Killed By a Traitor

"How dare you!?" A black and gray tom screeched, his gray eyes were dark with storm. He stared at the leader on top of the boulder glaring down at him. The clan had gathered around him and waited for his judgment and punishment.

"How dare I what, Volestep? You killed Gingerwing and now you have to pay the price." The charcoal leader meowed evenly, his eyes glowing with hatred. Gingerwing was his mate and she was dead.

"I didn't kill her!" Volestep screeched franticly his eyes growing wide as the leader hopped down and landed in front of him.

"Then explain why you're covered in scratches and your fur is in between her claws." He snarled. Volestep took a step back.

"She was attacked and I tried to save her!" Volestep tried to explain as best he could. The leader looked away shaking his head.

"No, Volestep, I, Smokestar banish you from the clan for killing a clan mate." Smokestar meowed and looked Volestep straight in the eyes. Volestep snarled and turned away.

"You will regret this, Smokestar, forever and always. I will always hunt down your clan and I will haunt your dreams." The gray tom snarled and spun around stalking out of camp.

Applepaw padded along the well-trodden path through the thick artic forest. Her ears pricked and her jaws laden with spring prey. She had just had a successful hunting trip today and hoped that her mentor would be proud.

The trip went be easily but she had moments when she felt a pair of meancing eyes watching her. She would glance over her shoulder and make sure she wasn't being watched. She thought, once, she saw a flash of gray fur leap across the path.

She shook her head and dismissed it as her imagination or her brother Graypaw playing tricks on her. She shook her head and returned her gaze to the path. She pricked her ears waiting to hear the sounds of the forest but surprisingly there was none.

She stopped in her path and unsheathed her claws. This was not right, this was not right at all. Something was wrong and she dug her claws deep into the soft forest floor. Her prey dropped from her jaws and landed heavily on the ground.

Her head snapped back and forth as she raked her gaze over every single detail waiting for something to hop out at her. With a cry a flock of crows shot out into the sky and Applepaw spun around saw her stalker. The gray and black tom that leaped out at her was furious and blood-thirsty.

She screeched and took off down the path to camp. She couldn't, wouldn't be caught. She heard the snarl of the tom as he bounded after her, so far he was about a fox-length behind her but he was gaining steadily.

She felt herself trip and she struggled to get up but the tom was on her in an instant and she was pinned down by her neck. She spun around and saw him. His storm gray eyes narrowed dangerously at her before he laughed and lunged and his teeth locked around her neck. She couldn't screech or scream she was silent as she threw her head back and waited for the blackness that would soon over take her.

Volestep stood over the body of yet another clan cat. He was slowly destroying Smokestar's clan from the inside out. His jaws dripped with blood from the despicable clan cat. Did these cats wrong him? No, only Smokestar but they didn't object when Smokestar banished him.

This kit was the spawn of one of the those cats and he would make those cats pay. He would kill them all, eventually.

The black and gray battle scarred tom turned away from the pale ginger she-cat and turned and padded back down the path to collect her prey and head back to his cave.

Smokestar padded down the path uneasily, something was wrong. Something was very wrong. The scent of blood hit his nose and he started to sprint down the path. His patrol right behind him noticing the charcoal tom's unease.

He ran just a bit further and saw a shape on the ground, a red pool of blood surrounding it. No, no! He thought franticly, that couldn't be-

It was!

"Applepaw!" Smokestar wailed and bounded up towards the corpse. His mate, his other mate, his first kit and now his second, who was killing his family?