Peacekeepers chapters 1-7

by Written Scribbles

This is just for me to track a story I'm writing, reading isn't recommended.

Peacekeepers

Elena Wickman

Packs-

(Character Key)

Burning Ember Pack

Alpha Male: Rio- Light blue/gray male wolf with gray eyes.

Alpha Female: Rosetta- Reddish-brown she-wolf with glimmering amber eyes and white paws.

Beta Wolf: Robin- Tawny she-wolf with green eyes.

Hunters:

Bear- Dark male wolf with amber eyes and a brown tipped tail.

Storm- Tawny male wolf with a long tail, broad shoulders, and hazel eyes.

Wisp- Pale male wolf with a short, cloud-soft tail and deep, chocolate brown eyes.

Century- Pale she-wolf with dark flecks in fur and light blue eyes.

Yin- Bright white she-wolf with black paws, tail-tip, muzzle, and chest with blue eyes.

Guardians:

Yang- Jet black she-wolf with white paws, tail-tip, muzzle, and chest with blue eyes.

Auburn- Small golden male wolf with white splotches.

Twig- Lean dappled wolf with an ear missing.

Pups:

Cinder- Light silver she-wolf with aqua blue eyes and one white paw. (Daughter of Rosetta and Rio.)

Blizzard- Bright white she-wolf with amber eyes and a black-flecked flank. (Daughter of Rosetta and Rio.)

Zodiac- Light brown male wolf with thick fur and amber eyes. (Son of Wisp and unknown.)

Omega:

Scrap- Small, nasty-tempered half-dog with small paws.

Setting Sun Pack

Alpha Male: Flock- Golden male wolf with hazel colored eyes.

Alpha Female: Light- Golden she-wolf

Beta Wolf: Cliff- Dark brown male wolf with blue eyes and white spots on his flank.

Hunters:

Fall- Tawny she-wolf with green eyes and a scar across her right eye.

Drift- Tawny male wolf with silver eyes and a silvery tail, brother to Fall, Frog, Oranges, and Cliff.

Frog- Light brown male wolf with a white speckled tail.

Luna- White she-wolf with yellow eyes.

Guardians:

Knot- Dark yellow male wolf with a broken front left paw.

Shimmer- Golden-furred she-wolf with bright eyes.

Oranges- Red-furred she-wolf with white patches

Pups: Berry- Bright red she-wolf with blue eyes.

Omega: Icicle- White she-wolf with a raspy voice and horrid, crackly howl.

Running River Pack

Alpha Male: Mystic - Dark gray male wolf with green eyes.

Alpha Female: Splash- Light gray she-wolf with blue eyes and white paws.

Beta Wolf: Ivory- Dark black male wolf with bright icy blue eyes.

Hunters:

Stone- White and black male wolf.

Crater- Light brown male wolf with darker brown spots.

Fog- Gray/blue she-wolf.

Rouge- Large red-brown male wolf with hostile eyes.

Guardians:

Creek- Pale yellow male wolf with dark eyes.

Rock- Dark brown she-wolf with misty silver eyes.

Darkness- Black male wolf with floppy ears.

Pups:

Talia- White she-wolf with brown eyes and a black tail, born in captivity.

Sandy- Pale yellow male wolf with blue eyes.

Blue- Gray male wolf with white flecks and green eyes.

Omega:

Gnash- Large dark-furred male with jagged teeth.

In the Beginning

A red-brown she-wolf, her amber eyes glittering with the utter excitement of the war, pinned down a silver-tinted- gray wolf with a snarl as vicious and menacing as a rumbling volcano. "Get off of our territory!" she growled, digging her thick and sharpened claws deeper into his already injured shoulders. She could feel his blood seeping through her sword-sharp claws with a smug smirk of triumph.

"You think I'd listen to you?" The gray wolf responded coldly, but a hint of severe pain was obvious in his eyes as he stared back at his attacker. Flicking his tail evenly to keep control of himself and not give into the throbbing pain threatening to own him, he responded with a howl that was partly meant to reassure him. "Even if I die today, the Pack of Running Water will conquer the Pack of Setting Suns. We will war long into the night if we have to!"

Rosetta-as the she-wolf was called-lowered her blood-reddened muzzle so low she could smell the acrid breath of the gray wolf. "If you do not surrender, I shall have to kill you," she warned truthfully, her dark amber eyes narrowed for extra emphasis on the death threat.

The silver wolf thought for a second, his heart pounding hard in his chest. He knew that this was no joke. If he did not give in, then he would take his final breath on this night. Thinking fast, the silver he-wolf struck his head up, bashing hers as well as his. With a howl of pain the slim she-wolf staggered back off of her victim, clutching her bleeding head with her front paws. As she was staggering back, he leapt to his paws, blood dripping from his shoulders where her nails had dug in. "Give me five reasons to give up now." He smirked, flicking his tail up straight and pricking his ears to angle them in front of him in a sense of dominance.

Rosetta, now dizzy, was unable to reply. She put her paws down one after another and gave her head a shake, sticking her tail up as well to match him. "Oh, I'll give you your reasons!" Anger now lit her pace more harshly than before. How dare that simple-minded Subordinate strike the pose of the Alphas? She raced towards the male wolf, a fresh trickle of warm blood spilling a path behind her from the place she and he had crashed heads. She lunged for him, but he had obviously learned his lesson and darted out of the way.

The male appeared behind his attacker and leaped onto her, crushing her with his weight. He had her pinned, and could kill her if he wanted to.

The red she-wolf struggled under Rio's firm hold, but he had her tightly pinned, and his claws were digging into her neck. However, just as she was about to give in and accept the face of death, she felt the pressure lift and suddenly she could get up. Struggling to regain footing with her head spinning, she faced him and raised her lip, snarling. However, he gave no sign of aggression.

The silver male sighed and looked Rosetta straight in the eyes. "I'm tired of this."

Still strongly aware that he was within clawing distance if need, Rosetta narrowed her eyes to get the world to stop spinning. "What do you mean, River Wolf?"

He repeated himself. "I'm tired of this…all of it. It seems as if every day there is a war raging on between our two packs. Both of our numbers have decreased incredibly, and the fields are practically painted in red. All of this vicious warring has scared of most of the prey, and we're all thinning out and starving."

Despite his admittance to weakness, the Alpha's daughter didn't back down. "Setting Sun Pack is not starving. Maybe your pathetic scrap of dogs is weak, but we will always remain strong."

Rio's eye twitched with annoyance. This was one feisty female. "We are not dogs. We are all purebred wolves and perhaps we're braver than your pack, because we don't have so much pride that we're drowning in it. We can admit to defeat."

Rosetta snarled and bared her teeth at the Running River wolf, but he did have a point, about all the war and the prey being scared off. She would never admit it, though-not to the enemy. "Even if you don't like this, how would one puny wolf stop all of the warring?"

Rio looked at the stars, his eyes gleaming with a far-off look. "I know my limits, and I couldn't stop two packs from ripping each other to pieces, but there's strength in numbers."

Rosetta cocked her head, not really understanding what he was getting at here. "How would you gather followers?" Her hostility had shifted to curiosity in the short time they had stopped slashing at each other.

Rio shrugged, and shook his head, laughing a little. "I have absolutely no clue. It's…a silly idea, isn't it?"

The she-wolf smiled. "No, I think it's not such a bad idea. After all," she said, her stubborn attitude remaining. "Our Omega doesn't get to eat much and if our Omega died of starvation, we would have to sacrifice useful wolves to carry out simple duties!"

Rio laughed, his tail wagging a little. "That's sort of the point, I guess."

Rosetta smiled and stepped towards Rio, her curiosity growing at this topic. "So…tell me more about this dream of yours."

Rio nodded. "Well-" he was cut off by the long, victorious howl of his Alpha. He glanced behind him to see the black pelted Lark with his son Mystic by his side, both with their ears shoved forwards and tails high.

"Victory is ours!"

Rio turned to see Rosetta taking backward steps back to her pack as her own Alpha snarled an angered retreat. "Wait! Rosetta, meet me by the borderline tomorrow night!"

Rosetta smiled and nodded, then rejoined her pack in their hasty retreat. She didn't really know why she had given in so easily, why she had caved for this wolf. Was it how he had said it? Was it the wish that, despite her eagerness to feel the rush of wind as she fought, that the wars would stop? She didn't understand it herself, but didn't argue with it either, because it felt nice, for once, to not be fighting with a wolf from another pack.

There were many more visits between Rosetta and Rio in which both wolves snuck away from the safety of their homes to see each other, talking with excited voices about what would happen if the wars stopped, how peaceful it would be, and as their bellies rumbled they discussed what kind of prey they would eat and the hunting patrols they would lead, and, for Rosetta, her dream of one day becoming the Alpha. Soon enough the visits became more frequent, and the two started getting out during the day to see each other, for a friendship had formed. And it was as though before the friendship even started, love blossomed between the two, and both Rio and Rosetta lived their dreams. Rosetta got to be the Alpha Female of Rio's pack, the pack he had always wanted. The two formed a peace pack-one to keep the others in control, and to discourage constant warring. For the two created, together, the Pack of Burning Embers.

Five Years Later

Rosetta struggled through the snow. Hail pounded down onto her, an odd accomplice to the raging blizzard ahead. Her tongue hung out of her mouth as she tensed her shoulders in pain, the large blocks of hail hitting her. She shook her head to clear frozen snowflakes out of her eyes, providing a way to see through the blinding snowy weather. The Alpha Female glanced over her shoulder, seeing nothing but snow. Her only chance of finding the den she had left her pups in previously was her nose, trained in ways of no others'. Rosetta lifted her nose to the air and breathed in, a faint scent of fox trailing with the blizzard. It was stale, the scent of female, and she immediately recognized the abandoned smell of the fox's previous den. She started to push her way through the harsh weather, her nose leading her onwards.

Blinking water out of her eyes, Rosetta shook her freezing pelt out in the damp, abandoned fox den. It was small, and she had to duck to walk through it, but it was good enough. The faint sounds of squeals and squirms met her ears as she crawled into the dark corner of the den, where she had left her puppies to find something, anything to eat so as to nourish her puppies. She had wanted to be away from her pack for this special litter-her last litter of puppies. The pack would welcome them, but she didn't want to feel the tension prickling on every pelt of her pack mates as she cared for her final pups.

Graying hairs on the red she-wolf's muzzle could be seen in the dim light of the den, and as she nuzzled into the soft fur of her puppies, she could feel Monique, the ancient wolf ancestor, with her, comforting them. As she gently caressed her tongue over her final pup she had had, she could feel its small breaths of life-weak and feeble. Would this one live? She pushed it closer to her, and sighed with relief as the breathing quickened from the warmth of its siblings and mother. There were three of them, and though the color of their pelts were not yet fully developed, Rosetta could see a faint silver pelt on her youngest, one quite like her father's. There was one puppy, a black one, her firstborn of the litter, who she could see her very own father in. She nudged his unmoving body. Dead. She had left him for moments alone, and now he was gone, not strong enough for the bitter cold that had drifted in from the opening and taken his life from him. Her heart fluttered with brief sadness. Why must he be taken from me now? He would never run or play, like the rest of his littermates, never rule over the pack like she had wished to since puppyhood. She pushed the dead pup aside, as his cold and still body would do nothing to keep her remaining two alive and turned to the second pup born in the litter. She was bigger than the rest, the strongest. Her pelt was as bright as the raging blizzard still snarling outside.

Rosetta licked each of her pups, even the dead one. She named him, too, along with her two alive pups. She had called the gray one who resembled her mate Cinder, in honor of her pelt the color of cinders. The white, she had called Blizzard, for she had been born on the night of a blizzard. Her black pup she called Night, for his dark pelt and for the place he would soon be travelling to from the still body encasing him to Earth. He would watch over his sisters and brothers from The Pack of the Night Stars, a place where the Yellowstone wolves believed dead wolves went once they died. Of course it wasn't true. It was ridiculous and not realistic in the least. But it was nice to pretend that those who had passed had others to look after them. Even if they were dead. Rosetta rasped her tongue once more over his pelt. Night. A name her pack would never know of, she would make sure of that. It would make no sense to speak of a dead puppy to her pack of thriving, living, breathing wolves anyways. She glanced over at her other pups, now asleep from the rhythmic and soothing licks of her tongue. She nuzzled them, then rested her head on the cold cave floor and fell asleep. She would wait to introduce them to the pack until they were a little older.

Chapter I

Cinder's feet scuffed up the dirt behind her as she bolted out of the fox den she had lived in for so long. As she breathed in the fresh, morning air speckled with dew drops and wet pine, her eyes shone. She turned around and dashed back into her den where her mother and sister's snores bounced around the cave walls. Running around Rosetta a few times, she tripped on her scurrying paws and landed face flat on her little black nose. Shaking her head to clear the shock, Cinder then turned to her sister and nosed her once, twice, three times. The young pup cocked her head and sat down.

Trying again, Cinder nosed Blizzard, her black nose easily noticeable among all the tufts of white fur on Blizzard's pelt. Upset as her sister did no more than twitch, Cinder sat down and lifted her muzzle to the cave ceiling and let out a long, wordless howl. It was loud and echoed for miles from the origin of the cave, bouncing around the walls for extra loud effect, and as Blizzard growled and opened one eye Cinder stood up and wagged her tail, dashing around her mother and sister once more with her tail still fiercely wagging. Her eyes now gleamed with bright happiness and she tried to catch her tail in front of Blizzard, spinning in rapid circles to bite down onto her fluffy fur, only stopping to nudge and poke her sister every once and a while. Her small puppy whines once more filled the cave with sound as Blizzard remained asleep, even after her loud howl. Cinder licked over her sister's ears with a chorus of whines to follow, and waited as Blizzard slowly dragged herself to her paws.

"Cinder, please," Blizzard whimpered, her voice still small and high-pitched as she was, in fact, very young, no older than two months. She buried her muzzle in her paws and covered her ears to block out the sounds of her sister's loud puppy distress.

Cinder let her tongue loll out of her mouth, and her tail thumped eagerly against the bottom of the cave. She could barely contain her excitement. She licked over her nose and blinked twice to clear remaining fog from her eyes after a long night's rest, then continued her small whimpers to wake up her mother as well as the black-flecked sister she had just disturbed.

"Blizzard, Mother, will you please both wake up? I want to go and play outside!" To try and add more emphasis to the pleading whine, the small silver puppy stood up on her hind legs briefly and danced a small dance around the little, contained old fox den. A drip of cold water hanging from a rock on the ceiling hit her nose and she sneezed, falling back onto the ground and wiggling her muzzle to warm it back up.

Rosetta struggled to her paws, arching down to the dry cave floor in a large stretch until her thick claws clacked against the ground. She yawned; opening her mouth to reveal jagged and pointed teeth, and then turned to her two puppies now rolling about in a scuffle on the ground. The aging she-wolf bent down and grabbed her small, white ball of fluff for a pup from the pile to break up the fight. Setting Blizzard down lightly on the cave wall and stretching out a paw to block her from continuing their war, Rosetta cleared her throat.

"Now, pups, this is a very important day of your lives, you do realize, am I correct?" The weary mother eyed her two nodding pups, keeping a flicker of a smile from showing on her maw.

Cinder's paws were tingling, and she felt as if she could explode from the lag of having to wait any longer. To make time pass, she scratched at an itch on her ear with a hind paw then turned her attention back to Rosetta.

"Today we will introduce you to the pack for the first time. I have told you both to watch for coyotes, foxes, and bears, and you must, at all costs, heed my instructions. There will be no wandering off, correct? You know the consequences, right?"

"Yes, Mother!" Cinder yipped, her heart fluttering and butterflies flying about rudely in her stomach, making her feel ill with anticipation.

"Alright. If you will both follow me slowly outside, we can begin our tour." Rosetta's stern instructions made no journey to the pups' ears as they both bolted towards the entrance.

Cinder almost fell onto her face again in her desperate attempt to reach the cave entrance before Blizzard in an un-worded but very obvious race, but hastily slowed her pace at an angry glare from her mother. She and her snowy white sister walked almost in unison in catching up with their mother, trotting to keep up with her wide strides.

"The pack isn't too far from here, girls, so don't worry," Rosetta reassured them.

Cinder nodded with a smile, looking around at the giant forest surrounding her. There were trees as big as mountains everywhere; with large roots poking out of the earth, so large that they were bigger than her! She wagged her tail with excitement and let her tongue loll out of her mouth. The earth was so soft beneath her paws, so much smoother than the dense rocky cave she had lived in for the past two months of her life. The silver puppy was bubbling with anticipation and eagerness. She was filled with so much energy that she thought she would burst, and it was very hard to contain it.

But as Cinder saw her sister strutting ahead of her she growled and lunged towards her, toppling her over and nipping at her ear. Blizzard, caught by surprise, was winded for a few seconds and in that time Cinder pinned her to the floor. Cinder shoved her ears forwards, curled her lip and raised her tail in the dominant pose of the Alphas. This got her an angry, sharp nip from her mother and Rosetta nosed her off of Blizzard.

"Cinder!" she growled with scorn. "You do not, in any circumstance, imitate the Alphas pose. You may be an Alpha puppy, but once you reach the appropriate age you will be a true part of the pack, and at the bottom of the hierarchy. Dominance is something you earn. Don't abuse it."

Cinder lowered her muzzle and rolled her eyes back to stare at her mother in guilt. "But…you do it all the time to scary animals. You told us!"

Rosetta sighed. "That, sweetheart, is different. When wild animals are attacking you, you have to look brave and fierce. They have to know who the boss is. To another member of your pack, dominance is only something those higher up in the hierarchy have the privilege of getting. They have earned it. And also, I am the Alpha Female. The leader of the pack."

Cinder cocked her head and stood up, walking alongside her mother and sister as the Alpha Female picked up the pace. "Mommy, how do you get to higher ranks in the higher-arkey?"

As Rosetta spoke, she addressed both pups. "This is a good time for a lesson, girls. To climb the ranks in the pack, you must either earn that rank by doing something brave, honorable, respectable…something that really helps the pack. But the quicker ways, of which there are two, are to first, fight a member of the pack with the rank you desire and pin them to the point where they can't get up. You do not ever kill them; just...hurt them a little. The other way is to enter in the Alpha Games. This way actually may take longer than the first, but for the year we're in it would be quite fast."

"What's the Alpha Games?" Cinder inquired.

"Well, every three years the Alpha Games are held. One of the current Alphas of each pack, either the male or female, plus one volunteer pack mate can enter in the Alpha Games. During the Alpha Games all the participants must work together as a makeshift pack, supporting each other, hunting for each other, in territory far from our own. But, while they are working as a pack there are still ranks, and the strongest wolf or the most dominant gets to be the little pack's 'alpha.' The others wolves in the game pack can challenge their Alpha wolf to win the rank of alpha, but the only way of winning is to pin your opponent into submission. But occasionally wolves get carried away, and death happens." Rosetta's face hardened a little at this. "Whoever is the current Alpha by the end of the games, wins, and gets to replace the Alphas of their pack to be the new Alpha, and choose their other Alpha."

Cinder whimpered. "Mommy, why would we kill other wolves for some silly game?"

"You see, Cinder, seven years ago, the Pack of Setting Suns and the Pack of Running River were constantly in war. I was in the Setting Suns Pack and your father in the opposite."

"You and daddy were in different packs?" Cinder asked with awe.

Rosetta nodded. "We were. And our packs were always locked in combat. There was so much war that we scared all the prey away, which only caused more contention. However, during one fight I met your father when I was injured. He was so kind to me, and wanted to help me. I was stubborn, though," Rosetta added with a chuckle. "But he didn't give up. Without him I might have died from the infectious wound. After that, we were very close and started to sneak out of our packs at night to see each other. Soon, maybe we didn't realize it at the time, we loved each other, and both wanted to end the warring. So, we started the Burning Ember pack as the peacekeepers of the packs, to keep everything in order. So, every three years we hold the Alpha Games to show the destruction that can happen if we war again; that precious wolves will die, and that would be tragic. A smaller reason is just to change up the high positions once in a while."

Cinder still wasn't convinced that this was a great idea. Her heart was beating wildly at the idea of wolves murdering each other just for the leadership rank. Her ears perked up at the sound of her sister's voice beside her. Lost in her own thoughts the silver pup almost forgot Blizzard was there!"

"Mommy, could I be in the Alpha Games if I wanted to?"

Cinder stared with a growl at Blizzard. "Why would you want to kill other wolves? That's acting like a rabid dog!"

Blizzard stuck out her tongue. "It is not! I just want to be Alpha. That would be so cool. All the wolves would have to do what I said! If I wanted to eat all the prey in the world they would have to get it for me!"

Rosetta nudged Blizzard with her nose, toppling the little puppy over. "Being an Alpha is not about giving orders and being in charge. It's about being a good leader, a secure commander, ready to protect the pack at all costs. Alphas are there to keep the pack in order and keep everyone under control. The pack looks up to their Alphas to be responsible, brave soldiers who would die for anyone in their pack."

"Even the Omega?" Cinder questioned, wrinkling her nose with disgust.

"Yes, even the Omega," the she-wolf replied. "Though the Omega is the lowest in our hierarchy, they serve a role in the pack too. Without the Omega we would have to send one of our precious Guardians or Hunters to do the tasks like finding new water sources or looking after our puppies when they're too young to be alone."

However, Cinder hardly listened to her mother's speech. "Eew. Mommy, will Scrap have to look after Blizzard and me?"

"Only for a short while, Cinder. Only while you're still too young to defend yourself. What if a fox got into the den? Your legs are too little to run away and your teeth too small to defend yourself. However, a fully grown wolf, even a half-dog like Scrap could easily scare it off."

This time it was Blizzard who was asking the questions. "Mother, what do Guardians and Hunters do? What's the difference?"

"Guardians are the wolves a step ahead of Omega. They stay in camp and watch over it when the Hunters have gone hunting. If there is a raid, Guardians would be the ones to alert the pack. Also, when needed, Guardians renew the scent along our border and check for intruders along the borderline."

"That seems so boring. I'm never going to be a Guardian," Blizzard whined.

"Don't be so sure, little one," Rosetta laughed. "Once you're of age, that's the first rank you'll be at. You'll have to earn being a Hunter or anything higher than that."

Cinder opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal. She jumped and turned around to see a dark-furred she-wolf with spots of white on her pelt. The wolf was standing in front of a thick, bramble wall. The puppy dashed behind her mother and peeked around her hind legs. Not only was the opening covered by bramble, but it seemed like it was woven all over the circle of trees that surrounded the wolves' main den. Was this where she was going to live for the rest of her life? Was this the permanent den?

"Rio! The puppies are here! Rosetta's back!" The wolf tipped her head to the sky and let out a long howl. She stretched to the ground onto her stomach and crawled towards Rosetta with her ears flattened and tail pinned to her flank. She lowered her head and rolled her eyes up to look at the Alpha Female. "Welcome back, Alpha," she yipped to Rosetta.

"You may rise, Yang," Rosetta barked, her ears shoved forwards and tail slightly wagging.

A magnificent silver wolf appeared from the opening in the bramble wall. His blue eyes shone as bright as the sky, and his gray pelt looked as though there were stars caught in it. With a silky, gleaming look to his thick pelt, he really was a majestic wolf. He had a long muzzle and eyes in perfect symmetry. Was this Cinder's father? Did she look like that?

Rosetta wagged her tail and approached her mate, licking his ears. "Rio! It's so great to see you."

The Alpha Male smiled and nuzzled her back. "Same to you, Rosetta. It's been a little while." He turned excitedly to Blizzard and Cinder, who were shying back behind their mother.

"Are these the puppies?" He asked the red-furred she-wolf, who nodded proudly.

"The little white one is Blizzard, and her sister, the silver she-wolf, is Cinder. She looks like you, doesn't she?"

Rio bent down to get a better look at his identical daughter. "She does, doesn't she?" He rose up, his tail wagging. "Welcome to the pack, Blizzard, Cinder. I'm sure you'll both be wonderful additions." He looked behind him. "Scrap!" He barked sharply.

A small she-wolf emerged from behind the brambles. She was half the size of any of the other wolves, and her pelt was black and white like a dog's. Cinder couldn't see her very well, but what she saw she didn't like. The little wolf curled her lip a little at seeing the return of the Alpha Female, but shrank to the ground nonetheless in the silly performance the wolf called Yang had done earlier, crawling towards Rio. "What is it you desire, dear Alpha?"

Rio nodded towards the two little ones cowering behind Rosetta. "These are my puppies. You'll be looking after them for the next little while, so it would be good to get to know them now, wouldn't it?" He stared her in the eyes as she groveled in the dirt, and snarled a little as she scowled.

"Why, of course," Scrap said, but either couldn't or wouldn't hide the disgust in her voice. "I would love to watch after the filthy little rats for you."

Rio growled and lunged for Scrap, grabbing her scruff and tossing her against the brambles. Cinder watched in horror as the little Omega slammed into the thorny barrier with a yelp of terror and pain. She also earned a bite on the ear, causing a small gash that dripped blood but would heal quickly.

"Those are my daughters, you pathetic dog! And you will respect them like you would any puppy, with the courtesy and care that is supposed to be shown to the Alphas!" Rio bared his teeth and raised his head above hers as she cowered beneath his large figure. Lowering his voice to a small growl, he barked, "Is that understood?"

Scrap nodded, her flank dripping maroon drops onto the green canopy of leaves beneath her. "Yes, Alpha."

"Yes, Alpha, what?"

Avoiding eye contact, the half-wolf replied with a whimper, "Yes, Alpha, I will treat the puppies like any Alpha is supposed to be treated."

Rio flicked an ear to acknowledge her and turned towards his mate. "Take Cinder and Blizzard to their new den. We'll have to assign a new wolf to take over with puppy watching, as Scrap can't be trusted with our daughters."

Peering from behind her mother, Cinder thought she could detect the faintest of smirks on Scrap's face. But she blinked, and the look had disappeared and was replaced with submission once more, so she thought she might have just been seeing things.

Rosetta nodded her expression stern as she glared over Rio at the submissive Scrap. "I suppose you're right." She looked at the gathered wolves. "Yang!" she barked. "You're on puppy duty from now on."

Yang's eyes widened. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, she's serious. Is that a problem?" Rio asked with a hint of a growl detected in his voice.

"Are you kidding? A problem? Of course that's no problem, Alpha!" Yang bounded over to Blizzard and Cinder. "This is so cool, I can't even tell you. I love puppies so much, and I was always so jealous of Scrap because she got to watch the cute little bundle Zodiac all day, and I didn't even barely get to see him, but now that the puppies are here I can watch all three of them all day! We," she said, now addressing the puppies, "are going to be best friends! Trust me. You'll love the pack, because soon you get to meet my sister Yin, and she's way cool and way pretty, and she's already a hunter! I mean, I swear, it was her destiny to be high up in the hierarchy because we've literally already been Guardians for only one year, and she's already fought her way up by pinning Auburn and became a Hunter! Isn't that amazing?"

Cinder and Blizzard exchanged a confused look. "So," Cinder started, her head spinning with all that information to take in. "What's your name again?"

"Oh, sorry," the black wolf yipped, sitting back and smiling broadly. "I'm Yang. That's why my sister is Yin. We're Yin and Yang, get it? I don't."

Cinder shook her head. "No…I don't know what Yin and Yang is."

Yang shrugged. "You probably wouldn't. Back in the zoo, the people named us Yin and Yang. Apparently it has something to do with our fur color but," she said with a shrug. "I would never know."

"What's a zoo?" Cinder inquired, her head still buzzing with all these new scents and sounds, and all these names to learn.

"It's a place where they hold animals captive. We escaped after lightning struck our enclosure and it busted open. It was pretty cool. Then we found the pack and the Alphas kindly let us join." She wagged her tail and smiled. "We have been ever grateful to them." She and Rosetta looked at each other, and Yang smiled widely again.

Does this wolf ever stop smiling? Cinder thought to herself, but kept her words silent. She could still remember back in the earliest days of the fox den, when her mother had taught her important principles and values. One of them was "Kindness is Key." And something told the young pup that it wouldn't be very kind to ask the pleasant she-wolf if she would ever stop being happy.

"Yang," Rosetta's words snapped Cinder out of her thoughts. "Take the puppies to the clearing, please. And if any wolf hurts or makes them feel uncomfortable in any way, please tell me at once." She glared at Scrap. "They shall receive a punishment for any foul behavior."

"Yes Alpha!" Yang yipped, bowing low to the ground again before springing to her paws and leaping towards the bramble wall. "Come on, Cinder, Blizzard! Don't keep me waiting!" The black she-wolf whined with impatience.

Cinder glanced at her sister, and Blizzard gave her a smug grin. "Bet you can't beat me to the clearing," she challenged.

"Do you really think you can beat me, short one?" Cinder retaliated, but couldn't contain a wag of her tail.

"Oh, you're on!" Blizzard growled playfully, and bounded ahead of her gray-furred sister for an unfair head start.

Cinder coughed as the white puppy kicked up dirt in her face, and blinked her eyes to clear them of water before charging after Blizzard. It was easy to see her a few paces ahead, her fluffy white silhouette obvious in the greenery around them. She dodged around a squirrel as it high tailed for the trees in fright, but this delay didn't slow her down. She pumped her tiny legs harder, trying to keep up with the retreating black tail of Yang as it disappeared into the shrubbery guarding the bramble wall, and to beat her sister.

Eventually Cinder was in pouncing range of Blizzard, so as she got a few paces more into her speed to increase her chances of her attack, she stretched her neck out as far as she could and snapped her teeth onto Blizzard's tail, yanking her back. Blizzard yelped with surprise and tumbled behind her, dirt clots filling up her usually beautiful white pelt.

"That's not fair, Cinder!" She whimpered, and got to her paws, shaking out her fur. "That was a mean trick!"

"Eat my dust, Blizzard!" Cinder yapped, speeding ahead even more. She skidded to a stop at reaching the bramble enclosure, and shoved her nose through the thin layer of ivy hiding what was inside.

Cinder couldn't help but let her jaw drop at this spectacular sight. The clearing was huge, enough to fit fifty wolves wide. There were little caves dotted all over the clearing, and as she looked to her right to see a particularly small one, she spotted the little head of a pup squeeze his way out from what seemed to be an underground enclosure. He glared at Cinder and ducked back inside, hiding from her view. As she spun around she could see a gigantic, reddened rock that overlooked the entire clearing, and for the first time Cinder saw the sun, just barely raised over the horizon, and it looked huge, encircling the entire rock formation. Its bright light shone down onto all the waking wolves, and as Cinder spun around she could see them, at least seven of them, stretching and padding over to each other to engage in conversation. The entire clearing was surrounded by a thick clump of trees, so it almost looked as if, with the red rock, there was a mountain sealed inside of a forest. Bramble was woven in between the trees to act as a barrier, the sharp thorns poking out like the jagged teeth of snarling wolves, defending the precious pack hidden inside.

She was just about to go and greet the gathered wolves when a heavy weight bowled her over from behind, and she lost her footing and tumbled to the earth. Squealing and squirming under the weight of her attacker, she felt teeth clamp lightly over her neck. "Hey!" she yipped.

"I got you!" Blizzard growled through Cinder's fur, its thickness muffling her words and making her hard to understand.

"Hey, get off, Blizzard," Cinder yowled, shoving the smaller pup off of her. "That wasn't a fair attack!" she complained with a whine.

"You think that cheating in the race was fair?"

"That's wasn't cheating! Besides, you cheated by darting ahead of me before I had a chance to even get in my ready position." Cinder narrowed her eyes and stuck her tail out in mild anger.

Yang bounced up behind the two quarreling puppies and grabbed Cinder by the scruff, setting her down away from her sister. "You two need to stop bickering," she scolded, and that bright smile was finally off of her face. "There's so much to enjoy in life, so why spend it arguing? Besides, I want to introduce you to the pack. They all want to meet you, too."

Sure enough, while the two had been fighting over a ridiculous affair not worth anyone's time, the whole pack had gathered to welcome the pups, even the grumpy puppy from before that Cinder had seen. Cinder glanced over at him. Now that he was in plain view, she could see him clearly. He had light brown fur that, with the rising sun's light, looked a brighter russet. His eyes were brilliant as well, like little sections of the sun, tiny orbs of light, were reflecting out of his eyes. They were that deep amber color, like the beauty of a contained fire, the dipping and twisting of its ember depths. His fur was quite thick, too, and looked like it was made of silk-the same way that Cinder had seen Rio before. She smiled and wagged her tail at him, as he was finally smiling-but the grin wasn't for her. To her dismay, Cinder could see that the pup was smiling at Blizzard, while she didn't even notice him to return the grin.

Yang followed Cinder's gaze and grinned broadly again, plastering that happy expression back onto her face. "That," she woofed lightly in Cinder's ear, "Is Zodiac. He's three months older than you two, and that puppy has a serious attitude. Even though I've always tried to play with him, he really does the favorites picking on his own. He's really taken a liking to Yin. He looks up to her like a sister, or something. I guess," She continued, "he just really likes white wolves."

Cinder looked up at Yang, and could see her watching the direction of Zodiac's eyes, gazing at Blizzard. She frowned and sat back on her haunches crossly, now glaring at him like he'd been glaring at her. "Well, to me he looks rude. He looks really rude, and I don't want to be his friend."

Yang giggled that kind of silly giggle that seems to spread and make everyone laugh. "Anyways, the wolf right next to him is Wisp. He's always had a strong desire to be Alpha, and even challenged Rosetta one time. I suppose he thought he could beat her in a fight because she's a female." Shaking her head, Yang continued. "That was a mistake. Somehow she drew no blood but drove him so hard into the ground that he had to be taken off of duties for a week."

Cinder shot a glance up in wonder at Yang. Her mother had done that? Her mother, the same one who had taught her how to be a good puppy and good pack member, the one who had played with her and licked over her cuts and scrapes for two months, had this kind of a beast hiding inside of her? That was an unbelievable thought to even begin to imagine, but amazing at the same time.

The Guardian continued on. "Zodiac is Wisp's son, but no one knows who the she-wolf is apart from him and the Alphas. They're keeping it classified for some reason, but it's not any of our business. Besides, nobody cares anymore." The black she-wolf lowered her voice to a whisper, so only the two puppies staring eagerly up at her could hear. "And I've heard some gossip traveling around, that apparently he really likes Yin. It's obvious, anyways. I mean, like father like son, right?"

"The three on the left of Wisp are Storm, Century, and Bear. They're all hunters, and all very dedicated, too. Before Yin, Century was the only female Hunter, and she has some moves! She's super swift, has a powerful jaw grip, and I swear that if she tried, she could bring down a whole deer by herself. In my opinion, she's the most loyal wolf in the pack. Even though she came from the Setting Suns Pack, her loyalty will never waver, even by an inch. After years and years of wondering if her sister would come back, Century came here to be with Rosetta. She's her younger sister, though, by four years. She's only two, and at this age with her stamina and agility she has more speed all of us put together. She's incredible."

"That's my aunt, then? Aunt Century?" Blizzard asked, as Cinder wondered the same thing, the topic piquing her interest.

"That's correct, Blizzard. She doesn't know you yet, though, and she's a little shy with new faces, so be aware of that and don't be super crazy around her. Take your time with meeting her."

"Who are those?" Cinder inquired, angling her muzzle towards two wolves standing at the highest point of the rock, scanning the valley.

"Those two are Auburn and Twig, and they're the other two Guardians, apart from me, that is."

"How come you were down here and they're up there?" Blizzard added.

"Well, because we were stationed at different posts. I was at the entrance watch, Auburn, the golden she-wolf, and Twig, the dappled male, are at the valley post. They watch over our hunting valley during the day to make sure nothing invades our territory, and at night we switch positions."

Cinder nodded. This was so much to take in; it was hard to understand all of it. She was still getting the hang of being among the crowd of all these wolves, so much larger than she was, and didn't quite get the full explanation of the packs and their ranks yet. "What will I be when I get old enough?"

"Well," Yang began. "It depends on if you decide to challenge before your rank is official, or if you choose to just go to the bottom of the hierarchy and learn a little before advancing in the ranks."

"Oh. I think that I want to be a Hunter immediately! Being a Guardian sounds so boring."

"It really is boring," the she-wolf whined in reply. "All we do all day is just sit around and stare at the scenery. Nothing exciting ever happens, and we never have any invasions. The most exciting thing that happens to me during the daytime is alerting the Hunters about a passing squirrel so that they can chase it down for Zodiac and for you two now. But I guess it's important for me to fish out small kills for your little appetites. Now, I'll be right here watching over you. How about you go and explore the camp? I'm getting a little tired." To emphasize this point, Yang yawned, her tongue curling over her teeth. "I've been awake since dusk yesterday."

Cinder sighed, shuffling her paws with disappointment. "I guess so. Do you promise you won't fall asleep?"

"I promise," Yang replied, licking both puppies over the ear to prove her point. "I will stay awake, watching over you two from a distance. Is that okay?"

Blizzard nodded with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, licking Yang's nose. "Yup!" She charged over to Cinder with her tail fiercely wagging, clamping her jaws over her sister's ear and tugging her towards the russet puppy on the opposite side of the clearing. Even though she had earlier showed resistance in greeting the sour-faced pup, her eyes lit up with joy at the mere thought of meeting another wolf her same size and approximately same age. It was almost as if the memory of the frown he had shown her and the desire towards Blizzard had disappeared from Cinder's memory, because she scrambled hastily after her sister as they charged towards Zodiac.

Skidding to a halt so as not to crash into him and send him flying, Cinder kicked up dirt in Zodiac's face, earning her a growl from the puppy sitting opposite from her.

"Hey, what was that for? Watch where you're going!" He barked angrily, turning his muzzle away as Cinder tried to lick his nose in greeting.

Blizzard scampered up to stand next to her sister, staring down at the ground and licking her paws to clean the brown dirt off of them, and return them to their original state of clean, white fluff. "Sorry, Zodiac," she mumbled quietly. "If I got any dirt in your face."

Cinder whined in confusion as Zodiac turned to face Blizzard with a cheerful smile on his face. He wagged his tail. "That's fine. I know that you didn't mean to. So, what's your name?"

"I'm Cinder," the gray she-pup yipped, standing next to Blizzard. She crouched down in a playful pose and wiggled her hindquarters, sticking her tongue out of her mouth. "Want to play?"

Zodiac frowned. "I wasn't talking to you, Ashes. I was talking to the cleaner of the two of you."

Blizzard whined. "But…that's my sister.

Cinder smiled at Blizzard and nuzzled her with affection, burrowing her gray muzzle into her sister's fur. It was very warm and soft as velvet, just like the memory of her mother's from when she was little. Her little heart glowed with warmth at even the smallest defensive step that Blizzard had taken towards protecting Cinder, and the jealousy of the male pup's affection she had felt earlier no longer gripped her. It was gone, possibly forever.

"Yeah, I know," Zodiac countered, rolling his eyes. "But you're way better than her. I mean, she looks like something that the Hunters carried in from the forest."

Blizzard growled and lunged at Zodiac. Taken by surprise, he yelped and fell backwards, his head bashing into the earth. "So what if she kicked dirt in your face? Her fur looks like the night sky, with shining stars in it, just like our dad's! If you can't respect that and her, than I won't respect you." Ripping her claws out of his pelt (taking some brown fur with her) and wiping her hind paws to kick some twigs towards Zodiac, she turned to Cinder. "Let's go, Cinder. We can play by ourselves."

Cinder turned around and shot a smug look at Zodiac, more proud of Blizzard than she had ever been. The warm, fuzzy feeling returned in her heart as she skipped after the white puppy, feeling more special than ever before, and gladly leaving the male on the ground with an expression of mixed emotions on his face.

Chapter 2-

Cinder picked her way across the cold ground, carefully snuggling in next to Blizzard so as not to trip over Zodiac's tail. The dirt beneath her paws was nothing like the hard, stone cave she had been so used to sleeping in for the first two months of her life, and this would be a hard adjustment to make. She could almost feel the grime seeping into her fur and dirtying its silvery glow. It was pitch black outside and in, so dark that she couldn't even see her own paws in front of her nose. She couldn't see the moon's light through the opening of the hole, and even outside it was covered by the tree-and-thorn barrier. Sleeping in this underground tree hollow was too unnatural to bear.

Cinder whimpered a little bit as the cold air from outside struck her already shivering frame. Where was that soft, warm pelt when she needed it? There were no soothing words to calm her down, no large mother to snuggle into. Only the tiny comfort of Blizzard snoring next to her gave her any reassurance. How did Blizzard stand this anyways? Being all alone? The puppy shivered again, shaking silently as she tried to close her eyes and fall asleep. Curling into a little ball, she tucked her freezing nose under her paws and whined.

Suddenly, the warmth returned and enveloped her. Someone's tail curled around her and pulled her close. She could feel the wolf's tongue rasping over her ear to calm her down, and it was as if she was back in her pup-den, with her mother and Blizzard and her all together again. Cinder opened her eyes and glanced up to see the loving face of Yang smiling down at her. Cinder returned a soft smile and cuddled closer next to the older she-wolf. She could hear her heart beat, slow and soft, just like her mother's It was calming, and she slowed her breathing to match Yang's and her sleeping sister's. Yes, this was natural. As Cinder drifted off into a deep sleep, her last thought was that she was really going to start to love Yang's company.

The next morning she awoke and looked around, panicking as she forgot where she was. She jumped to her paws and howled loudly, squirming around. The wolf behind her grabbed her by the scruff and held her firmly but softly at the same time until she stopped struggling. Glancing behind her, the sights began to be more familiar, and with a sigh of relief Cinder remembered where she was, and what had happened the previous day.

"Good morning, Cinder," Yang woofed as she set the puppy down on the ground.

"Morning, Yang," she muttered in reply, feeling a little embarrassed at her outburst.

Blizzard bowled her sister over from behind, tugging on her ear with her teeth. As she squirmed all over Cinder's fur, her claws began to dig into her back and Cinder yelped, wiggling around and nipping Blizzard on the nose. As Blizzard stumbled back and pawed at her nose with surprise, Cinder lunged for her and she tumbled backwards a few feet, trying hard to regain her footing. While she was at this disadvantage, the silver pup took the chance and ran at her, using her back legs to help propel her forwards. She pinned Blizzard down and made the puppy fall back to the earth, and the two began their closely locked scuffle.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cinder could see Zodiac scowling at her, but his resentment turned to shame as Blizzard met his eyes as well. They stop their play-fight as the handsome brown puppy approached them, his tail between his legs.

"What do you want?" Cinder barked with her tail straight out and a hint of anger in her voice.

"Look," Zodiac began. "Blizzard, I'm sorry that I offended you. I never meant to hurt you in any way or…or anything of the sort. Can we just start over and be friends?"

Blizzard sighed, flattening her ears indecisively. "I don't know…you kind of hurt Cinder too."

"I know," Zodiac interrupted his whines desperate. "And I'm really sorry. I just…I get so lonely, being the only puppy in the pack and everything."

Of course you're not, you little weasel! You only apologized to Blizzard. "Humph," Cinder snorted, sticking her nose up. "Blizzard would never be friends with you. You're-"

"I forgive you, Zodiac." Blizzard walked forwards and licked the russet puppy on the nose. "Let's just be friends."

Zodiac wagged his tail with happiness, and crouched down in a play pose, dashing off with Blizzard chasing after him.

"Wait! What about-" Cinder moved as to chase after them, but stopped herself with a snort of consumption. "Stupid Zodiac, taking my sister away from me unfairly. She's my sister, so she should want to play with me, right Yang?"

Yang nudged her from behind, and Cinder turned around to see the black she-wolf crouched down in the same pose Zodiac had been in. "Want to play with me?" she offered, a puppy-like spark in her eye.

Cinder opened her jaws with a broad smile and let her tongue hang out of her mouth. "Yes!" she yipped with joy, charging at Yang as she skipped to the side and leapt out of the underground den, speeding across the clearing. Cinder came upon the climb upwards, and found that it was too high and steep for her to even try to jump it. She tipped her head and whined, staring at the dirt wall. Just how was she supposed to clear this? Placing her front paws on a large root protruding from the dirt, she heaved herself up and scrambled so that her whole body was on the root. She glanced upwards. There were roots of all sizes sticking out for her to reach, so she really could get over this! Cinder stretched her neck upwards and clamped her teeth over a loose root, and as she lifted her paws off of the ground it swayed with her weight. Grasping for the next large root above her head, she locked her claws into the hard earth and let go of the vine-like root she was holding onto with her mouth. She lifted herself upwards onto the larger root, and by this time she could reach up and heave herself out of the underground den. She did so, and eventually, her fur caked with dirt and dust, popped up above the ground.

She blinked her eyes and squinted against the suddenly very bright morning sun, bouncing off of her pelt and making it lighter than its original color was. The silver puppy walked a few paces out of the underground den and stared around her. Wolves were just beginning to awaken and rise around her, shaking out their pelts and stretching their sleeping muscles. She hung her tongue out of her mouth and glanced upwards to see Rosetta and Rio, her two majestically beautiful parents making their way out of the den on top of the cliffs. Age hadn't worn away Rio's handsome shine or Rosetta's beauty, as they still shone with elegance and grace. Rosetta caught her puppy's gaze staring up at her and smiled, making Cinder tingle all over with little butterflies of happiness.

Scrap hauled herself up out of the underground pup-den behind Cinder, snarling at her and lashing her hard, flat tail in her face as she passed. "I see you made it up, little pup. Your sibling didn't get about it too easily. I had to help her up, the stupid puppy."

"Hey!" Cinder growled, whipping around to face the short half-dog with contempt in her eyes. "My sister is not stupid! She's very smart." Her eyes traveled up Scrap until reaching her head. Though the Omega was short, the name "Scrap" definitely didn't suit her figurine. She was extremely muscled and looked as though she had a large amount of power locked in each muscle, ready to burst and send pain to every wolf around her. Her jaws were parted in a snarl, and her eyes squinted, glaring at Cinder. "B-Blizzard…isn't stupid," Cinder repeated, less certain of herself. This was a pack member she didn't want to be in a fight with.

"Really?" Scrap shook her head and chuckled. "Then how was it so impossible for her to make it out of the den, and so easy for you? You're obviously a much more capable pup than her."
"What do you mean? Capable for what?" Cinder's anger was flickered with curiosity, as it seemed like this nasty-tempered half-dog was just speaking in riddles.

"You'll understand when you're older," was Scrap's reply, as she lumbered off, her paw steps heavy and staggering, like Cinder's mother had described bears as walking.

Cinder curled her lip with a growl. That wolf-dog just gave off a bad glow that wasn't to Cinder's liking. But, she was snapped out of her confusion and disappointment as feeling another wolf brush against her flank.

"Don't mind her," said a voice from behind Cinder. "She's just pushing your buttons. She does it to every newcomer here."

"She definitely did it to me when I was a pup," said a second voice, gruff and deeper than the first.

Cinder spun around to see two tall figures facing her, smiling down at her little figure. "Um…hi," the she-pup gulped, staring up at them. She thought back to when she had been surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and the names Yang had given her. The dark male wolf was the one who had spoken second. His pelt was a very dark brown, that it almost looked black, and it was thick, too. His eyes were deep amber, cooling, like the flickering flames of a fire before it faltered and died. He had massive paws, too, and must get incredible power behind them for speed. "You're…Bear, right?"

The male wolf smiled and nodded, wagging his tail a little at her correct guess. "I am. And you are Cinder, one of two of the newest additions to the pack?"

Cinder nodded with a yip of happiness, dancing on her paws. However, though she had gotten Bear's name correctly, the she-wolf standing next to him was a mystery to her. She was tawny, with different shades of brown, cream, and red all mixed together in her pelt. It was as though her fur faded from light to dark and back to light. Her eyes were a bright forest green, and she was smaller than Bear, but she held her head high with a proud but not overly self-absorbed glow to her. "Who're you?" The gray pup questioned, carefully approaching the older she-wolf. "Yang didn't tell me your name."

"Me?" The tawny wolf asked with a laugh. "Well, I'm Robin. I'm the Beta wolf to your parents, Rosetta and Rio."

"Robin, huh? Nice to meet you both, Bear and Robin." Cinder dipped her head politely. The Beta wolf…she remembered the day she had learned about that, long ago. After hearing the name the description her mother had given her of the Beta matched Robin perfectly. Rosetta had said this she-wolf was beautiful, and there was no doubt about that.

"It sure is nice to meet you too," Robin echoed, followed by an eager nod from Bear. "I really have heard a lot about you from your mother already, in just one day. She favors you pups so much, I get tired of hearing the names Cinder and Blizzard!"

"Really? Mother talks about me that much?"

"Of course!" It was Bear who answered this time. "You two are her pups, and she loves you more than the world."

These words filled Cinder with a happy glow. "Have you met Blizzard yet? I'm sure you would love her. She's beautiful, and fun, and-" Cinder cut off as the morning memories flooded back into her head. "…and playing with Zodiac."

Something nudged her from behind and she stumbled forwards a few steps. Whipping around she spotted Yang and immediately her ears perked up. "Yang! Where'd you go?"

"I was waiting for you, slowpoke! What took you so long?" Yang whimpered, wagging her tail and bending down to Cinder's level.

"I'm only a puppy! I can't climb as fast as you or jump over the ledge," the puppy responded coolly.

Yang scoffed, her tail waving in disgust. "Oh, please. Don't give me that excuse. You're in this pack, aren't you? And you can walk, and talk, and use your legs properly. You're not just a puppy anymore, Cinder. You're a member of this pack, no matter your size or rank. Just because you aren't full grown doesn't mean you can be disregarded or that you can't do as much as anyone else. What I've learned as being a Guardian is that nothing matters about anything like that. If you're a pack member, you're a pack member. No one should be treated any differently no matter what they're labeled as. That's the end of the story."

"Well, someone's feeling bold this morning." Robin padded towards Yang with a smile in her eyes.
Yang jumped as if she hadn't noticed the Beta she-wolf earlier. Her eyes widened with shock and she opened her jaws to speak but stopped herself. Instead, she immediately ducked down, crouching low to the ground and tucking her tail under her legs. She put her head low and stared up at the tawny wolf, probably getting her fur very full of dirt. But it was all for submission. And the pleasing look in Robin's eyes showed that she was enjoying this as much as Yang was not.

"Beta, I'm…I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there," Yang stuttered. Her words were muffled with her muzzle almost buried in the ground.

"That's quite all right. I understand." Robin nodded. "You may rise."

With a sigh of relief Yang lifted herself back up, careful to keep her ears laid back and her tail flat. She didn't make eye contact with the Beta wolf, just to be safe. Cinder watched as Bear stared at Robin with a frown. He rolled his eyes and walked up next to her.

"Robin, is it really necessary to make wolves bow in submission every time you walk anywhere near them?"

Robin growled at the larger wolf, raising her head to try and stand above him. It really didn't do much, as next to her he seemed to be a mountain. Really, though, next to any wolf Bear was enormous. It made Cinder wonder who his parents were. Were they huge and bulky like he had grown up to be?

"Just because you're my brother, Bear, doesn't mean you can disrespect me. You will address me as Robin and you as well will show submission when required. Just so you know, I am one step down from the Alphas. One day I will be your Alpha and I will be in control of whether you stay here or not. I can also decide your life span." Robin ended with her menacing threat, and turned her head to look at Cinder. "Dear puppy, if only every wolf in the pack was as well behaved as you." She cocked her head and looked up at Bear. "It seems some have forgotten their puppy manners." The green-eyed wolf whipped around leaving Bear growling after her. Before her departure, she said one more thing. "Cinder, I like you. We should speak again sometime. I could teach you how to properly hunt."

Cinder watched her leave, and a sinking feeling came to her stomach. Why had Robin's mood changed from so bright to so…defensive in such a short amount of time?

Bear shook his giant head and sighed deeply, digging into the ground with his front paw. The action left nailed imprints in the earth. "Don't mind her," he said to Cinder. "She's had a lot of stress lately. You know, being recently promoted to Beta. She has a lot of responsibility. You should see her when she's not under so much pressure. She really is a good wolf."

The gray puppy almost didn't believe it. "Are you sure? She doesn't seem like such a good wolf to me."

"I'm being perfectly honest. Yang, you know what I mean, right?" Bear glanced at Yang with a worried, wrinkled forehead, searching her face for support.

Yang nodded, and Bear let himself relax. "It's true, Cinder. We were very close when we were younger. She was always very charismatic."

Feeling a lot more reassured now that Yang had agreed, Cinder plopped her bottom onto the ground, wagging her tail. "Okay," she woofed softly. The hot sunlight had finally reached the clearing, and as it bore onto the wolves below, Cinder could feel her temperature rising. "Hey, Yang, can you show me the territory, please?"

Yang shook her head with a soft growl. "No, I'm sorry. You can't leave the clearing until you're a little more experienced with the world. After all, you just got here yesterday. Do you really think you're ready to face foxes, badgers, hawks, dangerous plants, ditches, and many more dangerous things?"

With a sulking expression, the pup gave a loud huff. "I guess not…"

Bear glanced at the sky and perked his ears. "Sorry, you two. I wish I could stay and chat, but I have things to do. It looks like Alpha Female is leading the hunt today."

"Oh, is it her turn? I lost track," Yang replied absentmindedly, shaking her pelt off to get any fragments of clinging dirt or debris away. "Where is she taking you all today?"

Bear shrugged with a frown. "Knowing her, probably somewhere scarce. Alpha Female doesn't like getting into scraps with other Packs. She prefers to stick to the wastelands and be safe."

"Ah, that makes sense. Especially knowing she has two new puppies to protect. She wouldn't want to provoke any wolves to attack the heart of our territory."

Bear nodded, staring to walk away. He looked over his shoulder. "Stay out of trouble, okay?"

Cinder lifted her head with a growl. "Who, me? I won't."

With a laugh, the large male shook his head. "No, not you. Yang! Stay out of trouble!"

This remark made little Cinder giggle with glee. She was really becoming attached to the pack, especially certain members in it. Who needed other pups? The adults were far more interesting, and didn't undermine her like she wasn't worth anything.

"So, Cinder, what next?" Yang piped up, shuffling her paws. Though she was trying desperately to hide it, Cinder could see the jealousy in her eyes. Being a Guardian, Yang couldn't join the weekly hunts that the pack left on. She had to stay behind and guard the clearing with the other two Guardians.

Though she felt sympathy for the young she-wolf, Cinder didn't say so. If Yang wouldn't undermine her, she wouldn't do anything of the sort and look down on her or have pity. "I have a question, Yang. Bear is so big and Robin is so much smaller. Who could possibly be their parents?"

Taken aback by the question, Yang blinked in disbelief. "Oh, you didn't know? I thought someone would have told you by now. Well, Bear's and Robin's parents are Rio and Rosetta. They're your brother and sister."

Chapter 3-

Cinder gaped, her jaws parting with disbelief. "Are you serious? They're my siblings?" She tipped her head curiously, as questions started to take form in her brain. "If they're my siblings, how come none of them told me that?"

Yang shrugged. "Plenty of puppies pass through here that are their siblings. They're just used to it by now, I guess. We had three little boys once."

"Who are they now? Which wolves?" Cinder inquired, thinking of all the possible options in the pack.

The black she-wolf looked down at her paws. "Well, they…one of them was carried off by a hawk. The other one was taken in the middle of the night by who knows what. And the third one, well, once he was two years old he left the pack. No one knows where he went."

"Oh," Cinder simply stated. She didn't really know what else to say. Was she supposed to have compassion or pity? She didn't know them, so that was a little hard to do. "Do I have any other siblings?"

"Well, there was a she-wolf and her three brothers. But they hated the pack and all of its lifestyle. They hated having the hierarchy. So they left."

"Where did they go?"

Yang sighed, shaking her head. "I'm honestly not sure."

Cinder bit her lip. "All of those puppies died or left. I'm not going to die, am I?"

"Of course not!" The older wolf growled. "I wouldn't let anything take you away. Don't worry, you'll be living a long life, and die only of old age."

Cinder smiled. "Do you promise?"

"I promise," Yang replied.

It was late in the evening, long after Cinder and Yang had spoken. The sun was beginning to set, and the wolves left behind from the hunt were beginning to get cranky with hunger. Especially Cinder and Blizzard, who had never had to experience anything like starvation before. In their whelping den, they had always been fed on demand by their mother, who had always been stocked up on food for her pups.

"I'm hungry," Cinder complained as she sulked next to Blizzard.

Blizzard was pouting as well, her tail swishing a little, stirring up leaves behind her. "I'm even hungrier. Oh, and I'm bored, so that makes it worse."

"I doubt you're hungrier than me," Cinder argued. "I bet I'm the hungriest wolf in the entire pack. No, the entire three packs!"

"Humph." Blizzard grunted, scuffing her paws across the dirt. "As if."

The sound of movement caused Cinder's ear to twitch to the north. Something was approaching, and a strange, beautiful smell wafted through the clearing. Among others, Cinder closed her eyes to get the scent better. Its smell reminded her of the feeling of warmth and comfort. But then again, something else shoved its way among the wonderful smell. It was salty and tangy, and the young pup recognized it as blood.

"Hey, Blizzard, I think the pack is back with food!"

Blizzard's ears were already perked. "I know, dumb dog. I can smell it coming. It smells good."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go get it before it's gone!" Cinder smiled and hopped her to paws, her stomach growling louder now that she knew food was coming. She scrambled towards the smell, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She could see Robin at the front of the hunt, dragging a giant deer towards the puppies that were eagerly waiting. Bear was a little ways behind her, his strong build able to support more weight than the Beta. He was plowing through the forest, and seemed as though he was urging her to move faster.

Cinder bounded towards them as they set it down near to where most wolves had gathered. There was soon a steady circle surrounding the food. She licked her lips and pranced towards the kill as Robin and the rest of the Hunters gathered to join the circle. Bending down, she opened her jaws to take a bite out of the deer.

Jaws snapped around her ear, tearing through the skin a bit and drawing a small amount of blood. The attacker then grabbed her around her neck and threw her to the ground away from the kill. Pain stabbed through her and Cinder cringed with a loud yelp. The wolf had a paw on her, keeping her grounded. "How dare you attempt to eat before your Alphas. Didn't your mother teach you better?"

Robin was standing above her, snarling with her lip curled. "I thought you were a good pup, Cinder."

The tear in her skin was becoming more painful as Robin's claws touched where her jaws had torn. "Stop it! It hurts!" She cried out, flailing to try and get away.

"Maybe you'll think next time before disregarding the entire hierarchy. Tonight, you will be eating last."

As the weight lifted, Cinder tried to get to her paws. But her head spun and she was dizzy. She had never experienced so much pain in one time before. Blizzard broke from the circle and rushed to her aid, helping her sister stumble back towards the circle.

"Cinder, I'm disappointed in you. How many times have I told you about eating ceremonies?" It was Rosetta's voice speaking this time. As Cinder turned to face her, she saw that her mother was staring at her, shame piercing the pup like daggers. Rosetta wouldn't meet her eyes, as if she couldn't bear to look down upon the vile performance her own daughter had done.

"Mother, I-I was just so hungry. Why is it so bad that I tried to eat? I'm only a puppy!" Cinder wailed, her tail flicking as her heart sped up. Why was it such a big deal?

"It's Alpha, not mother. You will address me as Alpha, Cinder. And there will be a day when you are no longer a puppy. What will I do with you then? Look, Cinder. You know this. Eating ceremonies are one of the most important things a pack can have. It's a reminder of the ranks, of who and what positions are held by the members of the pack. If you can't respect it, why try to be in it? Therefore, you will heed Robin's punishment and will be eating last tonight, just before Scrap. That wasn't so lowly as to put you after a dog."

Scrap narrowed her eyes and glared at Rosetta, neither of them breaking the stare. But finally, intimidation from the Alpha won and the Omega looked away, her lip still twitching with anger.

Finally, Rosetta and Rio moved forwards to eat. The Alpha Female tore off one of the hind legs of the deer while Rio bit into its stomach. They seemed to eat for ages, taking their sweet time as Cinder's mouth watered and her stomach growled like crazy. As the two stepped back it was incredible how much of the meat was gone already. Robin moved forwards and took her share, biting into the other hind leg and ripping it off of the carcass.

Bear, Storm, Wisp, Century, and Yin ate next, in that order. The meat and skin was disappearing off of the deer faster than the wind on a stormy day. It looked as though there would be none left when Cinder eventually got to eat. She whined a little but restrained herself from trying again to eat before the others. The nick in her ear was quite painful, and she didn't want to receive worse punishment. But, as drool trailed down her chin she began to think life in Burning Ember Pack wasn't as fantastical as she had imagined. And Rosetta-her own mother- had completely changed. What happened to the sweet and loving she-wolf Cinder had known in her whelping den? It was as if there were two sides to the red-furred wolf.

Rio's voice snapped Cinder out of her thoughts. "Blizzard, it's your turn to eat. Would you like to come up and get your fill?" To Cinder's relief as she met his eyes, her father was more compassionate. His gaze was soft, sorrowful, and it seemed like pity flickered in his gaze. But it lasted for a short time as he returned his attention back to his other daughter.

Blizzard lifted her chin, staring down Rosetta as she spoke with an air of resentment. "No thanks, Alpha. I will be eating when Cinder does. After all," she stared hard at the Alpha Female. "We were taught that your littermates always come first, before anything else; even the pack." She turned her head and smiled at Cinder, and the gray pup returned a broad grin. She didn't even care that her ear was dripping blood anymore. All shame was gone, replaced with honor for Blizzard. Turning back to face the Alphas, Cinder could see that there was a slight smirk on Blizzard's jaw, but so subdued Rosetta may not have even noticed it.

It was hard to tell, but it looked as though Rio smiled, just a bit. "Are you sure? There won't be much left after the Guardians eat. If you want a full belly, you'll want to eat now."

"Positive."

Zodiac stared long and hard at the puppies, his face contorted with puzzlement. He walked out of the crowd and bent down, eating his fill. Surprisingly he ate a lot for only a puppy, licking his chops afterwards and padding back to stand by Blizzard. Yang, Auburn, and Twig ate then, and mere scraps and bones remained from what had once been a full, meaty kill. Cinder watched eagerly as her turn approached to eat. Nodding at Blizzard, the sisters walked forwards together and began to tear at the remnants. There were a few scraps left on the legs, but nothing that would be truly filling. However, they took what they could, and afterwards walked respectfully back to the circle as Scrap licked at the bones, trying to find some remainder of food.

Cinder met Rosetta's eyes, but quickly looked away. Though her feelings had been hurt tonight, she didn't want to make enemies with the Alphas. That would be the last thing she would ever do. After all, she had thought her mother loved her; apparently she was wrong. If she truly loved her she wouldn't let Robin be so harsh on her over trying to eat. How was she supposed to remember all of the rules crammed into her brain about the packs? It was so much to take in, and she was starving.

Blizzard nudged her with her muzzle, smiling at Cinder. "Hey, at least we got to eat at all," she mumbled. "We did get more than Scrap."

Cinder shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." Some dust trailed up her nose, causing her to sneeze. Trying to flatten her ears she could feel the bleeding one sting, and she whimpered.

Rosetta watched as the pack finished, licking her chops once more. She stood up, shoving her ears forwards and straightening her neck. "Well, that was exciting. We haven't had a meal wanderer in ages," she declared. "Anyways, it would be good for you all to get some sleep. We'll be waking up early in the morning tomorrow." She looked at Rio as she concluded her short speech. He nodded in approval, and the circle disbanded.

Settling into her sleeping position was harder than it had been last night, even with Yang snuggled by her side. Every way she tried to arrange herself, Cinder could feel her ear stinging, even though the bleeding had stopped. It had taken a while though, and a little bit of crimson could be seen dyed lightly into her face fur. She shuffled around some more, growling with annoyance. If this was how wolves felt after acquiring more battle injuries from a fight, then Cinder never wanted to participate in one. Finally settling down with her back facing Yang and her muzzle towards the opening, she closed her eyes to sleep. Life in the pack would be much harder than she had ever imagined.

Chapter 4-

It had been one month since the incident with the food, and the nick in Cinder's ear had long since stopped hurting. She now found it quite impressive, and oftentimes bragged about having a battle scar before Blizzard or Zodiac. But, usually, the arrogant male just scoffed at her and said something like, "That's no battle scar. That's a misbehaving scar," or "I could get a more impressive 'battle scar' by stubbing my toe on a rock!" However, she had stopped caring. Yang had told her plenty of times that Zodiac was just an idiot male, and it would take longer for him to grow up. Apparently, all males started out like this when they were young. This always made the young puppy cheer up, and she would return to the playful, optimistic charisma that all puppies had at such a young age.

There was something Zodiac was doing that made Cinder's ears burn with rage and jealousy, however. As he was six months old, he was now allowed to join the pack in their duties. He had even been raised to his own rank, and was now the lowest Guardian with Yang, Auburn, and Twig. He didn't have much time for Blizzard anymore, but somehow managed to still see her and talk occasionally. Even though he was supposed to mature, according to Yang, he still didn't even acknowledge Cinder's existence, and the only times he did were when she did something embarrassing like go on a wild goose chase after a cricket or attempt to jump over a log but fail. He was still so mean, and Cinder didn't know what Blizzard saw in him. How were they even friends? But however rude he was Cinder couldn't stop her jealousy rising every time she saw him giving a loving glance Blizzard's way, or how tall and brave he looked standing his post with Yang at the entrance. He looked especially wonderful when he had the Alphas post, standing guard outside their den where the sunlight could really catch his fur. It made Cinder so jealous, and she hated herself in those moments. She was supposed to hate him.

Ever since Zodiac had advanced in ranks, Yang had had less time for Cinder, too. As she was the most experienced Guardian, she was the one responsible for being with Zodiac all the time, showing him around, etcetera. So apparently Blizzard and Cinder were old enough to take care of themselves. Life had grown more boring than it had ever been before. There was nothing to do with anyone, and even her fights with Blizzard had lost their own charm.

One frosty day in autumn Cinder saw something that made the fur on her neck rise and growl come in her throat. She could see the easily distinguished pelt of her sister Blizzard with Zodiac, him showing her how to do things he had learned when he was a little younger. She was standing up as tall as she could and he had his tail over hers, positioning her in the 'proper stance for a Guardian.' She was close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Now, Blizzard, when you're a Guardian you have to look impressive and stand tall. It doesn't matter how bored you may be that day, you have to look responsible and in charge." The russet male nudged her head up higher. "There, that's it!"

"This is harder than I thought it would be," Blizzard said with a giggle as she stretched on her toes to be as tall as possible. But her head only reached Zodiac's chin when elevated as much as she could. He had grown extremely fast in the past month.

"You don't have to stand on your toes," he offered gently, pressing a paw on her back to lower her slightly. "You just have to look bigger than you are. Here's a trick Yang taught me-if you let the sun catch your chin, you'll look taller. Trust me, it works. Right now, we don't have much sun, but when you're a Guardian, you'll be able to let it show."

"Do you think I'll be a good Guardian?" Blizzard inquired eagerly, her tail wagging as she sat down.

"As long as you straighten up and be the bright, loving wolf you are now, you'll be excellent."

"Zodiac, do you think we'll be guarding partners, like Twig and Auburn?"

Zodiac tilted his head. His current guarding partner was Yang. "I'm…not sure. I bet Yang would be fine with letting that happen. She sure does seem to like Cinder a lot."

Cinder smiled from her hiding place, growing warm where she had been cold with jealousy earlier. It was true, though. Yang and the gray pup had grown very close, even when they couldn't see each other that much anymore. Yang was like the mother she had lost, and Cinder was the puppy Yang had never had. Finally deciding to remove herself from hiding, she shook the leaves that had clumped into her thick fur away, drawing her tongue over her chest fur to smooth it down.

"Hey, Zodiac, can you show me how to be a Guardian too?" Hope lit her eyes, even though she knew what he would say. It didn't stop her from trying.

Zodiac angled his ears cleverly, directing them towards Yang. "Um…no. I think I hear Yang calling me. Maybe next time." Turning to Blizzard his gaze softened like it always did when he saw her. "See you soon?"

Blizzard stood up and he bent down, allowing her to lick his ears. "Okay! Bye, Zodiac."

He smiled as he turned and walked back in the direction of his post. "See you around, Bliz."

Cinder scowled. "Bliz? He calls you Bliz?"

"Well, why not? It's a cute nickname. Sometimes I call him Z."

"Z and Bliz. Those are the most stupid sounding things I have ever heard in my life."

"Hey! Why are you being rude, Cinder? I thought you didn't even like Zodiac!"

"Well, maybe I want to play with you guys sometimes, okay? I'm always excluded from everything!"

"First off, we don't 'play,' Cinder. We do more grown-up things. Secondly, maybe you wouldn't be excluded if you were more mature!"

"What do you mean?" Cinder said with a growl. Her temperature was rising as anger started bubbling in her heart.

"Well, you know. The first time you met him a month ago, you kicked dirt in his face and asked if he wanted to play. While I stood my ground and apologized for you, and then stood up for you!"

"So what? I could've done that!"

"Yeah, I know. But Zodiac told me he found it very generous of me to stick up for you, even when you were acting ridiculous! He also found it grown-up of me to eat when you did, and very responsible too. He told me. And then you kept going on about your 'battle scar,' when really you only got it nicked from ignoring the rules of the hierarchy! You would whine and shuffle around every night in the den for days, complaining about your poor ear that hadn't healed, and how you were only a puppy. You're just so…so immature, Cinder! Maybe if you just grew up a little, Zodiac would actually like you!"

Cinder bit her lip. Blizzard's words stung like needles to her heart. All of what she said was true. But how could she help it? "Yeah, but I'm only a p-" She cut herself off. Blizzard was so, so right. She always played the 'I'm only a puppy' card to explain her actions. "I'm…I'm sorry, Blizzard."

"Don't tell me that, Cinder. You're my sister and I'll always love you. I don't care how childish you act. But Zodiac, he halfway to being a year old. He just likes wolves who act more mature."

"But doesn't he like to play-fight, too? I saw you and him do it a lot."

"Not exactly. His play-fighting isn't like our play-fighting. We do little puppy things like roll around in the dirt. His is more complex, advanced, and useful in battle. He's been teaching me how to really fight. After all, at five months old, puppies get to learn real wolf skills. And he's six months old. So, he doesn't play-fight. He really does fight. Without hurting me, of course. Look, I've got to go. I promised Scrap I would help her clean up the dens today."

Cinder couldn't believe this. Blizzard was helping Scrap clean out the dens? Of all the wolves she could be assisting in times of need, like fetching something for the Guardians, or spending time with her sister, she chose Scrap? Scrap was the lowest of all the ranks, being the Omega. She hated the pack and everyone in it, especially the puppies. Cinder suspected it was because with new pack members, that meant there would be more wolves ahead of her. With that, Scrap could consider herself to be even lower in rank. That reasoning almost made Cinder feel badly for her, but not quite. She was still a nasty wolf, and didn't deserve compassion. Her mother had always told her that a good heart would be met with another good heart, and bad would get what was due. Only good wolves get good things coming for them. Doing bad things wouldn't get anywhere for you, and that had most definitely been proved with Scrap. Obviously she had to be even more terrible than she was now, if she was Omega in the first place. Sure, she was a half-dog, but that wasn't fair to do that to her for that reason. Her parents wouldn't put a pack member at the bottom just because she wasn't pure blooded, right? That didn't seem like the mother she knew. Then again, neither did allowing Robin to nick her ear over food. Cinder shook her head. No. Scrap deserved what she got, so Blizzard shouldn't be helping her with anything. She didn't deserve something as high as that. No Omega should get that amazing treatment, in Cinder's eyes. However, that was Blizzard; always doing strange things that made no sense to Cinder.

However, though discipline had met her ears Cinder refused to herself to go and work out her issues with Zodiac. Her pride that she had gotten from her mother held her back, restrained her and didn't let her show any weakness or budging from her original state of mind. And things stayed that way throughout the next month, with Cinder keeping her distance from Blizzard and Zodiac's budding romance. She had resolved to stick to her own issues, like finding time to spend with Yang. Apparently it was no longer needed to have a wolf watch the pups, as Rosetta hadn't urged Yang to take time off of her duties for her recently appointed job. At this age, they were apparently old enough to be on their own without adult supervision. However, this didn't bother Cinder. Though she missed the older wolf's company, her newfound freedom made her feel older and more mature. That was the desire of any young puppy, after all.

So, the month passed. The weather was finally beginning to get warmer from the duller chill it had been in spring, as the end of the pleasant season was reaching its finale. Summer would soon approach the wolves, which meant more frequent and successful hunts. There would be plenty to eat, even with such a large pack to sustain food for. Perhaps even the lowly, thin Scrap would get more than usual. Even she seemed to brighten up a little-maybe the warm weather lifted all the spirits of any wolf. Even one as sour as the Omega was could feel the joy in the air as warmth enveloped everything.

Cinder and her sister were four months old, and time passed as quickly as it came. The puppies were growing a considerable amount, taking account of the fact that they were both female, and wouldn't get as big as any of the males. But they were still growing, and were quite larger than they had been even the previous month. And the maturity Cinder had been so anxiously waiting for was finally reaching her. At her older pup age, she was feeling less need to use her silly alibis, and was trying, at least, to behave more civilized, at least in front of Zodiac. Though she didn't feel the need to be as close to him as Blizzard, she didn't want to be hated by a wolf so soon after her entry into the pack. Her jealousy for the two seemed to ebb away slowly, but also return, like the dipping waves of the ocean. It wouldn't ever leave for a long period of time, and left Cinder in a state of confusion. However, she was trying to live her life to the fullest as much as she could, and not waste time wishing she had something she couldn't get.

As the sun beat down onto her gray fur and the wind tickled the whiskers on her face, she sighed deeply. Life had begun to get boring, and Cinder couldn't wait for a whole two months to become a Guardian, at least. Even that would be better than what she had now. She wasn't allowed to leave the main clearing at all, not even with supervision. Anyways, it was nearly impossible to get around the large obstacles in the way of the territory. So, life remained boring for the four-month old puppy. She stared with disdain at the display in front of her. Blizzard was giggling at something Zodiac was whispering to her, both of them sitting under the shade of a cherry tree near the woodland. As much as she strained to, she couldn't hear what they were saying. But she was too tired and lazy for that matter to try and find out.

"I'm so bored," she growled. Kicking a pebble on the ground, she rested her muzzle on her paws and twitched her tail. "When will something happen?" Talking to herself seemed the only way to get her feelings out. She didn't even care if it was weird. At this point, Cinder didn't care if anything she did was weird. She would rather be weird than as bored as she was.

As if on cue, Yang bounded up, her tail swishing in the air. "Cinder!" she cried, tackling the puppy on the ground. Even though Cinder had gotten bigger, Yang was still a fair amount larger at her age.

Cinder smiled as she tumbled over the earth with the black wolf. "Yang! I thought you had things to do today." Her voice hadn't deepened enough for her to sound older than a puppy, with her age still being eight months less than a year.

"I did…do. But, Twig said he would take over watch for me so I could come and see you. After all, I had a hunch from the way you were sitting here that, I don't know…you were a little bored." There was that familiar teasing twinkle in her eye that Cinder loved to see.

"No, really?" Cinder countered. "You thought I was bored? With everything to do around here?"

Yang stepped off of Cinder and laughed. "I know, right? This is why I love being a Guardian!"

A sharp howl broke off their giggles about how boring life had become, as Rosetta stood just outside of her den. There was hardness in her stare as she looked over the clearing of wolves, slowly gathering at her hasty call.

"Wolves of the Burning Ember pack," she called. "We have been informed by the Hunters there is a…problem on the eastern border. We need to get rid of it as soon as possible. I will be taking quite a few wolves with me, and it may require the assistance of Guardians." Her voice was only slightly shaking; it looked as though she was trying her hardest to keep her cool. However, Cinder could still scent the slightest bit of fear from her. What could be so bad that it made even the Alpha Female tremble?

Yang nudged Cinder's shoulder. "Big news, huh? Hey, you think maybe I'll go?"

"I will be taking Robin, Storm, Bear, and Century and…" Rosetta paused, scanning her eyes over the wolves gathered. Some had hopeful expressions; others had fear plastered on their faces. "Zodiac and Yang."

Cinder looked up at Yang. Really? Now her best friend had to leave on this event too? Now who could she talk to? Blizzard sure wouldn't want to. She'd be too busy fretting over Zodiac's safety.

Yang opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. "Cinder, I'm…taking Yin's place. I'm one of the only Guardians going, and I'm replacing Yin. How…why…?"

Cinder smiled, hiding her disappointment. "It doesn't matter how or why. You should get going! They might leave without you. Hey, who knows, maybe you're being promoted."

Yang smiled. "Maybe…" She was drifting off in her thoughts. Her tail mildly twitched as she started to envision Cinder's proposition. A sharp bark from Rio snapped her awake, and she stood up to leave. "Wish me luck, Cinder! I mean, wish all of us luck, but…"

Cinder grinned and rammed her head into Yang's side. "I know what you mean, silly. Now, go!"

The only thing the puppy saw was the retreating backs of the wolves as they raced away from the clearing, their pelts blending in with each other. Tipping her head, Cinder realized why Yin hadn't joined the patrol. Her fur was really white, and stood out incredibly against all the other wolves. That wouldn't be good for fighting off a menace, if camouflage was going to be their technique of battle. However, Century had still joined. Her coat was pale, and easy to see among shrubbery. Perhaps…no. Cinder wouldn't bother to figure it out right now. That was the Alphas job, and it didn't concern her, so why bother?

She shook out her fur as watching the crowd of wolves exit the main clearing. The pup tipped her head, turning around to walk over to Blizzard. If this danger was so, well, dangerous, then wouldn't Yang be in possible trouble? This made her fur stand on end. What if there weren't enough wolves to handle the problem? What if even the Alphas were overpowered, and Yang was seriously injured? Her forehead wrinkled with worry at the thought of her bright, bubbly friend not being so bright and bubbly anymore. And, fixing her gaze on Blizzard, Cinder saw that her sister was thinking the same about Zodiac.

"Blizzard!" she called, trotting over to her sister.

The white wolf heard her call and moved towards Cinder, meeting her halfway.

"Cinder, I'm so worried about Zodiac. What if he gets hurt? What if he..." she lowered her voice to a whisper, crouching down low. "...dies?"

"Blizzard, that's not going to happen, quit being so dramatic over one silly thing. I bet the pack has faced loads more than this."

"Yes, but Zodiac hasn't!" Blizzard eyes were opened wide as she lied down onto the ground in defeat. "He hasn't had any battle experience, Cinder."

"Well, then, do you want to go spy on them?"

Blizzard widened her eyes. "What? But…we're not allowed to leave the clearing without permission."

"Technically, it won't be without permission. Besides, we'll have plenty of adults there to watch us. What could go wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know; snakes, badgers, foxes, enemy wolves, lone wolves, ditches, and pretty much anything bigger than us!" The white pup growled.

"Look, are you worried about Zodiac or not? I'm going to catch them while I can still see or smell to follow. You can stay behind if you want."

Cinder whipped around and charged away from Blizzard. Wind slashed across her face like knives, and she ducked her head so as not to blind herself with wind. Waving her tail with each movement, she kept in time with her strides. She was nearing the exit of the gathering of trees supporting the sides of the clearing. Her heart started pounding harder and faster than it had been before, if that was even possible. Skidding to a halt just at the tips of the barrier, Cinder took a quick look behind her. Auburn and Twig were at the den post, keeping watch over the Alphas den. They didn't cast a glance her way, and hadn't seemed to notice her running across the clearing. Yin's tail was snaking into the shadows. She plopped onto the ground in depression and placed her head on her paws. None of the wolves left behind noticed her. Normally, this would send Cinder off into rage, but she was fine with it. Maybe being her size had its advantages among all the disadvantages she had found. With a shrug, she squeezed her way out between two bramble bushes clumped near the trees.

Almost immediately, scents flooded into Cinder's nose. There were so many things she didn't recognize, and they were all so difficult to distinguish. Back in the clearing, with so many wolves gathered in one place that had been the overpowering smell to block out any residing of the forest just outside. But out here there was nothing to overpower anything else. It was truly amazing, but also terrible. Cinder couldn't make out the smell of the wolves that had left. She dipped her nose to the ground, trying to block out any other scents for just those of her pack mates, but it was impossible. At her young age, she hadn't learned how to track a specific item, like the Hunters so skillfully could. She lifted her nose to the air, squinting against the slight breeze drifting through the trees. There was no way they were still in sight. However, there was a possible method of locating the wolves. Rosetta had mentioned something about going to the eastern border. If Cinder could just find out where east was, she could find the eastern border. Therefore, she could access the wolves she was tracking down and solve the answer to her question: What was at the border? Why was it so dangerous that only four eligible wolves were left behind? Of course, Scrap didn't really count. The Alphas wouldn't let her join any kind of patrol. She was the Omega, after all. So, she didn't even count as a wolf in Cinder's mind. Neither did the puppies, of course; so technically only three wolves were left behind. And why, out of any wolf in the pack, was one of them a Hunter? Why did Yang accompany the pack instead of Yin, who was far more capable of warding off any dangers?

Suddenly, a scent flooded into Cinder's nose. The breeze had drifted her way, and the slight tang of lilacs was hinted among the rest of the smells. Lilac was Yang's smell. The wind had brought the patrol's scent downwind; right into Cinder's waiting senses. She smiled gleefully and started slowly following the wind, tracking down the patrol when she thought she wouldn't be able to find them. Her tail twitched slightly, wagging as the smell grew stronger with each step she took. They would be in her sights in no time. Unless, of course, they were traveling faster than just a plain walk, in which case it would be a while before they were found. And a while before the menace was found, too.

As Cinder predicted, the journey to finding the traveling wolves did take a while. With no companion to keep her company on the tiring trek, it made the distance seem to elongate forever. It seemed as though she would never catch up to the patrol. That is, until she did possible half of an hour later.

Her paws were aching and her stomach was rolling with butterflies. She felt sick and wanted to lie down and rest, but the scent and curiosity kept her driving forwards. Besides, if there was death about to happen, she wanted to be there to at least try and prevent it. So, Cinder ignored her tired muscles and pressed forwards. When she spotted the black fur of Yang it felt like drinking water after being stranded in a desert for days. It was so relieving she wanted to cry out with joy. But she didn't dare. The wolves were very close to her now, and if she made so much as the slightest sound they would be able to hear her. Maybe Yang or Bear wouldn't be angry, but if Rosetta, Rio, or Robin found out she would be busted and in huge trouble. Cinder had already experienced the consequences of the higher ranked wolves' frustration and anger, and didn't want to go through it again. She preferred to keep both of her ears and to eat, if possible.

Slinking across the ground and keeping herself well hidden, Cinder could see her parents talking to something. But there was a Hunter blocking her view, and since she was still quite short it was impossible to see over his head. Keeping low to the ground she crept around Storm, still keeping a safe distance between her and the wolves. The lack of shrubbery to block her from view didn't help at all in her escapade of curiosity, especially when she needed it most. However, this didn't stop her in her tracks. She didn't have a moment's hesitation as she stumbled over a stub of a tree. Finally within hearing range, Cinder could begin to pick up the words being uttered between the two parties. Rosetta was speaking to a dark gray male wolf, which was standing beside a lighter-shaded gray female. Seeing the stance they were holding Cinder could assume they were of high rank, if not the Alphas of their pack. They smelled strange, like the tang of a running river, along with the rank scent of dead meat. The puppy wrinkled her nose in disgust, cowering even more to try and block their smell. Behind the two gray wolves was a black male who was eyeing Robin with a small snarl planted on his jaw. There were six more males and two females in the crowd of wolves behind the three holding their ground in the front. What pack were they? Cinder racked her brain, trying to remember the days pack in her whelping den. Her mother had discussed with her and Blizzard the other two packs maybe once. But she couldn't remember now. However, that didn't concern her. For now, she tuned into the conversation, trying to make out any words she could.

"…the…by end of winter," the dark gray Alpha was growling at Rosetta. "If you don't bring…we will have to…your valuable…"

Cinder squinted as if that would enhance their hearing. What were they saying? It was barely audible, even the small words she could distinguish. It was Rio's turn to speak.

"If you even dare…touch the…I swear on my life I will…you to…piece until….left!"

The black male spoke up, surprisingly calm considering the general mood of the meeting. "Look, Rio. We're not asking for a fight." He looked around, lowering his projected voice to a quiet whisper. "Just…the…and we'll leave you alone."

Yang opened her mouth to object, bristling. "You can't do that, Ivory! It goes against all the laws that our pack has enforced!"

Ivory-as the black male's name was-lifted his gaze and stared directly at Yang. "This goes against nothing. The laws your pack enforced clearly state that any pack has permission to obtain what rightfully belongs to them. This is all we're doing." He tipped his head and offered a boyish smile. "If we wanted to break the rules, we would have by now, dear."

Yang curled her lip. "Look, dear, if you ever call me that again I will skin you and rip out your mouth so you can't speak!"

Cinder's eyes widened. She had never heard Yang use such language before…or seen her so enraged.

"You're outnumbered, Yang. If you tried to attack me we could wipe out your entire pack right here and right now." It was chilling how calm Ivory remained. He paused for a second, smirking. "…dear."

Yang moved forwards to snap at him. The fur on her neck rose and she was growling deep here. "Why are you the one talking, Ivory? Don't you have Alphas for that? Or are they too dumb for words?"

"Why are you even here?" Ivory countered. "Aren't you, what…an Omega?"

The Guardian crouched and prepared to lunge at him, but Rosetta snarled, telling her to get back. From what Cinder could see Ivory was much more intimidating than his Alphas. Obviously he came here to do the talking. "Fine, Ivory-you win. We'll bring you what you want by the end of the month."

"Excellent. This will please the pack greatly. It's been nice doing business with you; especially you, dear." He gave one last surprisingly charming smile at Yang before turning around and following the two gray Alphas back to his pack.

"I really hate that wolf," Yang growled. "I have ever since I was a puppy."

Cinder froze. She hated Ivory ever since she was a puppy? How was that possible? Weren't Yin and Yang born in captivity? If so, how could they have known Ivory, unless he was there with them? Had he been from the zoo, as well? If this was the case, why didn't Yang tell Cinder about this? Didn't she deserve to know, after all they'd been through, growing closer and closer as friends? Just what was the shadowy female keeping from Cinder?

Suddenly more aware of her surroundings, Cinder snapped back into reality and ducked down low beneath a small bush as Rosetta tipped her muzzle to the air. She was skeptical from the way she was standing, and narrowed her eyes. "I…I smell someone." Whipping her head around and rotating she let out a snappy bark. "Who's there? Show yourself!" Bristling, the intimidating Alpha Female stalked towards Cinder's hiding place. "I can smell you. Come out before I find you!"

Cinder held her breath; hardly daring to move as she could hear her mother's footsteps approach her. She imagined being found and locked inside the deadly jaws of the red Alpha, and could almost hear her bones cracking at the morbid thought. If the rumors about how powerful and dangerous Rosetta could be were true, Cinder's hidden identity could be fatal. But would her mother really murder her own puppy? It was possible, considering she'd let Robin tear into her ear once before.

"Rosetta!" Cinder could hear Rio's sharp bark from where she was sitting. "Leave it alone. If the hidden someone wanted to cause trouble, they would have by now. And it smells like only one wolf. If they did surprise us along the way, how could one wolf harm us?"

There he went, sticking up for her again. Or…was he? Any way he had in mind, Rio had just saved Cinder's hide from her mom's vicious jaws. She felt a burst of relief as Rosetta sighed and sauntered away from the bush, obviously disappointed she wouldn't be able to dig her teeth into something. It seemed that she enjoyed that quite a bit, even considering the fact she was in the peace pack.

As Cinder could hear the retreating steps of the pack, she decided to reveal herself from where she had been crouching before. As long as the pack didn't travel too fast, she could keep up with them while still staying safe. They didn't seem too anxious to return anyways, as their pace was currently staying at a slowed walk. So, shaking herself off from the ruffled fur that had gotten scrunched in the bush, Cinder padded quietly after them, trying to keep her paws light and off the ground as much as possible.

Cinder could still hear the conversation engaging between the Alphas and Yang as she softly followed them. They were talking loudly, and it was so relieving compared to how hushed they had been speaking with the other pack's representatives.

"Alpha," Yang started, addressing Rio. "Do…do you really think that the Running River pack would attack us if we didn't give them what they wanted?"

Rio shrugged. "Considering Ivory was handling the situation, I'd say yes. He really is more bite than bark, and wouldn't miss an opportunity to start a fight. You could see that back there, by the way he was treating you."

Yang sighed, that moment obviously still sore for her. "I can tell. Why is he just so…awful? He called me an Omega!"

"I know," Rio said, and after a long pause, began again. "But you are far from an Omega, Yang. That is for sure. You will never, ever hold that position ever again. Not after what you did for us."

The black wolf smiled. "Thank you, Alpha." Her face darkened once more. "But am I really that far from being an Omega? I'm only a Guardian."

"You are a Guardian because you are too precious to lose." Storm butted into the conversation, shoving up next to the she-wolf. "If you were a Hunter you would have a higher death risk."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course that's the reason. Because Hunters die all the time."
Storm laughed, shaking his head. "Okay, okay, that was a dorky thing to say. But I wasn't all kidding. Not really. I mean, if you were a Hunter, what if something did happen to you? What would Cinder do without you? She really loves you, Yang. You need to be home to protect her."

Shrugging, this seemed to brighten up the Guardian a bit more. "I guess so. Cinder is really special. Without her, I wouldn't be so occupied when I was off my shift. She's…she's…she's like a rainbow!" She decided, nodding her head in agreement with herself. "A rainbow's always there, but I can't always see it. However, when I do, it's the most beautiful and sustaining thing someone could ever see. You just want to hold onto your rainbow forever and ever, keep it in your memory, and have a special place for it in your heart. You just hold onto it until something bad comes up. You can think of that rainbow again and feel so much better."

Cinder's eyes widened. With all the secrets hidden, this one was revealed. Yang really loved her, loved her more than the puppy had ever thought possible. She was like a rainbow in Yang's eyes? At that moment, her legs started shaking. She couldn't take it. All these emotions were being bundled up inside of her and catching in her throat. It was too much to know that someone loved her that much, and cared for her up to unimaginable extremes. She wanted to run up and tackle Yang, to tell her she was a rainbow, too. But she couldn't stay here getting emotional now. Even if she stopped moving, the pack wouldn't. And she had to keep up. However, as new thoughts darkened the pleasant ones about rainbows, Cinder thought about how she would have a lot to ask Yang later.

Chapter 5-

Somehow, Cinder had managed to sneak past the patrol of wolves and get barely ahead of them, giving her the needed opportunity to escape through the entrance and act as if she'd never been there. However, with the scent of the forest clinging to her pelt and a few pieces of forest debris hanging on to her, she'd had to have Blizzard's help to clean off before the wolves returned. She had been sitting there for a few minutes as her sister ran her tongue across her pelt and rubbing her fur the wrong way, trying to make her smell like a puppy again. She had even rolled in some dirt for extra emphasis, and to help block out the lingering scent of the Running Water pack on her. When she had returned, Blizzard promised to keep quiet about her following the patrol as long as she promised to tell her everything she had seen. So, they made that pact and remained quiet about leaving.

After discussing with her all that Yang had said, Blizzard's eyes kept getting wider and wider until it seemed they would pop out of her head. "You're kidding, right?" she exclaimed finally, as Cinder ended her story.

However, she never got to answer for at that point Rio and Rosetta busted through the entrance, leading the line of wolves behind them. They filed into the clearing steadily and very much in time with each other, each of their faces like stone. Yin perked her ears and stood up to question the wolves who had just returned. Scrap didn't even seem to notice, and kept her silence in her corner she had been sitting in for the longest time. Auburn and Twig bounded down the rocky slope guarding the Alpha's den to meet with Yang. Cinder's parents headed to the den, talking quietly as they passed by the watchful eyes and listening ears of their two daughters, staring pointedly after them.

"I'll be right back, Blizzard. I need to go and talk to Yang."

"But then won't she find out that you were there, following them?"

Cinder shrugged. She had already thought of this, and it hadn't changed her mind. "It doesn't matter. Yang wouldn't tell. After all, I'm her rainbow, remember?" This made her smile, as it always did when she thought of that.

Approaching Yang, she could see the black wolf's face lit with worry. Her tail was twitching softly, and as she spoke she could hear the gasps of the two other Guardians. However, as Cinder headed her way she quit talking and hushed the males with a hard glare.

"Cinder!" she cried, walking towards her. "Hey, why don't you come talk to me?" Turning around, she said a last goodbye to Auburn and Twig before leading Cinder to the general middle of the clearing.

Once there, Cinder frowned and glared up at Yang. "You were an Omega?" she started. This was probably the least important thing, so it was what she began with.

Yang narrowed her eyes. "Did you hear me talking to Auburn and Twig?"

Cinder squared her jaw, meeting the black wolf's gaze defiantly. "No. I was there. I followed you and I heard everything."

Yang's eyes registered a look of surprise, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. "I guessed. Actually, I pretty much knew. It seemed like something you would do." Looking up to where Rosetta and Rio had disappeared, she continued. "Alpha Male knew for sure. That's why he stopped Alpha Female from finding you."

"He knew?" Cinder shook her head. "That doesn't matter. You're avoiding my question. You were an Omega? Why didn't you tell me?"

With a deep sigh, Yang looked at Cinder. "There's no way around this, is there?" Seeing the glare from the gray puppy, she opened her mouth to speak. "Yes, I was an Omega. When I first got here. I didn't know how to behave like a true pack member, so I did some rash things to get me placed low."

"What kind of rash things?" Cinder probed for answers.

"Well, similar to what you did. I ate first without asking permission."

"That made you an Omega? But Ro-I mean, Alpha Female said that my actions weren't so lowly so as to be eating after an Omega. That doesn't make sense."

"Actually, it does. You tried to eat first. I did eat first. I ate my fill while the Alphas weren't looking, and I was punished. But, I also did other things. I tried sneaking away with the Hunters one time, and I lied about it when I got back. So, yes, I was an Omega." There was a sudden hatred burning in her eyes. "And Ivory gloated about it every time I saw him."

"Oh. You seem to know Ivory quite well. How did that happen?"

"Oh, you know." Yang's eyes were wandering. "When I came to the pack from the zoo I met him at meetings…and stuff."

"As an Omega?"

"Yes, as an Omega."

Cinder tipped her head in mock confusion. "Really? But it seems to me you knew him as a puppy. Hmm…"

Yang cursed under her breath. "Right. I forgot you heard the whole thing. So, I have some explaining to do. Before you jump to conclusions, though, just know that Ivory wasn't from the zoo."

"So how do you know him?"

"Look, I…I can't tell you, not now."

"What?!" Cinder snapped. "You expect me to hear that and just be okay with leaving it alone? That's not fair!"

"It is fair and you will accept it! Cinder, I love you, but there are some things I just can't tell you! You're only four months old. Do you really think you can cope with everything there is to hide around here? I'm not the only one keeping secrets. When you're older you'll understand too! But right now, you're only a puppy, so leave me alone!" She whipped around and darted away from Cinder.

Cinder felt as if someone was strangling her and squeezing all the life out of her heart. Like they had tight chains wrapped around it and were pulling on the end, suffocating the love that used to exist there. That had really stung in a place that was really sensitive to Cinder. After giving her long speech about puppies not being only puppies, that she was a true member of the pack, that really hurt the most. What had she done? Why did she have to probe and find answers? Why couldn't she have just left it alone? Cinder curled up into a ball, covering her face with her paws. Had she just destroyed their friendship? She really didn't feel like a rainbow anymore. She felt like a raincloud, ruining the day and pouring wet drops, covering the happy sunshine.

"I'm sorry, Yang," she whispered into her paws. "I'm so sorry."

It was late in the afternoon when Cinder finally decided to confront Yang. She didn't know when to approach her, as the she-wolf had been fuming when she had marched away from the pup's prying questions. However, though guilt was still stabbing her like a knife Cinder didn't understand. Why was Yang so sensitive about the topic of what happened before she arrived? Was it so bad or so horrid to remember that even bringing it up made her fur bristle? But apparently Cinder was too young to know, as she was "only a puppy". That phrase still stung her with a fresh break of her heart every time she thought of it. What happened to being a refreshing rainbow? Where had that reassurance, that happy glow disappeared to? Cinder didn't know about Yang, but for her that was so much better than being in an argument. Even though her feelings were hurt, she wanted to resolve this. Yang was her best friend. She didn't want to fight forever, and she doubted the black wolf did either.

Yang was sunning her fur near the entrance to the forest, her tail mildly twitching. Her eyes were closing slowly, and it seemed hard for her to keep them awake. The warm sunrays were obviously making her sleepy, like a buzzing, soft blanket. However, all sleepy feelings left when Cinder approached, and her head shot up. She flattened her ears a little and looked away as the puppy approached. "If you're here to ask me more questions, forget it. I'm not going to tell you anything."

"I'm…I'm not here for that," Cinder began tentatively, careful to not hurt her anymore in any way. "I'm here to…here to…" With a deep sigh, she pushed her pride aside-just this once. "I'm here to apologize, okay? I was being an idiot. I shouldn't have pushed you so much to answer my questions. If you wanted me to know, you would have told me by now. From now on, I'll hold my tongue and let you come to me. I promise. I just don't want to fight with you."

Yang turned to face her friend, her eyes lit up with a newfound light that wasn't just from the reflections of the sun. "Really?"

"Really."

With a gasp of surprise, Cinder felt the air leave her lungs as she was strongly embraced by Yang. "I forgive you, Cinder. I'm sorry about getting so upset. You're not only a puppy, you know that, right? You're so much more."

"I'm not sure anymore. I mean, you told me once I was more, and then said I was only a puppy. Were you lying just to make me feel better two months ago?"

A mix of hurt and guilt flashed in Yang's eyes. "I know. And I'm sorry for that. I just wanted to hit you where it hurt most. It's not true. You're my best friend, Cinder. Age doesn't matter. You should know that by now!"

"I do. Let's try to make a pact that we aren't going to get in any more ridiculous fights. I'll respect your privacy, as long as you try to keep secrets from me."

"That'll be hard," Yang said with a laugh. "You like to sneak up on me sometimes. How do I contain secrets from you?"

"Okay, I know." Cinder agreed without reluctance. It was true, after all. She was quite…nosy. "I'll try to stay out of your business, okay?"

The rest of the day went well. Cinder spent most of it sleeping beside her best friend, her dreams full of joy and relaxation, as her mind was no longer filled with the anxiety of arguments. They stayed there, together, basking in the sunlight and completely unaware of anything else. When they were awake they were conversing together, laughing, making jokes, or "sneaking" around camp and playing some newfound game Cinder would create, like spying on Blizzard and Zodiac or the other Guardians. No one seemed to notice or care, and went about their normal duties. Life was normal in the pack. As normal as life could be, with tensions prickling on the hairs of every wolf's neck. The due date for the meeting with Ivory was drawing closer, and even the social misfit, Scrap, could sense the intensity of the air.

"Yang?" Cinder began, one week after their argument. "If it's not too much to ask, what did Ivory ask? What does he want from us?"

"That I can't tell you, Cinder." Yang's eyes darkened. "I don't think you'd be able to live with it."

"Why not? I mean, I'm going to find out eventually. Why wait? I'd rather be able to brace myself for it now than have to wait in agony like this! I mean, everyone knows apart from Blizzard and me. Even Zodiac knows, and he's only, what, eight months old?"

"Cinder, I just think it'd be easier if you didn't know now, okay? Please don't ask me again. If you really need to know, go and ask the Alphas. I don't have permission to tell you."

Cinder sighed. "They would never tell me." She had noticed that the Alphas didn't exactly…adore her. Especially ever since the food incident. That had been a huge slip up on Cinder's part, and even if no one else remembered it, that event would be something that haunted her forever. Though that seemed to be dramatizing the situation to an extreme extent, it seemed appropriate for what Cinder considered to be a catastrophe.

"Then I guess you'll never find out," Yang continued. "I'm sorry, Cinder, but you can't know everything there is to know. Some things have to wait. You have to be able to accept this, or pack life will be really hard for you."
"It already is hard," Cinder grumbled. "I can't even do anything."
"You can in one more month," Yang remarked. "After all, you'll be five months in one more month. Then you'll be able to train to be a Guardian or even a Hunter. Believe me; life will be more exciting after that."

"Attention Burning Ember Pack," Rio's voice projected over the wolves below the rock, his eyes hard.

Cinder glanced at her father, tipping her head with mild confusion. Whatever he had to say probably didn't concern her, but she still found it in her interests to listen. Perhaps what he had to say did involve her and Blizzard, and could be something a little more exciting to the listening ears of the young pups below.

"Rosetta and I have declared that we are going to make a new addition of a temporary rank to the pack, just for the time being."

There were shocked gasps ricocheting around the pack, and they exchanged looks that were a little forlorn, misty, as if they didn't really believe this.

Cinder looked over in Robin's way. She was glaring at Rio, her green eyes seeming to suddenly burn with fire. She was standing in a very dominant way and it seemed as though the ground might burn beneath her paws. Obviously, she had not been in the discussion with the Alphas to determine this new rank. Or she had, and didn't agree with it.

"I repeat, this is very temporary, and will only affect us for a short while. Then things will return to normal like they should. But Rosetta and I have decided it will benefit us right now. The new rank that we will be adding is the rank of a spy."

"A spy?" Storm spoke up, his voice loud and clear. He was standing near the front of the group, his pupils dilated a little. "Why would we need a spy? What would we be spying on? Surely not the other packs-they have been peaceful with us for years!"

Rio shook his head with a heavy sigh. "It pains me to say this, but the spy is in fact for the other packs. There has been a little bit of contention rising up between the packs over a situation, and we feel as though a spy is needed to even out the anger. Maybe even a few spies."

"But if we have spies," this time it was Yin who interrupted. "Won't that take out of the duties of other wolves, like our Hunters to find food, or the Guardians to protect the clearing? What about them?"

"This may come across as unnerving to some of you, but the spies will not take out of our daily duties; for the spies will be wolves who don't have ranks, wolves that aren't at all helping the pack out at the moment." He was selecting his words carefully. "The spies for this pack will be Cinder, Blizzard, and Scrap."

Cinder's eyes grew as big as moons with this shocking news. She was going to be a Spy, before she was even able to get a real rank. The Omega was going to be a spy. There would be no more Omega. What was happening?"

"Wait!" Yang howled, her eyes lit with fear. "You're making puppies into Spies? You're going to force these tiny infants to go out into the world and get themselves in danger by spying on other wolves? What if they're hurt, or killed!"

Bear growled, raising his voice as well. "And the Omega? An Omega gets a position with pups? Do you really trust her to not hurt them while spying?"

Rosetta snarled, bounding down from the rock a little ways. "Quiet! I command you all to be quiet! My decision is final. Cinder and Blizzard will be spies, and there will be no more complaint! Scrap will also be one, as she is small and not as big as the rest of us, so she can blend into her surroundings. If anyone else has any questions or concerns, they can answer to me!" Her lips curled, showing her teeth.

Wisp cleared his throat. "I, for one, agree with this notion. The puppies will be able to do this, and we should all believe in them."

Cinder looked at the pale wolf, her tail twitching a little. She had no idea if she liked this idea. I mean, she couldn't even find the eastern border without following a scent trail. How was she supposed to find the root of the other packs? But of course Wisp agreed. She remembered when Yang had told her, two months ago, that Wisp had challenged her for leadership. It had ended dramatically terribly, with him being so injured he had to be taken out of his duties.

Rosetta straightened up, smoothing her bristled fur down with her tongue. "If there are no more complains, then I will be assigning Cinder and Blizzard their personal trainers now. After all, they should be able to hunt and fight to be spies."

"Excuse me?" Zodiac butted into the conversation with a loud howl of contempt. "They get personal trainers? The rest of us had to learn by observation of the pack and they get personal trainers? How, exactly, will that help them in the long run? Life isn't about getting handed your blessings. You have to work for them. Rosetta, of all wolves you surely must know that! And how is that fair to the rest of us? They get the easy way out!" He cast a puzzled look at his white crush, and she returned the look with a slight wag of her tail.

Rosetta ignored him, letting his comment slip over her head. She continued like nothing had happened. "So, Blizzard, I have noticed your characteristics. You are quick-minded and good at thinking in fast situations. However you are also wise, and won't make rash decisions or things that could harm the pack. You stand up for others and have much compassion. Therefore, you should have a wolf who can match these characteristics to train you in the best way possible. Century, you will be Blizzard's personal trainer. Teach her all you can in spare moments, but don't take away from your duties as Hunter. I expect you be on top of it all."

Century nodded, as if this didn't surprise her one bit. Had Rosetta informed her beforehand of this, or was she just calm all the time?

"Cinder," it was Rio who spoke up this time. "You are…" He paused to think. "Very adventurous. You are curious and bold, and you aren't afraid to try new things, even if they end up affecting you in a negative way." Cinder tried to hide the embarrassment that she was feeling. Was he talking about the food incident, or when she had snuck out of camp, or both? "However, if you can harness this properly it can be a good thing. This makes you brave and stubborn, and both can be good things for a well-rounded leader. Therefore, you must be trained by someone who is like this as well. Brave, stubborn, and headstrong. So, Storm, you will be training Cinder."

The tawny male nodded and walked towards Cinder with a smile.

"I object!" A voice yelled from the crowd. All eyes turned to stare at Bear, who was bristling. "I object to this. I think that I would be a better trainer for Cinder. Storm isn't right for her."

Rio dipped his head. "Bear, do you wish to challenge Storm for this position?"

Bear narrowed his eyes at Storm with a growl. The other wolf locked his gaze and raised his tail with a small snarl. "Yes."

"Storm, do you wish to back down, or accept Bear's challenge?"

"I accept your challenge!" Storm snarled.

"Fine. Then you two will fight until one of you backs down, or is unable to continue any further. You will begin when you are ready."
With a low growl, Storm stalked around Bear, his eyes remaining on Bear's. "So, what made you stand up against me again this time? Your hatred for me?"

Bear didn't answer, his tail twitching slightly and paws at shoulder-length apart. He watched Storm circle him without a word, his muzzle twitching as his lips curled occasionally.

Cinder watched this all with her forehead wrinkled. There were two wolves fighting over her? Why? What did Bear have against Storm that made him have the need to fight? Was Storm that bad? Or did her older brother just want some quality time to spend with her?
All in a flash, Bear lunged for Storm and bowled him over, digging his claws hard into the tawny wolf's flesh. Storm yipped in protest, lashing his fangs at Bear's face and trying to reach him with squirming underneath the larger wolf's strong grip. His back legs flailed wildly and his forelegs were prodding helplessly at Bear's underside. However, the brown wolf had a paw on Storm's neck and was holding him down. Storm used his hind legs and suddenly made hard impact on Bear's stomach, making him lose his breath and stumble off of the tawny wolf. While Bear was still dazed, Storm lunged for him and tore a chunk of flesh out of his ear. Bear howled in pain and shook his head to clear the dripping blood out of his eyes. He whipped his tail back and forth and with anger ran at Storm. Storm sidestepped out of the way and snapped at Bear's neck, getting a tight grip on him. Bear countered this by slamming down hard on the ground on top of Storm, freeing his neck from the other wolf's teeth.

Storm staggered under the rib-crushing weight of the much larger opponent, wheezing with desperation to be freed from the heavy weight. He flailed aimlessly, and his lean figure almost let him wriggle out from underneath Bear. However, his broad shoulders held him back to be crushed. Snarling wildly with his yellowing teeth exposed, he snapped at the air to try and catch any part of Bear's skin. It was useless. But as if it was a miracle the weight lifted as Bear scrambled to his paws. Storm growled louder, regaining his lost breath with deep, slow sighs. He kept his eyes on the dark furred wolf as Bear circled around him, testing him and waiting for a weak point to appear. Storm's lip twitched slightly as his long, low growl resumed. He licked his lips nervously, as Bear was the stronger wolf in any case. He was bigger, more muscular, and had more fur to lessen the pain of a bite. Cinder realized, as she watched, that she would be nervous in the situation just as much as Storm was.

All in time that passed far too quickly, Bear darted to Storm's backside and leaped for him, smashing the other wolf to the ground like he had a little while before. In the moment he was crushing the other wolf he quickly got up and then slammed his fangs down into Storm's neck, holding him down. The weakened wolf let out a piercing screech that sounded like a dying animal. The sound was so uncharacteristic of a wolf that the gray puppy couldn't even believe Storm had just made that crying, death sound. It rang in Cinder's ears and made a chilling shiver trail down her spine. Storm kept his grip and Bear didn't release him, seeming to tighten his grip with every second that passed. As he became weaker and frailer from the jaws clenching onto his neck and the blood pooling out of the open wounds, he squirmed a little, trying to get loose but it was no use. Bear had him down. Each time Storm tried to struggle the teeth around his neck tightened. Eventually he gave up trying and lay still, waiting for the grip on his neck to be released.

"Storm is no longer able to continue. Bear, you have won the right as Cinder's personal trainer."

Bear straightened up, licking Storm's blood from his chops. He shook his head once more as there was more blood trailing onto his face from his ear. Padding towards Cinder, he lowered his head and then cocked it curiously. She was shaking. "Are you all right?" he asked tentatively.

"No," she answered. "Is he going to be okay?" She angled her ears in Storm's direction, who was having some trouble standing up. "Why did you do that?"

Bear sighed and raised his head up, standing tall. Though he was dripping with the blood of his wounds and his fangs were covered in Storm's blood and fur, he still rose up with the pride that he had gained from this. "I'll tell you later. For right now, you should get a little bit of sleep. We'll begin as soon as possible."

Cinder blinked open her eyes, to find she was still in the Burning Ember Pack heart of their territory. However, she wasn't in her usual den where she would normally cuddle up to Blizzard and Yang. She was somewhere else, and there were many more breathing wolves than had been in her practical den. But, exactly where was she at this point? The gray pup-no, she was no longer a pup. This she realized as she stood to her paws and stretched almost to the point as to let her claws click onto the ground. Apparently she had skipped a few years in time, for she was older than the four month old puppy left behind when she fell asleep. Staring around her surroundings, Cinder noticed that the den was hazy and blinking at the edge of her vision. Nothing was quite clear, and each wolf was waving a little as they slept. Creeping over their peacefully resting bodies, Cinder squeezed in between two large bodies to get out of the entrance to the den. As she left, she noticed that she was in the same old pack, for sure. Apart from the fact that the dens were mixed up and scrambled in ways that weren't familiar to her waking self, but were completely normal in her dream. She narrowed her eyes and blinked a little water out of them, trying to clear her blurred dreamy vision. The Alpha's rock was now where the pup's den had used to be. The Guardians den was clear at the back of the surrounding. Glancing behind her, Cinder realized that she had been in the Hunters den. So she was a Hunter. It wasn't as good as being an Alpha or Beta, of course, but it was better than being part of the dangerous mission of being a newly recruited spy.

Stepping casually into the clearing, Cinder soon noticed that she was the only wolf awake, and everyone else was still deep in their sleep, some chasing some sort of animal away as their legs moved rapidly. Scrap's lip was twitching madly and her fur was bristling at her neck. This just made the gray wolf more curious to find out just what she was dreaming about.

"Cinder," a voice uttered behind her. The voice wasn't deep enough to be an old male, but not as high pitched as a female wolf. Turning around, the voice was revealed to belong to a young black puppy, not much older than a month, if that at all.

"Who are you?" The she-wolf growled, raising her tail. Wow. Being a Hunter really changed her input on the world. Was she really going to be this hostile in the future towards newcomers?

"My name is Night."

"What pack are you from? Why are you here?" The haziness of her dream made it hard to see anything, so she wondered if this was even happening. But she was in a dream, and dreams didn't actually happen. Her mind was really pulling pranks on her.

"I don't belong to a pack, at least not anymore."

"Then you're a loner wolf."

"No. Cinder, I'm your brother."

"Excuse me? I've already found my older siblings, and they're Bear and Robin. I don't need any more, thanks."

Night smiled a little, tipping his head up to stare into her eyes. "I'm no older or younger brother. I was born when you were, on the night of that freezing blizzard. But I died not long after my birth, unfortunately. It really was a shame. I've always wanted to try out pack life."

"So…I'm talking to my dead brother?"

Night nodded in response, twitching his tail a little as if he was going to wag it. "It's great to finally meet you." His appearance was altering, swiveling like heat waves in the sun. He was suddenly a giant hawk with wolf paws.

Cinder blinked in confusion. What had just happened? It seemed like this would be uncanny in the waking world but here it was as if it was normal. She found herself hardly reacting. Where was this dream coming from? "So, Night, what're you doing here anyways? Don't you have some crazy dead stuff to do?"

He glanced over his shoulder, biting his newly-formed half-muzzle and half beak. "As long as no one's watching…" he trailed off, twitching his paws nervously.

"In case you haven't noticed everyone's asleep," Cinder reminded him with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"I have a prophecy for you. You are very important, Cinder. You are going to save the world."

Cinder's eyes widened and she stared down-no, up-at him. "Are…are you serious?"

"No. I was totally kidding. Nothing important ever happens in dreams, stupid! They're merely a formation of thoughts from the subconscious you never interact with, duh!"

"Oh, okay." Cinder looked at her paws, which were now completely hairless. Her previously short claws had grown to extend all the way to where Night was standing, a good three feet away. "I have to go." She said that suddenly, not exactly sure why. She just knew she had to.

"Oh. Why?" Night seemed disappointed, and was now staring at her with the giant face of a hippo.

"My long lost cousin Peach is having a celebration over her brain." Where the heck did that come from? "No, just kidding. I have to go and clip Yang's wings. She keeps flying away." So now Yang is a bird. Really, brain?

Cinder started off at a steady walk, which soon turned into a quickened pace of a fast jog. The farther she ran, the more the clearing narrowed. The entrance was drawing closer with each step, but the sudden walls closing in on her were making it hard to breathe. With the adrenaline boost her mind had decided to give her she squeezed out of the entrance and sucked in a breath, trying to regain what she had lost before. To her dismay she found that the ground where she would normally find surrounded by trees upon leaving the clearing was now empty space. There was absolutely nothing there but the walls behind her. She was falling, or…was she? She couldn't feel the air whipping over her fur at the sensation of a fall but could hear it. The white was turning to gray, like the shade of gray her fur was.

There was sudden a tingling in her back, around the area of her shoulder blades. She could hear the tear and ripping of her muscles as they gave way to two giant mushrooms. The mushrooms acted like parachutes and stopped her fall, in fact lifting her back up towards the walls. Night appeared again out of nowhere, his hippo face split in a large grin. However, he still kept his hawk wings and wolf paws.

"So, you got wings, huh?"

"I…" The Hunter glanced behind her at the two giant mushrooms. "I guess so. I mean, they aren't really wings."

Coming at a complete surprise Night the hippo/hawk/lion opened up his enormous mouth to expose glinting, squared teeth inside sitting on perfectly pink gums. "I love mushrooms," he bellowed, launching himself through the space towards Cinder. He chomped down onto both mushrooms at the same time, biting them off and pulling away. Cinder could feel herself falling once more, and when she looked below her she could see the ground. It was enlarging, growing at a steady pace. Cinder opened her mouth to scream but didn't hear any sound. She was four feet above the ground. Two feet. One foot. Three inches. She hit the ground with an impressively hard impact, but didn't feel any pain.

At that moment Cinder leapt to her paws, awake from that strange vision of her mind's eye. She was breathing heavily and looked downwards, checking to make sure she had fur everywhere and normal sized claws. She did, and that was a relief. It was a sign of actually waking up in reality this time. "That…was the weirdest dream ever."

Chapter 6-

"Try it again." Bear was standing over the fallen pup, his large paws pressing her into the earth. Cinder didn't exactly find her circumstances fair. At this point in training, she figured she would rather train like other wolves instead of having her own personal mentor.

"The odds aren't really even here, though. I mean, you're so much bigger than me! And you haven't even taught me anything. Aren't I going to learn any cool ninja skills before facing against such a strong opponent?" Cinder whined, squiggling out of the strong pressure on her stomach. She rolled off of her back and lifted herself onto her paws, shaking out her mangy fur.

"No. You will train by observation, like any normal pup." Bear stared at Cinder with his eyes unmoving, making her feel really uncomfortable.

"This isn't 'training by observation.' I mean, you're my personal trainer for a reason!" She argued, growling.

"In real life, you won't get everything handed to you. You have to work for it. I'm not handing you skills. All you do is watch me and learn from experience by failing over and over again. Pay attention to what I do."

"But in the real world I won't get a chance to fail. One mistake in a real world fight and I'm dead."

Bear countered this with his own argument. "This is why I'm your personal trainer. I won't kill you for failing. Now try again."

Cinder sighed, stretching out her aching paws. She could almost hear the screams of her bones as they cried out in protest to the vigorous exercises she had been rehearsing since the morning. "But I'm tired, and I'm hungry."

"Sh. No more words. Just fight."

Cinder squinted her eyes shut tightly before forcing them open again, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. She shook her head and then focused her gaze on the target. Bear was standing across from her, completely still and watching, not even quivering his tail the slightest bit. How does he remain so focused? Cinder stalked around him slowly, keeping herself low to the ground, but not too low. Crouching too low could result in the enemy having an easier target to pin, with a wolf's muscles already strained by the action of holding up a body…or something. It was hard to remember the things he had told her after multiple failures by the same mistake. She didn't have much time to think about her next move, for as last moment she let out a yell of surprise and was thrown to the ground once again. Bear was standing over her again and let out a large sigh.

"You really have to focus, Cinder. Your thoughts are always somewhere else than here."

"I'm sorry!" Cinder cried. "I just have so much on my mind."

"Then get if off of your mind and focus," Bear retorted. "If you're going to be a spy, then focus is something you need."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Now move your giant paw so I can get up, please."

As Cinder heaved herself to her paws again for what seemed like the millionth time, she cut off all scent, sound, and thought. She started into Bear's eyes the way he stared straight back into her, and she could clearly see the intensity of the amber eyes he had. It was like a smoldering fire that with a single puff would explode into a giant furnace of flame. But she didn't break her gaze.

Cinder and Bear circled each other, not one of them losing concentration. She didn't even pause to growl or narrow her eyes. She just stared, focusing on the way his muscles grew and shrunk with each movement, waiting for them to tense; waiting for him to pounce. As his muscles bunched she did the same, and was ready for him when he launched at her. She dodged to the side by rocketing off of the ground and flying across the earth. Landing with a strong impact, she was still regaining her balance when his jaws clamped over her back and threw her to the ground. But she knew what to expect this time. Before he could stamp his paw over her heart she rolled away, enough to get her paws on the ground. Pushing herself back up, she spun around as fast as physically possible and faced Bear, who was now charging across the ground in steady bounds. He opened his mouth and she could see his vicious teeth snapping for her neck. In a panic she ducked under his jaws, trying to avoid it for as long as she could. But she soon felt the piercing pain of her skin splitting as he drove his fangs into the skin of her neck. He shoved her onto the earth, holding her there while she struggled feebly. With a heavy sigh, Cinder didn't dare look at him. She had lost again, failed, "died" under real world circumstances.

"Great job, Cinder!"

Cinder looked up at him, her forehead wrinkled. "That wasn't a 'great job'. I failed, again!"

"Cinder, you're still a four month old puppy. There's no way you can beat a grown up wolf; one my size, too. Not until you grow a little. But I could tell you were really focused this time, and you actually attempted to remember what I've been telling you."

"Really? I actually did a good job?"

"I'm being completely dead honest. I knew you'd come around eventually. After all, you're Rosetta's daughter. I swear, she can beat any creature in a fight."

"Even a bear?" Cinder tilted her head quizzically. She didn't doubt that her mother did have strength from experience and from heredity, but bears were so much larger and stronger than wolves, from what she'd heard. She hadn't exactly glimpsed even a bit of one yet, apart from the wolf named after the powerful creatures: Bear.

"She can beat a Bear," he laughed at this, "but not a bear."

"Wait, what?"

"Don't think about it too much. You'll hurt yourself."

"Hey, when are we finished?"

"Well," her big brother glanced at the sky. It was almost full of fluffy clouds, taking the shapes of things that Cinder could almost recognize. "It is getting late. We've been training for a while."

"So, are we heading back then?"

"No, I don't think so," he responded with a curt nod of his head. "We should train just a little while longer."

"Are you ever going to show me the territory?"

"Sorry, Cinder, but there's not really much to see, and I'm not supposed to give you the easy way out. If I showed you the territory, then how could you learn to find it for yourself?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I just think it would help me get a better feel of where we live."

"Not really. How can you ever gain any experience without being challenged?"

"Well," she began, but was cut off as Bear sent her flying with a swing of his head, his lip curled.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Never let your guard down, remember?"

Narrowing her eyes, Cinder rolled to her paws and regained her footing, tensing up to prepare for his next attack, if he planned one. She wanted to fight back, to spit out a defense but it really was worthless. He always won their arguments anyways. If the small scraps they shot back and forth could even be called arguments at all. Instead, she sighed and took a deep breath, trying to let her temper simmer down as Yang had taught her. "Bear, it really is getting dark. I don't want to be walking home at midnight. Shouldn't we really get back? Besides, the Hunters probably brought back something for us to eat by now."

"Maybe you're right. We probably should be getting back. Pretty soon the scary bats will come out of hiding."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother. I know what bats are. Good luck scaring me with that one, stupid."

Bear turned around, starting to head back in the direction that they had come from before. They were pretty far from the clearing, if Cinder's memory was correct. It had taken them a little while to travel this far out, and it would take a while to get back. Cinder was looking around, trotting steadily behind her older brother when he suddenly kicked out his hind legs sending her sprawling across the ground and letting his kicked up dirt cloud her vision. She was coughing as it filled her lungs, trying to breathe but ending up with dust and dirt-filled intakes. Cinder couldn't see anything as she gagged. She tried to call out his name but it came out weaker than she wanted to. She could hear his thundering paw steps getting farther and farther away and soon the only sound to be heard were the few crickets that had decided to sing to her misery.

"B…Bear," she choked out. "Bear, where are you?" As her vision came steadily back she realized that her eyes were stinging from the pain. Staring ahead of her she noticed the intense pile of mud and dirt ahead of her. That's why she hadn't been able to regain her senses for a while. "Bear, come back!" Her feeble attempts to call to him were weak and had no effect. He was most likely too far away to hear her. But why did he do that, leave her coughing in the dust and make a run for it? Was this some sort of joke? She didn't know how to get home, or which direction he had ran off in. Maybe he thought she was right behind him and just ran to save time. But no…he would have heard her behind him, or turned back to look for her. Maybe he was doing that now, so Cinder sat and waited. Waited as the crickets chirped and the moon began to come out of hiding, and the sun was only a small peek of light behind the mountains of Yellowstone. Chill crept up Cinder's spine and she shivered, watching the clouds lazily move along the sky above her. It wasn't quite night time, but it was somewhere in between the evening and night, not quite either.

Shuffling her paws Cinder took in a breath and let it out, twitching her tail anxiously. Where was he? Wasn't he looking for her by now? She had barely moved since he'd left, and twitched her nose as a few scents passed by. One was stale, a rabbit's smell. It had passed by a little while ago, probably returning to its burrow. With another deep sigh, the gray pup let her paws fall forwards as she allowed herself to lay down on the foliage beneath her paws. She stretched out a little, flexing her paws and looking at them for a little while. She was alone, and she was afraid. She was trying not to look at the encasing darkness that made it seem like walls were closing in on her. It was swiftly growing darker, and her stomach was rumbling. She was laying on sore muscles and an empty stomach, with no way of getting home or getting food. Raising her head a little bit Cinder sniffed the air, trying to catch Bear's scent. But her nose was clogged with the overpowering smells of pollen and many other things around her, like that rabbit from a few minutes back.

It was getting to be pretty late, and there were a few stars starting to come out of hiding as complete darkness surrounded the little puppy. What sort of things came out at night? There was definitely plenty that could kill her. What if something with horns was waiting in the bushes, watching her still figure and finding out the best ways to devour her? The thought terrified poor Cinder and she shivered at the idea of the many predators that wanted to tear her to pieces. But maybe it was just in her mind that she thought of this. After all, lots of things slept at night, right? Things like bears, foxes, and badgers should be asleep. And bats were little and harmless and would just flap over her head to scare her. Cinder stifled a yawn that was trying to force her mouth open. Her eyes were beginning to droop, but she couldn't fall asleep here. Not out in the open where dangerous things could manage to get to her.

There was the occasional sound of rustling in the bushes, which Cinder assumed was just a little gopher or a rabbit. Nothing she could care about, as she hadn't learned how to hunt yet. But the thought of them made her stomach growl and saliva begin to gather in her mouth. She swallowed it down, shifting her position so she was lying on her side. This allowed her lungs to take bigger breaths, so she could breathe easier. She wanted so much to get up and walk around, at least to try and find the pack, but her sore body wouldn't allow it. So she stayed still on the ground, waiting and waiting for someone to find her. She still didn't understand why Bear wasn't looking for her, but what really made her upset was the fact that Yang hadn't found her yet. Yang was like a mother or a best friend. Why hadn't the cheery black wolf come searching for her yet? A small whine escaped from Cinder's closed mouth and made her throat ache a little.

Cinder could hear deep breaths that were probably her own. But then she realized that she had been holding her breath, and let it out in a deep sigh. Was something else waiting too? Maybe watching her? Because the breathing she could occasionally hear was not her own. She slowly rolled onto her stomach and tried to get onto her paws. It hurt like fire but she stood up anyways, shaking off her pelt. With little steps that made pain sear up her nerves, she padded towards the place where small sounds were heard. As the gray pup shoved her nose through the little bit of bush where the breathing was coming from, she couldn't hear the breathing anymore, and instead heard a small growl. Looking down, Cinder spotted something unexpected.

It was a puppy, probably close to her age. As it was spotted the pup leaped to its feet and snarled viciously at Cinder with anger in its eyes. Cinder started to speak but stopped as the pup lunged for her and knocked her to the ground.

"What do you want?" The pup spat, and Cinder realized she was a girl by the tone of her voice. She had a bright red pelt with some mottled colors of darker reds and auburns in there, too, and her eyes were a beautiful ocean blue, darker than Cinder's color. She really was quite beautiful, but Cinder snapped out of her awing as pain shot through her. The impact of the ground had made her lose her breath and she sat there under the other wolf's grip, breathing heavily. "I said, what do you want?" The she-pup repeated, baring her teeth and saying this harsher than the first time.

"I…I don't want anything," Cinder finally choked out.

"Then why did you look for me? Were you watching me you sneaky rat?"

"No…I thought you were watching me." Cinder let out a steady whine as the pain grew in her shoulders where her attacker's claws had started to dig through her flesh. "Please get off of me. You're hurting me!"

"Hmph. You don't seem dangerous at all." The red pup removed herself from Cinder's shaking form, stepping back with her fur still raised.

Cinder didn't bother getting up, but she rolled over onto her stomach and began to lick at her shoulders where the pain didn't stop throbbing.

"Who are you?" The other puppy asked after a long pause.

"My name's Cinder. What about you?"

"I'm Berry." Berry shook out her pelt and let her hackles down as if she finally got the message that Cinder was no trouble.

Tipping her head and studying Berry, Cinder spoke up. "Why are you out here alone, on Burning Ember Pack territory?"

"I could ask you the same question," Berry shot back. "You tell me first!"

"Well, I'm on Burning Ember territory because I'm part of that pack. I'm out here because my brother left me alone."

Berry's eyes widened in disbelief, and she shook her head. "He just left you here? Why would he do that?"

Cinder shrugged. "Now it's your turn. Why are you here alone?"

"Well," Berry threw her shoulders out and tried to stand taller. "I'm very important in my pack. I've been training since I was very small; I'm-get ready for this-a spy."

Cinder's eyes flickered with surprise. The other packs were training puppies as spies as well as her pack? And to think she thought that her mother was creative. "Wow, some spy you are. You just gave away your identity. Good job, Spy Berry."

"Hey!" Berry yipped. "I just told you because you're obviously not a threat."

"Oh, really?" Cinder growled. "I am a threat. If I wasn't so sore, I could beat you up!"

"Honestly? I don't see any muscle beneath your fluffy fur." Berry laughed as she eyed Cinder, whose lip was twitching with frustration. "How old are you, Cinder? Two months?"

"I'm four months, thank you very much," Cinder spat. But it was Berry's right to tease her. After all, though she was still young Cinder could see the large muscles protruding from under the pup's thin coat. "How about you? Are you a two week old puppy or something? You have the maturity of one."

Berry just giggled. "No, I'm five months. I'm older than you, so therefore I'm maturer."

"Maturer? That isn't even a word," Cinder pointed out with a small laugh. "It's more mature."

Scoffing, the red pup tossed her head aside. "Whatever. Since I'm maturer than you, I can make up words. It's a rule of being maturer."

"Right, of course it is." Cinder stared over her shoulder for a second and whined. "Hey, since you're a spy, do you know my territory?"

"Of course I do. I have it all mapped out in my head. Just like the Running River Pack, too. I've memorized all the territories. I'm really strong, smart, and mature," Berry bragged with a sly smirk at Cinder. "Why? Are you all alone and lost?"

Cinder sighed. "Yeah, I am. I don't know my territory yet, okay? You win. Will you please help me get back home?"

Berry cocked her head, and wrinkled her forehead. "I don't know. I might."

"You might?"
"Admit that I'm stronger, smarter, and a better wolf than you will ever be."

Cinder growled. "What? No! That's not true!"

"Do you want to go home or not?" The red she-pup countered with a growl.

"Yes, I do."

"Then admit it."

With a deep breath, she opened her mouth. "You are stronger, smarter, and a better wolf than I will ever be." Cinder rolled her eyes. "But it's so not true," she muttered under her breath.

"Good. I'll take you home. But…" Looking at the risen crescent moon, Berry whined. "Not in this darkness. It could be dangerous that we can't really see as well. At least, I haven't gotten used to it yet. So we should camp out here until morning."
"What? But...Yang and Blizzard," Cinder whimpered. She had grown very fond of her sleeping nights curled up to her two best friends. That would be something she missed.

"Do you want to fall in a ditch and die? You can't see in the dark, so that could happen."

"No…fine. We'll camp here."

That night was miserable for Cinder. As she was lying on the hard mixture of dirt and stone, she kept turning over to try and make herself at home but there wasn't any point. No matter which flank she was resting on or which way her paws were situated, this situation was nothing like what she was used to. After two months of nestling into the softest fur that Yang had and curled up next to Blizzard's cuddly pelt, this was too strange to bear. Unable to get comfortable and have any chance of going to sleep, Cinder stood up and stretched both her front and back legs, lifting each one off of the ground to get the stretch in. She shook her head and squinted to clear her blurry vision and glanced over at Berry, whose flanks were rising and falling in time with her nearly silent breaths. She was clearly deep in sleep, probably having pleasant dreams. Cinder sighed, licking her lips rapidly as her nerves started acting up. It was pitch black and hard to see things even a few feet away from her. Turning around to try and get a glance of her surroundings, fear was making the puppy's fur stand on end. Why couldn't she be home with her pack instead of being stuck out here with a total stranger?

Inching her way towards the sleeping red form of Berry, Cinder bent down and sniffed at her face, nudging her and trying to wake her up. If she couldn't fall asleep, she wanted someone to be awake with her and assure her everything was going to be okay.

Berry growled slightly and shoved Cinder away with a paw, turning around and nestling her head into the ground to get back to sleeping. But Cinder didn't halt her attempts, and approached her louder this time, not being at all cautious with her paw steps. "Berry, wake up!" She howled, shoving her with her head.

Berry snarled but blinked open her eyes, dirt flying from the earth as she rolled to her paws. She twitched her nose and sneezed, facing Cinder. "What do you want, Pup?"

"I want you to stay awake with me. I can't sleep."

"You couldn't have done it any-I don't know-nicer?" Berry looked ticked, and her gaze was fierce.

"Don't be so harsh. I'm just…I don't like being alone or in the dark, okay?" Cinder admitted, staring at her paws.

With a sigh, Berry took a step towards Cinder and wrapped her tail around her fellow puppy's back. "It's okay. Nothing will hurt us."

Cinder was too frightened to be surprised at the fiery Berry's sweet reaction. "How do you know that?"

"I've been alone out here plenty of times." As Berry said this, Cinder glared at her. "Not on your territory," she added. "Not all the time. I've been on my territory too. They let me camp out here to test my skills at survival. Don't worry. I'm experienced at this." With a gentle laugh, Berry scooted closer to Cinder. "I'll stay awake with you, 'kay?"

Cinder paused for a second and said nothing, watching Berry stare up at the stars. "Berry?" she whispered after a little while.

"Yeah?"
"Why are you being so nice to me? Don't you…hate me or something?"

"Nah. I'm mean to everyone when I first meet them. I mean, I didn't know if you were going to try and kill me or what. I had to be defensive and rude. But I'm not always this way. Besides, you're obviously no threat. So there's no point in being mean to you." The snarky attitude returned. "Why should I waste my energy on a harmless child like you?"

Cinder bristled, pulling away. "I'm not much younger than you are! Only one month, so don't act all big with me. I have a personal trainer, and if you saw him you'd go running back to your mother."

"Maybe I would," Berry spat. "If I had one to run to."

"Excuse me?" Cinder stared at her in disbelief. This mean, rude little punk had no mother? Or was she just trying to get pity?

"Yeah. It's not that unusual, you know. She used to be a part of the pack, met a loner and had puppies with him. My dad kept all of my siblings and she kept me. I was brought back to the pack and then she left." Berry shrugged. "But whatever. I'm better off without her anyways. It means just one less wolf to conquer to become Alpha!"

Cinder rolled her eyes, her ears flattened. "That's awful. How could you even say that? Mothers are great. They love and care for you, and treat you like a princess."
"Really? Well, princess Cinder, obviously you don't have much of a mother. She left you in the woods."

Cinder's hackles rose and her lips peeled back. She glared at the red pup, feeling her face flush with accumulating harsh feelings. There was anger rising in her, making her throat all choked up like she couldn't breathe. "How dare you! My mother does love me!" These words came out croaked as it was hard to speak. She didn't realize how much her claws were tearing into the ground, uprooting little sprouts trying to grow.

"Oh, really?" Berry snorted, pacing around Cinder. "If your mother actually loved you, wouldn't she have come looking for you? Why are you still out here alone?"

"Stop it!" Cinder roared, throwing her head back with rage. Her tail was straight out and she was crouching low to the ground, growling with her teeth slightly revealed. She held her ground, keeping her eyes fixed on the cruel pup and hardly daring to blink.

"You're only getting so upset because you know that it's true, right? Your mother doesn't love you. She left you out here to die. Maybe she hoped you would die."

"Why are you doing this? You're being unreasonable and rude! I thought you were out here to help me, not hurt me!"

"I'm not hurting you. I am helping you. I'm showing you the truth about life, that mothers are pretty stinking rotten out here in the packs. They love you for a short while, then dump you somewhere like trash and leave you there to rot."

"That's not true," Cinder argued, taking a step towards Berry. "That's all a lie. Mothers are there for you. I wouldn't know half the things I do know if my mom hadn't taught me them. She taught me the rules of life, how to speak and what not to do, how to play and be kind, and be a good wolf. I wouldn't know how to do anything without her, really. She even taught me how to walk and talk. Does that not mean anything to you?"

"Gosh, you're so…uptight."

"The word is appreciative."

Berry shrugged with a smug look on her face. "My mother didn't teach me any of that."

"Really? Then who did?"

"I taught myself, by watching other wolves in my pack. That just proves once more how much smarter I am than you. I could teach myself all these things."

Cinder growled. "You know what? I'm done being around you. I don't need your help. I can find the pack all by myself!"

A long howl made Cinder's ears swivel to the east. It was strong and loud enough to reach the ears of wolves within miles of it, making the pup know that it was close. Maybe someone's looking for me.

However, mere minutes later Cinder's hopes of being found were dashed as an unrecognizable wolf burst through the shrubbery hiding it earlier. "Berry!" She growled, approaching the red pup with scorn in her eyes. "Where have you been?"

Berry shrunk back, her ears flat. "I…was exploring."

"You know it's dangerous out here! Especially this late at night! I was worried sick when I came home and found you missing. What were you thinking, young lady? Trespassing on another pack's territory? You could have been killed for this!"

Berry's eyes turned cold and she faced away from the tall, white she-wolf with a guilt expression planted on her face. "Sorry."

Cinder tipped her head with confusion, her tail thumping a little as newfound excitement buzzed in her heart. "Wait…so you weren't allowed to be out here?"

As Berry opened her mouth to speak, she was swiftly interrupted by the white wolf, who answered for her. Berry snapped her jaw shut and growled softly. "Of course she wasn't. She doesn't even know her way home from here."

"So you lied to me?" Cinder snarled, jumping up and pinning her ears to her head. "You're not a spy, are you? You're just a puppy like me." She huffed, her fur raising high on her neck with disbelief. "And to think, I actually believed you were a spy."
"A spy?" The white wolf's shoulders shook with laughter. "Berry, a spy? She hasn't even begun her training to be a Guardian yet. That's ridiculous, Berry. A spy, really?"
"Luna, please stop!" Berry's voice came out through clenched teeth, a hiss of fury like a snake about to lunge. "You're embarrassing me."

Luna rolled her eyes, the remaining twinkle of amusement still shining in them. "Come on, Berry. We're going home. As for you," the white she-wolf turned her attention to Cinder. "Shouldn't you be doing the same?"

Looking over her shoulder and raising her ears to listen to the quiet sounds of a still night, Cinder sighed. Did she even have a home to return to? What kind of a home abandoned a puppy in the woods? What kind of a brother didn't even bother to search for her after she'd been gone for hours? Did they even care about her anymore? "I don't think so. My home…I don't have a home to return to."

Suddenly seeming to be aware of the situation, Luna took a sudden step back from Cinder as if she had acquired an infectious disease. "You…aren't a lone wolf, are you? You were born in a pack…right?" Her voice was lowered to a whisper, like she didn't want the crickets to hear her speak of wolves without a pack to belong to.

"No, I was born in the Burning Ember Pack. But my brother-who's also my personal trainer-left me out here. I…I don't know why."

"He left you out here? All by yourself?" Luna's eyes were clouded with confusion. "Is this some form of punishment? What did you do?"

This is where Cinder recounted all of the events that had happened up to this point. Apart from being a spy-that somehow seemed like something that needed to remain private from the other packs. She talked about how Bear had fought to be her trainer with Storm, and then brought her out here to train. How he had turned around and gotten out of the clearing, leaving her alone. How she had found Berry-which Berry jumped in immediately, saying she had found Cinder-and how she'd lied about being a spy. How Berry had promised to take her home the next morning, and had gone on about endless bragging. How they'd been arguing, and then been found by Luna. Throughout this, Luna kept tipping her head in different ways, like the concept of abandonment still didn't make any sense. "I'm still lost," she declared after Cinder was finished. "He just left you here?"

Cinder sighed with exasperation. How dumb was this Luna? "Can you just take me back to my pack, please?"

"Well, dear, the Burning Ember pack is a little ways away from here. It's dark, and I don't do well in the dark. How about you come home with me and Berry and stay the night? I'll return you to your family early tomorrow."

The gray pup thought about this for a moment, going over her options. Luna was right. It was really dark out, and if she tried to find her way home alone, declining Luna's offer, she could get even more lost. If she went back with Luna and the brat Berry, this could turn out with her being held hostage. But she'd have a warm place to sleep and food to eat, and could be returned safely home in the morning, like Luna supposedly promised. But there wasn't any reason for her to lie, so what was the harm of going back with them? Besides, she'd actually have something to report back to Rosetta about once she returned home. It would be like her first spy mission, to investigate the Setting Sun Pack's territory.

"Sure, okay," Cinder agreed finally, stretching out her paws to prepare herself for what could be a long walk back.

Luna cocked her head and angled her ears forwards as a steady beat, like a drum, was heading towards where the three wolves were conversing. "Take one more step, Luna, and you're dead."

"Bear!" Cinder cried, unable to hold back her excitement. As her large older brother emerged from the shadows behind him, all anger and grudging feelings were forgotten. She approached him in an ecstatic run, throwing herself onto him. She licked his chin with joy, nestling into his fur. But as realization struck her she pulled back quickly, the thoughts of being abandoned filling her mind once more. "Wait…you left me here. I could have died."

It was as if Cinder's words drifted right past her brother's ears, as he didn't so much as take a glance at the puppy standing with frustration beneath him. "Luna," he said. "You can leave now. No, no. You will leave now. Be on your way."

Luna glared at Bear, nosing Berry behind her protectively. "I don't have to."

"You are on the Burning Ember pack territory. What were you thinking, trying to steal away one of our wolves? Have you gone mad?"

"If I recall," Luna began with a snarky attitude in her words. "You happened to be the one who completely forgot about her. I wasn't stealing her. I found her."

"Wait!" Cinder cried, making a small leap to stand in between the two snarling wolves. It didn't really help much to stand in her position, as her head barely reached the chin of the two. "Luna wasn't going to steal me, Bear. I promise. She said she would take me home in the morning. Right, Luna?"

"Take you home? Don't make me laugh!" Bear growled, putting a paw in front of Cinder. At this action she huffed, trying to dodge around the barrier of his giant leg. She didn't need protection, as there was nothing to be protected from. Bear's muzzle was only a few inches away from Luna's and they both looked as if they were ready to toss the other one off of a cliff and wouldn't feel any shame doing it.

Cinder bit her lip, her resentment to participate in the squabble between the two adults overwhelming her. She slunk out from between Bear's shielding stance, feeling the heavy coat on his underbelly brush her head lightly. Her ears flattened at this, twitching as she felt that common presence of bugs crawling over her skin. Trying to shove the option of that out of her mind, Cinder squinted against the light that had started to crawl out of its hibernation. Looking away, the young pup was surprised to see Berry motioning with her head to follow her, away from the quarrel. Quite pleased at any opportunity to free her of this, Cinder eagerly followed the spitfire away from her brother and Luna; even if it was Berry she was flocking. Ducking her head to not be swatted at the leaves Berry nosed aside, Cinder made short glances at what was around her as the world shifted with each step. It was mostly green and brown, the colors of dirt and spring. With the occasional white light breaking in shafts through the tree tops, the earthen territory began to look spotted. It was really remarkable, if not for the rumbling loudness of the voices behind them. Cinder gasped as her paw sunk into a deep hole of mud that sucked up her leg up to knee length. Tugging it out from the mess and shaking out the sticky substance with a scowl, Cinder tried to block out Berry's laughing.

"Wow, nice job!" Berry barked, wagging her tail.

Cinder, giving up on her attempt to rid her fur of the gunk, stepped lightly on her left side so as not to feel the mud squish in between her toes with each movement. "Gross, gross, gross…" she muttered, walking ever so casually behind Berry. Then, with a hard shove, the pleasing sound of Berry's crying out filled Cinder's ears like music. "Wow, nice job!"

Berry plucked herself off of the mud hole, complaining as it covered every part of her up to her back. "Yuck…this will take ages to clean off," she whined, trying to lick part of it off of her paws. "I feel like a frog." She flicked some of it at Cinder, hitting her right in between her eyes.

"Ew!" Cinder squealed, trying to scrape it off of her head. It didn't really do much but smear it down her nose. She bounded over to the pile of mud, jumping into it and rolling around, completely making herself into a mess. Standing up with a satisfying sneer of accomplishment at what she was about to do, Cinder walked towards Berry. "Berry, want a hug?"

"No, no, stay away!" Berry commanded, backing up as Cinder approached her. "Stop it, Cinder. Seriously!"

Cinder peeled back her lips a little bit, her tail twitching slightly as it rested by her hind legs. She took a leap of faith at Berry who was now scrambling to get out of the way of the gray puppy's attack. However, the older she-pup wasn't quite quick enough. The first things to make contact with the red puppy were Cinder's paws, coated with the goo-like substance of mud. The ever burning sun was quickly caking the wet mud dry where it had covered itself in the still soft coat of Cinder. However, she ignored the fact of how dehydrated it made her feel, and how much it made her want to bathe as it wedged in between her toes and refused to move. She pushed aside these feelings as she sent Berry to the ground, right into the mud pile. The puppies tussled for a little while, wrestling with each other to get the opponent the most dripping with mud. Once they had begun to roll around, the previous large mud pile had grown considerably smaller.

"Cinder!"

"Berry, you're filthy!"
Luna's whiny complaints were the first thing that reached Cinder's ears as she felt herself being lifted off of her victim of mud wars. Sneezing to get gunk out of her nose, Cinder pinned her ears against her temples submissively, forehead wrinkling in shame. "Bear…you're back," she commented stupidly, stating the obvious and not daring to meet what would probably be a furious gaze from her brother and mentor in all things wolf.

Veering her gaze from the ground and instead focusing on Berry, Cinder forced a small smile to make its way to her jaw. "That was fun." Quickly eager to change the subject and alter the focus from herself, she anticipated Berry's response, hoping that their filthy battle hadn't disrupted what could possibly be a friendship. Even if Berry was rude. And conceited. And irresponsible.

"Yeah, I guess beating your butt at that was pretty great." Berry flashed a non-toothy smile back at the puppy opposite from her, and Cinder could feel her cheeks warming with pleasure. She watched as Berry's gangly legs dangled from Luna's mouth, as her scruff was being tightly held. It looked on the verge of painful, but not quite.

"I don't think you won."

"I think I did."

"Well, I think," Cinder began. "That you're just jealous because I won. You just wish you won so you created a fake reality in your mind where you won, and instead made it seem like I didn't win by changing the positions of the fight by imagination to where you shove me into the mud instead of me shoving you and attacking first. So, my rightful win was your stolen win, you little thief."

"Wait, what?" Berry couldn't hold back a giggle.

Cinder hardly managed to utter another word as Bear swung her around, her growing body swinging in his sharp grip. "Ouch! Careful with me, I'm the only Cinder you have!" She adjusted her position slightly, feeling more vulnerable than preferred with her hind legs dangling uselessly a little above the ground. Tucking them in, the blue-eyed pup restrained from squirming too much, as each time she moved it seemed Bear's teeth tightened on her soft skin. Flattening her ears against her cranium, Cinder listened as Luna's soft paw steps headed in the opposite direction from where she was being carried to, back to her pack. "I'm going home now, right?"

But her attempts to communicate obviously didn't mean much to Bear. His ears twitched as she spoke, but nothing else was exchanged from that point as they began the long journey home.

Chapter 7

"Cinder, are you ready to go on your first mission?"

Time sure does seem to sprout wings and fly away when entertainment is at hand, for the time had come for Cinder and Blizzard to advance in the ranks and truly become members in the pack. Staring up at Yang as she asked this question, Cinder nodded. "I'm ready."

Once arriving home from her little test of survival, Cinder had discovered that she had never really been alone. Bear had been watching her the entire time to make sure she was doing all right, and the whole time the abandonment in the forest had been an elaborate test designed by Rosetta to see what her puppies were made of. And while she had been sitting in a clearing, waiting for her brother to come and rescue her, it turns out that Blizzard had made her way back to the clearing, and the two spy's skills had really been evaluated. Blizzard happened to have an extraordinary memory, as she completely remembered the path Century had led her on to get to where they had been training for a short while. And Cinder had excelled in patience when it was needed, as she was able to wait for hours for someone to come and find her. But the test was over. Cinder had survived the struggle and absolute boredom of being a puppy, and at six months old was a full member of her pack; the Pack of Burning Embers.

With a heavy sigh, Cinder gave Yang a respectful lick on her chin, smiling with her forehead wrinkled in concern. "I'm going to miss you."

"Oh, Cinder." Yang pulled Cinder close, licking her behind her ears. With her tail barely stirring, it was obvious that despair was the main emotion that the black-furred Guardian was feeling. "I just can't believe…you're all grown up."

Lifting a paw to cuff Yang over her ears, the gray wolf sighed with melancholy thoughts clouding her mind. "I'm not all grown up yet. I'm only six months!"

"I suppose." With a shrug, Yang dipped her head before lifting it again to speak. "But I can still remember when you first arrived, a tiny two month old puppy. You were so cute back then! And now…you're almost my size!" With a smile spreading across her face, Yang made a short gesture with her paw. "You were barely a foot off the ground."

Flattening her ears in embarrassment, heat flushed to Cinder's face. If it wasn't covered by so much dark fur, she swore that her friend would be able to see the red covering her cheeks. "Oh, stop. I'll still be little for a few more months."

"But I can't pick you up anymore!"

Cinder smiled, touching Yang affectionately with her nose. "Hey, it's okay. I have one more day before I leave, anyways."

Yang sat down, drawing her tail over her neatly folded forepaws. "I guess. But you have to make sure to give me a proper goodbye!"

"And you have to give me a proper sendoff."

"Okay. It's a deal."

"Deal."

The sound of a heavy object being dragged across the earth diverted Cinder's attention, as she perked her ears with eagerness. "Hey! I think the Hunter's are back!" Turning her tail to Yang, the young she-wolf took a hesitant step, eager to spot the source of the scent wafting through her nose, making her mouth water as her stomach growled with intense hunger. "Oh…I can't wait," she whispered to no one in particular, watching as a line of her pack mates began to gather near the sidelines of the main clearing, anticipating the meal just as much as she was. Making her way to where her friends and family had settled, Cinder craned her neck to see over the large crowd that had assembled themselves around the now dropped cow elk, the small white pelt of her sister was easy to spot among the dark furs surrounding her. Shoving past shoulders and stepping cautiously over stray tails, Cinder managed to find a way to her sister, sitting near the Beta and their parents.

"Hey," Blizzard chirped as Cinder took a seat next to her.

"Hey," Cinder echoed, her mind wandering.

"Are you excited?"

"What?"

"Are you excited?" Blizzard pressed. After a moment of silence, she continued, her tail twitching into a small wag. "For our 'mission?'"

"Oh! That. Yeah, I guess."

Dipping her head to give Cinder a small lick on her forehead, Blizzard sent her a cheery smile, wrinkles forming at the edges of her maw. "What's wrong? Don't try to hide it, I'm your sister. I know when you're upset."

"Well, it's just…" Licking over her nose as it began to feel dry, Cinder continued. "I'm going to miss Yang. A lot. And Bear. I mean, won't you miss your boyfriend?"

Blizzard frowned. "How many times do I have to tell you? He's not my boyfriend!" She leaned forwards to gently nip her sister's ear, causing a giggle from the wolf beside her. "And yes, I'll miss my friend who's a boy. But we're only gone for two months."

"Two months is a long time," Cinder replied. Her ears pinned back to her head, she looked over to where Yang was sitting next to Yin. "I mean, think about it. Two months ago we were four months old."

"And in two more we'll be eight months old." Blizzard shrugged. "It's less than you think it is. I promise it's not really that bad. And besides, it's a chance to make friends in the other packs."

Cinder's neck fur rose as she shivered a little, thinking of the other packs and how there were so many unfamiliar wolves to see who may very well wish for their deaths. It was a dangerous mission, this report they were taking to the other two packs situated next to their section of the forest. "We're not going to make friends. You know that, right?"

But either the word didn't reach her ears or the white wolf was ignoring her sister, as she kept her muzzle pointed forwards to where Rio was leading his mate away from their secluded cave. They bounded down the rocks, Rosetta a little clumsier than the other. With a thud, the red she-wolf regained the mistimed landing as she straightened out her knees. Padding over to where the pack was gathered around the prey hunted down by the previous patrol, her eyes seemed as if they were emotionless. Fierce and intense, but lacking of positive emotions like those bouncing around the space from Rio's fond gaze. Without a single word, they bent down to the hunted prey and began to eat so to fill the empty space in their stomachs. Cinder watched eagerly, trying so desperately to will herself not to drool in front of the crowded space. She would be eating after Robin this time, as her rank was above both the Hunters and the Guardians at the moment, given the circumstances of having the deathly risk of being a Spy. It seemed as if every second was ten, every minute was sixty as she anxiously watched Robin dig into the best parts of the cow elk. Her chest heaved as small, breathy whines couldn't resist but come out at the desperation to eat. As she had grown, so had her appetite, and starvation found its way to her stomach at a much quicker rate than it had before.

Robin was next, and she eagerly tore off one of the legs of the deer, her strong jaw tensing as she pulled it away from the corpse. Digging in hungrily, there were soon no remains left of the meal aside from blood spots and long bones stretching out as part of the white skeletal figure beneath all the flesh and fur of the prey. Licking her lips, Cinder waited in anticipation as Bear, Storm, Wisp, Century, and Yin ate their fill. The meal was depleting fast, and there was hardly a neck and head left over for the rest of the pack, plus a few scraps of unfinished meat that was hanging onto the ribcage. Cinder looked at Blizzard, and her sister nodded back at her. The two headed forwards, eating into what was left over for them and the Guardians who would eat after them. Deciding to take out of the neck, Cinder sank her fangs into the meat with a happy wag of her tail. She had been waiting all day for this – her last meal with the pack before the journey of struggle and possible frustration would begin. Filling her mouth to the brim with food to sustain her for the next day and maybe more, she dug in until her stomach was near to being full. Stepping back and getting back into line, Cinder watched as Yang, Auburn, and Twig ate what remained, followed by Scrap, who as usual at nothing but scraps.

Cinder couldn't help but feel a pitiful pang of guilt as the half-dog sniffed around the remains, poking her nose into nooks and crannies in the bones so as to try and tear off some remaining skin or meat. Her small frame was revealing a ribcage stabbing out from spotted fur, her thin figurine a harsh reminder of what it meant to hold the Omega position. Looking around, the Spy puppy could see that even the Guardians were looking a little scrawny this fall season, and didn't get to eat nearly as much as even she and her sister did. But really, after ten wolves had eaten what they wanted off of a cow elk, there wasn't much to go around for five more. They had to ration their meals every day.

"Cinder," Blizzard whispered into the gray wolf's ear. "Look at