When the sun rose that morning, everything was calm and quiet throughout the forest the wild pack had claimed as part of their territory. That is until a loud, painful-sounding howl erupted throughout the forest, scaring almost all the wildlife. As soon as she heard it, Skylor ran to follow the howl. She was joined by Acronix, Ash, Bolobo, Chamille, Garmadon, Gravis, and Griffin. They had been scared that a member of their pack had been injured or worse.

Instead, they found Kataru lying on the ground near the river.

He was howling to the cold, cloudy morning sky with tears streaming down his face. Almost all his veins were black along with his sharp fingernails and his gums. He looked just seconds away from wolfing out.

"Kataru! Kataru, what's wrong?!" Skylor exclaimed as they all rushed to the boy's side.

"Akita's gone!" He sobbed to his leader and Skylor quickly sent everyone away, except for Chamille and Garmadon. "She wouldn't listen to me! I tried, but..."

"Why did she leave?" Skylor asked but at Kataru's glare, she understood. "Because I told her and the other cubs to read." She sighed in understanding and regret. Akita was one of the few children who openly disagreed with the way Skylor was leading the pack. She didn't like or want anything to do with the human world at all. She was furious when Skylor started making all the cubs and some of the adults took part in human reading and writing lessons.

Skylor had just shrugged this off as Akita being stubborn and that she would get over it.

She never once thought that Akita would run away. Unfortunately, it seemed that not everyone thought that way.

"Read human words! He told you some would see it as sacrilege!" Her brother snarled in pain and anger at the alpha, pointing at Garmadon. With that said he ran back to the camp, still sobbing and howling the whole way there. Garmadon gave Skylor an apologetic look before following Kataru to make sure he was all right, leaving her alone with Chamille. Skylor was so wrapped up in her guilt that she almost missed the purple-haired woman stepping up beside her.

"Akita didn't recognize her pack anymore; she's not the only one, either," Camille commented with a faint smirk on her face. As soon as she heard this, Skylor wiped around and snarled right in Chamille's face.

"Careful, Chamille!" She warned as her eyes flashed yellow, but Chamille didn't seem affected.

"I'm only trying to help my leader, reporting the mood."

"If there's any bad feeling, it's because you've been spreading it." The red-haired woman growled but Chamille didn't say anything. She simply gave Skylor an amused look and began walking back to the camp, leaving Skylor alone in the forest...

After everyone had returned to the camp, Skylor had taken off into the forest to track down Akita. She wasn't going to let that cub just run away without a fight. Akita was a skilled hunter and fighter and she could transform, but she was still a child and Skylor didn't feel it was right to let her leave. There were far too many dangers out there and without a pack to protect and support her Akita might not survive to see the next Spring. With that in her mind, Skylor was determined to track Akita down.

Using the power of Jōhō, Skylor was able to search the entire forest until she found the cub.

Akita was currently in wolf form and running to the West. She had a tattered sack that carried some of her clothes clenched in her jaws. As soon as she locked onto Akita's position, Skylor was ready to chase after her and drag her back home. As she was getting ready to run, however, she was suddenly tackled and pinned to the ground. She looked up and was ready to fight back against her attacker when she saw that it was Garmadon who was pinning her down.

Looking over his shoulder, Skylor could see Kataru watching the older werewolves nervously.

"You are going nowhere!" Garmadon told the teen as he got off her.

"I- I am your leader! Don't you forget that!" She snarled at them as she jumped to her feet.

"We never forget that!" Kataru assured her, looking slightly offended that his leader would think otherwise.

"I promise I will talk to her, I will say whatever it takes, even if that means dropping my ideas about the reading!" Skylor promised them, getting ready to run after Akita again, only for Garmadon to grab her arm.

"You will not concede anything!" He snapped and she looked to Kataru to see if the cub could give her some support, but she could tell that he was on Garmadon's side in this. He loved his sister and wanted her here with him, but he wouldn't force her to stay somewhere she didn't want to be.

"She's your sister!"

"And you are my leader!" He hissed and Skylor was in shock at this.

"She's growing up; she doesn't need Kataru or the pack now," Garmadon told the alpha werewolf. "Isn't that the human way?" He glared before Skylor could argue and she froze. When she was staying in Ninjago City with Lloyd and his pack, she was stunned to learn that children in the human world usually moved out in their early to late twenties. In the wild, most werewolves stayed with the pack they were born into their entire lives. The only way they left was either by being exiled or deciding to leave to start a pack of their own.

"Let her go, but do not let her go for nothing," Garmadon told her before taking Kataru's hand and leading the boy back to the camp. Skylor stayed in that spot for a few seconds before glancing in the direction Akita had run off to. A part of her still wanted to bring her back, but she knew that Garmadon was right. Now Skylor had to find a way to turn this disaster into something to help her...

That afternoon, Skylor called a meeting for the entire pack to discuss the situation with Akita. Some of the older werewolves were ready to launch search parties for her, but Skylor told them to stand down. She had been thinking for hours about how she would address this. If she didn't find a way to fix this in her favor then it could cause more chaos in the pack. More fighting could accrue and others might follow Akita's example and leave as well.

Others might challenge and rebel against her and she could lose her position or be exiled from the pack.

That was what happened with her father and after hearing what it did to Chen, Skylor didn't want to experience that.

"Akita did not approve of my ways and she discussed this with some of you, but not with me." She snarled at them. "So if any of you with grievances or criticisms I'm listening." She challenged as she eyed each member of her pack, but no one had the guts to say anything. "Nothing? Good! All are on the same page! And since you don't know what that means, let me put it this way; anyone who disrespects me or my leadership behind my back will be exiled, just like Akita."

"Exiled?!" Shade exclaimed in horror. This news caused the pack to snarl and gasp in shock. To be exiled from your entire pack was one of the most shameful acts for a wild werewolf to suffer through. They were always branded with the seal of Bōmei to show other wild packs why they were alone. If a werewolf had that seal it was nearly impossible for them to join any pack after that. They either spent to rest of their lives alone or they had to try their look in the human world, which to wild werewolves was far worse than death.

Everyone was shocked that Skylor could do such a thing to a cub.

Only Garmadon and Kataru knew the truth. While Garmadon was proud that she was using this to establish control over the pack again, Kataru wasn't happy about it. He feared that telling everyone that his sister was exiled would hinder any chances of Akita coming back. If Akita did come back and the pack saw that she didn't have the seal of Bōmei then they would know Skylor had lied. There were too many risks in this lie, but Kataru was too scared to say anything.

Seeing that she now had their attention, Skylor knew she had to ensure that they never challenged her leadership again.

"It gave me no pleasure to send her away, but I will not have cowards challenging me behind my back." She warned and they all submissively refused to meet her eyes. She didn't want to rule but fear like her father, but Skylor refused to let them think that they could disrespect her leadership without consequences. "Reading classes continue tomorrow; that is all." She finished and stepped down. The pack started to disperse when Garmadon suddenly felt someone grab his arm and he turned to see Chamille scowling at him.

"Better hope she lasts, because you've got no one else." She hissed at the elder werewolf. Garmadon just chuckled and ripped his arm out of her grip.

"I have more than you ever will." He smiled before leaving to check on Kataru and perform his duties for the pack. Chamille let a growl and shot Skylor a glare before storming off into the depths of the camp. Skylor watched her leave with a smirk on her face, feeling that things were finally starting to work out...

NEXT CHAPTER: Nya must face the truth that because of her actions, things might never be the same again...