A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you're doing well. Here is the next chapter! Enjoy :)

Chapter 7: When The Snow Turns Red

"Who does that lobbo think he is?" Akeli barks as he walks past a blur of snow-covered pine trees, still raging about Balto standing up to him.

He had surprised him at that moment. He never had anyone speak against him and he sure as hell wasn't going to let anyone now, let alone his brother. The freaking alpha.

"W….well he is the alpha." A brown wolf named Raune squeaks out, almost raising his paw as if to speak.

Raune was a short brown wolf with patches of white over his eyes and painting his feet as if he was wearing socks. The white tipped the edges of his ears, snout, and tail. And he had deep blue eyes like a dark azure stone.

Even though he was short, he had a muscular build which enhanced his good-looking pelt.

But despite his looks, he had a stuttering problem. It was known in the pack, and everyone had eventually stopped with the cruel jokes and jesting when Mira had stepped in.

Mira normally let her wolves in her pack fight their own battles, but this short brown wolf reminded her of Balto. He had no self-confidence and the way he carried himself, the way he walked and talked showed that he didn't value his self-worth.

She knew he wouldn't be able to fight for himself, to fight for his right to be treated with respect and dignity, so she spoke for him. She didn't know whether it would do any good, but she believed that her pack had kind hearts and could see past the afflictions that made Raune who he was.

He showed Mira his strength while he continued to be teased for how he spoke. Raune still treated each member of the pack with kindness and that held an impression on the wolves in the pack.

They had accepted that that was how Raune was. Yes, he was a stutterer, but he was a fine wolf, strong and fierce. His speaking had gotten much better over the years. His stuttering only started if he was extremely nervous or scared.

Akeli spins on his heel, knocking snow into Raune's face and presses his nose firmly against his.

"Was I speaking to you?"

"Umm…n..no you..uh"

"Wha…wha…blah…what, you can't talk now? You felt the need to speak so go on and enlighten me with your wisdom."

Raune cowers before Akeli and flattens his ears against his head, before allowing the shivers to course through his body showing his fear.

"S..sorry Akeli. W…won't ha…happen a…again." Raune stutters out and gulps, feeling the purple eyes sink into every part of his body.

Akeli reaches out a paw and Raune's entire body freezes like a block of ice, terrified of what the bigger wolf would do.

Closing his eyes tightly, he felt two rather hard pats on his head. The amount of force almost knocked him off his feet. He opened one eye to peer up at Akeli.

"Well, that's a good boy, Raune. Maybe when you learn to speak properly, I might actually care enough to listen." Akeli retorts loudly, causing spit to fly out of his mouth and onto Raune's face.

Raune groans as he uses his paw to wipe the spit off his cheek.

Akeli smirks and heads back to the front of the group. His head held up pridefully and his chest puffed out.

"Heh, h..he's…funny." Raune says casually to the others watching, trying to act like the alpha's brother didn't just bite his head off. He lets out a weak chuckle.

The silence is overwhelming and eventually the oranges, purples, blues, greens all stop glaring and resume walking to follow Akeli.

"You shouldn't let him talk to you like that, Raune." A grey wolf with emerald eyes says as she walks past him.

"T…that's h…how A…Akeli is. That's how he's always g…gonna be." Raune growls as his stutter continues, despite composing himself.

"I see. So, because he's miserable, you're going to allow him to make you miserable. Raune, that's not a joke. That's a bully."

"Faye, I…I don't…n…"

"Take a breath." Faye reminds him.

Raune closes his eyes and breathes deeply through his nose.

"I don't n…need you to..m…mother me."

"I'm not mothering you! But you have to stand up for yourself. Akeli is going to continue to walk all over you if you don't."

"Oh, hush Faye, if Raune wanted to stand up for himself he could have done it by now." A cream-colored wolf with a star of black fur on his forehead says casually.

His orange crossed eyes didn't seem to match his appearance. They made him look like a crazed canine. But then again, everything about Finn was crazy.

"No one invited you into this conversation, Finn."

Finn gives her a big toothy grin, wiggles his eyebrows, and sashays over to her. He hears her release an intake of air as he brushes his pelt slowly against her.

"I feel invited now." He mumbles sloppily into her fur.

Faye can't help the smile on her face as he rubs his head against her chest.

"Okay! Okay! Enough of this or else people are going to think I've grown soft." Faye threatens.

"Yes ma'am. I mean uh...yes Sir. Knowing you, you'd probably prefer Sir. Finn says, saluting her with his paw.

"Finn!"

Finn throws his head back, cackling and skips around her, his huge paw prints bleeding into the snow.

"He's right. I can't stand up to A..Akeli." Raune agrees, watching as Finn prances around in the snow.

"You can too! And you should. Akeli can't just be allowed to torment others and get away with it." Faye growls, pinning her ears back against her head.

Finn notes her change and walks over to her. He nudges her shoulder with his.

"Hey, it'll be alright." Finn says with a big toothy grin trying to get the grey wolf to smile and lighten up.

Faye looks into the orange eyes slowly and sighs heavily before hanging her head low.

"No it won't." Faye solemnly replies and droops her tail as she walks past them to disappear into the crowd.

Finn and Raune tilt their heads as they watch her fade into the blur of pelts.

"She is right, Finn. Nothing will change because Akeli won't change. So, it doesn't matter whether or not I stand up to him. He's always going to be this way."

Finn glances over at Raune. He flattens his ears against his head, knowing he is right.

He takes his paw and ruffles Raune's head with a sad smile before joining back into the group.

Raune sighs and watches as his paws start to move out from under him as he follows behind. He keeps his distance away and stays far back as he continues to take orders from a tyrant.

Jenna smiles as she walks beside a frozen creek. She knew this creek. It was one of her favorite spots in the forest. She often came here when she was upset or just needed some time to think. She let a slight shiver escape her as she gazed up at the trees covered in white glitter.

A drop of water rolled down an icicle and fell on the tip of Jenna's nose, startling her with the coldness.

She laughed to herself and continued to prance around in the snow. She loved the cool breeze and the white masses painting everything in her existence. It was so quiet and calming.

Sometimes she liked to just lay in the snow and watch as the world continued to revolve around her. An icicle melting, a bird flying from tree to tree, the snow crunching under her paw pads.

She rested her head on her paws, feeling her eyelids get droopy as a sudden overwhelming feeling of relaxation took her.

As she felt herself being pulled into the depths of sleep, she heard a twig snap and her eyes bolted open.

She jolted up, spinning her head around in all directions to find where the source of the noise was. She could hear her heart beating in her ears.

It could just be a squirrel

She thought to herself and laid back down on her white blanket and curled her tail around her body, trying to get a sense of security.

But she jolted upright when she heard another snap, then another. Then the familiar sound of snow crunching. She shivered, but it wasn't from the cold. Then a voice, a word. A single syllable caused Jenna's entire body to freeze in undeniable fear.

"Jenna."

Jenna flattened her ears against her head and felt her legs go numb as she just stood there, unable to move. She started shaking violently as she heard her name be called once again.

"Jenna, I know you're out here. You'd have to have known we were going to see each other again. Gotta finish what we started." Steele calls out, his voice calm and smooth as he walks past the snow-covered pines and tries to find the husky. His green eyes continued to dance around the snow, looking for the red furred husky.

"C'mon Jennaaaa." Steele drags out her name, almost singing it against the crisp breeze blowing through the trees.

Jenna pants as she bolts further into the woods, overwhelming fear taking over. Her name on his tongue was one of the most terrifying things she had ever heard. She continues to hear him calling her and she runs even faster. Her legs are not listening to her mind and as she runs over a particularly thick patch of ice, she yelps loudly as she feels herself lose her balance and slide down a slope.

Steele keeps his cool when he hears the yelp from the depths of the trees. The noise was sharp and clear, and he started marching through the snow as he realized he was getting closer to her than he originally thought.

Jenna cried out once her body was thrown into a patch of bushes covered in snow. She gasped as she felt the sharp needles poking into every inch of her body.

She needed to get out. Now. She started to get up but yelped when she realized she couldn't put any weight on her back left leg. She cursed at herself knowing she had made a noise again.

Steele heard the yelp and started into a full sprint to the noise. His tongue was hanging out his mouth as all thoughts of what he would do to the husky when he found her came flooding in.

Drool dangled from his jaws as he reached the top of the slope and reached out a tentative paw. His paw gave way immediately, but he put extra weight in his hind legs to steady himself.

He could see her. The red and white blur fighting to get her way out of the bushes. He looked around for a way to get down the slope without sliding and smirked when he found one.

Jenna's body propelled into full speed and fear when she saw Steeles form on top of the slope. She threw her body around, desperately trying to get out of the thick thorny bushes. She cried out for help against the howling wind as she saw Steele make his way down the slope slowly.

"Oh god. Oh god. Help! Oh god please HELP!" Jenna cried out loudly as she could only watch in horror as Steele maneuvered his way down, almost as if he was dancing on the snow.

Jenna continued to throw her body around, recognizing the scent of blood as the thorns dug into her fur. She blinked the tears out of her eyes and kept crying out, desperately trying to get out.

Steele jumped over a large stone and landed firmly on the ground. Jenna's eyes widened in horror as Steele gave her a sickening smile.

"See, you always have to make things so difficult for yourself Jenna" Steele walks over to her and bends down to be at her eye level.

Jenna feels the tears welling up in her eyes when he presses his nose against hers.

"Why can't you just accept that you…are….mine?" Steele whispers, his warm breath hitting her face.

Jenna sobs out loud as Steele smirks and slowly draws his tongue on her cheek to lick the blood away from her cheek.

Jenna closes her eyes as she shakes violently, feeling his tongue on her face. His tongue licked the blood from the thorns cutting into her skin. She weeps bitterly, knowing this wasn't going to end well.

Steele tries to get even closer to her, but growls as he feels the thorns begin to cut into his skin. With the smell of Jenna's blood and Jenna being under him taking over his entire being, he uses his paw to rip the bushes off of her, not even feeling the thorns cutting into his paw and leg.

Jenna cowers to the ground as she realizes the bush is completely off her and Steele is standing over her.

"Please…" Jenna whimpers as she feels Steele's hot breath on her neck and he drags his tongue down her face.

Jenna couldn't even fight if she wanted to. She couldn't put weight on her leg. All she could do was watch in horror as Steele began to get ever closer and started to lift her up with his paws.

Jenna shook with so much fear. His heart was pounding in her ear drums. She could hear her shaky gasps. She could hear her teeth chattering. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. She told herself over and over again. Steele hoisted her up and walked behind her. Oh god, this is happening.

Jenna cried out at the force he used to move her body in any way he wanted. There wasn't anything she could do. Her body was betraying her. She could feel the pain and the smell of blood filling her nose. Her own blood. She heard Steele whisper something and she closed her eyes tightly.

This is happening. Jenna felt her tail being lifted up and she used whatever strength she had left to kick Steele.

She heard him groan and then felt her legs being yanked out from under her with such force.

"No no no." Jenna cried out as she heard him laugh from behind her.

"Don't fight it, Jenna." He whispered smoothly against her ear.

Jenna couldn't fight it. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.

He was right, but there was one thing she could do. And if anyone was out there, maybe just maybe they would hear her.

Jenna let out the highest piercing scream she could muster in that moment before Steele shut her up by clamping a paw hard on her mouth.

"What was that?" Akeli questioned, hearing the scream not far off from where they were headed.

He froze in place as he felt the wind batter his body. The wind had grown gradually colder as they walked deeper into the woods.

Akeli sniffed the air and could smell the faint scent of blood.

"Caribou?" Wren asked and stopped right beside Akeli.

Wren was a rusty colored wolf. He was very tall. Taller than most wolves in the pack. He had a long black stripe flowing from the crown of his head to the back to his tail. He had neon blue eyes and was a friend of Akeli's.

"I don't know, but that was a pained scream. C'mon." Akeli ordered, trudging further into the snow. The pack followed eagerly, hoping it was indeed caribou. Their stomachs were all growling at the mere thought of food.

Akeli broke into a run as the smell of blood became stronger. He stopped short when he reached the slope.

"Hold back." Akeli orders over the howling wind and the wolves freeze in place a few feet back.

Wren follows after Akeli causally, knowing his place.

Akeli looked over and his eyes widened at what he saw. A black and white husky was mounting a much smaller red and white husky, but he could see even through the harsh wind that the smaller husky was fighting against it.

"Huskies mating now? In a blizzard?" Wren questioned, a slight smirk on his face.

Akeli watched as the smaller husky shook her head fiercely, whimpering.

"I always knew they weren't too bright."

"There's our blood." Akeli states as a fact. His eyes were glued on the scene below and Wren looks at Akeli and then back down at the huskies and realizes what his friend is saying.

"Wait….wait, no c'mon Akeli! We don't eat mutts.."

"We need food, don't we?" Akeli barks back harshly.

"Yeah, but…."

Akeli growls and pushes his face into Wren's.

"We….need….food." Akeli growls darkly and glares into Wren's eyes to force him into submission.

Wren begrudgingly complies, seeing the anger and determination in Akeli's eyes. Sometimes his friend terrified him to his very core.

Akeli howls, alerting the others of the discovery he has found. The other wolves make their way closer.

"It's not caribou, but it is food. And we need it to survive. Now this slope is steep so follow my lead down."

Faye gasps when she sees the sight down below. It was two huskies. Two dogs. A silent rule, a known compromise that all wolves agreed to was not to eat their kind. Killing a dog was seen as killing a wolf. It wasn't even a question. Killing caribou, squirrels, deer…that blood was meant to be taken for their survival. But a dog, their own kin. That was seen as killing a wolf in your own pack.

"We're not actually going to….." Faye speaks out loud suddenly as no one appears to be stopping as they make their way to the edge.

"Are you questioning me, Faye?" Akeli turns around to face her.

"They are dogs. There…..not caribou Akeli. They are dogs..." Faye argues, trying not to be afraid of the purple hues studying her. She wanted to show Raune and Finn that she couldn't be afraid of the tyrant, but she could feel her steel resolve crumbling around her.

The puff of air can be seen as Akeli watches her with his jaw hung open, a crazed look in his eye.

"I know they are dogs. But you all complain that there is no food. And yet here it is. Food. Warm blood. Is that not good enough for you, Faye?" Akeli growls out, making Faye flinch.

He sees the others comply silently and gazes at Faye.

"You're the one who thinks you can speak against me. That you'll show the rest of these fools that you can try and fight me? Oh Faye, I pity your very existence." Akeli bites down on every word as he inches ever closer to her face.

He turns back around, taking her silence as complying.

"I won't do it! I will not kill a dog!"

Faye doesn't even have time to react as she feels the claws pound into her face with so much force that she falls to the ground.

"You'll do what I say." Akeli orders, standing over her cowering form.

"Anyone else want to be….brave? Like your friend Faye here?" Akeli yells out, glancing down at the grey wolf. He smirks when he sees the crowd's eyes lower to the ground.

He looks down at Faye and hunches lower to be at eye level with her.

"Looks like you're on your own, Faye. Your so-called friends don't seem to agree with you. Guess you're the only one who has a problem with killing a dog. Well you don't have to worry about that cause I'll make sure you don't eat." Akeli whispers darkly against her ear.

Then he rises up and orders the others to follow.

Faye watches as the wolves start making their way down the slope.

"Are you alright?" Finn asks, rushing over to her. Raune on his heels.

Faye pulls her feet out from under her and stands up.

"I'm f-fine." Faye sniffs and blinks the tears out of her eyes.

Raune looks at her and feels the anger overtake him. Akeli had hurt all of them more than enough times. This had to stop now.

"This is enough!" Raune growls loudly and before Finn and Faye can even stop him, Raune throws himself into Akeli, teeth out, claws lashing.

"Raune no!" Faye cries out watching as the two wolves become a blur as they fall down the slope.

Finn's eyes widen in shock and horror as he watches the brown wolf jump off the edge.

Akeli is knocked off his feet by the blow and tumbles down the slope with Raune. Akeli falls with a hard thump. Raune's head is thrown back into a boulder from the impact of the fall.

Steele freezes in place over Jenna, suddenly overwhelmed with fear as he sees the two wolves laying on the ground a few feet away from them. The wind clearly knocked out of them.

Jenna takes this to her advantage and kicks Steele once again, knocking him to the ground. She had to get out of there now.

She rushes out of the bushes and tries to run but her leg screams in protest. She had to escape. Now might be her only chance! She starts dragging her leg behind her, quickening her pace.

Steele recovers quickly and barrels into Jenna, knocking her on the ground. He pins her, snarling. Jenna cries out as the drool hanging from his jaws hits her eye.

Suddenly Steele is thrown off her by a blur of white and Jenna lays there in shock. The sounds that she hears after causes her entire body to shake with a cold sense of dread. She can hear Steele's yelps and groans. She can hear multiple wolves snarling and growling. Jenna hears the snap and closes her eyes knowing her fate.

She doesn't hear Steele's yelps anymore and the silence is overwhelming. She hears the crunching and can smell the blood. Her eyes widen as she realizes Steele is dead.

"No no! Raune…. no please." Faye cries out as she nudges Raune's cheek. She sees the blood oozing from his head. His body was completely still, his eyes locked open in an empty gaze.

Finn watches as the pack he has been raised with turns into snarling monsters as the smell of blood takes over. He watches as they snap the bones and devour the blood of the black and white husky. He closes his eyes and walks over to Faye.

"He's dead." Faye sobs and nuzzles Raune's face, her body shaking as she covers him. Finn stands beside her with his head hung low.

"You see what happens when you try to go against me, Faye?" Akeli licks the blood from his jaws as he walks over to her.

"You killed him!" Faye screams and jolts upright. She stares right into Akeli's face.

Akeli seems unaffected and walks around her slowly.

"No, no….Raune wanted to be brave. Like you. That's what killed him." Akeli retorts darkly with a smile.

Akeli walks back over to the mauled husky to feed on some more blood.

Faye sobs and holds Raune's body close to her. Finn sits beside her, trying to give her some sense of comfort.

"Now what do we have here?" Akeli asks, standing over Jenna, blood dripping from his jaws down his neck.

Jenna whimpers and feels her body shake violently under the large white wolf. His purple eyes shine with such intensity.

Faye turns around when she sees Akeli standing above the husky and rushes over to him.

"No! You will not touch her!" Faye growls standing over Jenna.

"And why not? Cause she's a dog? That didn't seem to stop them." Akeli nods over to the wolves still ripping Steele apart, blood staining their jaws and muzzles.

Faye knew she would be killed if she tried to fight against Akeli so she tried a different tactic.

"The others need food. Let's take her back to the others so they can eat as well."

Akeli tilted his head, confused at Faye's words. Perhaps she wasn't as dumb as he had previously thought.

"Glad you came to your senses." Akeli merely stated. He looked at the husky shaking in the snow.

"Looks like you're coming with us." Akeli whispers and hoists her onto his back. Jenna cries out from the pain and fear.

She covers her eyes immediately when she sees Steele's remains in the snow, blood and guts spilled all over the white. Turning the once beautiful white snow red.

"Let's go!" Akeli orders the others. Jenna clings onto his back, barely holding on.

Wren walks over, stepping over the discolored snow in disgust.

"What are we doing with her?"

"Faye said the others should eat as well. Can't be selfish now, can we?"

"I don't think the alpha will like us eating this husky. Let alone what we just did."

"And who's gonna tell the mighty alpha what we just did?" Akeli asks out loud, looking at the other wolves still munching on the husky.

"I think I bought their silence Wren."

Wren looks at Faye with pity as he sees her shovel some snow over Raune's body. He walks over to her.

"This is wrong." Faye says to no one in particular.

"I know." Wren agrees and helps her shovel more snow over Raune's body. Finn helped them in silence.

After they finished, they had to catch up with the rest of the wolves. They all looked in horror at the ripped-up husky laying in the snow. His body completely disfigured; mangled limbs thrown about. The blood, all the blood. Tufts of fur laying in the snow. Faye rushed past Wren and Finn and retched into the bushes nearby.

Finn grimaced in disgust, but he felt pity for Faye. Wren walked over to her.

"We need to go now."

Faye nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. She glanced back at Raune's form laying in the snow. That's when she knew. When the snow turns red. That's when she knew there was no stopping Akeli.

Alright so wow! This chapter definitely took a twist I did not expect. I wrote this all in one day. I hope you liked it and please let me know your thoughts! Next chapter…Balto and Jenna. I know I've been saying that forever, but c'mon now it's bound to happen!