Chapter 13: To Trust or Not to Trust?

Silver Fang walked along, muttering to himself occasionally, when suddenly he heard a noise. Well, not a noise, but a small voice. "Hey Mister Wolf! Please wait up!" Silver Fang glanced around to see if there was any other wolves nearby. He saw that he was the only one.

'This better be quick..I need to keep going, so I can catch Kenai and Kia at Bear Claw Mountain!' he thought impatiently as he turned to face the four bear cubs who were running to him.

"Excuse us Mister!" one of the cubs called.

Silver Fang growled in annoyance. If there was one thing he disliked it was being called 'Mister Wolf'! "What?!" the grey wolf snarled.

Aquene, startled by the wolf's sudden outburst, fled into a nearby bush to hide. The other cubs stood their ground, trying to hide their fear.

Kodi stepped up nervously. "Excuse us, Mister Wolf. Can you help us? We're lost."

Silver Fang rolled his eyes as he was once again called the name he hated, and snorted in disgust. "What do you want me to do?!"

Kodi swallowed nervously, and his ears went back a little. "Um, we were hoping you could tell us where the Salmon Run is..or maybe you know where our parents went?"

Silver Fang sighed. He thought back to the two lover bears he'd met earlier, Sitka and Speckles. "Well..what are your parents' names?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Their names are Kenai and Kia." Kodi answered. He didn't notice how, at the mention of these two particular names, the large grey wolf's blue grey eyes lit up.

"Kenai and Kia...are your parents?" The wolf asked, trying to contain his excitement.

"Yeah!" Kodi was smiling now. "Do you know them?"

Silver Fang smirked to himself. 'These cubs are my key to getting Kenai and Kia!' he thought secretly.

Then, in answer to Kodi's question, Silver Fang said,"I do know a couple of bears by those names...But they might be different bears than what you're talking about..What exactly do they look like?"

Kodi paused, thinking. "My Dad Kenai looks just like me, except a whole lot bigger!"

Then the cub walked over to the bushes and came back with a timid looking Aquene.

"Our Mommy, Kia looks just like my sister, Aquene!" Kodi pointed to the nervous cub as he spoke, failing to notice how Silver Fang's jaw had dropped while he'd been talking.

Those two bears he'd met earlier..Their names weren't Speckles and Sitka! They had been Kenai and Kia! 'They will pay dearly for lying to me!' he thought, baring his teeth a bit.

Silver Fang was yanked from his thoughts by a small tap to his paw. "Excuse me sir..Do you know our parents?"

Silver Fang plastered a big, fake smile on his snout, speaking as sweetly as an evil wolf could speak. "As a matter of fact, I do! You might even say I'm a close friend of theirs." the wolf winked at the cubs. "The name's Silver Fang, kids!"

Hearing this, Dania turned and whispered in Cherokee's ear. "That's strange. Mom and Dad talk about their friends all the time..I don't remember them ever talking about him!"

Cherokee shrugged. "Neither do I!" she whispered back.

"So you really know our parents?" Kodi asked excitedly.

Silver Fang nodded. "That's right, kid! As a matter of fact..." The wolf paused as a brilliant scheme began to form in his mind. "I could take you to them, if you'd like."

Kodi was about to answer with a happy yes, when suddenly his sisters grabbed his paw and dragged him behind a big pine tree.

"One moment, please." Dania told Silver Fang.

"What's the big idea, girls?!" Kodi cried once they were safe from being heard by Silver Fang.

"I don't trust him, Kodi." Dania said.

"Me neither." Cherokee and Aquene chorused, then quickly hooked pinkies and said "Jinx!"

"There's just..I can't put my paw on it, Kodi but there's something funny about that wolf.." Dania said after a moment of silence.

Kodi frowned. "Who? Silver Fang? What's not to trust? If he knows our parents, he's gotta be an okay guy!"

Cherokee looked worriedly at him. "But Kodi...Mommy and Daddy talk about their friends all the time...I don't remember them ever telling us about Silver Fang."

"Something is very wrong here." Dania added.

"I don't like Silver Fang, Sissy...he scares me." Aquene whimpered, wrapping her paws around Cherokee.

Kodi rolled his eyes at all his sisters. "You girls worry way too much! The answer is simple. Mommy and Daddy just forgot to mention Silver Fang!" he paused to think. "I mean..how else would this guy know our parents if they weren't friends, hmm?"

Dania nodded, but she still looked very unsure. "Well..I guess.." She, Aquene and Cherokee all exchanged uncomfortable glances.

"Come on..have I ever steered you wrong before?" Kodi asked. Then, just as Dania opened her mouth to answer this, he said, "Come on, just trust me! I know what I'm doing."

The brown cub hurried over to Silver Fang before his sisters could object. "Hey Silver Fang. Thanks for you offer to take us to our parents. We'll take it!" Kodi turned to look at his sisters, who were reluctantly approaching, their ears flat against their heads. "Right girls?"

The three female cubs hesitated. "...Right..."

A wolfish smile formed on Silver Fang's face. "Excellent!" Then he turned. "Follow me, kids. I will have you and your parents reunited in no time!"

Kodi eagerly raced up alongside the wolf. "You got it Silver Fang. Hey, can I call you Silver?"

Silver Fang shook his head. "I would prefer if you didn't."

"Oh.." Kodi paused for a minute. "Okay then, Mr. Silver Fang sir!"

Dania, Cherokee and Aquene trudged close behind, each wearing a worried expression.

Silver Fang, however, walked with his chest puffed and his head held high. Today was the day, he felt certain. He'd locate his "old friends", Kenai and Kia soon enough.

Now that he knew who to look for, he'd find them in no time. And then, he'd kill them, along with their overly trusting cubs. The wolf smirked and moved onward.

Silver Fang's revenge was just beginning..