didn’t come out. Then I figured I probably had to help him out.
“Dad? Do you need help?” I called, scrambling back onto the ice.
“Dakota! Come back!” I heard my mother cry.
I didn’t listen and scampered toward the hole in the ice. It was an effort just getting there with my paws sliding in all directions; how was I going to help dad? I reached the hole, slid to a stop and looked down. Through the hole I could see rushing water but not my dad or Talon.
“Mom? Where’d dad go?”
I glanced back at my mom. She looked away and laid her ears back. I looked at the other pack members faces but everyone looked shocked or wouldn’t look at me either. I was trying to understand what had happened when a cruel, cold laughter rang out. The huge black wolf that was hurting me before seemed extremely happy my dad was gone. I trudged back toward my mom, trying to make sense of my dad’s disappearance. I reached the bank but stopped.
“Mom? Where’s dad?” I repeated.
Tears started to run down my mother’s cheeks even though it was clear she was trying to hold them back. A cruel laughter cracked the air.
“I finally got him! I was stronger! And do you know what he was doing up on the cliff before? He was begging me to kill the pup and let him go!”
My mom glared at the black wolf with hate and tears in her eyes.
“Buck’s gone! Okay?! At least shut up!”
The black wolf moved toward my mother and I got in front of her, growling and trying to bark. With the pack behind me, I was more confident. The black wolf stopped and grinned evilly.
“Maybe I should do what Buck asked” the wolf said. He charged straight for me and before I had time to react,
“Well isn’t that cute. If I were you, I’d watch him because the next time he’s alone” he snapped his jaws shut. My mother pulled me closer to her. The wolf smirked, turned back to the accumulating wolves and started to give orders. My mother picked me up in her teeth like she did when I was only weeks old. My little puppy mind was spinning trying to understand everything at once. Yips from my sisters interrupted my thoughts.
“Are you okay?!” Anyu said, sniffing me.
“Yeah, I think so”
My mother set me on the ground and nuzzled my sisters. Sitka licked her nose then bounded past us, staring down the trail as the rest of the pack slowly made their way to the den. But after she had patiently waited and the whole pack plus the newer half had passed, the one she was waiting for never came.
“Mommy? Where’s dad?”
Mother’s eyes started to water but she took a deep breath. Bristol, who had been standing nearby, looked up sadly.
“Anyu,
Anyu and
“Do you remember your father and I telling you that our pack was in a kind of war with some other ones?”
All three of us nodded.
“Some of the bad ones won and they ki-” she closed her eyes for a second and clenched her jaw. “Your father isn’t coming back”
Anyu’s face fell.
I had almost calmed down when
“Where’s Buck?”
I tried to bury my face again, telling myself that my father would have never cried even if something like this had happened.
I had no idea how long the three of us spent together, faces pressed into our mother’s warm fur. Dad was gone. Forever. Never coming back.
“Do you know what?!” came Boss’s cold voice.
I glared at him through tear- blurred eyes.
“I don’t have a mate! Can you believe that?! Now who’s the alpha female around here?”
My mother stood up, back rigid, a mix of shock, disbelief and anger on her face. Boss strutted towards her, grinning widely. My mother stammered but the shock of everything else had taken it’s toll.
“I am” someone else said.
Everybody’s heads snapped to see who had spoken. Atka, badly cut up, did her best to stand tall.
“How can you be the alpha female?!” Boss spat. “She has pups!”
“She wasn’t supposed to have them”
“Buck was her mate!”
“He was until I beat her in a fight, now I’m alpha female” she said coolly.
Silence hung in the air for a few brief moments. Atka stared at Boss, face expressionless. Boss’s eyes shifted from my mother, to me, Anyu then back to Atka. Then that same grin spread across his face.
“If that’s the way you want it”
I was just about through with our new leader. I growled softly and Boss spun around, grinning when his eyes stopped on me. Chills went down my back.
“I don’t think you like me very much” he smiled.
“Wow, and I thought you were dumb”
Boss’s smile fell off his face. He raised a paw back but before he could hit me, Dakota jumped at him and bit the paw. Boss yelped and slapped Dakota instead. Dakota fell back into the frost and Boss followed him. I couldn’t help but to admire my older brother: he didn’t show any fear. He tried to push himself backwards, away from the huge black wolf, but Boss pinned him down and got so close to his face, their noses almost touched.
“Do you think you’re brave?” he snarled.
Dakota didn’t say a word and didn’t blink.
“You’re not so tough without your pop around now are ya?!”
Dakota didn’t say a word.
“Wolf got your tongue?”
The wolves around them started to get up and take sides.
“You harm one hair on his head and you’ve lost half the pack because we’ll die trying to protect him”
Boss glared at him, but stepped off Dakota. Dakota pulled himself to his feet and gave Boss the most hateful stare I had ever seen. Brown eyes burning, Boss spun viciously around and stomped over to Atka, who still swayed with the shock of what had happened earlier.
“Atka….” I heard
“I’m fine” she whispered back.
Boss shouldered Atka, making her stumble. My mother nudged us towards the den. I knew she was thinking Boss was going to try to hurt us again, but I was sure that I could take that ugly thing on.
“Try to get some sleep” our mother managed before whirling back out of the cave.
A few seconds later,
“
It had been about two months since the pack had changed. I remember my father saying that we were the most powerful pack and had nothing to worry about. We still were, but not in the way we wanted to be powerful. Dakota, Sitka and I had just turned seven months old and luckily, we were allowed a little freedom to go on our first hunt. As we had set off, Dakota had frowned at our three bodyguards but now, he led us through the snow, tracking down our first deer. If it were up to
“Honestly, how are we supposed to hunt anything with you brainless furballs following us?!” Dakota spat angrily.
Our bodyguards halted and gawked. I had to admit I didn’t think they were that bright either. Dakota bit his lip then smiled sweetly.
“Why don’t you guys go over there on those rocks and watch us? We’ll be close enough for you to catch if we try to run”
The bodyguards exchanged glances but nodded stupidly. Dakota grinned and nodded
“I can’t take much more of this!”
Dakota ginned at our little sister.
“You’re not alone” Dakota agreed. “But I think I have a plan”
“Your plans never work” I whispered.
“This one will work for sure” He said seriously. “Those rocks our baby sitters are sitting on are really loose so if they try to scramble, they’ll just fall and we can get away!”
I sighed but we could give it a try. What did we have to lose anyway?
“When I say go, run like heck”
Dakota glanced over his shoulder and I did too. The three wolves were an eighth of a mile away.
“Ready” Dakota whispered excitedly” “GO!”
With Dakota a small step ahead, we jumped forward in a desperate sprint. The sounds of rocks falling told us that our bodyguards had taken the bait. Dakota snickered and flattened his ears back against his head, picking up his speed happily. I had to give him credit. When I had looked over my shoulder, our bodyguards were left far behind. Dakota’s plan had actually worked. And to think I had doubted him!
Then, without any warning, a black blur crashed into Dakota, making him roll with the thing and making
“It’s a good thing I stopped by” Boss laughed. “Or you might have gotten away”
Dakota’s blue eyes lit with hate. There was nothing else in the world that he hated as much as our alpha.
“Get off me!” Dakota growled.
“Say please” Boss coed.
That was the last straw for Dakota. With a vicious snarl, he struggled and with some luck had a paw in his teeth. Boss’s smiled disappeared when Dakota bit down and hopped off. Then he turned to me and slapped me across the face. It stung so badly that even when the force of it landed me in the snow, the cold didn’t make it go away.
“If I can’t get through to you, maybe you’re sisters can help” Boss sneered.
I sat back up, rubbing my cheek. Poor Dakota stood there, mouth agape, ears folded back and tail touching the ground.
“Now get back to the pack before I do something you’ll regret”
Defeated, Dakota turned around and started to follow Boss submissively. But for a second he hung back and waited for me to catch up. When I did, he gave me an apologetic lick on my sore cheek.
I hated Boss. Who else could be cowardly enough to get at his enemies by hurting their sister?! When we were within seeing distance of the den, we could see the pack gathered, waiting to see what had happened. I held my head and tail up high. The first wolf I saw was
“You just always have to be your father don’t you?” he smiled.
I grinned back. But Boss didn’t let us have our laugh. He crashed into me and sent me flying into the snow.
“Next time you better follow directions or you’re dead!” he snarled fiercely.
I stood back up and faced him with my chest puffed out. He charged at me but I didn’t budge.
“If I killed your father what makes you think that I can’t kill you?!”
“You never killed him” I said quietly.
Boss sputtered but I cut him off.
“You didn’t even touch him. If you hadn’t taken me like the coward you are, he could have easily beaten you and he almost did… remember?”
Boss shuddered with fury. I could have cared less. My hate for him outlasted the fear. Suddenly, without warning, the black wolf sprang at me and sent me flying into the snow. Pain shot up one of my back legs and I couldn’t stop a yelp from slipping out. Legs flailing, I tried to find my feet. But no matter how hard I struggled, that one paw kept me pinned to the ground. Someone snarled and Boss stumbled away from me. I scrambled up just in time to see Boss throw
“Leave her alone!” I snarled. “Your fight’s with me!”
Boss whipped around, eyes smoldering. But before he could do anything else, my mother and
“Your father died to save you! Don’t you dare let that go to waste!”
“Go back to the cave now Dakota! And take your sisters!” my mother whispered to me.
“Come on guys” I grumbled, heading back to the den.
I hated the den. Even though my sisters and I had dug it out to make room for all three of us, it was still damp, dark and cramped. I hated it!
In the middle of the night, I was shaken awake.
“Wake up now Dakota! And that’s a command, not a suggestion!”
“I wanna sleep
Something smacked me across the top of my head. Startled, I sat straight up and smacked my head on the top of the den.
“Get up now! Your sisters are already outside!”
I scrambled, a little embarrassed about having to be smacked awake, and slipped outside. My sisters, mother and Bear were waiting.
“What’s going on!”
“You guys need to get out of here!” my mother explained. “Dakota, Boss could have killed you today and if you get any older, I think he will. The same goes for you too” she finished, turning to my sisters”
“But Mom…”
“Bear’s going to lead you away”
Sitka and Anyu nuzzled her goodbye, and Bear started to lead them away.
“Please be safe” she pleaded, nuzzling me. “Don’t try to be too much like your father”
I smiled at her and with a final nuzzle, tore after my siblings and new leader. We trotted in silence for only a little while before noise erupted behind us. Bear glanced nervously over his shoulder and picked up the pace. I exchanged glances with my sisters but we kept pace with Bear. The sounds grew louder and it wasn’t hard to realize they were sounds of a fight. Bear started to run faster but kept peering over his shoulder.
Before any of us knew what was going on, a few of Boss’s pack were right behind us.
“Just keep running!” Bear ordered, spinning around. “Don’t come back no matter what!”
My heart sank but I followed my sprinting brother and sister. It almost seemed that we couldn’t make our feet carry us fast enough. We could hear Bear yelp behind us and I had to bite my cheek to stop myself from turning back around. What’s worse was that Bear couldn’t even stop the wolves from chasing us. A few more were on our tails and gaining. Dakota, who was leading us again, peered over his shoulder and furrowed his brow. I skit to a stop, making the snow fly. Anyu spun around too and I followed right behind.
“Dakota! You heard mom and
“I did! And for everything I do you guys end up getting hurt so go on without me!”
Anyu shook her head furiously. She never got angry…
The white wolf ploughed into my brother and sent him lying into the snow.
“You go!” she snarled. “I’m the oldest and you’ve done enough! Just go!”
Dakota, still in shock, pulled himself to his feet and shook off the snow.
“But, but…”
“The next time I turn around, you better be gone!” Anyu snapped, turning to fight.
Dakota shook his head but followed orders. Tears started to well up in my eyes and when Dakota took off, I could barely see his dark form against the moonlit snow. No wolves followed us.
Later on, just as dawn was breaking, we were finally able to stop. We were definitely out of our territory. I sniffled and Dakota looked back at me.
“Hey, we’re okay now” he said gently, licking my forehead. “We’re safe”
“I miss momma! And Anyu! Why did she have to do that?!”
Dakota shrugged and lay down at the foot of a tree. I followed him and lay down next to him.
“Just forget about that all. Boss can never get us again. We’re… free”
The last word hung in the air and vibrated. I wondered if it had as big of an impact on Dakota as it did on me. We were free. We never had to see that ugly beast every again. He could never touch us again. The emotions swirled around my head and if I hadn’t been so tired from running the night before, I would have never gotten to sleep.
When I woke up, the sun was high in the sky. I stretched and rolled onto my side. I thought for sure I’d crash into Dakota when I did, but instead, I hit the cold snow. Startled, I sat up and looked around frantically. Dakota was gone! I scrambled to my feet and sniffed around furiously. My older brother’s sent was all over the place but I wasn’t very good at tracking.
“Good morning! I thought you were in a coma or something!”
I jumped at Dakota and nuzzled him.
“Where were you!” I demanded.
He wagged his tail and walked back were he had just come from and brought back a small deer.
“I thought after you had slept a day and a half, you’d be a little hungry” he grinned.
“I’ve been asleep for a day and a half!”
He nodded and started to eat. My stomach twisted. I hadn’t eaten for a long time! As I ate, Dakota filled me in.
“While you were in your comma, I decided to check this place out. It’s really different from home… it’s so flat and closed up. No mountains. But there’s nobody living here or nobody marked any territory anyway. We really are free!”
My hopes soared. We were free! Dakota reached for one of the deer’s legs but I was too energized to let him get away with it! I snatched it and leapt a few feet away, tail wagging furiously. A grin spread across Dakota’s face and he did a play bow, tail wagging as hard as mine was. At the same time, I bounded away and he followed after. I was a little faster then him but he had more endurance.
I stopped, out of breath, but he wasn’t going to have the leg! Dakota caught up and sank his teeth into the leg, eyes bright. I clung on and shook my head, growling playfully. Dakota didn’t have to shake it. He growled too and started to drag me. I closed my eyes and tried to pull harder. Suddenly, he let go and I tumbled backward in the snow.
“Hey! What’s the big ide-”
A real growl interrupted me. Four wolves, in several shades of brown surrounded us. Dakota, bristling and snarling, stood in front of me.
“Nobody’s territory!” I snapped sarcastically.
I kept my eyes on the ground in front of me as Boss’s wolves escorted me back to the pack. We stopped briefly, but only to pick up a barely conscious Bear. I was sore, bruised and only a little cut, but Bear looked really bad. When his blue eyes landed on me, they clouded with pain and defeat.
“Where are Dakota and
“They got away as far as I know” I replied hopefully.
We walked the rest of the way back in silence. When we reached the den again, the whole pack was awake and pacing for different reasons. As it always had been in these situations, the pack was split in two. My mother, who was tending to a cut- up
“Where are the other two?” he demanded.
One of my escorts hesitated fearfully but finally stammered “He got away sir”
Boss’s grin dropped off his face.
“What! You blundering idiots!”
They scrambled away and left me standing there with Bear.
“And you! It’s your fault this all happened!”
He charged straight at me. I closed my eyes, clenched my jaw and waited for the blow but it never came. I opened one eye to see him standing less then a foot away, grinning.
“On second thought, I have better plans for you”
I gulped. Boss turned to Bear.
“And you helped her didn’t you!” he snarled.
Bear couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
“Don’t you even think of touching him!” barked Atka, breaking away from the pack.
She boldly stood in front of us and looked Boss right in the eye. What was she thinking?!
“What do you think you are doing?!” Boss growled. “Just because you’re alpha female, it doesn’t mean that I still can’t control you”
He raised a paw to smack her but Atka didn’t flinch.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you” she said coldly.
At that, Boss grinned.
“And why ever not” he asked with false kindness.
“Because if you hurt me, you could hurt your pups”
For a second, everything was still. Boss’s tiny brain must have been working hard to process what she just said.
“Atka, you’re pregnant?” My mother finally asked.
Atka nodded but kept her eyes on the father of her pups. Boss wasn’t sure how to react. He still stood with mouth agape. Finally, he snapped out of it.
“You’re excused for now you waste of fur” Boss spat at Bear. Then he whipped around so that he was nose to nose with Atka. “And you’re excused until you have those pups!”
With that, he stormed off while the pack rushed up to congratulate Atka. Of course my mother was the first to get to Atka since they were best friends, and she tried to keep the rest of the pack from getting to her. Bear and I still didn’t move.
“You took a beating too, huh?”
Bear gave him a sloppy smile.
“And what happened to you?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry. I had to stop Dakota from turning around to be the hero again”
“I figured he would”
By then, the rest of the pack had cleared up, so
I was right. The next time I saw Boss, he was leading a small procession back to the pack. These wolves were strangers and it was hard to tell if they were a small pack that had just been beaten or if Boss was bringing them to do something bad to us. The pack gathered in front of the den again, anticipating the group’s arrival.
“I told you I had plans for you” Boss told me. “And here they are- you’re going with them”
I studied the group in front of me. The apparent leader was a light brown- grey color similar to my mother’s with dark patches over his eyes. The next one was the same color but a little darker with the same patches. The third was a female, grey, with the patches but also with white on her legs, stomach and face. The fourth was different from the others. He was the same brown and had white on his legs like the female, but he was different somehow…
The leader approached Boss submissively.
“Well thanks… we’d be in a bunch of trouble without her- and you!”
“You better watch out for her… she fights and escapes”
“Oh right” the leader stalled. “Go!” he barked, roughly shoving me forward.
Boss grinned and watched happily.
“Yeah, go!” said the brown and white wolf, pushing me into the snow.
I gasped but kept my mouth shut.
“Bye Mom” I managed before being led away.
Sitka and I stood side by side, trying to judge how tough our enemies might be. It looked like two were male and two were female, so it could be a fair fight. Everyone was frozen, glaring at each other. One flinch could start the fight.
“This is our territory!” the biggest male declared.
“It’s not marked!” I growled.
The wolves started to circle. Circling made me nervous and I could tell
“
The wolves stopped circling so that the biggest male, the one in charge was in front of me. Tension hung heavy in the air. Each of us waited for the other to make a move.
Suddenly, the smaller, darkest male started to run… but not at us…
I cocked my head and watched. Was he chasing a squirrel?!
“Diego! Come back here! We’re in the middle of something!”
“No! I’m in the middle of something!” Diego replied stubbornly, pausing in the middle of his chase.
The leader sighed and shook his head. These wolves couldn’t be much older then we were. I couldn’t help it. Relief and humor at Diego welled up in my chest. I burst out laughing.
“I’m Dakota, and this is my sister
“I’m Tanner, these are my sisters Melora and Sasha and that was my brother Diego” the leader replied. “Are you guys on your own too?”
“Yep, just escaped” I grinned. “Is this really your territory?”
“No!” Sasha laughed. “I think you guys got here first! If someone wasn’t trying so hard to be an alpha, we probably would have left you alone”
Tanner glared at his sister and muttered, “Thank you for sharing! But if someone actually listened to their alpha, we probably… would … have territory… yeah!”
Sasha giggled at her older brother and Melora rolled her eyes.
“So, um, six can make a group…” Tanner started awkwardly.
Surprisingly, my own ears started to fold back.
“Yeah, um it could almost make a pack…” I mumbled shyly.
“You guys are pathetic!” Sasha smiled. “Swallow your macho pride and just say that we’re a pack!”
“That sounds good” I said weakly, wagging my tail sheepishly.
“Yeah” Tanner agreed in the same tone.
Being in a pack again felt good. We still had our freedom but we didn’t have to worry about smaller things only two wolves could handle. After our little “spat”, we decided to explore the territory together. Dakota and Tanner quickly became friends and although I wasn’t as social as my brother, I was becoming friends with Melora and Sasha. Melora had as short a temper as I did even though she was just a little more skittish. Sasha was completely different from her younger sister. She kept a cool head, always seemed to be happy and acted like a puppy. Diego, on the other hand, had to have been a puppy- he really acted like one! As kind as he was, he was even more stubborn then me and never missed a chance to act immature.
“Well, at least we know that the area really is clear” Dakota chirped happily. “But even if there were, I think we could handle them!”
I would have been happy too except Diego was trying to catch my tail as I wagged it. By the time he had actually caught it, I’d had it! As soon as his teeth closed around my tail and covered the white tip, I spun around and got so close to his face, our noses almost touched.
“I swear Diego! If you do that one more time, I can promise you you’re not going to have any teeth to catch anyone’s tail with!”
The little dark brown wolf cowered on the ground and tried to make himself sink into the snow. With a snort, I turned back around to the rest of the pack who was staring at me.
“What?”
Tanner studied me but Dakota shook his head with a smile.
“Come on guys! We might as well find a place to rest before it gets dark!” Dakota said cheerfully.
“Who made you alpha?” Tanner inquired jokingly as he playfully nipped at Dakota.
“When I decided I would be!” Dakota barked back, trying to tackle the brown wolf.
Before we knew it, we were all running and tackling each other, letting our puppy sides run off their energy before we had to go back to being a real pack. I knocked over Diego but hardly needed to: before I got to him he tripped over his own feet and rolled, sending powdery snow everywhere. Then Dakota came out of nowhere and made me do the same thing. He laughed out loud and attempted to tackle Tanner again.
When the sun sank behind the trees and the moon started to rise, we were all pooped. Happy, but very tired.
As soon as I was led out of the territory, the brown wolf with white turned from a tough animal into a gentleman.
“Sorry about being a little rough before” he smiled. “But if he knew you were going to be treated good, there was no way he’d let you come with us!”
We let the father and other two males walk ahead while the female, brown and white male and I fell back to talk.
“I’m Mackenzie by the way” he added politely.
“I’m Jade” the female said kindly.
“I’m Anyu” I smiled. “And you don’t know how relieved I am to be with you guys! You don’t know how horrible it is to be living in that pack right now!”
“We do know” Mackenzie said. “Our father used to be in his pack. We were really little then but he managed to save my mother and they escaped to start their own pack… and now we have it!”
“Then you guys took me to save me?” I inquired curiously.
“Not exactly” Mackenzie said quietly, ears going back.
“Our older brother, Jax, became alpha and we don’t have any other girls in our pack. Just me and my mother”
“So I’m engaged?! Like an arranged mate?!” I yelped, disgusted.
Jade and Mackenzie averted they eyes and nodded grimly.
“Well it’s still better then being back there” I replied, trying to stay positive. “So who’s Jax anyway?”
“He’s walking right in front of you” Mackenzie replied.
“He’s the grey one” Jade explained. “The other one is his best friend, Mudd. They don’t really have much of an interest in girls”
“What about your dad?”
“He can be a little rough some times… he’s really traditional”
“Sometimes a little too traditional” Jade added, annoyed.
“But our mother is really nice! You’ll like her” Mackenzie smiled again.
I talked to the two wolves the whole way back and told them about my siblings, my father, who they had heard about through their father, and our escape attempts. Their territory wasn’t really far away from mine, but far enough that I wouldn’t have to worry about Boss anymore. It was almost like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. We finally came upon a small cave made out of boulders. Jade and Mackenzie’s father, who I learned was named Ace, gave a short howl and a few wolves came out the cave. The first was a female, a light grey with white on her muzzle, legs and chest. Only three other wolves followed her out, all males. They looked similar to Jax’s friend but in lighter shades of brown and grey.
“You must be Anyu” the female greeted warmly. “I’m Janet”
“Nice to meet you” I greeted politely.
Before we could start a conversation, Ace cut in.
“I’m sure that by now, you know that you’re engaged” he began. “So I’m going to lay down the law for you. First of all, you obviously can’t start any relationships with any other males. You need to stay close to the cave and you must have an escort anywhere you go”
There went my freedom. Free for two seconds and roped back in again.
“Yes sir” I finally managed.
“And another thing: I didn’t risk going to see that monster for nothing. I expect pups from you by spring”
That was just insulting! Words couldn’t even explain how horrible that was! I opened my mouth to snap something back at him but Jade and Mackenzie rushed me away.
“Don’t mess anything up, Ace is going to send you right back where you came from!” Mackenzie whispered desperately.
“You don’t have to follow those rules but if you talk back to him he’ll get mad” Jade added.
I furrowed my brow, bit my cheek and snarled inside my head. What had been better? Getting beaten everyday or having just about every freedom stripped from you?
After being together for a month, my pack was running like one wolf instead of six. After a whole month of private struggling, I finally proved myself to be a better alpha then Tanner, but we were still best friends and he made a great beta. All three girls were good friends now, but
“No problems today Boss!” Diego barked happily after returning from scouting.
“Please don’t call me that” I said weakly.
“Sure thing Dakota!” Diego replied, voice cracking.
From another direction, Melora came back running at break- neck speed.
“What’s wrong?!” I demanded worriedly.
“Nothing’s wrong yet. But I found something bad! We should check it out!” she panted.
“Lead the way then”
Tanner and Sasha jumped to their feet and didn’t waste any time following their younger sister. I waited for
“What is it?” I whispered.
“I don’t know” Melora replied, voice trembling. “But it has a really strange smell”
“It kind of looks like a giant den” I muttered. “I’ll go check it out”
Cautiously, I stepped out of the bushes we had been hiding behind and carefully approached the hole. Melora was right: the worst scent I had ever smelt was pouring out of the den. I dropped to my stomach and started to crawl towards it. When I got to the mouth of it, I paused and waited for a second. Nothing moved. No sounds came out. I peered in and as my eyes adjusted, a huge form took shape. From descriptions from other wolves, I knew it was a bear. Bears were very dangerous! I scrambled backwards, tripped over a stick, fell on my back and scrambled on my back.
“What is it?” Tanner barked.
“A bear!” I whispered. “Let’s get out of here before it wakes up!”
I didn’t need to ask twice. We broke ranks and sped home.
After we had calmed down, Dakota sent out scouts again. I had to admit, he was a pretty good leader. I jogged all the way out to my post and started to patrol. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary… until I reached our main trail that wove all through our territory. Then I picked up a strange smell. A male stranger. I could handle him!
Tail high in the air, I put my nose to the ground and followed. The smell brought me to the very outskirts of our territory and wove through trees and a small stream. After the stream, the scent spiked. I was getting really close. When I didn’t have to follow the scent on the ground but hung in the air instead, my heart started to race. Just like I had seen Dakota do, I crouched on the ground and cautiously approached the owner of the scent.
Suddenly, something tackled me. I tried to bite whatever I could reach but only ended up getting a mouthful of snow. After blindly struggling for a few fleeting minutes, I squirmed away and faced my attacker. The smell had told me it was a male wolf and I was right. He might have been a year older then me but wasn’t much bigger then me. His coat was an almost gold color but it shaded from a pale gold to brown on his legs, face and tail. For what seemed like an hour, we stood sizing each other up. Finally, I made myself talk.
“This is my territory!” I growled.
“Your territory?” he sneered. “You and what army?”
“My pack” I snapped.
His eyes gleamed.
“Then I think I found who I’m looking for”
“Who?” I growled.
The wolf considered suspiciously for a second but explained.
“I’m looking for a big black wolf… he killed my brother… and your scent is mixed with his”
“Do you mean Boss?” I asked, letting my guard down.
The wolf’s face twisted but he nodded.
“I bet you’re his daughter aren’t you?” he snarled.
“No way! I’d kill myself before I let Boss be my father! He killed my father!” he snorted.
The trespasser relaxed.
“Wolves like him have no business having a good life” he said quietly.
“You never had to live with him!” I retorted.
Even though we never learned each other’s names, the insults grew into a conversation. My shift flew by and before I knew it, the sun started to rise.
“I have to go… maybe we’ll see each other another day…”
“Maybe” he shrugged, face expressionless.
With that, I took off. Dakota was going to kill me if I was late! I was dead meat if he had to send out a search party! I was very far from our makeshift den. I tried to push myself to run faster but it was hopeless. Then, without warning, my feet hit a sheet of ice and sent me sprawling down a hill. I tumbled down, out of control until I hit something very hard.
Chink!
Something closed behind me and when I whirled around, bars prevented me from getting out. Now I was in really big trouble.
After a month of living in my new home, I had started to adjust. I avoided Jax at all cost but found out I really didn’t need to. He was always out with his friend and was never around. However, at night, we pretended to sleep curled- up so that Ace thought we were actually in love. But there was no chance of that ever happening. During the day, I had Jade and Mackenzie escort me around, and the rule binding me to stay close to the den never really applied. We traveled all over our territory which was surprisingly big for the small pack. But with each passing day, something else grew inside me…a feeling I had never felt before.
It took me a while to realize it was love. But I could never tell Jade or Mackenzie… because I also realized those feelings were for Mackenzie. But it would never work, right? I was engaged to Jax, and Mackenzie and I were friends. Every time I tried to deny it, Mackenzie made it impossible. When he came any where near me, my heart would race and he made everything seem brighter, better. I couldn’t even admit to myself that I loved him or else I knew I’d never give up on him.
One night, when everyone was asleep, I slipped out of the den to sit by myself and think. The stars lit up everything and it almost beckoned me to go out by myself. I jogged away from the boulder den and traveled along the trail that seemed so different at day. I stopped by the pond to take a quick drink and looked down at my reflection. For some reason, I started to wonder about my family. Had Dakota and
“Oh, my head” I moaned.
“Ow” someone else said.
I scrambled to my feet and met the brown eyes of Jax. I don’t know who was more scared or shocked.
“What are you doing here?!” I finally demanded.
“Me?! What about you? You shouldn’t even be out here!” he sputtered.
Fear made me stiffen but Jax drooped.
“Actually, I have a confession. I don’t love you”
I beamed.
“Really! I don’t love you either!”
Jax perked up but continued on.
“I don’t love you because there’s someone else… you know how I’ve been sneaking out everyday?”
I nodded.
“I’ve been seeing this other girl and I really like her. She’s from another pack though and she lives far away. If Ace ever found out… I don’t even want to think about what would happen”
“I haven’t told anyone this before, but I think it’s only fair that I tell you because you told me. I like Mackenzie.”
Jax smiled.
“So we’re officially not engaged?” he asked.
“Yes!” I replied gratefully. “Thank you so much!”
I gave him a quick brother- sister nuzzle and we walked back to the den side by side, talking about our loves.
I sat in the chamber, calling for help but before anyone could rescue me, a strange animal same. It walked upright and scared me. I growled. It opened the chamber but instead of freeing me, clubbed me with some strange stick. I hit the wooden floor and everything went black.
When we had gotten back to the den, the sun had set up the mood perfectly. Pink rays stretched across the sky and made the clouds look gold. Mackenzie was awake but Jade was still asleep. Could this be any more perfect? I motioned for Mackenzie to follow me and he leapt up to his feet happily. I led him down the trail to the pond and smiled at him. Well, here it goes…
“Mackenzie, I think I love you…”
Mackenzie, Jade, Melora, Tanner, Diego, Ace, Jax, Sasha and Skyler (golden wolf) © Xion Fan
Dakota, Anyu, Sitka, Kaya, Atka, Bear, (and Boss’s pack) © me
Bristol (c) Anileu
Boss (c) Tadie