Chapter 35

The Bear and the Wolf

Time seemed to have passed by quickly as the sun was already down and the sky turned from a purple and yellow color to a starry night. This night felt peaceful as some would hope if they were afraid of the dark. This night felt calming as there was nothing to argue about and for now, there was nothing to worry about for these four friends.

They left after sundown and continued their flight to get to the colony. At one point they decided to go hunt and the only thing they all managed to find in the area they were in was mosquitos but there were plenty of them to fill upon. Of course, the taste wasn't bad but it wasn't good either but it was at least better than nothing, and after they did they continued on with the journey.

As they were flying, Kassidy was in her thoughts thinking about her family. She tried not to think about this too much as it would only affect too much stress and with the stress, she would lack concentration. It was hard to hide the fact from her friends that she was worried about her family and it was also hard to have a good time with them, after all, that's happened. It felt like they were in the Underground Railroad trying to escape slavery.

Every day it became harder and harder to conceal her worries about her family towards her friends and the fact that they were trapped somewhere at the moment felt unbearable to her. Who could blame her? Chances of anyone getting kidnapped especially if it was only one person, no one could tell and Kassidy did not think these turns of events would happen but they did. She's read books with people getting kidnapped and some of the stories that she read did not end well and the fact that her family could be next killed and told in a story felt excruciating.

If it did happen, Kassidy would never forgive that monster after what they've done. The thought of that person or persons angered Kassidy. She couldn't imagine what sort of torture and hell her family was going through at the moment. If she lost them, Kassidy wanted to…

Kassidy shook her head. Why did she have to think that? She kept repeating no in her head and hoped that thought would go away. But it didn't, it came coming into her thoughts like one of her bad dreams. She cursed and tried to ignore that thought but it kept picking at her mind like a toothpick getting some food out of teeth as if it was saying to her to listen and that it was right.

She never told anyone this but she made a promise to her parents after the funeral back in Ohio. She remembered that exact day… it was raining and thundering and she was standing all by herself by her parents' graves wearing a black shirt, with a black blazer to go over it, with a pair of black dress pants, and some old black shoes. She also wore her usual choker and it was no surprise there.

Her dog, Aunt, Uncle, and cousins were waiting for her in a car they rented and they were willing to wait for her as long as it took. Her Aunt and Uncle managed to make the funeral for her parents one that no one would forget and even though it was a long flight for them and her cousins from Canada to Ohio they didn't fuss. They knew how her parents meant to her. The funeral was heartbreaking and the funeral crushed Kassidy and it took everything within her to not cry and even though the salty tears wanted to spill she managed to hold them back.

She was kneeling next to her parents' graves as she was drenched in the cold rain. Her Aunt offered her an umbrella but Kassidy told her she didn't want one because she felt like she didn't deserve an umbrella. Her Aunt tried to object but Kassidy told her that it was her call and not hers. Her Aunt didn't say anything further and simply told her okay and walked away from Kassidy to the rented car with the others waiting.

Kassidy had her reasons as to why she felt she didn't deserve an umbrella. She felt like it was her fault her parents died. If only she wasn't frozen in place as everything was happening beforehand then maybe, just maybe her parents could've been okay, but she just sat in her seat with shock and didn't do anything. She felt guilty.

She looked at her parents' graves and told them that she was sorry that she couldn't save them in time and wished she had. She told them how it felt quiet without them and how depressing it was going to be that she was never going to see them again. She was never going to see their faces when she had her graduations at high school and college, when she got married, had her first child… she was never going to see their faces again throughout her years.

She then told them that even though she couldn't save them she promised them that she wouldn't make the same mistake again with the ones she loved deeply. She promised them she would do everything in her power to protect her loved ones no matter the cost. She would be the protector.

She couldn't make the same mistake again.

Kassidy didn't get much sleep last day but she kept on flying with her friends with no stop unless they agreed they would. She once again had a daymare and it was once again the car crash she was in with her parents. She loathed that dream so much now.

As the four of them were flying, Kassidy started to pick up on some conversation ahead of them. It was soft at first but it then turned into a very loud and clear conversation. She then started to notice a cream-colored rabbit, a brown looking raccoon, and two black bears with one of them being an adult while the other was a cub. Not wanting to take any chances, the four of them swooped down and flew inside a hole in a tree branch big enough for them.

As soon as they crammed inside the tree branch they started to eavesdrop on the animals outside through a hole a little higher up than them. "Why can't the wolves stay up in the mountains where they belong?" One of the animals asked.

"They're supposed to be hunting for the Silverwings, not eating all of us," another animal said.

Kassidy's eyes widened and so did Holden's as Shade gasped and Marina covered her mouth. Kassidy had hoped that they would be safe and sound without the worries of anyone hunting down them or the other Silverwings but not only were the owls trying to hunt them down but the beasts were trying to hunt them down as well. But why? Brutus and the other owls had to have seen the giant bats and call off the hunt of finding the Silverwings but the hunt was still on? What could make the owls think that the Silverwings were still guilty of a crime they didn't commit?

"This is Ursa's fault," the first voice said. "She's the one in charge."

"Well I'm not raising my cub here," another voice said, and then the four of them heard the cub they all saw making playful noises.

As they were listening, Kassidy wanted to try something. It was something in between easy and difficult but she was willing to try it. She breathed and lifted her hands to the bark of the tree branch as her friends looked at her confused. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, imagining a hole in front of her like a window only on the other side there would be no signs of a big hole made. She never tried to do this spell but it looked simple enough for her to try without mere frustration. She closed her eyes and concentrated the best she could, trying not to think of anything else.

Then, to her surprise, the palms of her hands glowed a white light and her friends gasped. She ignored them and then she guided her hands away from each other on the bark and as she did, she started to slowly see the outside world and her friends were staring at what was happening with their jaws dropped. Kassidy didn't think that it'd be that easy to do this spell, considering it was in between the easy and hard spells. It kind of frustrated her that now a spell that was sort of hard was working for her and she's never even used it. Why couldn't some of the other spells do the same thing for her?

She commanded the white glow in her hands to die away and it did so as soon as she commanded. She noticed her friends staring at what she did still shocked and so she looked at her work and outside she could see the Mother black bear playing with her cub and the cub looked like he was having fun and the rabbit and raccoon watched it while smiling. Kassidy thought that this moment right here with the cub and the Mother looked pretty cute and sweet. She wanted to smile at this but she couldn't bring herself to do so after what these three were talking about.

The cub then got on his Mother after the playing was over and the Mother looked back at the rabbit and the raccoon. "We need to prepare for hibernation. It'll be safer in the eastern valley."

The rabbit and the raccoon looked at her in shock and gasped. "You're crossing the humans' road?" The raccoon said.

"What about their metal machines?" The rabbit said as she lowered her ears against her head in fear. "You might get killed…"

The Mother bear caressed her cub's back gently as she held him. "We will get killed if we stay. We won't be coming back until the Silverwings and their witch leader are brought to justice."

Kassidy's eyes widened even further than before and she gasped. W-What?

She noticed her friends were looking at her. She pinched herself and thought maybe she was way too tired from lack of sleep and she was hearing things. Sadly no matter how hard she pinched she knew she wasn't hearing things. She heard the words from the black bear loud and clear.

She couldn't bring herself to move at all. She just couldn't. Why would they say that she was the leader of the Silverwings? But that's when it hit her. She got out of her shocked state and could feel herself clenching her fists and teeth together in anger and she could hear herself growling.

"Those crooks," she said as quietly as she could in anger.

"What?" Marina whispered.

Kassidy looked at her friends. "Dianna, Goth, and Throbb, they must've told Brutus a fake story and that must be why we're still getting hunted down by them." Kassidy cursed at them under her breath. "They must've told him some very good lies because now apparently I'm 'the leader'"-she said with air quotes, "of the colony. They're lucky they ain't here at this moment because if they were I would've beaten the everlasting shit out of them!" She tried to stay quiet and hoped no one else heard her besides her friends.

The fire inside slowly began to form and realizing this she did her breathing technique and tried to calm down, not wanting to keep getting angrier. This did piss her off and she wanted to punch a hole through the tree branch.

"Kass, calm down," Marina whispered as Kassidy was doing her breathing technique. "I'm about as angry as you are that it didn't work out the way we wanted it to but you have to stay calm and breathe."

Kassidy sighed as she began to rub her temples. "I know… I know…"

"I can't believe the Silverwings are still the most wanted at this moment," Holden whispered. "The owls should've stopped the hunt for them but it's still going on and this time these guys are involved."

"I know," Shade whispered. "This isn't fair… It wasn't the Silverwings who killed the owls, it was giant bats. Kass shouldn't even be the one to blame and how could anyone think she could be the leader of the colony?"

Kassidy rolled her eyes. "I can only guess what it might be and it's quite obvious." She used her hands to gesture at herself.

Holden crossed his arms across his chest. "What're we going to do now guys? We're still not safe out here."

"There might be something we can do," Shade said.

"And what can we do, camouflage in the forest, and hope we don't get caught?" Holden said mordantly.

Shade furrowed his brow and looked at Holden as if he told them a stupid joke. "What? No. What I was trying to say is that we need to find this Ursa."

"How can we find her though?" Kassidy said. "We don't even know where to start."

Marina all the sudden sneezed and when she did all of them started to hear growling and it started to shake in their hiding place and they gasped in shock.

Holden looked at Marina. "Tell me that was just your sneeze."

It started to shake more around them and Marina looked at Holden. "Hate to say it but it's not."

It shook more and then they started to fall forward like they were in an earthquake and they screamed. They heard crashing and before they could do anything else, the tree branch they were in started to roll out of control and they did the best they could to not get themselves hurt as they were trying to hold onto something like they were in an amusement park ride. They hit their bodies against the wood whenever the branch hit something and it was out of control.

The tree branch all of a sudden came to a stop and when it did, the four of them were on the ground groaning from the hard impacts they had. They were all trying to get up as they continued to groan.

Holden cursed. "What the hell was-" Holden's eyes widened at something and he then screamed.

The other three looked to what Holden screamed at and when they did they saw a muzzle of a wolf near a hole of the tree branch and it was snarling. They heard more snarling and they looked to another hole to see another wolf muzzle snarling as drool came down from the mouth. Holden was shaking and he, Shade, and Marina were frightened of what they were seeing. They heard something up above them and they all looked up and yelped when they saw a paw scratching at a hole up above them.

Then to add up to more how frightened Kassidy's friends were, they heard howling.

Kassidy couldn't believe she was seeing wolves in front of her very eyes, one of her favorite animals. She wasn't scared of this but she was amazed that she was seeing wolves in front of her but she wasn't showing it. Not in a time like this.

"So this is what the owls are so worked up about," the four of them looked to one of the wolves and they saw a yellow eye of his staring at them, "tiny flying mice."

Kassidy's eyes widened but she furrowed her brow at the fleabag and bared her teeth at him. She didn't know if he could see her but what he said had her irate at this moment.

"H-Hey, let us go," Shade shouted trying to be brave.

"You have no right to hold us," Marina shouted trying to be brave as well.

"What's your hurry?" the wolf with the yellow eye staring at them asked. "Tell us where your colony's hiding, Silverwing."

Kassidy got in front of her friends and then she crossed her arms and stared at the wolf the hardest stare she could muster. "Yeah, nice try, whatever the hell your name is. If you think by intimidating us you're going to get an answer out of us just so you can report to the owls and have us killed you can forget about it and instead you and your other pals here can go do something else to pass the time, like chasing your tails."

The wolf looked like he was surprised to see Kassidy and she could tell even though he didn't show any signs. However, the wolf then grinned at her after a moment. "So… you must be the leader." The wolf was studying her and as he did he nodded slowly. "And I presume you must be a witch then from the looks of it." He then laughed. "No wonder why the owls are frightened by you, you do look like a devil."

Even though Kassidy wanted to yell at him that she wasn't one she managed to keep her cool. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey, Luger," another male wolf said that was looking at them through a hole that Kassidy's spell was cast under. "Check out the wolf on her back, I have no words to describe it but it's something."

The wolf Kassidy was speaking to that went by the name Luger looked away and she then heard him walk to where the other male wolf was and she could get a better look at him the closer he got. He looked at her back and as he did Kassidy could see not only the yellow eyes but also the symphony blue fur on him.

Holden shakily mumbled a curse word under his breath as he was trying to stay calm but the wolves noticed him in fear and Kassidy started to hear them talk about Holden rudely and she could hear them snickering as they were talking about Holden. Kassidy couldn't tell if Holden was listening or not but either way, Marina was trying to calm him down the best she could as Kassidy was narrowing her eyes at the wolves and so was Shade. Kassidy could also hear them whispering about something else but she couldn't catch on to what they were saying and neither could her friends. She assumed the only reason why they could hear them talking rudely about Holden was that they wanted them to hear what they had to say about him.

Luger then looked back at Kassidy as his grin reappeared. "I believe you don't want to give us the colony's location because you think we're going to have you killed, right?"

"Obviously," Kassidy firmly said.

"We don't want you killed," a she-wolf said and Kassidy's friends gasped as they all turned around to face her as she was staring at them. "We want you and your colony protected."

"We want you and your colony protected," Kassidy mocked. "Yeah, that is soooooooooo convincing."

"It's true," Luger said. "As long as your colony is free, we can do whatever we want: hunt, expand our territory, all in the name of war." He looked prideful about what he said.

"What has our world become?" Holden said.

"A mad one is what," Shade said as he glared at Luger.

"But the war is wrong," Marina said determined, ignoring what the boys said. "The Silverwings are innocent."

"Marina, I don't think they care if we're innocent or not," Kassidy said. "It's obvious they only care about food and territory."

"Your leader is right, Brightwing," the she-wolf said. "I'm surprised she hasn't punished you yet with one of her spells."

Kassidy's friends looked at the she-wolf shocked while Kassidy continued to narrow her eyes. When would a lot realize she's not evil? She wanted to yell at the top of her lungs and release all of her anger but at this moment it was pointless. Maybe another time though. Maybe.

"Shut that yapper of yours," Kassidy angrily said. "I'm not the leader of the colony and I don't use my spells for anything harmful like punishments to my friends. And I'm surprised your leader lets you kill many defenseless animals."

"No need to use that tone, witch, but as of your surprise, our leader lets us kill as much as we want. She's our wise and fearless leader." The she-wolf then chuckled.

Something about this was off-putting and it was clear as day. The three beasts she and her friends heard talking don't like how Ursa's running things around here. Why wasn't she doing anything about this? Was she that careless of a leader not to deal with matters here? What kind of leader does that?

If Kassidy were the leader of the beasts she would've immediately took matters into her own hands. She knew to be a leader had chances and such but did she care? It depended on the situation.

She wanted to get to the bottom of this. Perhaps Ursa had a side to her story. Everyone has a side of the story. She would make that leader talk to her no matter what. All she needed though was information.

"So your leader's a wolf then?" Holden managed to spit out. "No wonder why a lot don't like you wolves, you guys smell and you're creepy to look at. Dogs at least make great companions, unlike you and these two."

"Holden," Marina said looking at Holden with her eyes widened.

"A wolf?" Luger said with his brow furrowed as he then growled and Holden backed away a little. "Don't insult me. You better watch what you say. You're lucky I'm keeping you alive otherwise I would've had you for a nice treat. As for Ursa, she's a kermode bear: the black bear with white fur."

"Yes, and she's special," the she-wolf said as Kassidy and her friends turned around to look at her as her friends gasped. "Ever so special." She then laughed and so did the other two.

Kassidy drummed her fingers on her arm as she stared at the she-wolf not impressed. She couldn't believe how these wolves act. Is that how every wolf is and she didn't know? Maybe other wolves did not act like this trio of wolves. Why wouldn't there be?

Then Luger looked directly at Kassidy with a grin. "We've been told that not only were you and the Silverwings going to have revenge on the owls but we've also been told that you were planning on something much bigger." Kassidy furrowed her brow confused and she looked at her friends but they did not know what he was talking about. "As we said: we want you protected, we won't tell anyone you're in this area, we'll keep this a secret. Whatever this big plan is you have going on we want in."

The four bat friends had their eyes widened and Kassidy then managed to say: "Huh?"

"You heard me right, we want in on your scheme. Now you don't have to decide right now, at least think about it. We want in because you have a wolf on your back and that could only mean one thing."

"And what would that be?"

"That we're meant to help you. The drawings do add up, with also the bat and skull with roses coming out of it on you I think it means that you and the Silverwings and we the wolves are meant to work together to take over the animal kingdom by slaying animals in war."

Neither of the four friends could bring themselves to speak. They could only stare at Luger wide-eyed. His theory about Kassidy's tattoos was wrong but Kassidy had to admit that what he said was beyond what she could've ever thought. Tattoos, drawings, and pictures can have meanings but Kassidy had her reasons for getting these tattoos and it wasn't because of what Luger said.

She got the bat and the wolf because she loved those animals. As for the skull and roses growing out of it, it represented life and death. To her, that tattoo meant that life is born but life has to die at some point.

The four friends then noticed the wolves were sniffing the air and were growling at something. They couldn't tell what they were looking at but Kassidy only had to guess that they were staring at something that had flesh on them, which would mean food.

Luger then looked back at Kassidy. "Think about it, witch. If you want to find me speak to a wolf you find in the area and tell them that you're looking for Luger the alpha."

With that, the trio of wolves dashed away to chase whatever it was they were looking at. The four friends looked at each other and then they started to make their way out of the branch-but before they did, Kassidy made sure to take the spell off she did on the tree branch wall-and when they went out one at a time they spread opened their wings and dove deep into the forest. As they were flying Kassidy had some anger inside her. She cursed and cursed so much that she didn't even notice the others looking at her.

"Kass, hey, don't worry about what Luger said," Shade said. "We know you're not what the others say about you."

"I know, but why in the hell do I always have to be the bad guy to a lot?" Kassidy said angrily. "Now they're thinking I'm going to take over the animal kingdom all because of what those giant bats said." Kassidy's teeth clenched together as fire started to slowly spread on her.

"Kass?" Marina said.

"This wouldn't have happened if they didn't tell that shitty ass lie to Brutus!" More fire enveloped around Kassidy. "I'm going to go find them and kill them!"

"Whoa, Kass, calm down," Holden said.

Kassidy's eyes widened and she breathed the best she could to calm down and as she did the fire started to slowly go away. God damn it! Kassidy shouted inside her head realizing she was getting out of control again.

She sighed as she didn't want to look at her friends. "I'm sorry… I just want this to be all over."

"We all do, Kass," Shade said, "and the only way we can do that is if we can somehow fix this. Ursa's our only option at this moment and finding her might be our only chance of redeeming ourselves and the Silverwings."

"Shade's right," Marina said. "We need to work together to find Ursa. Thanks to the wolves we now know what we need to look for."

"Weird when you think about how Ursa was described," Holden said. "The only bear I've ever heard about having white fur is a polar bear and they're only found in Antarctica."

"There are kermode bears that have black and white fur, Holden," Kassidy said forgetting about her anger. "There are 90% of black ones while there are 10% white ones. The white ones can also be referred to as the spirit bear."

"Now you're playing with me."

"I'm not even kidding, it's true."

"Holden, you do realize that whatever Kass says it's pretty much true," Marina said. "I mean look at how many times she was right."

"She does make a point," Shade said. "But we have to find Ursa and tell her everything. Who knows where she might be?"

"I'm sure we'll find her, Shade," Marina said. "We just have to keep our eyes and ears open."

The cold wind blew in his steel blue fur as he was lying under an old oak tree resting his head on his forelegs. Quacey wasn't tired but he didn't know what to do at this moment. He didn't want to hunt because he was at his limit and even though Luger said they could hunt as much as they want, Quacey didn't want to do that, it was still the law and he still abided by it, unlike the other wolves that continued to hunt. He didn't want to watch the other wolves hunt so he went somewhere where he wouldn't have to deal with them telling him he should hunt more and such. He didn't want to deal with their nonsense.

Not only were the wolves hunting too much bad but the angry chatter of the other beasts was pretty bad as well. A while ago while he was trying to find someplace quiet he could hear beasts talking a mile away and no matter how far or what direction he took he could still hear them talk angrily about the wolves. They were also angry at Ursa because she wasn't doing anything about this. Quacey knew that Ursa wasn't going to do anything about his cousin and the other wolves and even if he tried to tell her everything she still wouldn't do anything about it. It wasn't like he would tell her anyway. Tattle tailing was not worth it. He thought that he should let fate take action.

Out of nowhere, he heard his stomach grumble and he sighed annoyed. He wasn't going to hunt another beast today. Maybe later, though, he could eat some berries or maybe even go to a stream and get some fish. The law, after all, didn't say anything about an eating limit with fish.

As Quacey was trying to have some alone time he then heard something in front of him and he lifted his head to see a bush rustling. He waited to see what would happen because he knew for a fact that a lot of beasts weren't around here. He didn't feel fear and he waited for whatever would happen.

Then popping out of the bush was a raccoon and he looked like he was being chased down by something and Quacey probably guessed it was one of the wolves. He was out of breath as he was breathing in and out while shaking. Thinking he was safe he sighed in relief but when he turned around and saw Quacey he yelped and stood still in fear. It looked as if he forgot how to run.

Quacey sighed not wanting to deal with this and he stood up and walked away from the raccoon and as he did, the raccoon looked at him confused. Quacey decided to go find something to eat that didn't involve meat just to ease his mind off things (at least he hoped it would). He hoped though that he was making his Mother proud by following her very important advices.

As he was walking he started to hear some conversation towards the sky about a few feet from where he was walking. He looked up and he immediately stopped in his tracks when he saw four bats flying, two males and two females. He immediately crouched down so the wind wouldn't blow his scent towards them. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. One of them was a Brightwing and three of them were Silverwings.

What was even more shocking was that one of the Silverwings that was a female had bloody red hair, blue eyes, something around her neck, and drawings on her.

Just like the witch, Brutus described.

Holy night moon, Quacey thought. That must be the witch.

"I can't believe it's that hard to find a bear with white fur," a Silverwing with iris purple fur said. "Actually, it should be because like Kassidy said there are about 1% of white kermode bears."

"I said 10%, not 1%, Holden," the witch said. "Besides we've only been out here for like ten minutes and already you're complaining."

"Feels like it's been hours."

"Ursa can't be far," a Silverwing with sky blue fur said. "She has to be around here somewhere."

Quacey's ears perked up at the mention of Ursa. What could they want with Ursa and why is it important that they find her? Quacey had to know for himself. They were after all who the owls were looking for. He didn't want to do anything just yet, he wanted to eavesdrop on them and see what they were doing and if they were going to do something dangerous.

He waited until they flew far enough away and when they did he started to follow them quietly through the forest being ever so quiet. He kept low but kept up at easy movements for he was trying not to make noise or get his scent picked up by these bats. As a wolf he was, he was raised to be ever so quiet when it came to hunting so it was a good thing he was mastered at soundless movements otherwise he wouldn't be able to spy on those bats.

Out of all things at this moment and Holden couldn't believe that they had to find Ursa the white kermode bear. Although it was necessary because they had to prove to at least one beast that they were innocent and that Kassidy wasn't the monster. He didn't want to find her but he knew that they had to, even if she sounded like a bad influence of a leader.

Being a lawbreaker and the most wanted at this moment was something Holden never would've pictured himself being in at this moment. Sure, he had his bad boy moments when he was human and he enjoyed it but this was something he was not enjoying, not because he almost had his moments of getting killed but also the fact that he and his friends were now pretty much criminals in the eyes of the owls all because of the giant bats. He honestly couldn't blame Kassidy's outburst she had a while ago, a lot have been treating her like she was just a demon.

When he first met Kassidy on the first day back to high school she looked intimidating to look at. No one dared to try and bully her but they didn't call her demon or devil like the animals here did. A lot of the students were nervous to try and make conversation with her and even his human friends didn't have the guts to try and talk to her. Holden honestly didn't know if he should be nervous around her or not. She never spoke to anyone at school and the only people she sometimes spoke to were the teachers.

He thought she wasn't worth talking to because she didn't seem to look like the type of person that liked anybody. He would usually see her reading books in class or doing her work but it was only a glance and then he'd either quietly talk to his friends or try to sneak his phone out during class and try and text his other friends or check social media. He sometimes got away with but other times he didn't.

It was no surprise that he was flunking in school and because of that Principal Chester had a meeting with him and his Dad. It was pretty shocking to him to hear that if he didn't pass he wouldn't be able to graduate high school. He did not want to get held back because if he did he'd be made fun of. Of course, his Dad yelled at him when they were at home and it was the longest argument they ever had and Holden ended up shouting at him that he hated him and he then stormed off to his room and slammed the door shut.

When the next day came after his argument with his Dad, Holden was in no good mood, even after Mr. Samson took his phone away from him. When class ended, Holden walked out and couldn't get his phone back after he served his detention. He wanted to ditch detention and get his phone back somehow so he could get ready and go to a party that Jason Dwight-one of his buddies-was throwing. He was trying to come up with a plan but what he didn't expect next was Kassidy walking up to him to try and talk to him.

She looked like she wasn't in a good mood either as she told him that she was going to be his tutor and that she needed his number so she could help him improve his grades. Holden couldn't believe that he already got himself a tutor and that got him pissed and he could tell that she didn't want to do this either. He asked her why she was going to be his tutor and she said because the Principal said he needed to improve his grades and because she had no choice. So with that, Holden and Kassidy exchanged numbers and they started to set up when they wanted to meet so they could get some of his work done. After that Holden went to serve his detention while Kassidy went home.

He didn't like her attitude as she was trying to help him and he thought for sure that he would never like or even get along with her. But surprisingly enough they're friendship started to slowly grow into a bond that seemed unconditional but amazingly enough, they started to become good friends. He even enjoyed having her as a friend even if they bickered a lot but they seemed to enjoy each other's company as they did with Shade and Marina.

And it was all because of this crazy-ass journey they've had so far.

Holden was already bored out of his mind as he was trying to help his friends find Ursa and so far they hadn't had any luck. He even tried to count how many trees they've flown by but that didn't help, plus he lost track of how many trees he counted like a couple of times already. While he looked bored, Kassidy, Shade, and Marina had determined looks on their faces to try and find Ursa.

As they were flying their shadows looked as if they were ninjas trying to sneak around and not get noticed by anyone and so far they didn't think anyone was watching them or even following them. If that was the case then it was a good thing because then they wouldn't be brought to the owls and who knows what the owls would want to do once they find them? Holden could only imagine some scenarios happening and that made him shudder.

"Guys, there," Marina shouted.

The three Silverwings looked to where Marina was looking and down towards the ground near a stream sleeping was a bear with white fur. They looked at each other and then dove down towards the bear. When they got close enough, Marina and Kassidy settled on a log while Shade and Holden landed in front of the bear. The bear was snoring and as she did, Holden could feel her warm breath breathing through his hair and fur. This bear had to be Ursa, it just had to be.

"Hey, you," Shade shouted trying to wake up the bear. "Wake up!"

The white bear mumbled in her sleep and rolled over onto her back. Holden sighed and looked at his friends. "Don't worry guys." Holden then cracked his fingers. "I got this. I'm an expert at waking people up, just ask my brother." Holden then cleared his throat and then he cupped his hands to his mouth as he looked back at Ursa. "YO FUR BAG WAKE UP, YOU GOT SPIDERS ALL OVER YOU!"

The white bear's eyes shot open in shock and she yelped and all the sudden she roared in panic and she then rolled around in the dirt panicking more as she was slapping at her fur and as she did, Holden and Shade yelped when she was about to crush them and they had to jump out of the way and behind the log, Kassidy and Marina were standing on and the girls joined them behind the log. They looked over to see Ursa still freaking out as she was rolling on the ground and slapping her fur.

"Get them off! Get them off," Ursa was shouting.

"Nice move, Holden," Kassidy contemptuously said as she scowled at Holden. "You're lucky you and Shade didn't get smashed and turned into pancakes."

"Well, it woke her up didn't it?" Holden said.

"You do stuff like that all the time with your brother?" Shade said.

"Sometimes, and it gets a good laugh out of me."

"Guys, we still need to talk to Ursa, remember?" Marina said. She then looked back at Ursa who was still thinking she had spiders all over her. "Ursa, it's okay you don't have spiders all over you!"

"Huh?" Ursa stopped rolling around and slapping at her fur and she stood up slowly and she slowly looked over the log at the four friends and when she did her eyes widened in shock.

Holden was trying to hold in the laughter of seeing Ursa freaking out but he couldn't hold it for long and he started to burst out laughing. "Oh, my god!" He continued to laugh as Ursa was blinking her eyes still shocked at the four of them. "I can't believe she fell for it! That was priceless!" Holden dropped to the ground on his stomach and continued to laugh as he pounded his fist on the ground and as he did he didn't notice Ursa walking away.

"Holden, will you stop it?" Marina said annoyed. "You're being ridiculous."

Holden yelped all a sudden when he felt someone grab his arm and pull him up. He looked to see Kassidy furrowing her brow at him and she then punched him to the arm and when she did, Holden thought it felt like a rock hitting him. "Ow!"

"Quit acting like that," Kassidy said. "We have a bear to talk to, not make fun of."

Holden held his hands up. "Alright, alright, sorry."

"She's at least not gone," Shade said and he then pointed at something. "She's just dunking her head in the water."

Holden looked and saw that Shade was right. She was in the stream and she had her head in the water and she then got it out and breathed for air as she shook her head. "This is not happening, not happening…" The white bear said and the four friends looked at each other and then they flew off the ground and made their way towards her. "This can't be happening…"

The four friends then landed near where Ursa was. "Uh… Ursa?" Shade said.

Ursa yelped surprised and she looked at the four of them and her eyes widened once again in shock. "You three… you're Silverwings!" She then immediately looked at Kassidy. "A-And you! You're… you're that witch I've heard about! Oh, not good… definitely not good… Look, I don't want trouble from you, so please just leave me alone and go away. You were all never here. You're just a dream, a bad, bad dream."

"Look, Ursa," Kassidy said as she crossed her arms. "Whatever rumors you heard about me are not true. The rumors about the Silverwings are not true as well."

"She's right," Shade said. "You have to tell Brutus the Silverwings are innocent."

Ursa scowled at Shade. "Oh, no, I'm not telling Brutus anything." She then looked nervous. "If I mention that I saw Silverwings and a witch he'll want details."

"So?" Kassidy said.

"You don't get it, witch, he'll want lots of details and then there'll be meetings… and plans and patrols and probably more meetings. So I don't want to deal with all that." Ursa then got out of the stream and started to walk away and before she did she looked over her shoulder back at the four friends. "You and your other friends leave me alone." She then walked away.

"Tch, you ain't walking away that easily," Kassidy said but for Ursa not to hear and she then took off from the ground and followed her.

Holden, Shade, and Marina looked at each other and then took off from the ground and followed Kassidy. As they were all following Ursa, Holden noticed her walking towards a cylinder and metal object that sort of looked like a barrel. When Ursa got close enough to it she used her nose to push up some sort of little door and when she did something spilled out of it and whatever it was it was pretty much food because Ursa began to chomp at it. Holden realized it must've been some sort of feeder, kind of like a bird feeder only it was a bear feeder.

The four friends then landed on top of the feeder and as they did, Ursa continued to eat the food from out of it. "What is that stuff?" Marina said and this made Ursa raise her head and when she did she smashed it against the opening to the feeder causing it to shake.

Ursa brought her paw to her head and she rubbed it in pain but in confusion. "Huh?" Ursa then looked to the four friends. "Are you still here?"

"Well we're not imaginary now are we?" Holden said.

Ursa narrowed her eyes at Holden and grumbled. "Imaginary or not you disrupted my nap by making me think spiders were on me!"

"So what are you going to do about it, eat me?"

"I have my own stash of food to eat, I don't eat bats."

"Did the humans bring you that food?" Shade asked.

Ursa looked at Shade. "Well of course."

"What is it?"

Ursa looked at the food and thought about it. "It's crunchy… fishy… berry stuff." She then smirked at Shade. "Who cares? It's delicious." She then scowled at the four of them. "But keep away, you can't have any."

Shade and Marina had their eyes widened and their jaws dropped but Holden and Kassidy were scowling at Ursa. Holden saw in the corner of his eye that Kassidy was rolling her eyes as she had her arms crossed. Holden honestly wanted to do the same thing but he managed to hold it back. He didn't know what to think of this bear so far but at this moment he didn't like her.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on eating your rubbish anyway," Holden said.

Ursa looked at Holden scowling more. "Excuse me? This is not rubbish, this stuff was made for me and the humans worked hard to make it for me."

"That stuff you're referring to Ursa is called kibbles," Kassidy said and this made Ursa look at her in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Kibbles, humans make it for some animals, like cats, dogs, even animals that were taken in by humans for certain reasons. You were one of the animals that the humans took in and how do I know? For one: you're eating kibbles. Two: you've got a tag on your ear, which a human would place on any animal after they think they're ready to go. You were ready to go after they put that tag on your ear if I'm correct."

Holden, Shade, Marina, and even Ursa were looking at Kassidy with their eyes widened. Holden could not believe how incredibly observant and smart she was. He could see her being a detective of some sort. She looked like she could be good for that job.

He then remembered the tag that Kassidy mentioned on Ursa's ear and he looked and, of course, Kassidy was right. On Ursa's ear was an orange looking tag with some digits on there like the tags on cows and other animals he's seen before when he was little. To Holden, the tag looked more like an earring than it did a tag.

Ursa was blinking her eyes a few times but she then shook her head. "How do you know about humans? Wait a minute." Ursa looked like she wanted to say something but she then shook her head. "No… it can't be…"

"The humans actually put that tag on your ear?" Marina said.

Ursa got out of her thoughts but she then smirked at Marina. "Of course they did, I'm special. I'm a black bear who happens to be white."

Holden noticed that Kassidy was not looking at Ursa impressed and it was the same look of not impressed she gave when they were with the giant bats. Those events with the giant bats were pretty much hell for them. Holden, however, hoped that she wasn't going to go in rage at Ursa as she did with the giant bats. Her rage was mostly towards Martin though. At least they won't have to encounter them again.

Kassidy said something under her breath but Holden couldn't catch what it was she said but he guessed it was something sarcastic she said. He never knew what to expect from Kassidy, whether it'd be funny, sad, or what, he never knew what Kassidy would do next. He just never knew.

Marina raised her banded forearm towards Ursa. "The humans gave me this."

"That's not the same," Ursa said. "You're just a bat. There are millions of bats. I'm rare, that's why the humans worship me." She said it with pride.

Marina scowled at Ursa and Kassidy stared the hardest stare at Ursa she could muster. Oh, no… Holden thought.

"I'm sorry, worship?" Kassidy said. "No human worships animals like they're a god of some sort." She then pointed at Ursa. "The only reason why those humans gave you that tag was only because you needed rescuing. Bands and tags can be the same thing."

"And what makes you so sure of yourself, witch?" Ursa said as she and Kassidy stared at each other challengingly.

Holden all of a sudden jumped when Shade and Marina gasped in fear. He looked at them in confusion and he saw that they were staring at something in shock and this made Kassidy look at them in confusion as well. They looked to where Shade and Marina were looking at and they gasped as well in shock. Ursa looked confused and she looked to where all four of them were looking at as well.

Growling and hungry wolves were chasing a frightened raccoon deep into the woods. Jesus, how much meat do these wolves need? Holden thought.

"You're their leader, do something," Marina shouted at Ursa.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be elected," Ursa said as she looked back at the four friends with her brow furrowed. "It's not my problem."

Holden and his friends looked at Ursa in shock but in disgust as well, especially Kassidy. Kassidy then bared her teeth in anger and looked at Ursa very angrily. "Not your problem? What the hell does that mean?"

"Kass, let's just go," Shade said.

Kassidy held her hand up towards Shade. "Not now, Shade. I want to know exactly what she meant by that. So tell me what did you mean by that? Are you that careless to let some bastards kill other beasts as much as they want? You should be ashamed of yourself of what you're doing."

Ursa looked directly at Kassidy. "Ashamed? I never wanted to be the leader in the first place and because of them, I'm now the leader. The wolves are their problem, not mine."

Kassidy looked shocked but she still looked angry at Ursa but to Holden's surprise, she didn't yell at Ursa. Instead, she took one deep breath and then she spoke: "No, it's not their problem, it's yours. When there are things that need to be dealt with a leader must take action and make the toughest decisions of their lives. It can make a difference either way and no matter what there will always be supporters or non-supporters. Those beasts chose you, you know why? Because they had faith in you that you'll be a good leader, but you're breaking their faith in you because you can't take action as a true leader would, and seeing your true colors right now makes me sick to my stomach.

"A true leader wouldn't stand by and do nothing while others are suffering. A true leader would have the courage and determination in them to do whatever it takes to make sure everything is fixed so things can function properly. It's not about food or whether or not you're special, it's about setting an example to others that they can follow and teach their younglings for generations to come and the way you're setting an example to the beasts shows that you're nothing but a spoiled bear. So, you want to be spoiled? Go ahead, we're not going to stop you but just know this, Ursa: the next time you look at your reflection you ask yourself, 'Was this worth it? Was this all worth it?'"

Everyone was looking at her surprised, especially Ursa. Holden couldn't believe what came out of Kassidy's mouth. She said that out loud without stumbling with her words. She sounded like one of the greatest speakers that ever lived. Without saying another word, Kassidy lifted off from the feeder and flew off and Holden, Shade, and Marina followed her behind leaving Ursa still in a shocking state.

Marina flew up next to Kassidy and looked at her. "Kass, that speech… that was amazing."

"I just said what I wanted to say," Kassidy said not looking at anyone.

"Are you kidding?" Shade said. "Your speech is as good as Frieda's speeches. How'd you manage to speak to Ursa like that without stuttering?"

Holden saw Kassidy's eyes look down and her ears flattened in sadness. The three of them looked at her confused. "My parents taught me a few things about giving speeches… they always told me that when you make a speech, speak from the heart, not the mind."

Holden could see she didn't want to talk about this any further as she looked depressed when she mentioned her parents. He decided to change the subject. "Well, at least we tried with Ursa. I'll tell you this she's as bad as the wolves."

"Well, like Kass said," Shade said, "she's pretty much spoiled."

"Yeah, and there's pretty much no point in going back to her for help," Kassidy said as she looked at Holden, Shade, and Marina. "All we can do is try and get to the colony."

"Sounds good enough for me," Marina said and she then looked at Shade. "Care to lead the way?"

Shade smiled. "Don't mind if I do." Shade flew up front and together the four of them began to fly deep into the woods.

Only a short time went by and Kassidy still felt anger towards Ursa. She was lucky enough not to burst into flames but it didn't help the fact that Ursa didn't care about doing her job like she's supposed to, even if she didn't want to be the leader she had to do her job. Kassidy never wanted to lay eyes on that bear again, why even bother with her when she doesn't give a crap about anything besides herself?

So far, Kassidy was starting to hate almost everyone at this moment. She hated the ones that were selfish or cold-hearted towards her, her friends, and even the colony. She was starting to hate how this world was working for her but she knew that the world was how it was going to be either way. But she was having a deep hatred towards those that don't care about her, her friends, or the colony.

As she and her friends were flying they all started to hear something. They all looked at each other confused but the more Kassidy listened the more she could tell that it sounded like a cub calling for someone. As they got close to where they were hearing the noise they saw a cub all by itself looking distressed, scared and crying out for someone.

Kassidy gasped at this. "Oh, my god…"

The four of them circled above the cub as it continued to cry out his bear call. Kassidy could tell he was calling for his Mother. How she knew was because cubs couldn't be all by themselves out in the middle of nowhere without their Mother.

"Where's his Mother?" Marina asked.

"She must've been killed while crossing the humans' road," Shade said.

The cub continued to cry out for his Mother and as he did, Kassidy's heart ached for the cub. He was all alone out here without his Mother. She looked around her and nobody seemed to be in sight and Shade and Marina were trying to calm him down.

"Why won't he shut up?" Holden said as he was wincing.

"Holden, he just lost his Mother," Marina shouted at Holden. "He's just a cub!"

"Well, he's going to draw attention to the wolves if he doesn't stay quiet!"

"If you keep shouting like that he's never going to stay quiet," Shade shouted at Holden.

Kassidy looked back at the cub, paying no attention to her friends that were arguing and the cub was still crying out for his Mother. She sighed and swooped down towards him and when she did she then shushed him softly and then began to caress the cub on his head like she was a Mother herself. "It's alright, little one. It's alright."

The cub stopped crying out for his Mother and he looked at Kassidy with a look of interest and curiosity while her friends stopped arguing and looked at them in silence. Kassidy smiled weakly at the cub as she continued to caress the cub's head and when she did, the cub smiled at her and licked her face, and when he did, Kassidy laughed and her smile was big and all the sudden she started to glow. The cub looked at her in surprise and realizing that she was glowing, Kassidy's smile dropped and she stopped glowing, but she smiled back at the cub weakly and continued to caress his head and the cub let her.

"Kass, how are you so good at a lot of things?" Holden asked.

"Practice, lots, and lots of practice," Kassidy said not looking at either of her friends. "You hungry little guy?" The cub replied to Kassidy with cheerfulness in his voice and Kassidy chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Kassidy landed on the ground and when she did she breathed and raised her hand towards the ground and concentrated on making a red berry bush, imagining all that she could with the roots, the leaves, and the delicious and ripe looking red berries sprouting out. With easy concentration a little plant started to sprout and then it started to grow big and her friends watched with interest as Kassidy was working her magic easily. Of course, this spell was easy for her. The cub watched with amazement and in a matter of moments, Kassidy stopped growing the plant she wanted, and standing big and proud was an exquisite looking red berry bush.

The cub made an excited noise and started to eat the berries from the bush. Her friends got next to Kassidy and they watched the cub eat the berries with a smile. The cub looked so happy as he was eating berries and Kassidy felt like she did a good thing for him.

"That was sweet of you," Marina said.

"Does the cub even have a name?" Shade said.

"Who doesn't name their kids anything these days?" Holden asked.

"I'm asking because the cub can't speak yet as we can so we really don't know what his name is."

"We could try guessing," Marina said.

"That might take us forever though," Holden complained. "Can't we just name him and then find him someone that might take care of him?"

"Let's just try," Kassidy said. "He's still eating anyways, and we can try to guess his name and if we don't get any of them right after he's done eating then we can name him."

Holden sighed annoyed as he rolled his eyes but he then slid his hand in his fringe hair. "Why do I always have to be stuck in things like this?"

"I think because you pretty much don't have a choice."

"I'll try first," Shade said. "Uh… Lake?"

The cub didn't respond to the name Shade said.

"My turn," Marina said. "I'm gonna guess… Galen."

The cub didn't respond to the name Marina said.

"Alright, let me have at it," Holden said. "Berry."

The cub didn't respond to the name Holden said.

"What about… Lucky?" Kassidy said but the cub didn't respond to it.

They all started to guess names at a quick pace but every name they said the cub didn't respond to either of them and kept eating the berries. It was hard to try and guess the cub's name and they were starting to give up. It was hard to conjure up names in their minds when their minds were filled with other things.

"Artaois," Kassidy said and to all their surprise, the cub looked at her.

"Did he just respond to the name you said?" Marina said.

Kassidy tilted her head at the cub. "Is that your name, Artaois?"

The cub smiled at Kassidy and the friends started to smile as well. "It is his name," Shade said. "I didn't even think one of us would get it right but I'm glad we did."

Then, to the friends' confusion, the cub looked scared about something and he was shaking as he made a sound of fright. He was staring at something and he was backing away a little. "What's wrong, little guy?" Marina said.

"Holy shit," Holden shouted and he was staring at something in shock.

Kassidy, Shade, and Marina looked to where Holden and the cub were looking at, and what they saw shocked them. Walking towards them on all fours was a wolf. He had steel blue fur, blue-gray eyes, but what was strange about this wolf was that he only had one ear and it looked like it was torn off by something. Even if it was it didn't look like he was hurt from it, it looked like it was ripped at a different time ago.

This wolf was walking towards them with easy strides, not making a sound to make things shake like he was part of the earth. He wasn't looking at them hungrily or for that matter, dangerously. He was looking at them with a very calm and kind expression, even though he wasn't smiling. What did this wolf want? How did neither of them hear him and what did he want? Did Luger send him?

The wolf stopped a couple of feet away from them and when he did he sat down on his haunches and didn't attack either of them and even though he didn't, the four friends were ready to protect this cub. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt the cub," the wolf said with a sound that sounded soothing.

"And why should we believe you?" Shade said and he then pointed at the wolf. "You wolves are causing a lot of trouble and what do you even want?"

The wolf sighed and he looked tired but even though he did he was looking at all of them calmly. "I can understand why you don't want to trust me, Silverwing but I'm not one of the wolves hunting as much as I want. I'm a wolf with loyalty to the laws of the animal kingdom. I'm not going to hurt any of you."

The friends looked at each other and then they turned their attention back to the wolf. "Then what do you want?" Kassidy said getting suspicious. "Did Luger send you here to find me?"

The wolf looked at her confused as he tilted his head. "Luger, my cousin?"

The friends looked at the wolf shocked. "Wait, wait, wait," Holden said as he held his hands up towards the wolf. "Luger's your cousin?"

"He is and I'm the beta of his pack. You met my cousin?"

"Met him? He and two of his wolf buddies had us stuck in a branch for a while just so they could talk to us!"

"Wait what?"

"Yeah, they did," Shade said angrily. "Your cousin's a real jerk and so were the other two!"

The wolf looked lost in his thoughts and he sighed once again as he had his eyes towards the ground. "What did they say?"

The friends looked at each other surprised that the wolf didn't look like he wanted to lash out at them. So they hesitantly told the wolf everything but they gradually didn't hesitate as they told the wolf everything and as they did, the wolf listened carefully not questioning either of them. After they told the wolf everything, the wolf looked at them with some guilt as he sighed. The cub didn't look like he looked scared anymore but he kept watching carefully.

"I'm sorry about them," the wolf said. "The other two wolves you referred to were Kiba and Virtuoso." But the wolf then scowled as he stared at the sky and he cursed under his breath. "He never told me he wanted to expand territory. I thought he just wanted to hunt more but expanding territory? Luger, what the hell are you thinking?"

"You don't look like you like how Luger's running things in the pack," Marina said.

The wolf looked at Marina. "My cousin is foolish at times and doesn't even realize it and even though he can be the pack still follows him as a great leader with good intentions. Some of his intentions as you can imagine are not some of his best and whenever I try to warn him and give him some advice he never listens to a word I say."

"You're still the beta though and he should be listening to you if he appointed you that position," Kassidy said.

"True, but in this case, he barely listens to me, for that matter barely anyone in the pack listens to me."

"Why?" Shade asked.

"They don't see me as a beta. They only see me as the one-eared freak, as you probably have seen I only have one ear."

She couldn't believe what the wolf told them and to Kassidy that was pretty sad. His cousin and his pack barely listen to him all because of his ear. He didn't deserve that sort of treatment just like she and her friends didn't deserve bad treatment.

"How'd you lose it?" Marina asked curiously. "Did you use to have a tag on it as Ursa does?"

The wolf chuckled at Marina. "Good guess but no, I didn't have a tag on my ripped-off ear, I never did. My ear was ripped off by a coyote when I was just a pup."

Holden's eyes widened. "You got your ear ripped off by a coyote at a young age? Wow, you must've been scared after that happened."

"I was lucky enough to be alive that day if it weren't for my Mother, but yes, you could say I was scared after that happened for a few days but I managed to come around it."

They all looked at the wolf with interest and looked very impressed. Even Kassidy had to admit that after this wolf lost his ear at a young age he still kept going. That had to have taken a lot of guts. This made Kassidy wonder something, however.

"Why aren't you the alpha?" Kassidy asked. "You could be a better alpha than Luger."

"Sadly when it comes to being the alpha the eldest child of the alpha is the next one in line and with Luger being the oldest and only child of my Uncle he was appointed alpha. With me, I have no chances of being the alpha unless Luger doesn't have a mate and pups."

"Well even if you won't get the chance to be the alpha I think you'd be a great alpha."

"She's right," Shade said. "I think you have what it takes to be an alpha."

"Yeah, me too," Holden said.

"Same here," Marina said.

"Thank you for your kind words," the wolf said. "But even if I was alpha I don't think I have what it takes to be one."

"That's what every good person would say," Kassidy said, "and you're a very good guy and I can tell. I'd route for you and so would we." Her friends nodded in agreement.

The wolf looked surprised with what Kassidy said but he then smiled weakly. "Thank you, you're too kind. The owls say you and all the other Silverwings are a danger to us but I can't see anything dangerous about any of you. Please don't be mad at me but I've been following you four and I think it's safe to say that you're all trustworthy."

"You were following us?" Shade said.

"It was for a good reason but seeing and hearing for myself I think I can find all of you and the Silverwings innocent."

The friends looked surprised but they then smiled at the wolf and even the cub smiled up at the wolf. Kassidy felt grateful that at least one beast could see that they were innocent. At least she still has a love for wolves. She, however, wished that a lot could be like this wolf. He had kindness in him and loyalty.

"Thanks, uh… I'm sorry," Shade said looking embarrassed. "We didn't catch your name."

The wolf still had that warm smile. "My name is Quacey, young one."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Shade," he then gestured to Kassidy and Holden. "This is Kassidy and Holden." He then gestured to Marina. "And that's Marina."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"Hey, guys?" Holden said and everyone looked at him. "I hate to break this chat but we still need to figure out what to do with him." Holden pointed at the cub and the cub looked at everyone not sure what to do.

"Well he can't go with Quacey because his pack will likely kill him," Marina said.

"I know," Shade said. "We can take him to Ursa!"

Kassidy, Holden, and Marina looked at Shade like he was crazy. "Shade, did you hit your head hard on something or what?" Kassidy said.

"I'm being serious, Kass," Shade said. "Ursa might be able to do it."

Kassidy crossed her arms with her brow furrowed. "Ursa's not going to take care of him. You saw how she can be and the only thing that she wants to take care of is herself."

"I'm going to have to agree with your friend on this one," Quacey said and he then looked at Kassidy. "However, try not to be too hard on her. She's been through a lot like most of us had, I'm sure she'll come around sometime soon."

Kassidy had no idea how he can be so calm, but he at least wasn't like Luger. She sighed and then looked at the cub and caressed his head and as she did, the cub licked her face once again. "I just want him to be somewhere safe."

"Then let's try Ursa," Shade said, "that way we can get it over with and if she doesn't accept then we'll try someone else."

Kassidy thought about it and she looked at the cub's innocent eyes. All she wanted to do was protect him like her life depended on it. She wished that they could take him with them but that would be difficult to do and they couldn't endanger the cub's life.

She then looked back at Shade. "Fine, but once we're close enough to where I can see her I'm not going an inch near her."

Shade sighed then nodded. "Fine."

"If you don't mind I'd like to accompany you four until you can find him, someone, he can be safe with," Quacey said as he stood up.

They all looked at Quacey. "You don't have to," Shade said. "We don't want to bring you any trouble."

"You aren't bringing any trouble, young one. I feel sorry after what you four went through with my cousin and to show I'm sorry I'd like to help you get the cub to safety. I'll make sure no one from my pack tries to hurt him."

The friends looked surprised but they looked at each other with smiles and looked back at Quacey. "Thanks, Quacey," Kassidy said. "We owe you one, big time."

Quacey smiled weakly. "No need to owe me anything, Kassidy. I'm just a wolf with loyalty happy to help."

A/N- Hey, guys! I'm back with another chapter! Sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy with school work lately and I've been in a depression for a while but I managed to write the longest chapter of my life. Lately I've been thinking about how I'm going to manage my chapters seeing I might have a lot of them so that's when I decided that I'm going to do the best that I can to write a lot of words to my chapters just so it can be more enjoyable to all of you-hopefully-and so I can cut back on a lot of chapters I'll be posting in the future. Hopefully I made this chapter enjoyable to you and other than that next chapter will be up soon.

Also, before I forget, there might be a chance I'll be making changes and making corrections to this story so I will let you all know what's going to happen in the next chapter. Later!