"WINSTON!" The Western Pack leader was roused from his sleep by the call of his loyal lieutenant, as well as very dear friend, Hutch, who ran up to the older wolf, alongside Candu and Scar. Judging from the urgency in Hutch's voice, Winston knew that whatever the Alpha's had gathered on their nightly patrol was of the utmost importance. Stepping quietly out of his den, careful not to wake his sleeping mate, as well as daughter, son-in-law, and grand-pups, Winston went outside to find the nightly patrol panting heavily.
"What is it, Hutch?" Winston inquired with some annoyance as he approached the group, "you could have woken my grand-pups, or worse, Eve." All four wolves shuddered at the thought of accidentally rousing the Alpha female from her much needed "beauty sleep." Such an action could result in almost certain pain and suffering. Regaining his composure, Hutch revealed what the trio had uncovered.
"We spotted King along the mountain border, along with who we have identified as his daughter Princess, as well as an unidentified male and teenage pup." Winston was seriously taken aback by this information. After recovering from the shock, he began to inquire more into the discovery.
"Do you know if they are planning anything?" Hutch shook his head.
"I don't know, sir. Although it is possible that they are surveying the land to coordinate an attack." Candu growled in anger and frustration, having kept quiet for most of the exchange, but finding it difficult to do so any longer.
"I could have ended them right there if Hutch hadn't held me back." Scar nodded, actually agreeing with the diminutive wolf for once.
"Yeah, the pup wouldn't have been much of a challenge." Winston, although sharing this sort of sentiment when it came to King, was aghast that the two wolves would consider such actions against a defenseless pup. Realizing he had to set the record straight with his Alphas, Winston switched to full on Alpha-mode.
"No!" he bellowed, causing the two wolves to lowering their heads in submission, ears pinned against their heads as they tucked their tails between their legs. "I will not have you drag the reputation of this pack through the mud by even suggesting such a thing!"
Turning to Hutch, Winston began to issue orders to his second-in-command.
"Gather a patrol and take them to the mountain border. Apprehend the Rogues and bring them here. King WILL answer for what he has done."
Hutch curtly nodded and, after signaling to Candu and Scar to follow him, left to organize the patrol. After about ten minutes, the patrol was organized with Hutch being flanked by ten wolves. After a brief overview of their mission, the group set out to apprehend the Rogue party, unaware that their surprise attack wasn't much of a surprise anymore.
"DADDY! DADDY WAKE UP!" Sam was roused from his sleep by the harsh whispering of his daughter, who was also pushing her paws against his side in a further attempt to jostle him awake. Sam, still very tired from the previous days trek to Jasper, wanted nothing more than to sleep.
"Anna, dear," he began tiredly, "it's too early. Go back to sleep and we'll talk in the morning." Anna, however, who had built a personality as being as stubborn as her parents and grandfather, was unrelenting.
"But daddy," she pleaded, "there were wolves watching us sleep, I think they want to hurt Gran-dah." Sam was actually starting to become annoyed with his daughter as she rambled on about what he thought was childish nonsense.
"It was a nightmare sweetie, now go back to sleep."
"But they said something about a wolf called Winston."
This got Sam's attention.
Snapping up right, Sam grab his daughter by both of her shoulders, eyes wide in sudden panic. Anna was just as scared by her father's sudden reaction.
"Did you just say Winston?!"
Anna, still very unnerved by what she had heard, added to her father's sudden burst of anxiety, gave erratic nods, eyes wide with fear and panic. Sam's eyes began darting around trying to comprehend what was happening; everything was coming apart.
After a few moments, Samuel turned away from Anna to the other two sleeping wolves behind him.
"GET UP! GET UP!" he bellowed, jarring both wolves from their sleep. "WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!" Terra and King, still very groggy from being roused from their sleep, cast annoyed glances in Sam's direction.
"What are we doing up at this ungodly hour?" questioned King, stretching his tired body to the point that the popping of joints and vertebrae could be heard. Terra, also very perturbed at her mate's impromptu wake-up call, cast her husband a questioning stare.
"Seriously Sam," she began, "What has got your fur in bunch." What Sam said next sent King and Terra into high alert.
"We were being watched," Samuel paused for a moment, trying to find a way to break the news to his family, deciding that it would be best to just come out with it.
"By Winston's Cronies."
King suddenly began to hyperventilate, his breathing becoming erratic as the whole weight of the situation came crashing down on him.
"I KNEW THIS TRIP WAS A BAD IDEA!" he exclaimed, scaring his granddaughter, who at this point was on the verge of a panic attack herself. Wanting answers, Anna finally spoke up, our rather screamed.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?! YOU ALL ARE SCARING ME!"
All adults' attention were now on the young wolf, who at this point was now on the verge of tears, her wide eyes full of fear. Sam ran to his daughter and engulfed her in a big hug in an attempt to calm her down. The action caused the pup to begin sobbing into her father's chest.
"Why do these wolves want to hurt Grand-dah, and who's Winston?" Sam looked to Terra and King, silently asking if they should reveal such information to the still very young girl. Nodding to the younger male, King silently conveyed his decision, as well as his daughter's. Sam nodded in return, and began to explain to Anna what was happening.
"Winston is the leader of Jasper's Western Pack, Anna," he began, "And let's just say, your grand-dah did things that the Western wolves weren't too happy about." Anna looked up from her father's chest, hazel eyes meeting hazel eyes as she began to ponder what her father meant.
"What kind of things?"
Just as Sam was about to answer, he was interrupted by a voice that did not belong to anyone in the group.
"Thing's he will pay dearly for."
The four wolves quickly turned to see the same group that Anna had overheard earlier. Only this time, it wasn't just the three wolves that had returned. The trio were know accompanied by an additional ten wolves, each baring their fangs at the small group. Turning back to the three wolves at the forefront, Sam recognized the leader as Winston's second-in command, Hutch, flanked by the infamously temperamental Candu, who was the one who had made their presence known. Sam, wanting desperately to find a way out of this situation, began to speak.
"Listen, we don't want any trouble," he began, "We are just passing through."
The third wolf that Samuel recognized as one of Tony's Alphas, Scar, began to laugh mockingly at the wolf before him.
"Yeah right," he snarled, inching closer to the group, "like we are going to believe a bunch of traitors and murderers." Anna, although frightened, allowed her curiosity to get the best of her as she emerged from her hiding place between her mother and grandfather, curious as to why this wolf was making such accusations.
"You're wrong," she piped up, drawing the attention of all of the adults to her, "We wouldn't hurt anyone, and my family is very loyal." A few of the wolves chuckled at the girls naivety, amused that such a statement would come from some who was standing right to next to a wolf who very accurately fit those characteristics. Candu simply snarled, inching closer to the teen, who retreated back to her hiding spot, eyes wide with fear.
"Shut up, you runt!" he snarled.
Anna's family did not like that.
King, his own fear now repressed due to his over-protectiveness of his granddaughter, stood at the forefront of the group, bearing his fangs at the small wolf before him.
"You will not speak to my granddaughter like that, YOU HALF OF A WOLF!" Almost every wolf was taken aback by this sudden show of protectiveness; King wasn't known to come to the defense of a wolf or critter he deemed as weaker than himself.
Candu, however, was having none of it.
"WATCH IT YOU ROGUE FREAK!"
Sam, upon seeing King about to do something he would regret, decided that it was time to end the bloodshed before it even started.
"ENOUGH!"
All eyes were now on the agitated wolf, surprised that such a booming voice came from a wolf that previously had sounded so soft spoken. Stepping toward Hutch, Sam was blocked by two of the other Alphas accompanying Hutch. Looking between the two wolves to the Western Alpha, Sam gave a look that said he wished to speak to the obvious leader of the group.
"If you would like, we will come with you to assert our case to Winston."
Every wolf in the area looked wide-eyed at the wolf as if he had just sprouted a second head. Candu, however, laughed at the statement as if it was the funniest joke he had ever heard. The laugh soon ended in a snarl.
"Nice try, ROGUE!" He spat the last word as if it was venom. "But I am going to end this right here, right now." Hutch, seeing that the small wolf was getting out of hand, decided to reaffirm the purpose of their mission.
"CANDU!" he bellowed, surprising Sam and his family at the authoritative boom to the Alpha's voice, "Our orders were to bring the group back to Winston!"
Scar was also getting a bit worried; although he believed King deserved to pay for what he had done, he was not above disobeying orders.
"NIP IT, HUTCH!" Candu snarled, "I'm not doing this for Winston, or the pack, or you," turning back to the trapped group of wolves, Candu began to talk menacingly toward them,.
"I'm doing this for me."
His eyes soon fell on Anna, who cowered in fear between her mother's legs, who in turn bared her fangs at the wolf's intense gaze.
"Starting with this RUNT right here!"
Sam, not willing to see his daughter harmed, charged at the demented wolf before him, fueled by protective rage.
"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Just as Candu pounced toward the young wolf, Sam charged and head-butted Candu's side, sending the wolf tumbling toward a rock outcropping. A sickening smack was heard as Candu's head made contact on the hard surface. Every wolf, even Sam, having recovered from the rush of adrenaline, stared in horror at the unmoving form of the small wolf. Hutch quickly rushed to his fallen pack mate. While he was doing this, Scar began to stalk menacingly toward Sam.
"You'll pay for that," he growled threateningly. Just as Scar was about to pounce on the frightened wolf, Hutch suddenly spoke up.
"He's alive," he yelled out, "but not for much longer unless we move NOW!" Sam, deciding to try and get into some good graces with the Western wolves, decided to offer a skill he had learned with the Rogues.
"I was a healer in Banff," he said, turning the attention of the wolves back to him back to him, "I can lessen the trauma so that he has a better chance of making it."
Looking to the ground, Sam let out a grieved sigh as he looked toward the unconscious wolf.
"Besides, this is my doing, I think it only right I try to help fix it."
Hutch, after a moment of thought, nodded to Scar, who moved aside to allow their prisoner to pass.
Upon closer inspection of the unconscious wolf, Sam was relieved to find that his injuries were not as life-threatening as Hutch had initially thought. However, they did need to return him to the Western Pack quickly so as to ensure that he did survive without lasting effects.
Turning to a nearby berry bush, Sam picked a branch and, using a flat slab of rock, crushed them together with some petals from nearby mountain flowers. Once the concoction was prepared, Sam took a pawful and slathered it on the back of Candu's head, where a great deal of swelling had started. Looking to Hutch, Sam gave a reassuring smile.
"The berries and flowers will help the swelling, but he'll need further attention when we reach Jasper." Hutch, having accepted what the wolf had just told him, nodded to two of the other Alpha's to caring Candu. After Candu was being carried away, Hutch turned to the remaining group.
"Alright, let's move out!" he bellowed.
Before long the entire group, with Sam and his family being in the center of the remaining Western Alphas' formation, began moving toward Jasper. Seeing his daughter still slightly scared, Sam leaned down and licked the top of her head.
"It will be alright Anna," he whispered, "I promise." Although if he was being truthful to himself, he didn't really know what to think at this moment. Their future appeared very bleak at his moment. But, some of the doubt vanished when Hutch slowed his pace so that he was standing right by the scared and tired family. Without looking, Hutch muttered a simple;
"Thank You."
Sam and his family smiled a t the kind gesture, thankful that they may have found at least one friend from the west who didn't entirely hate them. However, this was not cause for celebration, as the group still had a long road ahead.