Introduction

4 YEARS AFTER THE BEGINNING

Paw steps thunder in my head, yet nothing at this point could stop me from blundering on through the icy white. White powder shuffles under my frantic paws, blinding my eyes and billowing up around me. My mind races from the day before, how I was forced to watch a death I couldn't help. Now, my single train of thought keeps ringing in my head. On voice, one sentence:

Stay away from Talcar, stay away.

I tried to, I really tried.

I attempt to keep my balance through the slick snow and winding trees that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Panic stricken and slowly weakening, I make my way, knowing that stopping could be a dangerous move at this point. At last, I move my head to the left to see a dark brown figure feinting between the trees at a brisk pace. Fearing one of Talcar's guards or treasurers had been closing in on me and I hadn't noticed, I quickly veer to the right, but soon catch a glint of a familiar golden eyes, and the brown pelt quickens as he makes his way around the trees closer to me. He turns to me abruptly as he races alongside me.

"Ruhan," I manage to gasp. He simply gives me a curt nod, then turns to face the trail ahead.

"Where's the patrol?" I bark loudly over our padding paws and huffs of exasperation. Before he can shoot out an answer into the night, multiple howls, yips and footfalls fill my ears and recognizable scents answer my question. A dark gray huff rears up on his two powerful hind legs and lets out a slight whimper of excitement as he drops down near Ruhan. A lighter yellow, thin but mighty, follows shortly behind. Nearing me, I can see a pitch black huff and beside me runs a pure white elegant motti. Her glowing amber eyes show she's ready to take on any challenge she is put up for, and the strength I've seen her produce shows her enthusiasm is not underestimated.

I feel a warming rush flow over me, covering me from muzzle to tail-tip at the strength of our pack. We are each other, working as one, because we are strong, we are willing, we are one. I have no doubt in my mind that this pack will succeed in this patrol battle. Why should I worry?

Because of last time. Talcar is much too strong for you to handle, I can hear my thoughts reminding me.

But I shake my head to rid of the criticizing idea. No, today I am a full fighter Beta and one of the best now. Especially with this newfound strength and undeniable power. All of our fighters are here on this patrol now: Andromache, Coriola, Eira, and even Krimmsenkel. We will not lose. I will avenge my father's death today, and only today.

My thought nearly consumes my so much I almost miss the leader's sharp howl to veer left, but I catch it just in time to see Ruhan dart to the leader's side. I look over and see Eira. The white fighter's eyes were wide and as I follow her gaze, my breath catches in my throat as well: Talcar's guards are nearing us, fast, and all six are barreling into the center of our pack.

"Split!" Eira and I screech in sync, and our pack obeys. Not quick enough, though.

A hard blow from a thin brown huff knocks the wind out of Eira as she claws at him on the ground. She lashes out at him, battering her claws at his stomach and nipping at his neck, but I keep on running with the rest of the pack.

Looking into the trees, I spot a large black huff, about twice the size of me, push out with his mighty haunches just in time to dodge inches under his talon- like claws. Instead, he continues in the air and aims for a different target, one running alongside me. Ruhan has no time to duck when the attacker's massive body collides with his, and Ruhan is thrown to the ground with force. That's when I skid to a halt in the snow and watch around me in horror as guard after guard of Talcar's takes out one of our patrollers easily. But we don't back down without a serious fight.

I turn back to Ruhan, who has pinned the black male on his stomach with no sweat, and is snarling viciously through a tuft of his neck fur. The black male twist and wriggles, but is no match for the claws digging deeper, and deeper into his skin at every turn. Eira is wrestling with a wolf about her size, a different one than the brown huff, now a very light gray motti. Blood has already stained both motties paws, and I spot a large gash on Eira's flank, a bad repair.

I turn my head and decide to help out a new Beta, Luthymo, who is at a stare down with the larger brown male. The way Luthymo's tail swishes behind him, I can tell he is very nervous to be in his first patrol fight. I lunge in nonchalantly and begin to growl menacing. He dives at me instantly and, surprised at the sudden attack, simply strangle him with my paws extended. By the way I fall, I can tell his mighty paws, though he is small in stature, can easily pin the strongest of Betas, like me. I twist and turn under his weight, growl and curling my lips as the brown huff keeps a firm hold on the side of my neck. I make one weak attempt to escape and rake my blunt claws across his chest, but he hardly seems to notice.

Twisting violently in the snow, a sudden steady trickle begins to leave my neck, and I can see through his grasp a smile forming on his lips. I won't give him that kind of satisfaction. But a stinging pain shocks my shoulder as it begins to grow numb and painful. I am about to give in, when a yellow flash shoots through the sky and slams hard into the brown huff's side, who now by the close up I can tell is none other than Rheptoclaa, and flips his sideways, crashing into the ice-packed earth.

As I stagger painfully to a standing position, a heavy force on my neck lifts me up gruffly by my scruff. I am left dangling painfully an inch above the blood laden snow, my blood, my paws scrabbling madly in the air. The jaws slowly began sealing my windpipe as they gradually got tighter.

"Come back again, Tivean? Here to avenge your father's death?" came a cold, hard voice in my ear. The voice you hear in your nightmare. The voice you hear that makes you cringe instantly. The voce that even the strongest of fighter Betas have a tough time standing up to.

Talcar, I conclude.

Quickly, I twist around in his grasp and lock my jaws into the side of his face. He growls instantly and releases me abruptly, as I fall to the ground. With a jolt, all the pain in my neck comes rushing back to me, but I try to ignore the nagging pain.

Then, without warning, he lift me back up and with a flick of his neck, flings me into a nearby tree. My jaw slams into I first and I can hear the grind of the bone colliding with the tree. Then my weakened paws crunch under the weight of the tree and my chest. My ribcage complains as the bones struggle to stay unbroken. And then I collapse in a heap of fur and snow, panting so heavy my breath never catches, sealing my eyes and curling my paws under my chest. Right here, in this puddle of blood that my neck and chest have caused, I feel safe, despite the agonizing pain. I would love to stay here, but I can't. So yet again, I struggle to my paws that are just barely supporting my weight, I turn my bloodshot eyes towards two fighting wolves.

No more blood, no more fights, I complain in my head. But looking down at my paws, I see the bark of the tree has been severely smeared with crimson blood and the crushed snow is soaked with dark red liquid. So I turn back to the two wolves.

I glare through the slits of my eyes as I watch the brown and black leader of the opposing team. He storms over to a gray huff and his best guard, and clean yellow huff with a black muzzle and chest, Lartona, who is only stained with the blood of other victims, who are viciously locked in a jaw and claw hold.

Talcar sidles up to Lartona and thrusts him away with his shoulder, who simply unsheathes his claws and slides an inch away. Talcar turns to the gray huff, and lifts him up like he had done to me. The huff lets out a quick yelp and kicks out with his back paw, which catches Lartona in the jaw hard and knocks his head up. The crack it produces causes me to cringe.

Talcar races over to a nearby tree with the gray huff still lodged in his jaws, who I can now see is Coriola, and grinds him into a tree closest to me. I back away to avoid the fight, and horrendously watch blood instantly pour out of a shoulder wound. Coriola falls to the ground and I watch in horror as Talcar pins him, Talcar's head facing me. But I already see it in Coriola's eyes, he's slipping away.

Lowering his muzzle to Coriola's pointed ear, he whispers something before raising his muzzle back up and scoring his claws into Coriola's chest. Coriola chokes and fresh blood trickles from his mouth. I let a breath out and back away again, but my eyes are glued to him and his murderer. I gasp and that's he first time I notice the battle behind me has stopped. There is no sound except for the growling of Talcar.

Talcar gives one final blow to the side of Coriola's head and steps off. I can tell every eye is on either Coriola or Talcar.

No movement. No sound. The gray huff is still. He is dead. Yet another murdered by the villainous Talcar. But he's a leader, so he's virtually indestructible to defeat.

Anger and shock well up inside my chest. I prepare to lunge and claw at the mighty leader until he is shredded meat as his gleaming eyes penetrate me, but Cloyan, our leader, howls his warning.

"Retreat."

As Talcar's wolves and Cloyan's flee in opposite direction, and I turn around to face our distressed and upset pack, I take one final glance at Coriola, dead in a heap of blood, fur and snow, and Talcar the murderer.

This isn't over yet, I growl to myself. My father's and now Coriola's deaths will be avenged. But your time will come. And when it does, I'll be there with bloodied claws and a revengeful smile.