A/N: I know it's been a long time, so you are allowed to skip this and go on, go! It's getting good!
Luna had left Janice and Shakey to deal with their pup. She climbed up the nearest hill to search the large battle for her family. It was traumatizing how many wolves lay on the ground unmoving. Luna tried not to look too closely, fearing she would recognize somebody. She looked amongst the fighting wolves for her family.
She couldn't find anyone. Or…at least couldn't recognize anybody. All she could see in the small clearing were snarling shapes of gray, and brown, and cream, and gold…hold it! Gold! Aunt Kate!
Luna braced her haunches, ready to race down the hill at top speed, praying her Aunt would stay in one place so she could help. Luna was at the bottom of the hill in two swift bounds and pounced on her Aunt's attacker.
Luna pinned down the black and grey wolf and bit into his scruff. A snarl from behind startled Luna, making her jump onto her hind legs and throw the wolf over her head, through the air and into the trees. "Whoops," Luna said, watching him land in the branches.
"Thanks for that," Kate nodded before bounding away to jump a wolf that had been sneaking up behind Humphrey.
Luna whirled around in circles, looking for someone to attack. She could barely tell her pack-mates from the enemy pack-members.
Before Luna could react, a golden-tan figure broke out of the sea of wolves and pounced on her, snarling. "Hayden!" Luna shrieked. "What are you doing?"
Hayden ceased her snarl. "Oh! I'm sorry, Luna," she apologized embarrassedly, stepping off her cousin. "You just looked like this wolf I was just now going after."
"You mean like that one?" Luna pointed with her paw to something behind Hayden.
Hayden hadn't completely turned around before a red and white wolf pounced on her from behind, pinning her down. Luna scratched his muzzle causing him to yelp. Hayden jumped up, causing him to fall off of her. Hayden pinned him down and Luna bit into his tail, pulling on it until it nearly came off. I really do take after mom, she joked to herself. Both females released the wailing wolf, watching triumphantly as he fled into the forest.
"Thanks Loon," Hayden said before disappearing in the throng of wolves.
Now what was Luna to do?
Luna howled with pain as someone bit into her tail. She whirled around, ready to claw the wolf's face, but a dark brown shape ran in and raked his face, causing the wolf to yelp and release her. "Thanks Scar," Luna said despite the fact the wolf was already rolling away with the other one.
Luna heard another howl of pain. She whipped around, wide-eyed. "Daddy!"
Luna ran through the mass of fighting wolves. She was vaguely aware she was dodging and jumping over different wolves.
Luna skidded to a halt. In front of her was her father, cornered against a tree. He had been knocked to the ground and a black wolf with a white muzzle and tail-tip was standing on top of him, his teeth sinking deeper and deeper into his shoulder.
"Daddy!" Luna repeated. She bounded forward and bit into the wolf's hind leg. He yelped, releasing Garth, and whipped his head around. He used his other hind leg to scratch at Luna's head. Garth lunged and bit into the wolf's ears. Luna jerked backwards, pulling the wolf's leg. He slid past them, causing Garth to rip off half of his ears.
"Whoops," the father and daughter said in unison.
Luna turned to Garth. "Where's Troy?"
"Where's Lilly?" Garth had asked at the same time.
"Wha—I don't know. Stop that!" same time again.
"Bear!"
All heads whipped around. Janice was standing on a fallen log, looking over the battling wolves. "Bears!" she called out again. The wolves didn't look like they believed her.
"C'mon, there's a family of bears. I saw them coming this way!" she yelped. "Hurry!"
The wolves finally ceased their fighting. Most of Luna's pack-mates fled in the direction of home. But a few unfortunate wolves plus the Northern/Southern ones were running to the side.
"Oh no!" Luna whimpered. "They're heading for the mountains, they'll got lost!"
"It doesn't matter," Janice replied, calmly jumping off the log. "There aren't really any bears. I just wanted them to stop fighting!"
"That was clever…" Garth praised. "Now all we have to do is find our pack members and head home to safety for now."
"But how will that stop the war?" Janice cocked her head.
"It might not, unless we do something about Seth. But until then, we just need to get out of here," Garth replied.
"Luna!"
Luna hadn't completely turned around when she was knocked nearly to the ground in a tight hug.
"Lilly! Are you okay?" Garth asked.
Lilly pulled away and looked at her mate. "I'm fine. Where's Troy?"
"I was about to ask the same thing."
"Should I do something?" Janice offered.
"No!" Garth answered instinctively. He was used to Alphas doing all the work, but he quickly remembered something he could have Janice do. "I mean—would you mind helping my mate and daughter fetch our packmates from that mountain maze?"
The dark brown female nodded and raced past Garth and his family.
"If Janice and we are going to round up the pack, what're you going to do?" Lilly demanded.
"I'm going to find our son. Just in case he wasn't in that crowd heading for the mountains," Garth explained.
"Why does Luna have to come? Seth is still here and why can't she go home, where it's safe?" Lilly went on as if Garth hadn't said anything.
"Because I knew she'd say something like…" Garth gestured with his paw to Luna who was beside Lilly.
"I'm not just going to cower in my den! I've been locked up all day, I want to start pulling my own weight here!" Luna glared at her mother fiercely.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Lilly sighed. She turned to her daughter. "Alright, Luna. You heard him. Go with Aunt Janice and find the wolves from our pack."
"Whoa, whoa, wait," Garth interjected, holding up a paw. "Luna goes with Janice? I thought I was having both of you out of here."
"I'm not going anywhere until I know both of my pups are coming home tonight," Lilly argued.
"Lilly, you already ripped off half of Seth's tail. I think you've done enough here. I've got enough worrying to do over Troy. The least you could do is let me feel better about you by watching Luna," Garth pointed out.
That made Lilly go quiet.
"Alright," Garth went on. "You two follow where Janice went. Let Luna lead. She probably knows those mountains best. I'll head in the opposite direction in search of Troy."
Both girls nodded and raced back the way Janice had gone, Luna a few steps ahead. True, Lilly was nervous about leaving her mate, but it was for a good reason. Anxiety was gnawing at her, making her stumble as she ran after her daughter. She couldn't get herself to focus.
Where was Troy? Where was Seth? What did Janice do with her traitorous pup? Would Garth be okay? Would she be able to round up all of her packmates? What were her parents and Tony doing? And most importantly: what would she do to Luna after all of this was over?
Lilly shook her head, her fur falling over her eye. She just wanted to get home, with all of her family as soon as possible. Why did she ever want to be Head-Alpha?
Meanwhile, in Southern pack territory, Winston and the others had finally won their battle against the Southerners. But once the rain had started, a certain piece of lightning struck the ground near their battlefield. So now...
"Eve!" Winston called. "What're you doing? The flames are almost upon us!"
"I'm looking for that little caramel-colored wolf!" Winston's mate called back. "She's Luna's friend!"
Eve determinedly ran through the forest, sideways compared to where her pack-mates were headed. Winston didn't hear the last part, so he didn't fully understand why his mate would be so determined to help a Northern/Southern wolf. But he ran after her anyways.
"Winston!"
Winston skidded to a halt and spun around. "Tony! What's wrong?"
The brown wolf was lying on his stomach. Concerned for his friend, Winston raced over to his side. "Is it that disk in your back?"
"I don't think so," Tony shook his head. "The pain's in my chest."
"You probably breathed too much smoke," Winston decided. "You shouldn't have gone after that other wolf!"
"It was Hutch. Humphrey wouldn't have forgiven me if I left him behind!" Tony protested.
Winston didn't know that. He began to feel panicky. The lightning bolt's fire was nearly on top of them both. A tree collapsed nearby, blocking Winston's view of Eve. "Eve!" he wailed uselessly. He began to cough. "Tony, we have to go, now!"
"I can't."
What was wrong with Tony?
Luna led her mother through the maze. She hadn't entirely memorized the different paths like Logan had, but she had memorized how to use her nose and track down her packmates' individual scents.
Logan! She thought. Where has he been all this time? Is he alright? Luna tried to think to the last place she had seen him. The forest! He escaped. He should be alright. Wait…wasn't he going to come back for me? Why didn't he? Oh no! What if he was just now getting to where he last saw me? The Southern wolves would take him down for sure! No…granddad is there. And Winston and Eve. Of course. Wait no…they don't know he's my friend! What if they kill him thinking he's the enemy?
Luna frightening thoughts were making her slow down. She returned to Earth when Lilly roughly nudged her with her nose. "Don't slow down! We can't let them get too far."
"Turn around!"
Lilly and Luna turned to their left to see a dark brown, nearly black form running towards them.
"Janice?" Lilly was surprised. "What's happened?"
"They're here! They're here!" Janice screeched, wide eyed with terror. "You must go back!"
"Who?" Lilly demanded.
"Seth! He followed his followers here and brought them all together. Garth went the wrong way! We must get you two out of here before he finds you!"
"How is he everywhere at once?" Luna growled to herself.
"Janice, Luna and I are going to find our packmates. We cannot just leave them there on their own!" Lilly insisted firmly.
Janice just panted heavily.
"And second, breathe!" Lilly's eyes went wide with concern.
Janice let out a loud breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Sorry," she put a paw to her heart. "It's just…how blood-thirsty he is! It's so scary! He's scary!"
"He's insane. Go home if you must-" Lilly began.
"No. I have to find someone who…I don't think you will bother to."
"Whoever it is, it's probably a packmate. We can't leave behind any packmates."
Janice looked at Luna. "It was Luke."
Luna flattened her ears in anger. "Why did he run?"
"Shakey and I…talked some sense into him. Stuff like his life wasn't the worst in the world and…some things needed a second chance. Including him-"
"He's gone evil!" Luna's eyes blazed.
"It was only because-" Janice was cut off by a pained wolf yelp. All heads turned to see Salty running to them from behind. He was panting heavily and there were scratches on the sides of his head.
"Lilly! Luna!" he called. "It's Seth! He's here, with a few of his supporters."
"I think we already covered it," Lilly replied, gesturing to Janice with her head.
"But it's the other Alphas," Salty panted, skidding to a halt in front of them. "They're chasing them towards this one big mountain. I think he's planning to corner them. It's the classic cliffs or claws situation!"
"No!" Luna wailed, her eyes growing wide. "We have to help them!"
"Agreed!" Lilly eyes glowed with determination. "Salty, do you remember which mountain they're trapped on?"
"No, but I think my scent trail could still be fresh," Salty nodded excitedly.
"But it's raining. You dragged your tail on the ground the whole way here?" Janice wondered.
"Um…sure," Salty blushed.
"Scent trail it is then!" Lilly declared. "Lead the way, Salty."
The Omega nodded and obeyed. He turned tail and ran the way he came, two of the females following.
A small wet nose pushed on the wolf gently. He felt a tongue quickly lapse over his wounds, making them sting and felt water falling into his fur, washing away the blood from them. He blinked awake and saw a friendly brown face and lavender eyes. Was she somebody he knew?
The memories came flooding back so fast, the wolf put his paw to his head and moaned a small, "ow."
"Good morning, Logan."
"Selena! What're you doing here?"
"I just stumbled upon you here in the woods. Wanted to make sure you were still alive," Selena's caramel-colored tail flicked casually and she battered her long eye-lashes.
"That's nice, but where is Hawk?" Logan looked around. He last remembered his fierce fight with the blood-thirsty wolf after Max ran off. They both had been tired and passed out. But now Eve was standing where Hawk had last been.
Speaking of Eve, "Logan is it? How are you feeling?"
"Okay I guess…"
"Good." She raked her claws across Logan's muzzle.
Logan yelped with pain and surprise. He held a paw to his bleeding snout. "What was that for?"
"Troy told us everything. That was for my daughter, Lilly. I'm sure she wouldn't approve of your sneaking around with her daughter," Eve explained. "As for Hawk, who is he again?"
"Never mind, there's a fire!" Selena usually spoke in a small voice, so her idea of rushing sounded a bit weird.
"Okay, okay—wait, fire!" Logan sprang to his paws, alarmed.
"Yes. Apparently with all this rain, a lightning strike couldn't handle staying in the sky," Eve said.
Sure enough, Logan could hear a lot of cracking and felt suddenly very warm. He whipped around. The trees behind him were completely drowned in flames. Logan gasped.
"Enough gaping, we have to move!" Eve urged. She gently pushed Logan with her nose. Selena casually trotted after them as Eve ran in the direction of her own territory. Logan tried his best to catch up.
"How far do you think it'll spread?" Logan panted.
"I don't know. But I'm going to have my pack evacuate to be safe," Eve replied. "Wait a minute!" she skidded to a halt.
Logan was going too fast to notice. He kept running ahead, unaware the two females weren't following.
"Winston? Winston!" Eve called. "Tony? Hutch?" she said after growing desperate.
Selena stopped beside her. "What're you stopping for?" she wondered.
"My mate and pack-mates! I can't find them," Eve explained, looking around in all directions.
"Is Winston that gray wolf that was following you?"
"Most likely, what happened to him?" Eve demanded.
"I don't remember. I think he turned around. Maybe he's already back at your territory?" Selena suggested.
"I'm going back that way to check," Eve gestured with her head in the direction of where they had just come. She turned around and raced that way.
Selena tilted her head, then coughed. The flames were surrounding her now. She tried to look around for a gap in the fire.
Aha! Selena raced forward, swerving to the left at the last moment. She climbed up a boulder that had been sitting there the whole time. She jumped over the flames, and managed to run ahead of the fire, in the direction she had seen Logan head off into.
As for Eve, she slowed to a stop. She had met a dead end. A fallen tree was burning and blocking her way to go any further. She coughed, but didn't give up. "Winston!" she shouted. "Winston, are you there?"
Eve was a little surprised to hear Winston's reply. "Eve! Over here! We're over here! Help!"
We're? Eve immediately assumed the worst. Had one of her pack-mates gotten hurt?
Eve frantically searched for a way around the flames. Maybe she could crawl under the log…no. That didn't work. Eve licked her paw that had gotten mildly burned.
Maybe she could jump over the log. No. The only branch that she could swing on just caught fire.
Eve saw Selena's small form running off in the distance. She had a clear road back home. Should Eve just leave Winston…? No! She lived to help him and whoever needed their help, and she would die doing so if she had to.
Third Person:
This is not a good day. I leave my den for two minutes and it bursts into flames. Why me? I've been a good cub.
Oh well. My main priority should be to get out of here as fast as I can. And avoid those weird creatures. Are they suicidal? Why do they stick around to help each other? The way of the wild is supposed to be every creature for themselves. Oh well.
Those flames are getting pretty big…perhaps I should head to a place on higher ground. I know! The den I was born in. It was on a mountain. I haven't been there since…well since I was born! That's pretty high elevated.
Yes. I'll head there.
Oh look, humans. They're putting out the fire. Better safe than sorry though. I hope they won't notice me, despite how big I am.
Gee, this fire is still getting pretty hot. I really need to move faster. I just have to through those weird creatures' territory. I hope I don't run into any of them. I don't want to burn. If any of them get in my way, I just might rip their noses off. I'm hungry and cranky and my home's on fire. Can you really blame me?
Salty led Lilly and Luna through the mountain range, swerving left almost a dozen times. Finally, they all spotted some wolves snarling and snapping at some others to make them go up the spiral trail.
"That's the mountain with the flat top," Luna gasped. "The one Logan and I howled together on." She couldn't bear the thought of Seth ruining its memory by attacking her packmates there. "We must get him away from there!" she growled, stomping her right forepaw into a puddle. Slowly but surely, the rainstorm had ceased.
Luna raced after the Seth-shippers, Lilly close behind. Salty began to follow, but Lilly stopped and turned on him. "Salty! Where's Janice?"
Salty looked over his shoulder. "I guess she went home. You know how she and Reba hate fighting," he shrugged casually.
"But that means no one's there to tell Garth he's wasting his time. Seth's up there, not in the forest!" Lilly whimpered. "Salty, you have to go back and tell him that we need to take care of Seth here."
"What?"
"Please?"
Salty hesitated. He had never fought in a battle before and was just now starting to enjoy the rush of it. But Lilly was going to be his Head-Alpha any day now…
"Okay, Lilly."
"Follow our scent and don't waste any time!" Lilly called after him as he began to run back. Then she turned and followed her daughter's red tail up the spiral trail.
They both approached the end of the path and dropped quickly to a crouch, snarling. "Seth! Where are you?" Lilly hissed threateningly.
There was a group of wolves that looked relieved to see them on the edge of one of the drops and in front of them were a group of wolves with mud-stained fur and scarlet staining their teeth. They just grinned narrowed their eyes at the sight of the two females.
The one standing farthest between the two groups was dark brown with icy blue eyes and bleeding scars on his shoulders and ears. He grinned evilly at them.
"Hawk!" Luna snarled at the leader. "Where's Logan?"
"Hopefully being burned alive," Hawk replied bitterly. "I saw your grandmother coming towards me as I came too and ran off. I didn't want to waste my time."
"Waste it doing what? Getting beat up by a female?" Lilly retorted, standing up straight. Their packmates laughed.
Hawk growled. "No! I could never be afraid of a female. Even if she is famous for tearing out…" he trailed off. He cleared his throat. "Anywho, where was I?"
The jet-black Southern wolf stepped forward. "Something about mercy?"
"Mercy? Oh yes!" Hawk turned back to the Western/Eastern wolves. "Now, who wants to get ripped to shreds, and who wants to just jump?"
Luna stole a look over the edge of the mountain. There was a deep drop with fog covering the ground halfway. Halfway? It had to be endless!
"How about we start with your choice, you plucky Omega?" Hawk pointed with a forepaw at a grey wolf in the center. It was Humphrey!
"How 'bout I let you test both options first?" Luna growled. She lunged and caught some loose fur on Hawk's shoulder. She tugged and sent them rolling for a brief moment. Then Hawk pushed the side of her head, sending her sliding head first towards the fall.
"Luna!" Lilly squeaked with horror.
Luna let out a cry of terror. She was about to completely tip over when something bit into her tail, making her yelp twice as loud.
Blood slowly flowed to Luna's head. Her rescuer gently pulled her backwards by her tail, rocks grazing her belly lightly.
Now, Luna would've expected her mother or Uncle Humphrey to have saved her in the nick of time. Certainly not who had.
"Lucas?"
After the shock wore off, Luna jumped to her paws and tackled him to the ground pinning him down. She scratched his muzzle.
After he yelped, he put his paw on the spot above his nose. "I guess I deserved that. Luna I-"
"Sorry I'm late," interrupted a cold voice from behind. Lilly was roughly shoved to the side, almost into the center of her packmates' crowd. Seth limped up to stand in Hawk's spot. The eager murderer bowed his head respectfully and scrambled to the side for Seth. "I'm usually on time for these things," Seth went on. "But the side-swapper there kept me."
Luna looked at Lucas below her. "You tried to stop him…?"
"Got that right."
"But why?"
"Let me up really quickly, please?"
Luna hesitated and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She finally gave in and stepped off him. Luke rose to his paws and lunged for his 'leader.'
He bit into Seth's broken leg. With one yelp from Seth, Hawk darted in and yanked him backwards by the hind leg. He collided with Luna and they were sent sliding backwards until Luna's hind leg dangled off the mountain edge.
"Pick a side pup!" Hawk spat.
"Yeah! We're kinda getting mixed signals here," added a much confused Humphrey.
Luke scrambled off of Luna and searched the crowd. Shakey stepped forward and nodded to his pup. Luke nodded back and snarled at Seth, standing between the Seth-shippers and Winston followers.
"I'm tired of being your puppet!" he said, is tail lashing. "I started this all and have finally came to my senses of how twisted it all was. I don't want to be evil or a killer. All I wanted was someone to give me a place where I felt belonged. But I could never fit in with you psychos!"
"He's gone rabid," the jet-black Southern wolf snorted. "Can we shred-?"
"Bear!" cried a terrified female voice.
The wolves looked to see Janice wide eyed and panting at the end of the spiral path. "Bear! There's a bear, he saw me and got mad, he's coming this way!"
"I'm not falling for that again you pathetic Omega," Seth chuckled; rolling his eyes like it was all a joke.
Salty came up to Janice's side, sharing the same breathless and worried face. "She's not lying this time!" he breathed. "I saw it too! It's huge and brown and angry!"
"Do we look stupid?" said a Seth-shipper from the back of the crowd as the others laughed.
"No, but you should look scared!" Kate cried from beside Humphrey, pointing at something behind Janice and Salty.
Janice scrambled away from the trail. Stalking up behind her was a giant dark brown bear, snarling fiercely and so much anger in his eyes, they looked red. His paw was the size of a wolf's head and the moon gave his yellow teeth and black claws an eerie glow. He had to be seven times the size of an average wolf! He reared on his hind legs and roared into the night sky.
Landing back on all fours, the bear swiped at Salty who had been too petrified to move. Salty's breath was knocked out of him for a moment as he was sent gliding over the mountain surface and nearly collided with Luke. It roared again.
Hawk (being the brave, yet dumb idiot he is), snarled and charged towards the bear, snarling at it. The bear growled at it and its massive paw smacked him in the side of the head, a few claws cutting in deep. Western/Eastern wolves stepped out of the way of the large wolf's body. Kate ran up to him and sniffed the claw marks on the side of his head. "He's dead!" she yelled, lightning sounding after she spoke. The bear roared with triumph then narrowed its eyes at Luna and Luke. He slowly stalked towards them his growls like extra thunder.
"Not my daughter!"
A red and white wolf ran underneath the bear and whirled around in front of its nose to bite into the bear's snout. It grunted with shock and swiped at the new wolf, trapping him under the huge paw.
"Garth?" Lilly squeaked with surprise.
Salty managed to get to his paws. "Of course!" he called over the roaring bear. "When you send me on a mission, I plan to get it accomplished!"
The bear pressed down on its left forepaw, crushing Garth.
"Dad!" Luna yelped. She darted forward, but someone stepped in her way.
"I'll do it! You stay out of trouble," Lucas ordered.
"No need," Humphrey overheard them. "Garth gets his missions done too!" The former Omega pointed behind the bear. Hobbling on three legs was Troy, with Cheyenne supporting him. Blood welled from his neck down his back, but he didn't seem to care.
"Yay!" Luna's tail wagged more than ever.
"Excuse me," Troy addressed the bear calmly. "This may come as a shock to you, but my dad is not a shoe. So get off of him before I exchange him for your ears!"
The bear roared at Troy and stomped towards him. Lilly and Kate ran up to Garth, but he stopped them by holding up his paw. "I'm fine. Do not hurt that bear," he pointed at the bear that was stomping over to Troy and Cheyenne. "It's probably just mad we're invading its territory. We shouldn't hurt it because of that!"
"Are you insane?" shouted the red and white wolf Hayden had attacked earlier. "He'll kill us all! We're wolves, and we're going to fight for our lives!" he declared. Snarling he ran to the bear and bit its hind leg. The bear kicked him, sending the wolf into the air and whirled around to bite into the wolf's body. He swung his massive head, making the wolf fly away and let out a blood-chilling yelp as his life ended.
The Western/Eastern wolves were wide-eyed.
"Chandler spoke the truth!" Seth shouted to his followers. "Fight for your life, because this bear doesn't deserve his! Attack!"
The young Alpha's followers barked with agreement and all lunged for the bear at once. The bear was only angrier.
"Mom!" Luke yelled as Janice scrambled to get around the bear and down the spiral trail. "Take the rest of the pack and get out of here!"
Janice nodded and the other wolves tried to follow her. But the bear tried to stumble away from the ferocious wolves and blocked their way. Janice let out a yelp of terror.
"Away from the edge!" Cheyenne commanded. "Everyone get away from the edge!"
"It's all edge!" Kate shrieked.
The bear roared again. Cheyenne growled, but Troy put his paw in front of her. "My family and I got this. You help get my packmates away from here. I don't want you to get hurt!"
"But I-"
Troy interrupted her by racing forward and leaping as high as he could. He landed on the bear's back and tugged on its scruff. Janice and the others managed to crawl to the right side of the mountain and put a small distance between them and the bear. The bear reared on his hind legs, sending Troy falling off. The bear dropped to all fours and looked ready to rip Troy in half.
He was distracted by a shower of rocks hitting him in the face.
"One more, okay another one more, okay maybe five," Jake joked. He and Luna were digging with their hind legs to throw rocks at the bear's head.
Kate had an idea. "Hayden! From Alpha School, remember my squirrels and rabbits story?"
Hayden pricked her ears and then nodded. She ran up to the bear and under its belly. "The bunny goes into his hole," she recited to herself. "Through the tunnel and out the other end." She surfaced under its chest and as it reared on its hind legs, Hayden did a back flip and landed on its paw.
"Through the forest," Kate put in as she jumped onto the bear's head and they both scampered around the bear's body quickly, jumping off at the hind legs.
"And up the tree to see his friend, the squirrel!" Hayden finished triumphantly, as the bear fell to all of its paws. She pounced on its back again and ran up its spine. She bit into his muzzle and wrapped herself around its muzzle, giving it trouble opening its mouth.
"That's my girl!" Humphrey and Kate said proudly at once.
"You Western wolves really are crazy!" cried a Northern wolf. "Do you take anything seriously?"
"Hey!" Humphrey stepped forward. "I fathered that pup. Of course she takes nothing seriously!"
"Hang on tightly, Hayden!" Troy shouted. The bear got onto his hind legs again, about to paw at Hayden. As it raised a forepaw, Troy jumped and hooked his teeth into the bear's paw. Luna lunged and did the same to a hind leg while Jake did the same to the other hind leg, both tugging backwards with all their might, hoping to throw the bear off balance.
Garth's tail wagged proudly. "The pups have this in the bag!"
"They're just Omegas!" a Seth-shipper pointed to Jake and Luna.
"What's wrong with that?" Luke demanded.
The bear ignored the other wolves. He shook his forepaw, making Troy fall down on top of Luna. Then it shook its head frantically, shaking Hayden. Jake let go of his hind leg to watch his sister hold on.
"Hayden!" Humphrey yelped, worried for his daughter.
The bear pawed at its snout, sending Hayden sliding off. She landed in the tight crowd of her packmates, specifically on top of Cheyenne and Janice. The three females moaned with pain.
The bear turned on the group of wolves, now a combined mixture of Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southerners. Troy, Luna, Jake, Seth, and Luke were the only ones who didn't have the bear's attention.
"If you want to live so badly, you'll have to let us all work together!" Lilly told them.
"Mom's right," Luna glared at Seth before darting for the bear's hind leg again. Luke was at her side this time. Luna stopped in curiosity as Luke was somehow being dragged backwards. Seth was biting into his hind leg and dragging him past the bear and down the trail.
Luna turned to Jake. "You and Troy help fight off the bear. I'm going to help Lucas take care of Seth."
Jake looked about to ask why she would help Luke, but decided to keep quiet to save time.
Luna ran after Seth as he dragged Luke down the spiral path. Luke scratched Seth's nose with his other hind leg's claws.
Seth let him go and shook his head, blood spattering around. "You need to pick a side you worthless puppy!" he spat furiously. "I cannot have traitors in my pack."
"Then we're settled. Because I'm no longer in your blood gang!" Luke retorted, getting to his paws.
"I should've gotten rid of you once your job was done," Seth continued, the two males circling. "You're just lucky you gained Max's trust when you did. He was my most trusted advisor."
Seth lunged, causing Luke to swerve to the side. Now Seth's back was to Luna who was trotting up to them, trying to stay quiet so she could surprise the wounded Alpha.
Luke noticed her. "Now would've been a great time for Alpha skills!" he called.
"You don't need Alpha skills!" Luna called back as Seth turned around. "You just need me!" Luna growled and pounced on Seth. He pushed her to the side, making her slam against the mountain wall with a huff. Luke darted forward and bit into Seth's throat. Seth gagged and backed away from him, pawing at his snout.
Luna scrambled to her paws and stood in front of Luke. "Why? What did your parents say that I hadn't?" she demanded.
"I don't know. It was just easier to listen to them or something," he whimpered. "But they told me how they started off as friends and I realized…the way to a girl's heart isn't power. It's being a good friend."
"And it took all of this to figure that out?" Luna asked exasperatedly as she gestured to Seth who was charging towards them from behind.
"Looks like it…" Luke tried to avoid her gaze.
Luna felt sharp teeth grab her right hind leg. She whipped around, slamming Seth's head against the wall. She had forgotten how narrow the path was and slid off the edge, her forepaws hanging on.
"Luna!" Luke raced forward to help her ignoring Seth's scissor-like teeth biting into his tail. As Seth dragged him down the trail, Luna was dragged as well by her scruff. Once Luke released her, Seth dragged him away faster, despite having a broken leg.
Luna raced after them. Despite the fact that he had betrayed her, Luke finally saw the error of his ways. Now there was hope they could be friends again. And that started with helping him right now.
Luna caught up with the two males at the very foot of the mountain. Seth continued to drag Luke through the mud, smearing one of the bear's paw print tracks. He jerked his head to the side and Luke slid across the mud and hit his head on a nearby mountain.
"I'll teach you to betray me pup," Seth snarled, stalking towards him.
"You'll have to go through me first!" Luna spat, darting to stand in Seth's way.
The Alpha chuckled as if Luna was just a little pup. Luna flattened her ears, offended and slapped him. Seth flexed his claws angrily and glared at her, lowering his head and snarling. His fur bristled and he let out such a fierce growl, Luna backed away with fear. Seth let out a roar-like noise and lunged for the Omega. At the last second, Luke pushed her out of the way and Seth's jaws sank deep into his neck. Luke pawed at the side of Seth's face and was finally able to push him away. The two males lunged for each other and snapped and fought viciously.
Luna hopped around them, trying to find a good place to join in. "Luke! Let me help," she pleaded, slightly annoyed she was so helpless.
Neither showed signs of hearing her. Before Luna knew it, the two were both on their hind legs, both trying to push the other down. After a few seconds, Seth growled and pinned down Luke. He bit into the Omega's neck and bit down hard, his grip unfazed as Luke squirmed and wriggled to escape.
"No! Let him go, it's me you want dead!" Luna cried. It was like the worst nightmare ever. She couldn't find it in her to move her legs and help. What could she do?
What made it worse was that Luke was looking right at her. "I'm sorry Lu-" Lucas made a choking noise, blood pooling from the sides of his mouth and Seth threw him to the side.
He didn't yelp when he hit the mountain.
"No!" Luna wailed. She raced past Seth and slid in the mud to crouch by Luke. She nosed his head. His fur was already cold and she doubted it was from the earlier rain. Luna whimpered. "You can't die!" she whispered. "I was about to forgive you."
Luna nuzzled the spot below Luke's ear. She waited for Seth to take her next, but instead she heard Seth bark as if he was being attacked. Confused, Luna stood and turned. "Uncle Humphrey!" she squeaked.
"We need help with the bear!" Humphrey explained, keeping Seth occupied by pushing down on his broken leg.
"But you-"
"Will be right behind you," Humphrey assured. "Just give me a minute, but start running!"
Luna hesitated, and then obeyed, running at top speed up the trail. Humphrey bit into Seth's broken leg and threw him to the side (the opposite direction of Luke) before running after her. Seth slowly stumbled to his paws and limped behind as quickly as he could (A/N: stubborn, isn't he?).
Luna came to the top of the top and leaped into the air blindly. She ended up on the bear's head. It snorted with surprise and then bounced its head up, knocking Luna off. Luckily, it was a good enough distraction to turn the bear's attention to her, allowing Garth and a few other Alphas to lunge forward. They bit into the bear, becoming furry dots on its left flank. The bear growled with irritation and pain. It twirled around, trying to claw each wolf off of him.
That's when Humphrey and Seth appeared. Humphrey had a new scratch on his hind leg and grey fur was snagged in Seth's claws.
The bear was still circling, so his hind paw hit the two new arrivals. Seth, who was younger, therefore lighter, slid farther around, his hind legs dangling over the edge. He clawed at the smooth rock, trying to pull himself up.
The other wolves were too distracted to help. They had all finally managed to corner the bear. It seemed to notice how many wolves were there and now that they were all teaming up, he began to back away.
The front half of the Jasper Park group lunged forward like a furry tidal wave. They attacked the bear's face and forepaws. The bear shook them all off, backing away some more with fear. The wolves all made yelps with pain. Kate's "ouch!" was loudest as she landed on a rock, her entire right hind leg scraped and bleeding.
The second half of the wolves ran forward, and together, they pushed the bear with their heads. The bear pawed and fell over the edge, sinking into endless fog. A few unfortunate wolves were dragged with it, howling or screaming.
The wolves watched them fade away.
"We did it…" Janice said after a minute. "We all worked together and defeated a bear!" Her tail wagged joyfully.
The wolves all exchanged glances with somebody.
"I guess we did," Salty agreed. The group started mumbling and muttering congratulations to each other at once. A snarl interrupted the group chatter.
Seth was still scrambling to get off the edge.
"We should help him," Lilly told Garth quietly. "He might be cruel, but he's still a wolf."
Garth stopped her as she began to walk towards the desperate Alpha. "I'll do it. I don't trust him." Garth walked forward cautiously. He grabbed Seth's scruff in his teeth and helped him up.
Troy and Luna noticed the mischievous grin on Seth's muzzle. "Dad!" they said in unison. Both raced forward to help their father. Luna bit into Garth's tail and dragged him out of the way. Troy jumped into the spot Garth had been standing and Seth ended up pushing him over the edge. Troy's tail hit his forepaw at the last moment. Seth tripped and they both fell off the mountain, falling into the fog, their howls echoing eerily.
Luna stared at the spot where her brother had disappeared. Lilly stared at her daughter, wide-eyed and breathing heavily. Garth stood over the edge, constantly shouting, "Troy! Troy, answer me!"
Even the rest of the wolves were shocked.
Lilly began to cry loudly. She let out a long blood-chilling howl in mourning. The other wolves joined in. After then Lilly stormed up to her daughter. "Luna! How could you do this?"
Luna turned to face her mother. "What are you talking about? I was about to take that fall, I didn't ask him to do it instead—"
"Not that! I could never blame anyone for that," Lilly interrupted. "But for meeting with an enemy wolf behind my back! I thought I raised you better than that!"
Luna's eyes swam with tears. "Mom, you did. I was just…I didn't know what I was—"
"You betrayed us, Luna! I forbid you to ever see that wolf again or any of Northern or Southern territory ever again!"
Luna looked startled. "But Lilly—"
"I am your mother. You will do as I say! Be grateful I even bother to trust you to do anything whatsoever."
Garth finally noticed the rest of the pack was staring at the two females. He cleared his throat loudly. "Um, Lilly? Let's not do anything rash—"
"No Garth!" Lilly snapped. "Luna, you are grounded. If you had only listened to us in the first place, none of this would've happened! Seth wouldn't have been able to get a hold of you, this battle wouldn't have happened, and your brother wouldn't be dead!"
"This isn't my fault!" Luna screeched, her tears flowing like rivers. "I didn't want to hurt anybody! I was in love, what else was I supposed to do?"
"It wasn't love. It was an act!"
"Don't go there, Lilly," Luna couldn't bring herself to call her mother anymore.
"They were brothers—"
"But he wouldn't do anything for him! He didn't even want to be his brother, he loved me too! I bet he died for me tonight!"
"I bet he's down that mountain, healing his brother. Or bossing around the other Seth-shippers to make his own evil takeover."
"Logan would make a great leader! Better than you!"
"Luna, the Omega, you go home and sit there until I get there before I take away your future position as Head-Alpha away once and for all!"
"I'm not going anywhere," Luna spat, standing up straighter to look her mother in the eye. Lilly growled.
"Luna, do what your mother tells you—" Garth butted in calmly.
"No dad!" Luna turned on him. "You always take her side because your mates. Well I'm taking Logan's because that's what we will be someday. I don't care what either of you say! I'm going to find my brother and show everyone that he's alive or let you kill me trying!"
"Do not talk back to me, pup," Lilly hissed.
"I have to!" Luna turned back to Lilly. "You always want me to do what you say. Well once, you told me to do whatever my heart tells me, even if I think someone will get hurt. I'm doing that. Why are you an exception to those feeling hurt?"
"Because they were my words, so I can take them back!"
Humphrey stepped forward. "Lilly? I think this is getting a little too far. A lot happened, and even I'm a little hysterical-"
"Shut up Humphrey!" Lilly shouted.
"Hey!" Kate growled, throwing herself between her sister and her mate.
Garth took a small step closer to Lilly. "Lilly, think for a minute. You wouldn't even be saying any of this if you weren't so grief-stricken. Take time—"
Lilly whipped around to look at him, opening her jaws to give another fiery retort, but Garth curled his tail over his back, growling. "No! Listen to me. You need to take some time to mourn and then you'll be able to think sensibly."
"Luna's going to have to face consequences sooner or later," Lilly argued.
"For pity's sake, Lilly, listen to me right now!" Garth roared. "You just need some time to cool off before you do something so harsh, it will make us no longer mates!"
A huge gasp rippled through the crowd. Even Luna flattened her ears and widened her eyes. She didn't mean for that to happen! She barely realized what she had been saying too.
"Dad…" she whispered. "Don't say that. I didn't mean half of what I just said—"
"Garth, I just watched my son die," Lilly didn't seem to notice her daughter was there anymore. "I…I'm…I've…"
Garth glared at his mate, waiting for her to find her words. There was an extremely tense silence, aside from the nervous shuffle of someone's paws. But all eyes were on Lilly and Garth. Lilly sighed. "Luna, I'm sorry. I guess we both just snapped after—"
Lilly stopped. Luna wasn't there anymore! Everyone started to look around for her. Kate finally noticed something white flash at the bottom of the mountain. "Luna!" she called, her voice echoing off the other mountains.
But Luna didn't respond. She was running home at top speed. Or, as fast as one could while crying and scolding them self. "It is my fault. I'm sorry Troy. I'm sorry mom. I didn't want anyone to die, or get hurt, or…or know me at all! I'm a curse! I started all of this," Luna sobbed. She slowed to a stop to cry. "What have I ever done that resulted in something good? I should've died instead of Troy! He was a hero, he was a noble Alpha! I'm but a useless Omega. I…I…I'm…"
Luna didn't bother to finish. She had snapped. She sobbed harder, stumbling to her paws to slam her head against a rock nearby. "I'm a stupid, little pup!" she said between bangs. "All of this is my entire fault. I should find that waterfall and-"
Luna was cut off by her own yelp of surprise. Someone had pushed her away from the rock. After rolling like a log, she landed on her stomach, eyes rolling.
"Selena! Wha…how—when did you get here?" Luna gasped. "And what are you covered in?"
"Soot! And why are you trying to stab your head?" the small she-wolf demanded.
Luna stood up, ears drooping. "I wasn't. I was just mad. My brother just fell off a mountain, so…"
Selena's gaze softened. "Oh…I'm sorry, really I am. I guess the last thing you want to hear is bad news."
Luna shook her head and closed her eyes. "No…no. I'm ready. Has someone else died?"
"Actually…yes. It was your grandfather."
Luna's eyes snapped opened and widened. She looked at Selena, ready to ask which one, but Selena went on.
"I did everything I could, but…well he made me leave. He didn't want us to breathe in too much smoke and die because of him. I only left because you and your parents needed to know while your other grandparents took care of everyone."
"Wait…smoke? Soot?"
Selena nodded. "There was this rouge lightning bolt and it started a wildfire. The Jasper Park rangers just came in to stop it, but we don't how far it'll be able to spread. Your pack is coming here."
Luna looked back the way she had come. "Well half of it is already there." She sighed. "Selena? You go and find your sister. She ran off somewhere in that direction—" Luna pointed with her nose—"I think she's in denial my brother died. I'm going to wait and make sure the rest of my pack get to safety."
Selena grinned and nodded. She walked past Luna. "You're going to be a great Head-Alpha! I can tell already," she complimented cheerfully before breaking into a run back the way Luna had come.
Luna watched her go. She was flattered, but her ears drooped. She was never going to be a Head-Alpha. Not after how she treated her parents. She probably wouldn't even want to live because of the guilt she felt for starting all this.
If only you had never been born…things would've been better! a voice screamed in her head. Everyone else would probably still be alive!
I get that! You don't have to rub it in. I already want to give up whatever's left of me.
"Hello?" a female voice echoed through the mountains. It was foggy down here and gray, giving the scene a dreary, creepy feeling. The silhouette of a lean female wolf shone through the thick fog. "Is anyone here?"
She pricked her ears. A brief silence responded. Then there was a rasp-like coughing. The wolf bounded forward. The coughs grew louder. She finally slowed to a walk as she saw a wolf form lying on its side, its body shaking as it coughed. The wolf took a few steps toward the male. Once she was close enough to see a face through the fog, she gasped.
Seth was gasping and his breathing was labored. He was scarred all over and his leg was still tucked to his stomach. Blood trailed down his body in every direction. A sharp rock from his fall was stuck in his side, between a pair of ribs. It was a miracle he was still somewhat alive.
"Help me Cherry," he begged the female. "Please…we were going to be mates in the morning…"
Cheyenne looked at him once more. She flattened her ears in determination. "Alright Seth. I will."
She took a single step closer and crouched over him. She sniffed the rock jabbed in his flank. She moved her head to his neck and gave it a sniff. Without warning, she grabbed his neck in her teeth and sank down hard. Seth let out a choking noise, and then laughed maniacally. Cheyenne bit down with all her might and then threw him to the side roughly.
Seth landed on his side again, his eyes glazed and looking at nothing. There was an evil grin permanently etched on his muzzle. Flies began to gather and buzzed around the finally dead wolf, like he was garbage.
"Not fun is it?" Cheyenne hissed with new confidence. She wagged her tail. She had done it! The cruel reign was over! And it was because of her!
"Hello?" a new voice echoed a little bit further away. "Whose there?"
Cheyenne pricked her ears and looked in the direction of the voice. Her grin grew wider and she raced towards it. "Troy? Troy! It's Cherry—I mean, Cheyenne. Where are you?"
"You're getting warmer."
Cheyenne followed his voice to the left.
"Colder."
Cheyenne halted and inched a little bit to the right.
"Warm."
Cheyenne broke into a quick trot.
"Warmer!"
Cheyenne continued running at full speed.
"Don't step on me!"
Cheyenne skidded to a stop. She squinted through the fog and managed to see a large shape that looked like someone trying to get up unsuccessfully.
"Troy!" she breathed joyfully. She ran up to him and nuzzled his snout.
"How'd you guess?" he joked as she let him lean on her to stand up.
"I knew it!" she nuzzled him again on the neck. "I knew you'd still be alive!"
"Of course I'm still alive. I'm too determined to take care of my pack and family and love you that not even death could stop me. I'm guess I really am strong."
"And you fell off a mountain Logan falls off of all the time. It's not a fatal fall, but one heck of a rush!"
"You're telling me. But does that mean…?"
"Nope. Seth hit a sharp rock on his way down."
"So…he's-?"
"Dead. I gave him the final bite."
"Wow. I'm proud."
"Not as proud as me that you survived all this!"
"Well the fall's not that bad. The fog just gives it that never-ending allusion. But killing that maniac? That's big."
"He never did know love…" Cheyenne murmured, half to herself. "And he never will now."
"Well as much as that sucks for him, he didn't have to take it out on us!" Troy replied firmly. "A blood bath isn't the answer to the world's problems."
Cheyenne was about to reply when she heard the sound of small paw-steps running at top-speed towards her. She turned around, not knowing who to expect.
Her eyes widened. "Selena!"
The small wolf ran up to her littermate and their muzzles brushed.
"Hello," the Omega greeted Troy. "I assume you are Troy. Luna's brother?"
"That's me. You know Luna?"
"We were both taken by the Seth-shippers. I quite liked her. She was nice."
"Yeah she is," Troy agreed. "Where are they? My family. They must be worried sick." Troy limped away from the two girls, but quickly sank into the snow, both of his left legs trapped underneath him.
"I doubt you can make it there on your own. Selena, run ahead and-what are you covered in?"
"Ashes. A fire started down in Southern territory."
"Really?" Troy tensed and his eyes widened with concern. "Is everyone alright?"
"A lot of your packmates made it out alright although…" Selena's ears drooped and she looked at her paws for a few heartbeats. "…Tony's dead."
How was that? I apologize it took so long, a lot of drama came up within the family. Also, the computer crashed completely. Lucky for you duckies, this story is on my laptop, completely healthy. But with school starting, a lot of stories are delayed. Weirdly, school challenges me to update faster.
Next chapter should come sooner this time. Review if it makes you feel better.
If I owned these characters, don't you think this would be a big fancy movie by now?
P.S. can anyone guess which movie bear this bear was based on?
Random thing to think about: what if wolves declared war on the human race? Who would you root for? Who would win?
Sincerely, Cutie.