Growing Up

Over the autumn the pups grew rapidly dispite the lack of food. These seemed to be the strongest generation yet. Targ was almost fully grown, closely followed by Tooth, who was more reckless than ever, and Fox had longer legs, perfect for running. Buck, on the other hand, was smaller than the others. Partly because of less food, but mostly to his emotions. Hatrid, anger, guilt, dispair was all he ever felt.
Nila was similar. She had accepted that her sister's death was her fault. But she was angry at the world, for the attack of the terrier in August had weakened her stride, and that retched slave canfa had torn her face across both her eyes, blinding her for all eternity. How she was suviving, no-one knew, but she was. Her running may have been slow, but she was all muscle and knew how to fight. In the moment of the attack she had dropped the rediculous idea of letting herself die, there was no sense in that. Instead she had ripped that mutt into pieces, sending it away with snapped tendons, a nose that was only half there, and a set of neat claw rakings under the belly. She grinned evily at the thought of the pain that dog had suffered.
Latch had almost settled his differences with Kach. They were now almost friends. Akila had colapsed after running to tell Lei of the squirrels' rumor of the lone wolf pup, and was being taken care of by Latch. After all, they were brother and sister, and he felt strongly that it was his responsability alone to care for her. When Difa had remarked about what a nice couple thay made she recieved a cuffing.
Lei was still in the habbit of eating dandylions. The loss of her youngest made her loose the will to hunt. Kach did all the work now. But fatherhood was getting to him. Too much work. If he wasn't hunting, he was playing, if he wasn't doing those things he was sleeping with them to keep the pups warm. He was at the end of his tether with Lei. He'd got over Fal's death, why couldn't she?

It was mid September. The nights were getting longer again, and there was more food. There were more squirrels than ever, giving the wolves a chance to hunt again, instead of scavenging for human scraps. Tooth drooled at the thought of a freshly killled squirrel, tasting it's warm blood. Whenever he went into this day dream Nila would shove him and tell him to stop being gross.
Since Fal's death Buck separated himself from the other pups. He decided that he didn't want to be near Nila anymore, because it was of her actions that his new friend was slaughtered by a slave canfa. But she didn't seem to get the message.
Finally, one day, he snapped.
"Hey, Buck! Wanna go to the lake?"
"No." he replied quietly.
"What is with you? You never want to do anything anymore! You're so selfish!" she snorted.
That was it. He jumped at her, barking furiously. "I'm selfish?!" he snarled, "I'm not the one who got my sister killed because I was jealous of her! Yes, Nila. I know why you did it. You were afraid that your little sister would get too close to me, so you got rid of the competition!"
"Are you acusing me of trying to get her killed?" she exploded.
"No! You never meant her to be torn appart, just get lost and teach her a lesson. But your plan went wrong. You practicly led her into the jaws of a killer!" he shouted.
Nila was in tears now. "I never want to see you again!" she sobbed, and ran straight past Lei who had come to see what the commotion was.
Buck put in the last words of the conversation. "You can't see anyway!"

The Hunt

Soon the pups were going to be big enough to start fending for themselves. It was high time they learned to hunt. With the lower animals starting to gather food for winter there were plenty of chances in an hour to grab-and-go a rodent. Latch was making his way to tell the pups of their first hunt, and he felt as if he was being watched.
On the border of the great lawn he looked at the youngsters play for a moment, then made his move.
Nila lifted her head and smelt the air. "Uncle Latch!" she cried with glee as she bounded towards the scent, the others following.
"Hey, now! Steady on!" cried Latch as he was jumped on at all angles. He gently pushed them off him and stood up. "I have some good news. You're going on your first hunt."
"YES!" shouted Tooth.
They all turned to look at him.
"Sorry," he blushed, "got a bit excited there."
"What're gonna hunt? A seal from the invisible human caves? Or a giant rabbit? Eh? Ole buddy, ole chum, ole pal, eh, eh, eh?" blathered Targ. His enthusiasim for hunting hadn't been noticed before. Then again he was to be pack leader when he was older and needed to set an example to the lower ranking pups.
"No." Latch replied bluntly. He was growing impatient. Surely he wasn't this annoying as a pup? "No, we're going to learn about tracking squirrels."
"Nawwwwwwwwwwwww!" groaned the youngsters. Quirrels were B-O-R-I-N-G!

Kach, Latch and Toma and the children crept through the dense trees, trying to make as little sound as posible. It wasn't easy. There were twigs everywhere that cracked when stepped on, and the leaves that covered them rustled when they picked up their paws. Sixteen pairs of paws creating rustling, snapping noises all through the pitch-blackness. A light layer of fluffy, weightless cloud had been spread across the sky, blocking out the constalation of Canis Major, or, as it was known to all of wolf-kind, the star marks of Agali. The moon was beginning to yawn into a waxing gibbous, giving a faint amount of light onto the ground below.
Kach stopped. He thought he saw, no. He couldn't have.
A grey wolf.
"No. It's a trick of the light." he said, then carried on walking through the shrubs. But he was sure. There were no other wolves living in the park, or at least he knew of none.
"There." Latch whispered, tossing his muzzle towards an oak tree. Two squirrels were sat nibbling away at acorns. Tooth growled slowly and started to aproach, but Toma put a paw in his way.
"No." he said softly "We will catch one and then you can have a go."
Kach had already hidden himself behind a fallen log and Latch was sneaking, a white shadow, to the right of the pups. Their hackles rose and Toma made the pounce.
The rodents, seeing the movement in the corner of their watchful eyes, made a dash for it. Latch sprang from his post, catching on in midair as it attempted to escape. The second, however, missed the Alpha's snapping jaws by a centimeter, and as a flash of lightning, broke for the thick trees.

The wolf sniffed the ground. It was hard and smooth, but had the rough texture. Stone. She trotted to the fountain. It was stone too, and the water, usually free for the taking, was iced over. She licked it, trying to pull the moisture out from the very matter, but with little success. Smelling the air, she breathed in the icy wind, blowing South to East. She was in the perfect postition, downwind, hidden from site, and ready. Ready to taste blood. It's warmth and irony savor. It was almost time, the moon was at it's highest in it's arced route across the sky.

Kach was determined to get that squirrel. Dispite the calls of his pack, he followed the rodent at it's heels. It was a daring race, the squirrel, driven and guided to certain doom by the persuing wolf, broke onto the great lawn. Kach, not backing away an inch, scrambled after it. Then it hit him. A ghost that fell from the moon itself. The grey monster leapt on him, a weight made out of solid gold, pressing him into the ground. It growled, snarling, sending a hurricane of fear through Kach's body, shaking him throughout. He was pinned. Then it, the Thing, came close to his ear.
"Take this warning. Fear us, fear the Shadows, on your life, on you family, on your blood." Then it sprang, high into the air, and disappeared. Or at least it seemed, as the Shadow sprinted, harder and stronger than any living thing. Then it faded into the moonlight.
Like a ghost.

Kach waited. His chest and back hurt. He couldn't breath. The Shadow was heavy, far heavier than his own dark spy. It had pressed him into the hard, frozen ground, pinning his head so that he could not turn it. Now, as he lifted his snout into the crisp night, his neck began to hurt too.
"Curse, them." he snarled, staggering to his feet. They shook terribly. Now he was up, he could feel the refreshening air flowing into his lungs. He panted. The squirrel was no where to be seen, and he was still recovering from the chase. The last few minites had been tough, and he had nothing to show for it.

Mad

It was almost daybreak by the time the Alpha had hobbled back to his den. Lei was wide-eyed and alert, waiting for her mate's safe return. If she had lost him, then what? All she knew was that the water was deep under the ice. Although she was freezing she was panting, her fear growing with every second. The light of the sun was beginnning to stream down the hole to the underground cave. Suddenly a black and brown face appeared.
"Kach." she sighed from releif as he settled down. "Where in the Bronze Canfa's name were you?"
"I had a run-in with," he stopped.
"What?"
"With a shadow."
Lei looked at him curiously. A shadow? He was out of breath, injured even, how could a shadow do this to him?
"What sort of shadow?" she prompted.
"A ghost."
A ghost. A ghost, had he lost it?! Maybe the loss of Fal was geting to him, too. But he had truth in his eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, Kach. But, I don't believe you."
A dagger stabbed through his heart, ripping and tearing him apart into tiny little pieces. The words, those words, I don't believe you. She might as well have said I don't trust you. The tearing and ripping was dragging down on his heart, pulling him into the darkness. His own mate, after years of love, did not have faith in him. A twang of hate knotted in his gut.

At the meeting Latch and Toma were glad to see that he was safe. But they were not so happy about his fairytale. A shadow attacked him? A ghost, pale grey, a moon of it's own, pelting across the park, hunting the living. Kach had gone out of his mind. The race for the squirrel must have mangled his brains. It was impossible! On the other hand, it's impossible that a pack of wolves live in Central Park and only come out at night.
"I swear!" he howled. "It told me a message: 'Take this warning. Fear us, fear the Shadows. On your life, on your family, on your blood.' Well I promise you I am not lying on my life, family and blood."
"Kill him!" someone shouted. A year later that someone turned out to be Tooth.
"Kach, please-" Lei tried to comfort him.
"No!" Kach exploded, and erupting volcano, spewing lava made of feelings. "I am this pack's leader, so why would I lie? We have enough enemies as it is so why would I make a new one up? I've sworn on my life, family and blood and you still don't believe me! Why don't you believe me?!" He took flight before anyone could answer. It wasn't in his nature to whine or sulk, just feel angry. Now it replaced his blood, surging through his viens, spreading through his entire body, growing all the time. Anger became hate, hate became jealousy, and jealousy became fear. He was afraid that he could not control his pack anymore. If they would not believe him, how would they obey him?

She was alone in the musky cave. The walls, thick with slime, were made of stone. All around her the slippery goo ran down the enclosure fencing. The ceiling, wet and mossy, was lying low above her head. There was a dip in the floor where leaves had been gathered to make a suitible bed. The tunnel leading outside was half blocked with mud and pebbles. Only the drip, drip, drip of water sounded. Other than that, complete silence.
Sunset, the orange glow, lit up the floor of the cave. The light drizzle that had decended picked up to a thundery storm, and as the clouds began to close in, then orange glow was gone. How was he? She needed to know. By where the sun was it was six pm, closing time soon. But no-one was out in the cruel weather, and it was already dark. Silently she crept out from hiding, and made her way across the outcrop.
The rain matted her thick fur. She was now black from ear to tail. The wind tugged at her, teasing her to loose her step. It was a grueling batlle. Though the second cave entrance was only a few hundred meters away, the elements were determined to make the rocks become a mountain. Finally, she saw it. A deep crack in the flat side of a boulder. The crevis spread wider towards the bottom, and the darkness. The never ending shaft. From afar one would think that it was just a marking, or grafiti made by the youth of today, but it was a tight tube, even for her. She found herself crawling on her belly, head on the floor, ears and tail flat. Then her nose touched the cilly air. Space, large, beautiful space. She pulled the rest of her body in and crept to the pile of fur that was curled up on the ground.
"Sir?" she said. Her voice was soft, a slightly higher pitch than average. She was whispering, for the room echoed every noise, every pitter-patter from outside, every footstep, every sniff. The pile moved. Lifting it's head, it blinked, adjusting it's vision.
"Sweet?" it said, it's pitch low and gruff. It was truely shocked. "W-why are you here? Has the sun set yet?"
She shook her head and explained her meaning.
"Ah, the enemy is warned. That's my girl." it smiled, then put it's head down and closed it's eyes.
"Um, Sir?" she said "I came to see you though. You know, spend some time together?"
There was no answer.
"Urgh! Sometimes I think that you don't love me!" she shouted at it. She was about to leave the cave when it replied.
"I'm sorry, Sweet. It's just, if this is going to work, the attack you see, I need to plan things carefully. We will have more troops in a year's time. Strong and tough, just like their father." He stood up. "I assure you, you mean more to me than life itself."
She looked at him. Narrowing her eyes, concentraiting on his pupils, she could see a lie. Or was it just the light? He would never betray her, how could she be so selfish? He needed space, and she came and disturbed him. She nodded, and left.

Adults

By now the pups were, well, no longer pups. They were almost fully grown. Skills, strrength and intelligence had all been enhanced. With January coming to an end, the snow was melting and February promised a new start. Winter, but not cold. Spring, but not blossoming. That inbetween bit, hovering on the borderline, sitting on the fence. Bluebells were up but there were no chicks. The snow was gone but there were no insects. The children were fully grown but they were not quite adults.
But the sites of spring were here. The cheeping of birds: robins, pidgeons and jays. The trickling stream running from the Balto Statue to the lake. New buds were appearing on the trees each day, until, finally, after a long winter, a flower bloomed.
"Blossom, in winter?" Akila pondered. Latch took her side.
"Humans." he laughed. "When will they stop melting the winters?"
"I wish I could see the blossom," said a voice "I've never seen one before."
Akila and her brother turned to see Nila. She was tall and sleek, with a shining coat, almost glowing from the light of the full moon. Pure white, even her eyes. The four pink scars on her face were healing slowly, and she looked magnificent to any young wolf.
Buck walked past from behind her. She was blind but not death. Losing one tool had strengthened her other senses. Each spieces, each breed, each indervidual had their own footfall.
"Hello, Buck." Nila said softly. Just softly, not a whisper, not freiendly or cold, mesterious but plain. Masking her true emotions was her talent.
He did not answer, but stormed past the others. The light breeze wafted his fur, truffle brown and downy textured. He sat on the rocks overlooking the Norhtern half of the park and stared into the night.
She was out there, somewhere. He knew it. Deep down in his heart, there was something, something clingling to him, refusing to loosen it's grip by an inch. He sighed, and waited.

She waited in the darkness. Alone, for the time being. The cave, damp and stinking to high heaven of dead leaves, was cold and silent. The rain had stopped, but the ground was still heavily wet. This was a time for thinking. She put her head between her outstretched front legs, and closed her eyes.
Remember.
She was flying through her past, like an eagle, gliding and diving, watching and waiting. But no matter how much she waited, nothing apppeared. Silnce, blackness. The earliest memory, the under side of the tree canopy, and a shadow. A figure, silouhetted against the unfamiliar surrounding. After that came all she knew, but before, nothing. Just black. But that one thing, almost imvisible, hiding in the very corner of her memory:
The Bro-
"Am I interrupting you?" said a voice, a voice she knew well. Then it was gone, the vision. Forever.
"Sir, I was just... resting." she replied.
He walked over and lay down next to her. She greeted him with a kiss.

The rabbit sat on the lawn. Then it was gone, and reappeared in Tooth's jaws. Jo praised him with a lick, which was more like an insult to him.
"Mum! Get the Caluk off me!" Tooth shouted.
"Give over, I'm just loving you!"
"You mean mothering."
She shied away at this, her feelings hurt. "But I am your mother."
"Yeah, but I'm grown up now, mum," he explained "I don't like being mothered."
Jo whined.
"But it doesn't mean I don't love you anymore." he comforted. But words hurt feelings, and feelings are only recovered by actions. Toma took his son's side.
"She knows, she just can't help feeling upset because you're not her baby anymore." he said quietly.

Difa and Targ were alone on the grass. Both knew that there was nothing to talk to each other about, and so nothing was said. Listening to the world: birds, water, traffic. It was all very relaxing. Kach wandered over to them.
"Hey son." he smiled.
"Hi dad."
He plopped himself down on the verge. There was a longing in his eyes, a longining to talk, Alpha to Alpha-to-be, father to son. Difa noticed their need for space and left.
"What is it dad?" Targ asked. His tone was truely interested, caring in a way. Could he help his father? How?
"You know when I said a Shadow attacked me, the ghost?" Kach answered quietly. His son nodded. "I can't get it off my mind. I can't speak openly to anyone beacuse they all think I'm mad." He stopped. Then said blankly, "Do you think I'm mad?"
Targ chose his words carefully before replying. "It certainly seems imppossible." he said. Then continued quickly, "But I know you're not lying. Why would you?"
His father let out a long, heavy sigh. "I have no idea. To them, if it appears impossible it must be impossible. That's what seperates an Alpha from a Beta. We see things differently. If we kept all of our natural habbits the pack would not have suvived this long. To try something new, however impossible it seems, is the leaders job, because that very thing, as no matter how unlogical, could help the pack and ultimately save lives."

Killer

The five bundles of fur were all shivering, it was a freezing moring with a deep fog. The wet cave, wreaking of rotting leaves and ice, offered little protection to the pups. All she could do was sit tight and keep them warm. The sun was now up and it was not safe for a Canfa to be out, let alone five new-borns.
She hadn't yet counted the genders, so she checked to pass the time.
No. She had miscounted. She checked again. Maybe she was wrong? But deep, deep down she knew she was not.
Five girls, they were all females.
He would be furious, he wanted at least one boy. There wasn't a single male. What would he do? Would he spare them? They could try again.
Then again, he probably wouldn't look himself, he wasn't that mentally strong. If she gave them all boys' names he might be fooled.
Or not.
He wasn't.

The oldest was a dark brown pup with red eyes, and she named him Morrer. Apart from a white diamond on his forehead, Morrer was pure brown. The next oldest was a black coated pup, as dark as the depths of the deepest ocean. Typhoon, he was called, or Ty. Next was one the spitting image of it's mother, light grey with black eartips. They too had red eyes. There were two more, both creamy-truffle, specked with white. Only one of them was moving. She licked it sadly, but the pup made no response.
The new-borns were shivering. This was no place to be resting. The leaves gave little warmth and were damp from the leaking floor. She tried to keep them off the stone as best as she could, creating an arc around them, all the time worrying herself sick about what the evening would bring.

She jumped awake at the sound of scurrying in the entrance. This was it, it could end up happy or sad. One or the other, no inbetween. She prayed and prayed that it would be happy, not sad. She had carried these puppies for two months, and she was the one who gave birth to them. What right did anyone else have to harm them? They would have to get through her first.
He appeared through the gap in the wall, grinning, with the slightest hint of evil in his gaze.
"Hello, Sweet." he said slyly, standing firm on all four paws. He knew something was up, and she knew he knew something was up. She lowered her head and whined.
"What's up?" he asked mockingly, stretching his head to her own level. "We should be happy, with the sons you have given me."
"Yes." she replied wearily. She shifted herself to reveal the four live pups, and the dead one that was seperate from the group.
"What's wrong with this little chap?" he asked, knowing all too well what was wrong. He was toying with her emotions, seeing how far he could push her.
"He's dead." she spat, looking away, not daring to catch a glimse of the smirk that overpowered his face, a bellowing hurricane, laughing evily at her misfortune.
"Oh dear." he said sarcasticly. "You should have taken better care of him. He might have suvived. Who knows what he could have accoplished in his lifetime."
The words, a sharp and harsh jagged knife, tore through her. What was worse, he knew she was lying about the gender.
She introduced the others to him. "The oldest, Morrer, then Ty, Gale... and I haven't named the youngest, I thought you would like to do that."
"Caluk."
Her face was washed over with horror. Caluk, the demon? Or did he mean after difa (sundown)? But the pup was nothing like the darkness. Caluk was rumored to be truffle, with patches of either black or white. The black represented death and the white represented disease. Caluk Disease. No, not that name. There was an old legend that a wolf with that name would bring a curse to the world, disease and famin, one that none would escape.
She tried desperately to shake the thought free from her mind, but it was etched in, engraved, the words on a tombstone, dooming the very existance of all life.
"She will be called Caluk, and her sisters shall follow her and me through all that is to come. You, on the other hand, well, I should leave you dead with droopy over there." he snarled, lapping up the sweet, sweet taste of fear that poured from all over her body. She was terrified. "But I'm not going to do that."
He turned to the crack in the wall, then stopped. He moved his head slightly to the left so that he could just about see her in the coner of his eye.
"Instead," he whispered," I'm going to do THIS!"
He roared, spinning around on the spot, and grabbed poor little Typhoon by the neck. The pup squeaked for mercy, but it was too late.
All of this had happened in less than a second. The mother shot up in an attempt to retrive her baby. But too late. All she could do was stand in the way of their father. "You, you..." she stammered, still trembling "YOU MURDERER!" she exploded.
He gave her a quick slash across the face. "Don't ever pull a stunt like that on me again. I still stand by what I said about Caluk, she will lead us, and you will treat Morrer and Gale like sons. Tell them they are boys. They will believe their mother, not me." He turned to go, then paused. "And if you ever tell any of them what just happened, I'll have you by the throat."

He was gone. She was alone with the pups. Morrer, Gale and...
She shuddered.
Caluk. It wasn't even a girl's name. Then again, neither was Morrer and Gale. Morrer meant dirty, and Gale was similar to Storm, or Blizzard. Besides it was just a stupid story, sprouted from superstition and fairy-tales to scare the little ones into behaving. Nothing would happen, it was impossible.
Wasn't it?

Thoughts and Feelings

While all of this was happening, Nila was busy mulling over her life. She had begun to separate herself from the other pack members, hunting alone, sleeping in her own den and sitting appart at meetings. She was almost a year old and had a mind of her own, she could easily take care of herself dispite her disability. She had been weakened visually but her other senses had improved dramaticly, she could smell and hear better than any other wolf in the pack, but no-one knew of her talents. Or of the secret deep in her heart.
"Oh, Buck," she said to herself,"Why do you resent me?" It was true that she liked her own company, with the exception of Buck. Whenever she felt him near her she tried to speak to him, but nothing would come out, and when it did she would either screw it all up or he would walk off and ignor her. What was she to do?
Her sister was dead. Her fault? How could she have known what was to happen? She was harmed too, with a toll of her eyesight. Fal was long gone, why were he and mum still mourning. She was her sister, no-one took into account her feelings.
As all of these thoughts tumbled through her head, Nila was strolling around the Great Meadow. Attacked by a Shadow indeed! Her dad was worse than the rest of them, completely loopy. A fat, boring mum and a tell-tale dad, a brother who was always busy and another one who never spoke. Whoever came up with 'happy-families'?

"Fox, come 'ere!" Targ whispered. It was four o'clock and the rest of the pack were at the meeting. Fox didn't move for a moment, then yawned, stretching his back legs, and met his elder brother at the entrance of the den. His eyes were droopy and his words were slurred.
"What?" he groaned.
"I've been looking around the park," Targ intoned, trying as best he could to get the word to stay in his little brother's head instead of pooping out of his other ear. "There are signs of some large animals up north. Dad isn't crazy. There's droppings, carcases and more. I don't know how many there are, but they're hanging around the rocky outcrops above. They'll ahve a god view of the parkland from there, I think they're spying on us."
Fox was suddenly awake. Large animals? Well he knew there were such things as bears, two in the captive, but how did they get to the north of the park without being spotted? "We should ask dad what he saw again."
Targ shook his head and replied,"And get in trouble for interupting the meeting? No chance."
"Look, we're gonna' get in trouble anyway for no attending, so I suggest we move now. We could spark it up again and get everyone talking. If these, creatures, are spying on us, we need to know what they are and what they want."
Targ couldn't argue with that.

The two brothers crept up slowly from under the bridge. Nobody appeared to be looking. They emerged fro the darkness-
"Targ! Fox! Where've you been?"
Dang.
It was strange because although Lei had startled them, they weren't told off there and then. Tooth and Kach were on the rocks taking the spotlight. Something was going on.
Toma noticed them .He called them quietly, "Have you two seen your sister?"
The boys shook their heads. Toma sighed. "I wish she was here now for all our sakes. Everyone needs to know about this, including her. If you can't see them you can smell them."
"Smell who?" asked Targ.
"Or what." murmured his brother.
Toma chuckled. "Who. Man. They've been seen around the park at night by Tooth. This is serious, it means someone has given us away."
Fox looked at his brother. Targ seemed calm enough on the outside, but he stunk of fear. Fox knew what this meant. Men with tubes. He gazed at his father admiringly, marvelling at his skills in keeping the pack together. Kach finally stopped talking to Tooth and addressed the audience.
"The situation doesn't look too bad. With luck it was just some stray humans. Without luck they know we're here. I don't know who could have done this, I'm sure it was nobody's fault. If you know it was you, stand forward"
Not a single wolf moved. Fox raised his head to speak. "Father, Nila isn't here. But she's not an idiot. She would have reported it, but I doubt that she would ever be dumb enough to expose herself in daylight."
A wave of muttering swept through the pack. Was it Nila? A dog had found and attacked her, what if the dog's keeper reported her? Then a horrible thought rained down on the wolves. No-one had seen her all night. What if they had-
"I doubt Nila had anything to do with it." Kach reassured them. "But I have been worrying all night about where she is."
"Gees, dad! You don't have to be so overprotective!"
Nila! Lei rushed over to her daughter to give her a good lick. She was frightened that she had run away into the concrete jungle.
"Are you sure it's men?" Targ called out. "I've found traces of large animals in the north, they could be spying on us, and it could be srious."
Fox, bit his tounge to stop himself exploding. That damn cheek! Sure, his brother had found the evidence, but it was him who pieced it togther, and there he was, taking all the credit, not even mentioning his part in the idea.
"A good point, Targ," Kach praised. "You could learn a lot from your older brother Fox."
That was it!
Fox was fed up with this. His mum never gave anyone but Nila any attention because she was the only girl left and was blind, when Fal was alive she got the attention because she was youngest, and Targ, well he just had to be dad's favourite because he was going to become the leader. Life wasn't fair! He was underparised and underrespected, hardly anyone knew he was there! They said he never spoke, only because they kept butting in when he tried to, and no-one ever wanted to hang out with him.
This family didn't deserve him.

Three Months Later

Not much happened through the next months. Nila became more and more separated, Fox's blood filled with hate, and Lei slowly began to crawl out of her depression. Summer was coming again. As he had done the year before, Kach told everybody about the lack of food, especially now that there were more members of the pack. Tooth was teased by Targ, who called him a liar, and when Tooth mentioned about the 'Shadow' that had attacked his father, Targs reply was, "Shut up! There's proof that he was right. A shadow didn't attack him, it was another animal!" And he couldn't argue with that. Targ became cockier and cockier as he learnt more and more of being a leader, and Kach was suddenly finding himself wondering if he was the right option. But he was tha first born, and tradition would continue.
The 'pups' could be counted as adults now. They could hunt, defend themselves and knew about their natural surroundings. Each one of them had a place. Targ was somewhere between Alph and Beta, since he was going to be leader, his parents were obviously still Alpha, and the others in Lei's litter were either Beta or Omega. Of course, Jo and Toma's children were Omega, the youngest and the lowest in the ranking. It was not a good place to be.
Buck was quiet. He didn't play or relax with the others, but often had a trip around the great lake. He would sniff the ground where he and Fal used to play. There was no scent. He sighed and headed back to the Bronze Canfa.
Right, he thought ,fril.He was starving. It had been ages since he had hunted with the others. A diet of squirrells and bird carcasses were not enough. He needed more. Fish? Bah, too fussy, and wet. A small group of wolves could easily trap a rabbit.
The sky was grey and heavy. It seemed to press down on the young wolf's shoulders, or was it something else?
Guilt.
The space above him was suddenly flooded with white, and a long streak of leightning burst through the clouds with a mighty crack. Instantly the storm started, and Buck was forced to hurry home.

The children were only three months old but they had a mind of their own. Morrer was sickened at the thought of her younger sister taking the lead. Gale tended to stay quiet and watch what was going on, but still did her fair share. Caluk was a cocky little madam. She hung around her father all day and believed she was better than anyone else.
She knew Caluk got it from her father. Who else would fill a mere pup's head with such tales of evil. He was evil, and he was passing it down the line.
Finally, she'd had enough.
One night, she went to see him. He was sitting on a rock with Caluk, overlooking the parkland. They seemed so contented, bathing in the moonlight, silouhetted against the massive china dish. But deep, deep down she knew there was something wrong with this. He had wanted a son, and he was far too close to his daughter to be a good father.
"Sir?"
He turned to her, growling quietly wiht annoyance. What does she want? he thought, getting up to join her.
"Yes, sweet?"
She had no idea how to put it. He would surly tear her appart, so it was best to get it over with and make an escapse.
"I-I know that you wanted boys," she stammered. "But you're too close to- Caluk, to be just fathering her. And why that name? And why did you kill Typhoon?"
She flinched as he let out a snarl, staring at her from under a frown. Things were not going well.
"And-" she continued. Oh, this was hopeless. She couldn't hold it back. "I don't love you! You're evil!"
He bit her on her hindleg. "How dare you! I saved your life, I gave you a home, education and more, and this is how you repay me?" He made a jump at her, but she managed to avoid him. Caluk smiled.
They were arguing.

She ran, faster than anything she had ever accoplished in her life, back to the den, where the pups were sleeping. A birch tree watched over the entrance, a silver angel, protecting them fro harm. She couldn't help but think how this was the only bright thing in her dark life. Her coat was flat and matted by the mix of the hammering storm and her own sweat and blood. She had to get them out. Quickly.
"Morrer, Gale! We must hurry, we're going for a trip, just don't tell your father." she babbled franticly.
"But what about Caluk?" Gale piped up.
She paused. "Caluk can't come darling. Now go, out of the cave as fast as you can. Keep running until you reach the man-den!"
The puppies didn't need to be told twice. They knew their father, he was vicious and picked on mother a lot. They had total trust in her.
She made her way to the exit. After one last glance left to right, checking for her mate, she followed her children down the slope and onto the grass.

Morrer stoped under the wooden shelter. The pitter patter on the roof made by the rain overpowered every other sound in the park. Not even the sirens of New York City could be heard. Gale caught up, followed by their mother.
"why are we running away, mother?" the eldest asked.
She shook herself and said quietly "I don't feel safe with him around, it would be better to live somewhere else."
What else was she supposed say? They were far to young to know about her horrible past, or at least what she remembered of it. She was a good storyteller, but had never mentioned the legend of Caluk. It was her responsability as their mother to protect them from evil and danger until they were old enough to handle it.
She sniffed the air. The rain was getting heavier, and blocking out all scents. He could be coming here right now, and they wouldn't know. What was that?
She looked around. Just for a moment, almost completely hidden by the terrential racket of the storm, she thought she heard a snarl.
"Go! Go!" she cried to her two daughters.
The three took flight once more, barely recoved from the last sprint. They headed South through the trees, persued by a shadow. She stopped dead.
"Run, children," she shouted as it pounced on her. They began to roll, biting and scratching all the while. Morrer and Gale hid in a bush, they had no idea where they were going, they weren't leaving without her.
Eventually the opponents got up and circled each other.
"So," he growled, "You thought you could escape me, tell them of my plans. We may argue, my Sweet, but I never imagined that you would betray me."
She barked at this. "My name is not Sweet. You know very well what it is, Jeke."
He stopped. "What did you just call me?"
"By your proper name." she panted, "You have no privalige to be called 'Sir'."
He pounced again, and her vision went blurry. He turned tail and ran. The pups would never suvive alone. He had finished her off, she was dying.

The two children ran to their mother. She was lying on her side, her breathing was long and wheezy. She coughed, "Travel South, until you hit the meadow. Then follow it to the left and look for the wolves. Tell them that Fal sent you."
Morrer whispered what she had just said to herself. Gale whined, nuzzling her mother's face.
"Tell them to beware of-"
She stopped with a splutter. Her eyes were blank and seemed to stare out into nowhere. Morrer took a deep breath. She was in charge now.
"Come on," she calmly said to her crying sister, "We have to go."

The Family

The rain had reached torrential. Everyone had retired to their dens for the night, thinking how no human would dare show their face in this weather. It was freezing and wet and windy and no-one could sleep. Most of the pack spent half of the night re-digging a deep trench in the back of their dens to drain the water, as well as making the entrance smaller so that a river didn't flow into the room at night and drown them in their sleep.
Buck and Tooth shared a den between the roots of an old oak tree next to the great meadow. There was a small bank slipping down from the lawn, and it was on this bank that the hole was hidden behind a small evergreen fir. Because of being on a slope the young males didn't have many problems with the downpour. It was more of the wind that bothered them, blowing a freezing draft along with the rain straight into the mouth of the den.
There was no light, just the howling of the wind and the thunder of the clouds. It seemed as if the rain would never stop.
Through the noise and flooding, Buck had time to think. But what about? He only thought, never spoke, always asking why. Why did he feel so guilty? Why did Fal die? Why did he think it was his fault? Why was he asking why? What was that?
It was a quiet wimpering. "Tooth," he hissed, "Get up."
"Why?"
"Just get up!"
His brother sighed, then rose shakily onto his legs and joined Buck at the mouth of the den. He yawned, "What is it?"
His brother nodded in the direction of the meadow. At first he couldn't see it, with the rain and wind blowing everywhere. Once his eyes had adjusted, he could see two shapes coming their way.
"The Shadows..." Tooth gasped. He was about to run out of the den when Buck put his paw infront of him.
"No, look closer." he said softly.
As the things came nearer, their features became clearer. They were wolf pups. One dark brown and the other, no, no it couldn't be! Light grey with black markings. Buck stared in horror.
"I-i-it's the g-ghost of-" he stammered, then gulped. "Fal."
Tooth's eyes were wider than dinner plates. But she was dead, everyone knew that. Unless,
"Kach was right. There are Shadows. Shadows of the past." He looked at his brother, he looked at him in turn. The Shadow had attacked Kach that night, was a ghost.
Stories of Caluk and Agali, legends of old, that even once captive wolves knew, brought superstition to the lives of animals. But in the Central Park Pack, such stories were for pups, to teach the to behave, or the demon wolf would get them in their sleep. Heroic tales of battles and fires and man brought courage to them, and knowing that the mighty Agali was crowned a god after his death, for all of the fighting on the behalf of justice and right. He was a wolf-fox-hybrid, an outsider, who was made immortal, and gave the hope to all wolves that their name's, too, could be written in the stars. Such stories were dismissed in this pack, they were just stories. But now, ghosts, images from the past and reborn in their memories and imaination, were stalking the park.

"Go! Run to Kach, tell him to come quickly!" Buck ordered his brother. Although he was youngest, he was incharge. He had the mind of an Alpha, just not the born position. Tooth obeyed out of sheer fear, wishing to be as far away as possible.
The rain gave him trouble though. It was slippy and dark, and all smells were blocked. The rain was heavier than anything he had ever heard. There were no senses to guide him, Tooth had to run on pure instinct. Eventually, he found it. The grand oak, over 300 years old, and it's intertwined roots, holding up the giant den like scaffolding.
"Kach! Kach!"
He was awake instantly, helped by Tooth shaking his sodden coat. "What is it you damn boy!" He hated being woken up for no reason. Lei couldn't help but overhear the conversation.
"The Shadows, sir, they're coming! Me and my brother saw two of them heading towards our den." he panted. His coat was steaming from the mixture of hot sweat and freezing rain water. Kach wasn't sure whether to belive him or not, but the juvenile did look urgent.
"And why should I belive you?" he said. "You're a young wolf, hardly older than a pup, who gets frightened by a bit of thunder and a trick of the light. I'm nice and cosy in here, and I used to be dry, until you shook yourself all over me. No-one believed me why I said there were Shadows, so why should I listen to you?"
Tooth was now shivering. "Please sir, PLEASE!" he chattered.
Kach had had his fun. "Alright, alright, I'll go and have a look and show you that there's nothing to be afraid of."
"I'll go too," Lei piped up, joining her mate at the entrance, "I can't sleep anyway."
"Tooth, you need to show us the way."
"Can't I just tell-"
"No."
He sighed and prepared himself for another rainy run.

When the trio arrived outside the den, there was no sight of the Shadows. Kach was about to tell Tooth not to bother him over nothing in the future, when a voice called them.
"In here."
In the warmth, Buck was lying down with two pups at his side. "Some Shadows!" he laughed. Kach wasn't keen to welcome them, where had they come from?
"Who are you?"
The two pups looked up, trembling. This wolf was big and talked in a strange way. He must be the Alpha... Morrer said to herself.
When Lei saw the pups, she gasped in horror. "F-Fal?"
Gale looked up at this. The white wolf seemed terrified of her, but that name, how did she know it? She knew her mother?
"No, I'm Gale. Fal was our mother."
"Fal?" Buck whispered.
"Mother?" Kach shrieked. He was a grandad. More than that, Fal had suvived the terrier attack. But Lei wasn't convinced.
"It's Fal." she kept saying quietly, repeating it to herself continuously.
"And my name's Morrer."

The New Pack

Buck offered to take care of Morrer and Gale, but Kach said it was best for a blood relative to take care of them. Unfortunatly, Lei was still up the wall from seeing her 'daughter' who was dead, so Latch took the job happily. They grew quickly, and everyone put it down to Kach's bloodline. He and Latch were better with each other, but the Beta still had issues with him, and so the next arguement uprose about how the leader's blood had nothing to do with how well the pups were doing, but they were actually being taken care of better than any female could do. The she-wolves of the pack found this a highly offencive comment and brought thir own wave of rebellion.
The concequences of this were Lei being sick of her mate and brother aguing again, and so got her own den with Akila who moved out of Latch's place after he made his comment. Jo kicked out Toma, who went to live with his easy going sister, Difa. Nila finally gave up on Buck, claiming that she was no longer interested in males as they were stupid, sexist, pompus losers who would be nothing without the girls, and Tooth didn't exactly help the situation by making a joke that she was now interested in females instead, which she took far too seriously. The pack was falling apart, all because Kach and Latch were fighting again.

"Alpha is no job for a male nanny!"
"Or for a selfish twit who's up his own-"
"STOP IT NOW!" Lei yelled. "I am SICK and TIRED of you two arguing. I thought that you two had settled your differences a long, LONG time ago. But it appears that I thought wrong."
"Yep." they said together.
"Don't you know it's rude to talk when others are?"
"Yes. Especially an Alpha."
"Is that what your mummy told you,when you were in the invisable den?"
"SHUT UP!" Lei howled. Everyone looked at her in horror. She had just broken the Second Rule. Never howl.
Kach gasped, "Lei-"
"I DON'T CARE!"
The park went silent. Silent enough to hear it. A returned howl. The wolves looked around in shear fear. That settled it, there were other wolves.
"Targ was right." someone whispered.
Fox heard this, and suddenly his heart was racing. Before he knew what he was doing, he leapt at his elder brother. There were snarls and growls so fierce that even Kach shied away. Then he realised that his sons were fighting.
"Stop it," commanded, "Stop it now!"
But the boys kept on rolling and biting. Gale's ears were pressed straight back along her neck. She wasn't seeing her uncles fight, but her parents. it was horrible. She ran. straight to the place that she'd last felt safe and happy. Next to Buck.

On a rock, far from the vision of the pack, Caluk sat listening to the sounds that wre being passed on the wind. It felt good to call, like a true wolf. The humans knew they were there, the pack was being broken down, and their plan was working.

There was nothing for it, they were amking too much noise. Kach jumped off his stand and put himself between the boys. He recieved many sratchings and bites, but he separated the two. He attended to his youngest.
"What in the name of CALUK are you doing?!" he barked. Fox was trembling from a mix of fear, anger, adrenalinne and satisfaction. He did not answer. Lei stood between father and son.
"Leave him to calm down." she said calmly.
But Fox pushed her away. "I'll calm down, far away from here. I'm fed up of everyone else getting all the attention and me getting nothing. I deserve better, and so does everyone here."
"I agree." said Toma, "I've been a low rank all my life and I deserve better treatment. A fair pack when everyone is equal."
"Yes," agreed Latch, "Where everywolf is an Alpha."
"A pack could never work like that, you'll all end up fighting." Kach sighed.
"Fighting? We fight now in the tradttional way, what difference does it make to how a pack is run?" Tooth chipped in.
"We want a pack where males and females have the same rights." shouted Nila.
Difa even added; "One where not a single wolf is judged for doing the right thing."
The magority of the pack were in favour of a new group of wolves.
"Hold on," Buck said. Everyone turned to face him. "Fair enough, you want changes. But we have very little of the Way Of The Wolf left, a ranked pack is one of them. In this pack we all have jobs and skills used to help each other, without that, we can't be called a pack."
For the first time, Kach saw a bright spark in the boy. He spoke honestly of both sides and reasoned for everybody's happiness. But the others were having none of it.
"Stay if you want Buck, but this is your only chance to join our Fair Pack."
He declined.
Then they left the Bronze Canfa behind, in search for a new settlement.

Buck stood tall, proud of his descision, still with Gale by his legs. Morrer was uncertain whether to go with Latch, the wolf who she owed so much to, or to stay with her sister in a true pack. She gathered her thoughts and chose her sister.
Jo walked up behind her son to support his choice. Her mate, older son and best friend had left her behind, but at least she had him.
Akila knew her place and was happy with it. She was with Lei, knowing that it was to be.
Targ cowered behind his father, both of them still dripping with blood. He knew what would come later for putting so many lives at risk.
Kach had more important things on his mind. Never, in the history of The Central Park Pack, had there been a rebellion. And he was responsable as the Alpha.
They stood, sat and lay there for a few more miniutes, waiting for something, they didn't know what, but it came. The howl.