A Pack Divided (13 page)

“This is . . . this wasn't a hunt.”
Alpha stood over the corpse of the fox pup, her eyes filled with horror. “This is an obscenity!”

The rest of the Pack gathered around the pathetic little scrap of fur, their ears laid flat, their eyes wide and aghast. The tiny creature looked smaller than ever, as if the forest was already beginning to grow around it and reclaim its remains. Flies hovered and settled around its blank eyes and the bite wound in its belly.

Daisy crept forward, her expression disbelieving as she sniffed pityingly at the fox pup. “Now we know why they were so angry,” she whined softly.

“This pup wasn't killed as prey.” Lucky's growl was shaky with fury, and he backed protectively against Alpha, as if thinking of his own vulnerable pups in her belly. “There was no reason at all.”

“It's just been abandoned here!” Mickey's eyes were bright with anger.

“And so close to our camp,” growled Dart.

Woody shook his matted head. “I don't understand. I don't believe any of our Pack would do this.”

“Wouldn't they?” Breeze curled her muzzle. “I know one kind of dog who'd do it without thinking. And we have two of them in our Pack!”

Storm took a breath of surprise as every dog in the Pack turned, some guiltily and some with accusation in their eyes, to look at her. She almost opened her jaws to bark a fierce denial, but their gazes had already shifted. The focus of every dog in the Pack was fixed on Arrow.

“We know Storm too well to think she'd do this,” said Dart gruffly. “She grew up in our Pack.”

“Arrow didn't,” grunted Bruno.

Arrow froze in disbelief, his tail tapping nervously, but before he could gather himself to respond, Breeze barked again.

“You turned up very late for the fight, Arrow. Where
were
you?”

Bella sprang forward, her ears flattened. “This fox-pup has
been dead since before Sun-Dog woke,” she barked. “Any dog with a nose can smell that!”

Whisper shifted uneasily. “It doesn't have to be one of the Fierce Dogs at all,” he said, shooting a plaintive glance at Storm, who winced. “You were late too, Bella. Maybe you should explain where
you
were.”

Bella gave an angry yelp of astonishment. “I had nothing to do with this!”

“I agree,” growled Snap, her eyes narrowed. “Bella's not the type to kill foxes. She's more likely to sneak them into the camp as allies. Remember?”

Bella turned on her, shoving her muzzle close to the tan-and-white female. She pulled back her lips to show her fangs. “I made a mistake. And I've
learned from it
.”

“Have you?” snarled Snap.

“Yes! And I'll always regret what I did.”

“That's still not an answer to Whisper's question.” Snap did not back off in the face of Bella's fury. “Where were you? What were you up to in the forest, Bella, while we were under attack?”

Storm's gut churned, but she could do nothing but sit there, motionless with indecision.
I could tell the Pack exactly what Bella was up
to. And Arrow, for that matter! But I don't think either of them would appreciate the intervention. . . .
She didn't dare even catch Bella's eye, in case her expression gave all three of them away.

I saw something I wasn't meant to see . . . and there's no way I can say it aloud.

“Well, Bella?” Snap cocked an ear mockingly. “We're waiting for an explanation.”

“All of you, be quiet!” Lucky's bark was uncharacteristically sharp. His ribs heaved with annoyance, and his face was as thunderous as the clouds when the Sky-Dogs battled. He pressed even closer to Alpha's swollen flank, and Storm realized he was physically supporting her. The swift-dog was swaying slightly, her legs unsteady, and her eyelids were drooping with exhaustion.
It's the shock and stress from the attack
, thought Storm guiltily,
and this quarrel isn't helping.

“We have to find out—” began Chase, but Lucky interrupted him with a howl of rage.

“I said,
be quiet!
”

Every dog flinched, pulling themselves closer to the ground and ducking their tails. Storm had never heard their easygoing Beta sound so angry, and it gave her a horrible twist of unease in her belly.

“You're picking fights with one another when your Alpha is about to give birth to her first pups. Have you no respect?” Lucky glared around the Pack, meeting their sheepish eyes. “Are you irresponsible milk-pups yourselves? If you think you can do as you like, because Alpha isn't capable—for now—of biting your sorry rumps, you'd better think about what you'll do when she's back on her paws. Because her teeth are going to be finding a few of your haunches. And in the meantime, I'll take pleasure in doing the job myself!”

No dog dared speak.

“Storm,” he snarled. “Take Thorn and Beetle with you, and bury this pup. Give it to the Earth-Dog. I think I can trust you three, more than any grown dog here, to do it with dignity.” He swept his cold stare around the Pack again. “We will find out which dog has done this—make no mistake about that. But in the meantime, your Alpha needs to rest, and not one of you has anything to offer but empty accusations.
No dog
is to come to Alpha with this petty bickering anymore. You'll come to me, and I'll decide what problems Alpha needs to hear. Do I make myself clear?”

“But, Lucky . . .” began Bruno.

“You'll call me Beta!”

Bruno flinched back, shocked.

“Beta.” Chase padded hesitantly forward. “The Pack needs Alpha to judge—”

Twitch limped to Lucky's side and stood at his shoulder, facing the Pack. “Beta is right. A Pack is only as secure as its Alpha, and your responsibility right now—all of you—is to support her. If Alpha is safe and comfortable, the Pack will be too. She has bigger things to worry about than your squabbles. So do exactly as your Beta says, and be quiet!”

That, thought Storm with satisfaction, seemed to do the trick. Only a few dogs began to open their muzzles, and they very quickly thought better of it. As the dogs dispersed, Lucky shepherded Alpha gently toward their den, and Storm turned to Beetle and Thorn. Beetle was licking disconsolately at his wound, but his fur was dense and he hadn't been hurt too badly. He limped a little as he followed Storm, but she got the impression that his shoulder wound wasn't as bad as the hurt to his pride.

“Thanks, Storm,” said Thorn. “For getting that fox off Beetle before it could hurt him.”

“Yes, thank you,” her litter-brother added, a little grumpily. “I appreciate it, but you know . . . I had that fox right where I wanted it.”

Thorn gave a little mocking snort, but Storm licked his ear kindly. “I'm sure you did, Beetle, but it was no problem, and you're welcome. Now, shall we get on with our job?”

She wanted very badly to leave the subject of her attack on the fox. She didn't want the two young dogs to dwell too long on the image of her jaws—her
Fierce-Dog
jaws—clamped on that fox's spine. . . . Instead, very gently, she picked up the body of the little fox, making sure her teeth didn't pierce its damaged body any more.

The three dogs padded farther into the forest till they'd found a softer patch of earth where the stones weren't so large. Storm laid the fox-pup carefully aside on a bed of pine needles while she, Thorn, and Beetle set to digging a hole with their claws. Their muzzles and paws were caked with soil and mud by the time they'd excavated a respectable grave.

“How come we got this job?” grumbled Beetle as he sat back to catch his breath. “Is it because we're the youngest?”

“No,” Storm scolded him lightly. “It's because Lucky trusts us to do it properly.”

“Hmph.” Beetle licked mud from between his paw pads, while Thorn inspected his shoulder wound. They both seemed almost
nonchalant now, thought Storm. When the fox-pup had been found they'd been stiff with horror, but now, during the practical work of giving it to the Earth-Dog, they seemed far more reconciled to the nasty business.

Storm turned quickly to the fox pup. Pondering Lucky's motives for just a moment, she'd realized that trust wasn't really the issue, though giving the dirty work to younger dogs had nothing to do with it either. Lucky had assigned Thorn and Beetle to the work because he knew it would give them something useful to contribute.

What was more, it would teach them about the ways of the Earth-Dog. This small job would show them that death, however sudden and terrible, was still a natural thing. The little fox would go to the Earth-Dog now, and he would nourish the forest and the prey creatures that lived in it, so that in turn his tribe would never go hungry. . . .

Lucky's not the most warlike of dogs
, Storm thought,
but he's a smart leader. Thorn and Beetle know a little more about death now, and that means they won't be so afraid of it.

Glancing back at Beetle and Thorn, though, she felt a twist of resigned sadness in her belly. It was a pity that Thorn and Beetle had to accustom themselves to death at all.

They're such good dogs already. They're kind, thoughtful dogs. There's no darkness in them, I can tell that.

A shiver went through her spine, all the way from neck to tail.

I wish I could say the same about myself. . . .

“I don't believe those foxes are
gone forever,” Daisy was yipping as Storm, Beetle, and Thorn returned to the clearing. “I think they'll be back. They said so, didn't they?”

“They still believe one of us killed that pup,” Woody replied with a twitch of his ears. “And until we find which dog is responsible, and do something about it, I'm sure they won't leave us alone.”

Storm padded across the grass to join them. The late Sun-Dog striped the green grass with deep amber light, and despite New Leaf there was a coolness to the air that reached through her fur to tingle on her skin. There were still traces of Ice Wind's breath, then; it must be reluctant to let go of the land it had gripped in its icy talons for so long.

Or maybe all I can feel is the coldness inside me.
Storm's muscles rippled with her shiver.

“What if we meet the foxes in the forest?” Ruff's black ears were laid back tight against her head. It was almost time for Twitch's former Omega to join the next patrol, and she was clearly fretting about the new danger. “And what if they come back in the night, when we're not ready for them?”

“That's all what-if,” Sunshine told her sternly. “You don't need to worry, Ruff. The patrol dogs watch the camp by night, and Moon is on special High Watch, you know that. If the foxes do return, the Pack will fight them off.” The little dog's eyes were bright with confidence; Storm was impressed. Sunshine must have her own fears, but she'd still found it within her to reassure the higher-ranking Ruff.

Storm didn't want to get involved. She padded over to a patch of grass so that she could lie down by herself, but cocked her ear to listen to the other dogs. Making a show of nibbling burrs from between her paw pads, she watched from the corner of her eye as Lucky and Twitch greeted Alpha outside her den.

“This is serious business,” Alpha was telling her deputies in a low growl. “The pointless murder of the fox-pup is bad enough, but there's something far more worrying. Whoever killed it left it near here, to draw the fox-pack deliberately. The killer
wanted
the foxes to believe we were responsible. Who would do such a thing?”

“That's not the only mystery,” said Lucky gruffly. “What about that stolen food beside Moon's den? None of us really believe she did it.” He looked to Twitch for confirmation, and the three-legged dog nodded solemnly in agreement. “Could there be a connection between the fox-pup and the theft?”

Storm held herself very still, her teeth paused delicately around a burr, straining to listen. She was glad Lucky had brought that up; it was something she desperately wanted to know herself.

“Maybe the fox-pup was another message to Moon,” added Lucky, shaking his head in perplexity.

“Or maybe . . .” Alpha dipped her pale muzzle and closed her eyes. “I don't want to believe this, but we have to consider it: Could the fox-pup have been Moon's revenge? Foxes killed her little Fuzz. And Moon must have been angry about being sent to High Watch. What if, on the way there, she—”

“No,” growled Lucky firmly. “Moon isn't a bad dog. None of us believe she stole the food; do we really believe she's a murderer? Of a
pup
?”

“No.” Far from being annoyed at his contradiction, Alpha sounded relieved. “But if not Moon, then who?”

Twitch scratched his ear thoughtfully with a hindpaw. “Bella, Arrow, Breeze, and Moon were all out of camp,” he pointed out.
“They came to the fight late, remember? And Storm was outside too. . . .”

That was finally too much for Storm. She bounded to her feet and trotted over to the three leaders. They turned, startled, at her resentful growl.

“I had nothing to do with it! How could you—”

“Storm, calm down.” Lucky took a pace toward her. “You're not being accused of anything. Twitch was only setting out the circumstances, so we can get to the bottom of this.”

Mollified, Storm sat back on her haunches and licked her jaws. She felt slightly embarrassed at her outburst now, but she couldn't help pondering aloud. “Why would
any
dog come back to join in the fight if they were the one who set it up?” She growled, deep in her throat. “Maybe some dog wanted to look like a hero.”

“There's no way it was Bella,” Lucky told them firmly. “She wouldn't put the Pack at risk, not after what happened last time. My litter-sister's learned her lesson, believe me.”

“What about Arrow?” Twitch cocked his head.

“Yes,” murmured Alpha. “I wish I could be certain of his motives.”

“He saved us from Blade's ambush,” Storm pointed out defensively.

“True, but has the Pack been very welcoming to him since then?” Alpha gazed at each of them. “Most dogs have made it clear they don't trust him. He could have set up the attack so that he could save the day, and earn their respect.”

Storm, Lucky, and Twitch were silent. It did sound horribly convincing, Storm realized, with a sinking sensation in her gut.

“Except,” said Lucky at last, “if that was his intention, it didn't work. The Pack trusts him less than ever.”

“He wouldn't be so stupid,” objected Storm fiercely. “And anyway, Twitch, why are you so keen to blame this on a Fierce Dog? Haven't I proven that we aren't all villains?”

“Don't take it to heart, Storm,” he told her gently. “I'm only making suggestions. But it seems to me we've ended up with more questions than answers.”

“Indeed.” Alpha nodded. “And we can't be absolutely sure that no other dog crept out of camp, either. Let's make sure we treat all dogs as innocent until we have proof of wrongdoing.”

“Agreed,” said Lucky, and Twitch growled his agreement, too. “In the meantime, I must lead another hunt.” His eyes were bright and his tail high with what looked like anticipation. Puzzled, Storm pricked up her ears. Was this more than a normal hunt? What was her Beta up to?

“This is an important hunt,” Lucky told his group of dogs as they gathered at the edge of the clearing. “And not just because we need prey. I want you all—every dog—to get used to working together. We can't pick and choose who we hunt or patrol or fight with, and I want you all to understand that. We have to be able to rely on one another.”

Storm studied the other members of the hunting patrol. Bruno was a former Leashed Dog, one of Lucky's original allies. Breeze and Whisper had been in Terror's Pack. Snap had been a longstanding member of Sweet's Pack, since well before Sweet rose to Alpha. And she and Arrow were Fierce Dogs, but only one of them had called Blade their Alpha. Storm understood Lucky's motives in selecting dogs of every Pack, but she couldn't help feeling apprehensive about how it would work out in reality.

As she followed Lucky into the forest and toward the hunting meadows of Twitch's old territory, she became aware that Arrow was keeping close to her shoulder. It was natural, she supposed— Fierce Dog sticking with Fierce Dog—but it seemed to go against Lucky's whole purpose. And it made her irrationally twitchy.

Silly
, she thought,
when I've just been defending Arrow to Lucky, Alpha, and Twitch.
All the same, she deliberately veered to the side, trying
to detach herself gently from his company.
The other dogs mustn't think Fierce Dogs can only befriend each other!

Avoiding the company of Arrow, though, only brought her too close to Whisper. His eyes lit up in his gray-furred face as she edged closer to him, and she forced herself to gaze firmly to the front.
Please don't start, Whisper
, she thought.
I don't need another round of hero-worship. . . .

Storm found herself so wrapped up in avoiding both Arrow and Whisper, she was surprised when Lucky came to a halt. The hunting meadow opened up ahead of them, sunlit and promising, and Lucky licked his jaws, looking satisfied.

“I think we're going to have good hunting today,” he told them in a rumbling growl. “There have always been rabbits here. Let's sniff them out. Cautiously, now. We don't want to alarm the prey.”

Spreading out as they padded silently into the field, the dogs buried their snouts in the long grass, scenting deeply for hints of small creatures. Storm narrowed her eyes and flared her nostrils. There was definitely something here: a trace of rabbit, certainly, but it was overlaid with something stronger and more recent. Closing her eyes altogether, she let the scent drift deep into her nasal passages.

Her eyes sparked open. “I think there's a deer!”

Arrow turned expectantly. Whisper darted over to her, ahead of the others, his tongue lolling with enthusiasm.

“Really, Storm? Where?”

“Sniff and you might find out.” Arrow rolled his eyes and buried his own muzzle in the damp grass.

“You're right, Storm.” Lucky's ears were pricked high with anticipation. “I don't think it's the same scent I followed before, but it's definitely a deer.”

All of Storm's worries fell away as a buzz of excitement tingled through her blood. “Could it be the Golden Deer?”

“Let's follow the scent and find out.” Lucky's eyes brightened, and he trotted off in pursuit of the trail. “Fan out behind me, and make sure I stay on track!”

The dogs did as they were ordered, Storm staying close to Lucky's haunch. The Beta seemed in no danger of losing the trail, and the scents didn't deviate or take any unexpected turns. As the hunt patrol reached the far edge of the meadow, the odor of deer was stronger than ever.

Storm raised her head, her nostrils full of the promise of deer flesh. A thin line of scraggy birches lay in front of them, but there was no thick, dark forest behind them, only more open fields. Beams of sunlight picked out a slender, long-limbed creature
browsing the grass beneath the trees.

Every dog went stock-still, nose lifted. Storm could feel her heart pounding her rib cage, and for a moment she was afraid the deer would hear it. The Sun-Dog's fiery light surrounded the grazing creature in a glow of gold, and Storm's breath caught in her throat.

Is it the Golden Deer? I don't detect that special scent, like before, but maybe . . .

Lucky flicked a glance over his shoulder, and dipped his head to the other dogs, but despite his silent caution, the deer's head jerked suddenly up. Storm saw its large ears flicker with alarm as it froze, staring in their direction. Then it spun and bolted, crashing through the undergrowth.

“Go!” With that, Lucky was hurtling after it, his hunters at his heels.

Storm raced after him, her paws flying. The belt of trees was narrow but the deer knew how to use them, doubling back and darting and dodging, slowing down the less-nimble dogs. The others were falling back, despite their baying howls of determination, and even Storm stumbled as she changed direction and almost crashed into a tree trunk.

Lucky, though, was running faster than Storm had ever seen
him. His paws were quick and his body was agile, and he twisted and swerved almost as fast as the deer. In fact, she realized, he was leaving them all behind. Grimly she pounded on, trying to cut across the deer's path at a wider angle, but it burst from the trees and fled across the next expanse of meadow. Lucky was only a rabbit-chase behind it.

Storm raced in pursuit. She could hear the rest of the hunters following her, but she couldn't spare the energy to glance back. The field sloped down at a low angle, and it was covered with yellow-and-white flowers; the deer was so swift its hooves seemed to fly across the lake of blossoms. The creature was still bathed in the pale golden glow that had surrounded it in the trees. It almost made Storm's eyes sting.

She blinked, and the deer had vanished.

No!

There was Lucky, still running hard, and Storm picked up speed to gain on him. The glowing deer was nowhere to be seen, but as they bounded down the steepening slope, they saw something else.

It didn't glow, and it didn't hurt Storm's eyes, but it was undoubtedly another deer. Its pelt was deep russet, and it was grazing contentedly at the farthest border of the meadow.

Lucky slithered to a halt so suddenly, Storm almost tumbled over him.

“Quiet,” he growled, crawling forward in the sheltering grass.

Panting as silently as she could, Storm shuffled on her belly till she was alongside him, and together they stared at the unwary creature. A fully grown female, it ripped intently at the grass and flowers. Its ears flicked lazily back and forth, but so far it hadn't spotted them.

The rest of the hunters were behind them now, and luckily they too had noticed the deer in good time. They dropped to crouch low in the grass as they crept forward to their leader. Arrow slunk up to Storm's shoulder, and Snap positioned herself on Lucky's other side.

“What now, Beta?” she growled quietly.

“We'll circle it. Widely and carefully.” Lucky's eyes were narrow with concentration as he watched the deer. “Snap, take Whisper and make your way upwind of it, to the sundown side. The rest of us will approach from the other direction. When it runs from your scent, we'll be there to intercept it.”