Continuation of chapter 48!

I CAN'T

"You mousebrained fool!" Hawkfrost swiped at my head and I swiftly ducked. "How could you tell her? You're such a badger-brain!"

I flinched. "I'm sorry, Hawkfrost. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."

"You don't want to be the most powerful cat in the forest?" he demanded. I shook my head. "Not if it means hurting my Clan."

Hawkfrost growled. "You're so soft-hearted. You'll never get what you want if you don't have aggression. You need power. Strength. Ferocity. You don't understand how much of this you'll receive when you're older and you've killed off all the cats that stand in your way. You must get rid of them, or else you'll never gain any respect!"

"I don't want respect! My Clan already hates me because I killed my own sister, and now my warrior ceremony will be postponed for a moon!" I hissed, flexing my claws and sinking them into the ground. "You've caused all this trouble. You've used me for your own sick game! I don't want to work for you anymore. All this "most powerful cat in the forest" stuff is fake! I'm never listening to you again, you mangy piece of foxdung!" I spun around and began to stalk away.

"Don't you want to see Lilykit?"

Those words stopped me in my tracks. "Lilykit?" I turned to face Hawkfrost. He actually looked truthful.

"Yes. I know where to find her."

"Bring her, then."

Hawkfrost disappeared, and a few heartbeats later, he returned with a cream-colored she-kit.

"Lilykit!" I cried, bounding over to her. I nuzzled her. "I'm so sorry, Lilykit."

"It's okay," she purred. "I'm not angry. I know this furball-" She glared at Hawkfrost. "-talked you into it."

Hawkfrost growled, but said nothing.

"No, it's not okay." I hung my head. "If I hadn't listened to him, you would be alive…"

"It is okay, Dewpaw…Hawkfrost did the same to me," Lilykit admitted. I glanced up at her. "What?"

Lilykit looked ashamed. "Remember that one day when all the fresh-kill went missing, and the warriors found it in the dirtplace covered in dirt?"

I nodded.

"That…that was me, who put it in the dirtplace."

I pricked my ears. "Really?"

"Yes. And Hawkfrost convinced me to." She glared at him, and he flicked his ears in annoyance. "I thought you were strong enough to rule the forest. But apparently not, because you didn't even fight back when your brother attacked you."

Lilykit looked flustered. "Well…how was I supposed to know that he would attack me?"

"A good warrior must always be prepared." Hawkfrost's icy blue eyes glinted eerily, and the fur along my neck prickled. "Now enough with the chit-chat."

Lilykit and I exchanged anxious glances.

"You, Dewpaw, are the strongest of your litter. You have intense power. You shouldn't let any cat get in the way of it." Hawkfrost curled his tail over his massive paws. "You could rule the whole forest!"

Hunger for power gnawed through my heart, and I forced it away and growled at Hawkfrost.

"Your siblings almost match you in your strength," Hawkfrost continued. "Your Clanmates are seeing their smaller strength over your larger strength. They're getting in the way of your power. Don't you want power?"

I hesitated, then nodded. Lilykit gaped at me.

"Then all you need to do," he explained, "is kill them off, one by one. Even though your mother already knows that you killed Lilykit, she would never rat her precious kit out to your leader. She loves you too much. So what do you say?"

Lilykit shot me a stern glare. Heat rose to my ears and I stared at my paws. "I love my siblings, Hawkfrost…I…I can't."

Stuuupiiiiddd!! Oh wells!

xx-Starfall-xx