Skylor was beyond furious right now. She had just returned with the recent hunting team after successfully catching three hares, a buck deer, and a couple of squirrels. When she arrived back at her tent, however, she was left to find the gifts her Ninjago City friends had given her were all missing. The card, her little radio, and the sketchbook were gone. She sniffed inside and around her tent, but there were so many different werewolves walking around it was impossible to track.

With no choice, she had to confront the pack.

Luckily she found her prime suspects all gathered around the tent where they stored their food, packing up their recent kills for later. A few other werewolves were standing around and Skylor knew they would hear what was about to come, but she didn't care.

"Who took it?!" She snarled, catching their attention, but none of them looked concerned. "The things I brought with me are gone! Which one of you took them?!"

"Like any of us would want your pathetic human things!" Neuro huffed and the other wild werewolves all looked back and forth between their alpha and the small group. Unfortunately, despite all their incredible powers, werewolves were not mindreaders so Skylor had no way of knowing who took her belongings unless they confessed.

"I want it all back by nightfall." She ordered and turned to leave. Sadly, it wouldn't be that easy for the young wild alpha.

"That's it?" Bolobo laughed at her action.

"Your father would have ripped limbs off till someone gave him a name," Jacob added and Skylor could feel her inner wolf trying to claw to the surface. But she refused to give the pack what they wanted. She knew they wanted her to lose control and prove to them that she was just as much of an animal as the rest of them.

"I'm not my father." She snarled, not turning around to face them.

"No, you're not." Tox agreed with a scoff.

"Chen would never stand for such defiance," Shade added with a spiteful smirk. Skylor wanted so badly to smack that grin off his face, but she knew that if she attacked a member of the pack with no evidence it would reflect badly on her. Barely holding in an enraged snarl, Skylor quickly retreated to her tent...

It was a couple of hours before Skylor was disturbed from her isolation. She was still in her tent, sniffing around in case there was anything she missed. Sadly, it seemed the culprit had either no scent, there was more than one, or they successfully used the pack's surrounding scents to mask their own. She was about ready to give up when Garmadon suddenly poked his head into the tent. He had been out collecting herbs in the fields when Skylor confronted the pack, but he soon heard about her outburst.

"It's all I've got left to remind me of my friends." She told him with a heavy sigh, turning the ring on her finger several times.

"The precious toilet roll?" He chuckled lightly.

"Not just that!" She snapped, but he could tell there was no real malice in it. "The goodbye card, my clockwork radio, the jelly beans... ok, I ate the jelly beans." She reluctantly admitted and Garmadon couldn't help but smile. "They took the sketchbook too." She added sadly and his smile dropped a little. With a faint sigh, he stepped further into the tent and sat across from her.

"They want to show that human things are a weakness." He told her, trying to sound considerate but also firm. "Shade is right, your father would not have stood for it." He replied, but Skylor shook her head.

"I won't rule by fear." She insisted.

"If you don't punish someone for this, you won't rule at all." He replied, trying to make her see reason. He knew she wanted the pack to change and that she didn't want to be a tyrant like her father, but there was a difference between being a dictator and making sure they understood your power. Before either of them could say anything else, however, they both caught the scent of a pack member outside the tent. They were standing outside, waiting for permission to enter.

"Come forward!" She granted and they heard the anxious footsteps approaching the entrance of the tent. The folds of the tent pulled back to reveal a scared Akita holding Skylor's missing items in her shaking hands.

"It wasn't me, my Alpha." The cub quickly said when she saw the shocked, confused, and angry looks on Skylor and Garmadon's faces. "My brother took them."

"Kataru?!" Skylor gasped in denial at the claim. Akita's brother had always been kind and protective of his sister. He must know that even if Skylor wasn't her father, this could always risk the threat of banishment for both of them. The wild was a very dangerous place for two cubs.

"Not because he hates you! You and your father took us in when we had no pack, and he loves the way you talk about the human world." She exclaimed, and Skylor saw the faint flash of disgust when she talked about the alpha's love for humans but it was gone in a second. "He just wanted to see human things for himself, that's the only reason; please go easy on him." She begged the alpha. With a wave of her hand, Skylor dismissed the cub.

The red-haired teen and Garmadon sat in silence for a few moments before Skylor quickly excused herself.

She took the sketchbook and all but ran out of the tent and into the forest. She ran until she found herself in a small flower grove close to the river. She sighed and took a seat on a rock before she started flipping through the pages of the sketchbook, stopping at an image of her father. In the drawing his eyes were a bright yellow, the veins in his neck and some on his face were black, and his teeth were razor sharp. He looked ready to rip someone's throat out.

Skylor's fingers brushed against the image as if it were her father.

As if it would give her some form of comfort. Even though he had banished her and let his rage and need for revenge take over, she couldn't stop loving him. He was the only parent she knew. The werewolf who taught her everything she knew. No one in the pack knew this, but Chen once broke the pack's most sacred rule. He infiltrated a human caravan park just so his daughter and the other cubs would have warm clothes for the winter. She knew that the chance of seeing him again was slim to none.

That didn't stop her from missing him from time to time and wishing he was here to help her.

She did have Garmadon, but it wasn't the same. Garmadon was more like an uncle than a father figure. She soon realized it was getting late. She had to return to her tent to try and plan an appropriate punishment for Kataru. Just as the red-haired teen was about to pack up the sketchbook and head back to the camp, her enhanced hearing suddenly caught something. She focused on the sound and picked up the sound of Acronix and his brother Krux.

But of course, they were not alone.

They were joined by Ash, Bolobo, Camille, Gravis, Griffin Turner, Jacob Pevsner, Karlof, Paleman, Neuro, Shade, and Tox. Not only that, but it seemed they had also rounded up a few other werewolves from the outskirts of the pack to join in on their little group. Thankfully all the flowers surrounding her blocked Skylor's scent and the rushing river masked most of the sound. Now that Skylor was focusing, however, she could hear their conversation as clear as day.

"I heard talk of Skylor teaching us to learn human writing." Chamille spat at the statement and there was a collection of growls and grumbles of agreement.

"What good is that to any of us? She is destroying our culture, who we are!" Krux snapped and this time Skylor couldn't stop the enraged growl from escaping her throat. Luckily she was able to make it back to the camp and back to her tent before anyone realized that she was there. This wouldn't stand. First, the cubs invaded her tent and stole from her. Now she has Krux and Acronix seemingly trying to start a rebellion within the pack. Skylor vowed to make sure everyone remembered who their alpha was and what would happen if they questioned her again...

Early the next morning, Skylor demanded a meeting with the entire pack. She had spent all night alone in her tent, plotting something that would show the pack who their alpha was and what would happen if they questioned their leader again. Pretty soon the entire pack was gathered in the center of their camp, waiting to see what the red-haired teen had to say. While most of the werewolves were growing bored waiting, Akita and Kataru were growing more and more anxious.

Everyone knew this had to do with Skylor's stolen property.

The two siblings hadn't slept a wink last night, too scared at what the wild leader would do to them knowing she knew what Kataru had done. Garmadon had tried to reassure the siblings that even though Skylor may punish them, she wouldn't hurt them.

"I know who the thief is!" She roared, holding up the sketchbook for the pack to see. "He gives me no choice! For what he's done, he goes to the cronach." She snarled, causing everyone to gasp in horror and shock. The cronach was a large, tall boulder deep in the forest north of their territory. If a member of the pack committed a serious crime against the pack, the alpha would have them chained to the stone. They would be chained to the stone for exactly three days and nights with no food or water and exposed to the elements.

To make matters even worse many dangerous wild animals were roaming that far out into the forest.

Despite being Apex predators, some animals did eat wolves. These included grizzly bears and scavengers. To punish a werewolf by the cronach was extremely harsh and even Chen rarely used it. This announcement caused a few werewolves in the crowd to share fearful looks. Akita quickly stepped in front of her brother in an attempt to shield him from Skylor's scowl. She knew she wouldn't be able to do much when Skylor revealed who the thief was, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Garmadon could do nothing except stare at the red-haired teen in disbelief at her decision.

But deep down he had a feeling she had something else up her sleeve.

"The thief is... Acronix! Take him!" She ordered and five werewolves immediately restrained Acronix.

"It's a lie! I didn't! I am not a thief!" He howled and roared as he was dragged out of the camp towards the cronach. Krux was frozen in shock for a moment as his brother was taken away before he snapped out of it and whipped around to face Skylor. He was caught off guard, however, when he saw the cold, challenging sneer on her face.

"Does anyone else in this pack wish to question their leader?" She asked through gritted teeth as she stepped up to Krux as if daring him to say a single word. After a brief, yet intense, staring contest Krux reluctantly averted his gaze and bowed his head slightly in a sign of surrender. Skylor smirked at this, feeling incredibly proud of herself, and began to walk off. As she left, however, she failed to see the withering scowl Krux was burning into her back...

HEY EVERYBODY!

I'm wishing you all a HAPPY HALLOWEEN filled with special treats and exciting tricks! 🍭🍬🍫🎃 ️ ️ 👻