The Hot Dog Cart

Kach couldn't sleep. When ever he drifted off his memories came back to haunt him. The creture keepers, the cries for help and freedom, the disgusting food, the little shelter, the cave with the invisible walls,
Then he would wake up.
Kach sighed as he sat upright. He knew he couldn't help the past, change it or control it. Lei stirred. "Go back to sleep Love," she murmured.
Kach lay down again, shutting his eyes tight. He could almost see the keeper pulling the rope aound his own neck. Kach opened his eyes again. This was partly due to the dream, but also he could smell something. It was cooking meat.
Very carefully, he poked his nose out of the entrance of the den. A man at a stall was grilling hot dogs. The hungry wolf licked his lips. Then he looked up at the sky. The sun was down and there was a dim, pink light that engulfed the park and city.
At the sound of an approaching human, he shot down the hole again. Kach whispered in Lei's ear "It's difa. We can hunt soon."
At first he did not know if she had heard him, then she stretched and yawned, joining him at the mouth of the old fox set. She saw the hot dog stall. "I know what you're up to," she smiled to her mate "You want that man-fril. But it's a bit risky, surely?"
Kach turned to her. "I am well groomed and if anyone sees me they will think I'm just a feral canfa." He paused. "A feral slave canfa, I mean." And with that correction to himself, he snuck out into the open.

The stall was at most five feet away. But it was a clear space between the tree and the unsuspecting hot dog salesman. Kach waited in the den for the right moment. Then he saw one. The man was walking over to another with a slave canfa. The hot dog man petted the labrador, while a black and brown wolf took a quick trip.
Kach shot out of the hole. He ran the clearing in no more than two seconds and hid behind the push-along stall. He would have one chance at this.
Praying to the Bronze Canfa, he stood on his hind legs, scooped up the cooked and cooking food and darted back to Lei. Dropping the meal inside the den, he noticed that a small door was open on the stall. A sausage fell out of it.
"Lei," he hissed excitedly "There's more."
"No." she replied firmly. "We have what you went for, and that's enough. Greed is the way of men."
But Kach wasn't listening. He was being drawn to the swinging door. It suddenly flew back in a gust of wind, showing a mountain of hot dogs. It was enough to feed the pack for a fortnight! Wasting no time, the 'wise' leader galloped to the wolf's goldmine. He grabed half a dozen packs at once and returned them to the den. He went for a second and third time.
"Kach that's enough!" Lei spat. But again he wasn't listening. Without warning, the man turned away from his friend and walked back to his stall. And at the exact same moment, Kach was picking up the last packets. He stopped in mid thieving. Suddenly panic overtook him. Lei was right. It WAS a bad idea.
If he ran back now he would be seen, but the man was meters away from him. Hearing footsteps close, he leapt into the hold and closed the door.

The man wiped his hands on his apron and looked at his watch. It was 9 o'clock exactly, and he should be getting home. Not even noticing the missing dogs that were on the grill, he picked up the trolly. "Cor! Need to sell more o' these things, they're heavy to carry around!" he chuckled to himself. However the considerable weight was not of sausages, as, to his own without his knowing, they had been stolen by a very greedy wolf. The weight, in fact, was Kach.
Kach felt the stall moving. He simmultaniously heard the man humming. The door of the compartment opened, just a crack, but enough to let the panicing animal see where he was heading.
The large, cold, steel gates.
Kach turned as pale as his dark fur would let him. His red eyes darted quickly about, looking for a chance to leap free of this terror. He saw it. Some holly bushes. It would hurt, but compared to the consequences of being exposed to the concrete jungle it was nothing. If a wolf was seen the pack would be destroyed.
As the cart came parallel with the bushes, the man stopped to rest his back. It was definatly a lot lighter when he entered the park this morning.
Kach grabbed his oppotunity with all four paws, bursting out of the cart with a single bound, landing painfully, but safely, in the holly bush.

The atmosphere was silent. The clock had not yet chimed ten, so Kach thought it was better to stay hidden until then. But he knew Lei would worry. There was a meeting set at the Bronze Canfa that night, so if he could get there early, he could proove that he had not been killed - for if a wolf left the safety of the park they were considered dead. It was twilight. The sunlight was dim and it would be difficult to be seen in the low light of the sun. Nothing less than a hawk would be able to see him, and luck was on his side by the colour of his dark fur. Finally he decided he would risk the presence of any remaining men.
Kach looked quickly around him. There were no humans. He sprang forwards into the open path. Without any warning the light seemed to leave all together. The path was now invisible in the darkness, but the wolf could sense the low fence in front of him. With ease he hopped over the metal bars and felt splintery wood on his pads. He was in a playground.
The timid wind blew one of the swings lightly, causing an eery squeaking-groan. Kach stepped away from this noise. He could smell rotting rubbish in the garbage can and knew there would undoubtably be some sort of leftovers awaiting inside.
He poked his muzzle into the bin and pulled out the remains of a Big Mac. Scoffing it down, he heard the chime of ten. He licked the ketchup off his nose and started to run in the direction of the Bronze Canfa.

Lei held back the tears as she approached the other members of the pack. Taking a deep breath, she went and sat at the front. How could she tell them? Who would be leader? There was only one way to find out.
"I'm afraid," she said akwardly, not quite sure how to put it "That something has happened. You see, Kach went to get some food and, and..." she looked around and almost broke into a crying fit, when a brown and black wolf jumped through the bushes and sat at the front next to her.
"Sorry I'm late," he panted "Had a bit of a run in with a man."

The Meeting

Once the pack had settled down after the confusing moment, and Kach had convinced Difa that Latch was lying about him being the ghost of their deceased leader, the meeting began. There were many things to prepare. For example, as explained the night before, daylight lasted longer and so there was less time to hunt and less food.
"If you catch something," Kach told the followers "Eat half of your fill, then store the rest. If you get too full you wont be able to move quickly and will loose the will to hunt."
"But we only get to eat once each night. And if it's half a squrriel then we'd surely starve!" Latch shouted.
Lei asked him why he always had to rain on the packs parade. Latch replied snappilly, but Kach stopped the siblings' quarrel with a demand for silence. Jeke and his sister, Difa, asked a number of questions themselves.
"What sort of things keep fresh underground? Because I am not eating rotten meat!" Difa told Kach.
"Yeah," Jeke agreed "The last thing Akila needs is maggot-infested food."
"I'm suprised she suvived the night..." Latch murmured. Nobody heard him thankfully.
Kach left his seat on the rocks and told the pack to follow him. The leader stopped at a bin. The other wolves sat in a semi-circle around him, watching with growing curiostity. Kach put his nose into the mouth of the bin and pulled out half an Autie Anne's pretzel and lay it on the floor.
"Urgh! It's man-fril! Not even meat!" Toma said, sniffing at the doughy, sugar-coated snack.
"Beggers cannot be choosers." Kach told him.
"And how would you know," Latch said, face to face with his brother-in-law "Good leader?"
"Scavenging as a pup in the land," Kach said quietly, almost in a whisper, to make sure no-one else could hear, "I couldn't hunt. I found it easier to take pickings off the man."
Lei took her usual postition. "Okay, boys, break it up." Then she turned to the lower wolves. "Dig in." she smiled, throwing the pretzel to them. They crowded round in a group, all tearing at the flimsy pastry. While they were busy, Lei pulled Latch to one side.

"I am absolutely fed up with this Latch!" she growled "You're constantly making stupid, immature comments, and you never contribute properly to meetings or hunting parties! All you care for is yourself, and there's no I in Canfa Pack."
Her brother stubbornly did not answer. He didn't even look her in the face. He just looked away, pretending not to have heard her. But when she left, he followed her with his eyes.
Jo licked her nose of the cinnemon sugar and lay down on the grass. Toma lay next to her, letting his girlfriend's head rest on his front paws. Difa was grooming herself opposite the lovebirds and Kach was waiting for Lei to join them. Once she had, the meeting continued.
"Now that's sorted, is there anything else somebody would like to talk about?" Kach asked openly. They rarely had a forum in a meeting, so he advised his wolves to use it now and wisely. After a moment or two, Toma and Jo nodded their heads. Kach gave them permision to speak.
Well, Toma said excitedly, he and Jo had agreed on something. They both felt very strongly for each other and - he paused and smiled at Jo "We want to be partners!"
Everyone waited to hear a sly comment to be made or an argument about it, but there came none.
"Where's Latch?"

Death

Latch bounded quickly through the park. The moon lit the path lightly and soon the westward wall was in sight. Latch quickened his pace. Immature? He'd show his sister. He could die, have a wander around the concrete jungle, and be back in all under Caluk's watch. Then he would have the knowlage of the man, and more than that feral idiot Kach. The wolf's haterid grew stronger and he licked his lips in anticipation.
The wall was a low, stone obstical. With ease the wolf leapt over it. Taking one more look at the trees within the boundries, Latch started to trot into the city.

Lei was in a frienzy. She was the one who had last spoken to him, and he seemed pretty fed up. What if he was dead? No, her brother would never be as stupid as that. Or could he? The she-wolf stopped in her tracks. Her brother was known to prove his point rather than sulk. Also she knew Latch would without haste decide to die before thinking about the long term welfare of the pack and it's future generations.
Kach stood next to her.
"Have you found his scent?" he asked.
Lei shook her head. Tears were welling up in her eyes. "Oh! It's my fault!" she cried "I was the last person to talk to him and I said he was immature and selfish and he's now gone off and left our territory and put us all in grave danger!" She burried her face in her mate's shoulder. He licked her ear lovingly.
"We'll find him," he promised "And everything will be alright. He'll be back by tomorrow difa. Just wait and see."

A sign glowed dimmly. It read:

VIRGIL'S

Latch liched the dripping neck of a discarded beer bottle. His tounge felt warm and everything went fuzzy for a fraction of a second. A glass smashed and he skipped away.
Reaching the end of the alley, the wandering wolf experienced things like never before. There were hundreds of smells, from chocolate to coka cola, from pies to peanuts. And new sights. The flashing screens of Times Square, the advertisemets of 'Ripley's Odditorium', musicals such as 'The Lion King' and 'Avenue Q'. Of course, the wolf couldn't understand these, never mind explain them.
To be better than Kach I have to know more and be able to explain it Latch said to himself as he followed a back street. It was parallel to Broadway and down each alley he could see the fantasic scenery. There were cars and taxis blasting their horns and the air was filled with the sickening scent of exhaust fumes. He had to get closer to see more and get better than his opponant.
Carefully, the wolf crept down the alley and peered out form behind a large bin full of kitchen waste. Even though it was the time of Caluk's hunt, men were everywhere! Some were singing, some were staggering drunkly and others were fighting. It was horible. Creatures of such power and influence fighting among themselves, imagine what they could do the the pack!
Latch froze. He suddenly realised something he had done. Yes, he had found out some important imformation. After all, that was the reason he left in the first place. But by leaving, he had forced himself and the other wolves into a corner of danger. No doubt someone had seen him, he had been crossing roads in the open, and he had howled once or twice.
The terrified creature turned-tail, and ran.

Lei had given up for the night. The sun had risen and the pack had settled into a nervous sleep, all except for Lei. Her eyes refused to close and her mind was filled with terrifying thoughts of Latch and the wolves' future. Over the fithteen hours of sunlight she tossed and turned, wishing and pleading for the nasty thoughts to go away, but they didn't listen to her. At long last the sun set and she could leave the claustraphobic den.
Sniffing the air, their was no sign of Latch. Ahe sighed and walked slowly to the Bronze Canfa.
Lei stepped carfully among the rotting leaves. She knew the pack's days were numbered, but still she continued to hide their existance. As she neared the bridge she stopped. Latch was nearby, she could smell him. Putting her nose to the ground, she snuffed about, quickening her pace, until she was at a large tree hollow near the boundry of the park.
"Latch?" she asked. There was no reply, but then she heard some shuffling, and her older brother emerged from the crack.
A sigh of relief overtook her and in a second she was hugging her brother. Lei had been terrified that Latch had got himself killed by a man. But her sibling pulled away from the hug, head held low. Lei asked what was wrong and Latch said quietly, "I think I've given away our existance."

Missing Member

A meeting started immeadiately. A wave of panic flooded the pack, even though it had only a small number of wolves. Kach stated a case of emergancy, that deep dens should be dug and food shaould be stored. He thanked Latch for warning the pack instead of keeping quiet.
But Latch was shifty for the next few days. He felt uncomfortable around others, feeling heavily guilty. When Lei tried to talk to him, he just took flight.
Jo and Toma felt a little depressed themselves. Their announcement was meant to be a happy time, instead the panic was a bad omen. It was partly due to this omen that they held back the second announcement.
Although nothing had been said, Lei could relate to that. Kach was in no state at the moment to be told. He was in far too deep with plans of storage and security.
Difa felt left out. The fact nobaody had spoken to anybody since Latch revealed his horrifying news was bad, but she was on her own, with not another wolf beside her in her den.
Jeke had dedicated most of his time to Akila, who was getting better, but he feared that with the lack of food she would soon fall ill again.
All knew that they could only stay hidden for a limited amount of time. If Latch had not given them away already, sooner or later one member would run into a human.

And one did just that.

Jo one day left her den at sunset while Toma was asleep. She needed to talk with Lei. The walk was long, for she and Toma lived in a small cave on a rocky outcrop in the North-Westerly area of the park. It was a luxery suite, for the view of the Manhatten skyline was magnificent. It seemed almost worth the damage to the atmosphere that the heavy smog caused. But it was so beautiful. The grey silhouettes of the skyscrapers merged brilliantly with the reds, oranges, pinks and blues of the setting sun.
To save time, Jo took the straight route to the leaders' den.
Pausing outside the entrance, Jo called a name. "Lei?" It was the first word that had been spoken amongst the pack in a week. "Lei, are you there?"
There came no reply for a minite, then Lei's soft voice told her to come in.
The underground den was quite large, and suprisingly well lit. Lei sat down in the centre, flicking her tail onto the ground repeatedly, as if drumbing her fingers. "So. Why have you woken me?" she asked with a hint of disaprooval.
Jo looked down shyly. "I wanted to talk to you, get some advice."
Lei smiled. She haddn't meant to be so grouchy. After all, as alpha female it was her job to be an outreach for the pack. And Jo was her half sister. "Tell me all about it."
"Well," Jo said, thinking how to put it "Me and Toma are going to have pups soon, but I'm worried something will happen. Such as, there won't be enough food so they'll starve or the pack turn on them because they're more mouths to feed, or they get killed by a man or a slave canfa, or something horrible. I know it's only the alphas that are supposed to breed, but I've always wanted my own children and there couldn't possibly be enough room for two packs in the park-"
"Whoa!" Lei laughed kindly "Don't worry. I'll make sure the pack doesn't turn on them, and I understand a she-wolf's needs in life. Pups are a big part of our reason in life. We all need a mother, even the greatest heros of the past had a mother, and without that mother, they wouldn't exist. Now get some rest."

Once the nervous wolf had left to get some more sleep, Lei had a moment of thought to herself. At least Jo had told Toma, that was one better than her. Kach had to know, before the meeting started. Tonight he was going to announce how much each wolf needed to hunt and store, and if he didn't know about her and Jo's pups then the poor children wouldn't last a month.
Lei staggered to her feet. The clock chimed nine, she had half an hour to get to Kach so that he could change the information. Lei ran out of the shelter of the den. She was about a mile and a half away, then she colapsed, feeling sharp pains in her sides. She was in the open, alone.
Great...

The wolves were already assembled at the Bronze Canfa. Kach paced the rocks worryingly. Where was Lei, this was certainly no time to skip the meeting. Then again, why would she? She enjoys the meetings, Kach thought to himself, she wouldn't miss them for the world. And she knew better than anyone that this was probably the most important meeting in the history of Canfa. He sniffed the air, but it was a wind coming from the South, blowing her scent further away.
That was it. The meeting should have started a full hour ago, it was time to send out a search. Kach called his pack together. "Meeting canceled boys, and girls," he added apolgeticly "As you can see, Lei hasn't turned up. We need to find her. Jeke, you scout ahead and go to our den, Latch, take the West side and check all up there. Jo try behind us and Difa and Toma, try to get her scent."
"Hang on!" Latch said, with a small hint of sulkyness "What about you?"
"I will come when called. Nobody is to howl until they find her. Understood?" It was not in the nature of wolves to reply, so they split up into the several groups that they had been set.

Jeke did as he was told, he scouted to the alphas' den. But Latch ended up abandoning the West side, and if he'd gone on a few hundred meters more then he would have found his sister. But no, he didn't trust Jeke. The thought of that moron creeping around Lei's den made him furious. Latch knew Jeke was trouble, he knew more than anyone. For it had been that hairball, that mutt, that cat, that had given Latch the ugly scar across his face. Never again would a she-wolf complement on his handsome muscles, or his teeth that shone like diamonds, nor would they see beond his temper. The scar was a curse. It haunted Latch wherever he went, and if a female ever looked at him, once he had turned to show her the left side of his face, the side with the three, blooded tears down his face and over his eye, they would yelp and shy away, never to approach him again.
Growling with haterid, Latch pulled his tired legs into a sprint, following the feint scent of his enemy. It was true and fair to say, that Latch dispised of Jeke more than Kach. And if that two-sided wolf had harmed or distressed his sister in any way, shape or form,
He would have all Caluk to pay.
The den was in sight. Either Jeke was there already or he had beaten him to it. Latch looked down the entrance tunnel. Ther was no-one home. At least he was the wolf who would tell Kach Lei wasn't there. And he could manipulate his story too, on how Jeke stopped to feed himself intead of checking the den immeadiatly, for there was no scent or trace of Jeke.
"Hey!"
Latch pulled his head out of the tunnel. Jeke was above him, glaring. "Shouldn't you be checking the West side?" Jeke growled.
Latch replied quickly: "I would never trust you around my sister, but thank the Bronze Canfa she'd not here, and I'm going to tell Kach that you were stalling, to prevent yourself from doing any work!" He conclued this with a serious nodd.
Jeke grinned, and turned to the way he came and disappeared into the shaows. The lesson with this is to never give away your plan.

Treason

Back at the Bronze Canfa, Jo had returned, saying there was no trace of her. Difa and Toma appeared from under the bridge. "Not a sniff." he said. They were now waiting for Latch and Jeke. What if they'd had a run-in? It would only make matters worse.
Suddenly a shadow came from behind the trees. A moment later once it had entered the moonlight, they found it was Jeke. He was panting hard, and he wheezed badly. "I came as quickly as I could," he coughed. Kach beared himself for the worst. Jeke continued, "I arrived at your den, but too late. Latch was already there, don't even bother asking me why he wasn't treking the West side, and when I asked, he told me it was nothing to do with me. Then I saw the blood on his lips."
There was a deadly silence. Jeke was known to be a bit of a joker at times, so all were hoping he was about to say that Latch had eaten a squirrel, but no. The horrific news poured out of Jekes mouth like a river of black, overpowering water. "He suddenly ran off, in fear that I would kill him. And when I looked inside the den, she was dead. His own sister, he had ripped her throat out."
Everyone froze. They knew Jeke was going to say it well in advance, but it still hit them, stabbing a milling knives through their hearts. Kach closed his eyes. The lower wolves looked at each other, trying to find some sort of reassurence in anther wolf's expression. There was nothing. It was as if the pack was cursed. But Jeke had well recovered. A small hint of a smile could be detected on his face. Toma stepped forwards.
"No." he said aloud. "Latch has done some bad things in his time, but he would never betray his sister."
"How would you know?" Jeke snapped "You two never talked, never mind were friends!"
"I don't need to know him well, but I clearly know he would never do such a thing!"
"You just can't accept that that sissy cat murdered our alpha female! He has just commited treason, and you are defending him." A sly smile slid across Jekes narrow face. "And I thhink you had something to do with it..."
Toma was backing up against the rocks. Jo was shaking her head furiously, trying to collect her thoughts. Kach had fallen for the trick and he joined Jeke in cornering the trator. Difa was getting up too. Several times Jo cried out for her mate's mercy, but she was silenced by threatening growles.
"Kach," Jeke whispered, "Let me deal with this." He put his muzzle to Toma's ear. "I've never liked you, and nobody is ever going to save Latch this time. So, any last words?"
Toma trembled with uncontrolable fear as Jeke lifted a paw to give him the first strike. But suddenly, a light grey shape caught it in mid-air, pulling Jeke to the ground as he let out a whimper of pain. His right-fore leg was bent in an unnatural way. Latch stood above him, foaming at the mouth. Toma took this oppotunity to scramble back to Jo.
Jeke werily stood up. His leg, twisted and damaged, could just about hold his weight. "Why do you persist to degrade this pack?" he spat at Latch. But his opponnt held his ground. Jeke's leg had bled for a moment, but was already drying up. But Latch still had the blood on his muzzle. Jeke half grinned and half winced.
"See! This is what I told you! Look! He had blood on his lips!"
Latch's eyes widened as Kach, Difa and Jeke closed in on him. He looked to his right, then his left, but there was no escape. The warm summer breeze blew at his fur. In his last moments, he thought of the good times, times when he and his three sisters were playful pups, ramboling around the great lawn. He remembered the plentyful food, and a time when the female pups all had a secret admiration for him. Smiling, he opened his eyes. They could take him, but he had done nothing wrong, no matter what they were saying. He would join the Bronze Canfa in the sunrise, and live forever more in paradise.
The wind blew once more, but along with it came the soft howl of a she-wolf. Kach recognised it immeadiately. "Lei?"
He jumped onto the rocks. It was her! She was alive! And he knew that call. "Everybody-" he started to say, but changed his speech when he saw it. "Jeke, no!"
Too late. The brown wolf had cut Latch straight across the face. Latch was crying in pain. Blood trickled down his nose and into his mouth, forcing the victim to taste his own blood. Latch tried to see what was happening, but he was blinded by red. Jeke went for a second strike, ripping his fur down his right side. He was about to take another one, when Kach jumped on him and pinned him to the ground, shouting, "STOP!"

Jeke staggered up. Kach hissed in his face, "If I EVER see your face again, I'll tear it off and feed it to Latch! Understood?!"
"Is that a threat?" Jeke growled.
"No," Kach replied, "It's a promise."
And the shaking liar and bounded away to the North of the park. Kach turned back to the confused and frightened wolves. "Now, that howl came from the West side. Why din't you tell us Latch?"
"Did I get the chance?" he spluttered, shaking himself.
He was right, first saving Toma, then they had cornered him, then the fight, he had no chance. "Right, I'll help Latch get there if you three hurry ahead, and I mean hurry. If Jeke gets there first only he Bronze Canfa knows what would happen."

A New Addition

Akila lay in the den. She had heard all the commotion, the howls, the crying, the snarls and growls. She knew there had been a fight, and there was a large chance it had been between her mate and Lei's. Then Jeke appeared.
"We have to move," he said quickly, nudging her to stand, "If we're found I'll be-"
"You've been in a fight." Akila said. He nodded. She sighed. "Jeke, I'm tired of this. Ever since you scared Latch there's been a fude. And it hasn't affeted your life, but I can tell you it's ruined Latch's all together! And I can't live with someone who commited that crime..."
And she got up and left. A number of thoughts whirled around in Jeke's head. Why was everyone turned their back on him? Especially Akila? There was one answer, Latch. Jeke's fur bristled in haterid. But he had to move on. Taking one final look at his home, he started to wander to the North-East.
Akila sniffed the ground. Lei's scent was all other it, but had been covered by the trees and not blown away. Making her way down a slope, there was the smallest gap between two oaks that alowed her to see ahead. There was a patch of white. Akila howled a signal to see if it was a wolf. And there came not one reply, but two. One was from Kach, he was nearby, and the sceond came from Lei!
Akila was suddenly blinded by a bright light. The sunrise...
She raced franticly to the clearing where Lei lay. Akila was too busy telling her the sun was up to notice at first. Then she froze as her gaze fell on the sight.
Kach appeared from the bushes to their left. He saw Lei, letting out a sigh of relief, but he quickly gasped again when he saw the seven pups.

"Kach," Aklia coughed. She shouldn't have pushed herself to a run, "The sun has risen, we need to hide."
He lifted his head and closed his mouth. Then nodded. Lei shakily stood up, and took two of her children by the scuff of their necks. Kach picked up another, then set it down again. "Lei." she said sadly.
"I know."
Three of the pups weren't moving or breathing. Latch dug a shallow pit and burried them up with the remaining dirt. While this was happening, everyone else fled to their dens, leaving only the alpha's and Latch alone. He bowed his head with respects and also went to hide.
Kach nuzzled Lei's neck lovingly before picking up two pups himself and started to walk back home. The night had been anything but successful, and he was in dispair. Moral was low, there were more mouths to feed, and less, AKila was ill, food was short and the sun hunted longer. The whole world had seemed to have turned on them.
Once they had reached the mouth of the old, expanded fox set, the parents looked back through the trees. The very first humans were appearing. Hurridly, the wolves vanished down the tunnel and carefully put the pups down in the furthest corner of the den. While Lei went to sleep, her foreleg creating a semi-circle aournd the bundles of fluff, as if it was a forcefield of love, Kach did some light digging. He simply made the floor closer to the ceiling in the entrace, to trick other animals into thinking it was just a rabbit hole, and made the floor of the den scoop down into a low bowl. It had not rained in New York for almost three weeks, and the dirt underground was loosing it's strenght. The soil was weak, dusty and crumbled under low pressure. All of this made the job a nightmare for Kach, but if it meant that the remaining members of his family were safe, he would go to the end of the Earth and back.

Toma and Jo were curled up together, protecting the two, velvety balls between them. One was the truffle brown with a black patch over each eye, and the other was a silvery colour with the same black shade markings, except they were in a sort of pattern. A black muzzle, then the colour thinned and went over the forehead, then causing a thick dorsal stripe all down the back, with triangluar shapes coming onto the sides from this, and finally, joining the tail.
The pup with the black around his eyes was oldest, and he was named Buck. The second one was slightly smaller than his brother, and his markings stuck his parents with astonishment.
"They look like black teth all down his back."
"Like Caluk! We could call him that!"
"No!" Jo snapped in responce, for a pup called Caluk would be like calling a baby the Devil's Child, "No, we'll call him Tooth."
"Tooth?" Toma questioned. He didn't think it would catch.

Once Kach had settled down after the digging, he and Lei also had some naming to do. There were four pups in all, two girls and two boys. The oldest of the litter was a male of the same brown as his father. He had light grey ears and large, white markings on the front of his legs. He was called Targ, meaning strength.
The second oldest was a female that was pure white. She was simply called Nila, which meant ice diamonds, or, simpler still, snowflakes. Then there came Nila's younger sister, Fal. She was dark grey, and had black ears and tail tip.
Last but not least there was Fox. He was two shades of brown. Kach sighed as he thought of his father.
"Targ, Nila, Fal and Fox," Lei smiled. "They will bring good to this pack."
Kach was about to say something in reply, then hesitated. "Or, you could say, more mouths to feed."
Lei gave him a cuff around the back of his head.

August

In the heat of mid-August a few things went on. For starters, Jeke tried to persuade Akila to take him back several times, and she refused every single one. The children grew bigger and stronger day by day and became more troublesome and cheeky at the same time. The food shortage lingered, but luckily made little impact. Greedy people who bought too much then realised that the summer sun had ruined their apetite, and so yet another half eaten cheese burger lay on the ground. And this was a good meal for a wolf pup. They burned off the calories by their romping around on the great lawn, with the spread of the milky way above. Latch had just about over come his haterid for Kach. But still part of him held the pride of his name and former self. He did not blame his parents for calling him the Canfa equivelent for 'leader', as how were they to know that this moron would barge into their lives? Latch quivered with jealousy. Things were going right, they had to change before long.
Buck and Nila had become great friends. They usually crept away from the other pups to play by themselves. The others didn't seem to mind. Fal didn't think much of Tooth. He was too agressive. If anything, she liked Buck, but apart from the fact that her sister was always hogging him, she was too shy to ask if he wanted to play with her. Fal felt like an outsider.
Targ seemed to take charge around the minature pack of infants. He was oldest, not to mention the strongest and smartest. He got along well with his brother, Fox. Tooth hardly spoke, and if he tumbled about with the rest of them, he would surely end up hurting someone. So he was excluded from games.
With the hunting, storing and guarding involved in Kach's new plans, the adults never notices the separation that went on between their children. Bad parenting? You don't have to track down and kill several squirrels in only nine hours each night. And in the daylight the whole pack was asleep.
One evening Lei came to the edge of the great lawn with the remains of a cheseburger for the pups. She saw their separate groups and called them together to eat. She wondered if it was because of the adults' behavior that the pups were starting to seal themselves off from each other.
She told Kach of the grouping.
He was anything but worried.
"It is natural, Lei. Brother and sister rarely merge in group. The boys split into groups. They don't like the agressive ones, namely Tooth, because of injuries and the fact he is stronger. Fal is shy, she'll come round, just give her time. But I don't like the idea of Nila and Buck becoming too close. He is of the third."
"Now, Kach." Lei said sternly. "If they want to be together, then that's their choice."
"It's just not right!" he growled, pacing the den.
"Oh, you sound just like my brother!" Lei hissed, then left the den.

About a week later there was a danger of starvation. Food was barely available. Squirrels were getting quicker and smarter. Rabbits were moving to teh Norht of the park, forcing the wolves to treck further for a meal. Signs saying 'Don't Litter' and the sort appeared as New York tried to help the environment. But they had no idea that animals depended on their food waste. The pups' growth had almost stopped completely because they had nowhere near enough nutrition. The ribs showed clearly from under the skin and they were always hungry. The baking heat didn't help either. There was little water except for the great lake and another small pond.
The children found it difficult. By playing, they used up far too much energy, and by sitting still, they got bored. Fal was still nervous, dispite what her father had promised Lei. She refused to sit with the others. Until one evening.
Nila was trying to find their mother, and so Buck was alone. Fal saw this as a rare oppotunity. She had as much right to be friends with Buck as her older sister did. So why let this chance slip away like a slimy eel? Fal lifted her head, and gracefully trotted over to where Buck lay.
"Um, hi!" she said in her soft voice, which she must have inherited from her mother. "I'm Fal. You probably know that." she grinned, a little embarassed. But Buck just smiled kindly.
"Yeah, and I'm Buck. You seem a bit lonely by yourself. If it's no bother, do you," he shrugged "Want to sit with me and Nila?"
"WOULD I?!" is what Fal wanted to say. But she had to stay cool. "Please." she relpied. Sitting down, Fal was thinking on what to say next, but Buck beat her to it.
"You're sister's nice," he said, "She talks about you a lot."
Fal was pleasantly shocked. "Really?" she whispered.
Buck nodded. He told her how she admired her ability to keep by herself, alone, without complaining about life. Fal felt a great ball of pride whelling up inside of her. It was nice to know she was thought of in the pack.
Nila came running up to them. "I'm going with mother to learn about hunting squrriels, I wont be back till sun up." she smiled, acknowlaging her sister. Then, as if showing off, licked Buck on the cheek. Fal watched with glaring eyes as her older sister ran to Lei.
"Well," Buck said, awkwardly, "She's never done that before!"

The night passed slowly, and after what felt like an eternity, the wolves found their sleeping places. Fal had a hurricane of thoughts rushing through her head. She loved Buck, and her sister knew it. There was a strong competition. But Buck was unsuspecting of her feelings, whereas he probably knew about Nila liking him. She pushed the confusion of life to the back of her mind, then shut her eyes tight.

The Chase

"Hey. Fal! Wake up!"
Fal stirred. Looking through yawning eyes, she saw Nila. "What do you want? It's daylight."
"I can't sleep."
"So?"
Nila sighed. Why did little sisters have to be this stupid? "So, I want to have a walk. But I need you to come with me."
Fal shot upright. "B-but Nila! We'd be seen! And the pack would be thrown into grave danger! It's the first law of the pack!"
"We wont be in danger if we aren't seen." Nila hissed. This had to work. It just had to.
Fal shook herself awake. "Why can't you ask Fox or Targ?" she moaned.
"They would split on me, duh?" Nila replied, with no atempt to hide her sarcasm. She sighed again. "Look. All I'm asking is to go up, have a little walk round, see things in the light, and be back before mum waked up. And I thought you were a good sibling, so that's why I asked you."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Fal murmured.
Nila tutted, "You're just a coward. And if you wont come with me, then I'll have to go by myself." Then she left the den. Out of shock and insult, Fal followed her. This was just what her older sister wanted.

Although she was stuborn, Nila wasn't stupid. She stayed clear of the paths that criss-crossed the park, and stayed in the trees. She picked to walk where the ground was thick with leaves to leave no footprints. Fal kept having ot take small spurts of speed to keep up with her sister. She was frightened, but was determined to hide it from Nila.
Suddenly, Nila stopped. She cocked her ears forwards, and listened. A dog was barking, and the noise was getting louder, and louder, and louder.
In a flash she was sprinting for her life, leaving her sister far behind. Too terrified to care about anything else but her own suvival, she plunged into the end of a hollow log. She sat there, trembling, as hurried paws ran over the ground towards her. This is it. The end. It's probably got Fal by now aswell, and it's all my fault... she thought hopelessly.
But the paws were not of a dog (a terrier to be exact), but of Fal. She shot into the log too, banging heads with her sister. For the moment they both forgot about their differences, and focused on getting through this mess.
Soon the dog approached. The terrier sniffed the air and growled. Coming close to the log, nose to the ground, the wolf pups tensed. Suddenly the terrier leapt at one end of the log, forcing both sisters to shoot out of the other one. But as they ran through the minature trees, the two pups were separated.
Fal's heart was racing faster than anything that ever existed. It felt like it was going to burst out of her chest any second. She began to slow, and eventually stopped for breath. Looking around, she found she was well and truely lost. And then the horrible baying started. Looking over her shulder, Fal saw the terrier coming straight for her. Starting off again, she tumbled down a large rock face. The last thing she remembered was the yapping of the dog, and a wolf's shadow leaning over her. Then she passed out.

Lost

Lei woke to the sound of loud barking and fierce growls. She almost surfaced the den but remembered the rules of safety. She lay back down, and counted her children for a motherly reason.
"Targ, Fox-"
She paused. She counted again. Two. There were only two puppies. She looked about her, franticly, praying to the Bronze Canfa that they were somewhere in the den. But she found nothing. Once more she was about to leave the old fox set, but realised there was nothing she could do. If she did leave the den, then what? The odds of finding her daughters without being seen was a million to one. All she could do was wait for nightfall and alert Kach as soon as possible.

Nila slowed to a halt. She looked through the trees. Nothing. Panting, she lay on her side. Her lungs ached. Her head throbbed. Her heart pounded. After a while, she got up and walked in a random direction. If she came to the edge of the park she could follow it to the Bronze Canfa, then wait to be saved by the pack! It was a perfect plan, impossible to fail.
But she had not gone a hundred yards when the familiar yapping sound shivered down her spine. Staggering into a run, she found her legs couldn't take it. Colapsing in a pile of leaves, she waited for the terrier to do it's work. The dog soon found her, and a ear-piercing screech of pain rang through the air of Manhatten.

Lei heard the screech. "Nila." she sighed to herself. Breaking into a cry, she fell asleep.

Kach had a grave look on his face. He sat before the statue, growling to himself, as if trying to make contact with their God.
"Why do you torement me Bronze Canfa? Why? What have I done wrong? Why? Why? Why?"
Jo sat with Toma, putting a paw over her boys to give them a sense of love. Tooth was as quiet as ever, never making a comment, never giving expression. Buck was heavily depressed. He was best friends with Nila, maybe he even - loved - her. And he had only just met Fal. A waste of two fantastic souls. And the terrier wouldn't have eaten them, just got a taste of their blood for entering his territory. His depression turned to sickness, his sickness into anger, his anger into hate. He hated the tame canfa, and if he ever got his paws on one of them...
Lei sat alone on the grass. She had litterly just taken to eating dandylions in times of stress. This was one of those times.

A few days later, Akila was out hunting. She had recently found it difficult to cope in getting food as she now lived by herself. Whilest prowling for a meal, she head a rumor via the squirrels. A white wolf pup had been seen wandering the park alone. Akila turned to tell Lei, then went back, killed the squirrel and took it with her.
Lei was lying under a pine tree when Akila appeared. "This squrriel said there was a white wolf pup roaming the park!" she exclaimed with glee. Lei bolted upright. There was still a chance...
"I'm going to find her. Don't worry about me, just tell Kach I'm gone!" she shouted as she vanished into the darkness.
Nila stumbled again. This was hopeless. She listened with extreme caution. Her belly cried out for a filing, but she could not even find the carcass of a dead bird, let alone hunt. She heard a shuffling of leaves to her right. A soft voice called her name. It grew louder and louded until she recognised that voice. "Mother! Mother! I'm here!" she howled. A second later she felt the gentle clasp of a jaw on the scruff of her neck, and was carried safely home.

Kach sat with his mate on the edge of the lake. He flicked his tail as they watched the sunset. "So," he said, breaking the silence, "What do you think of this summer?"
"What do I think?" Lei relpied. She gave her answer both thught and honesty. "I have lost one of my children, a wolf tried to frame my brother for my apparent death, and you almost got yourself killed. But all in all, we suvived."

The Central Park Pack is copyrighted to gemmawolf, Balto Source. No exceptions.