Lucky gave a nod. "Just give the signal."
The giantfur was still glaring between Alpha and Lucky. He lifted one forepaw.
"Now!" urged Alpha.
"Remember, small steps!" Lucky whined, struggling to keep his voice quiet. He and Alpha started creeping away from the giantfur. Daisy took her cue to shuffle along the wall, Lick and Wiggle following her. Grunt made no move to withdraw. He seemed rooted to the spot, his little body rippling with tension.
The giantfur watched as Alpha and Lucky retreated. He seemed to have forgotten about the other dogs by the rocks. He lowered his muzzle and licked his paw, sucking off every last speck of amber liquid. After a moment he dropped down onto all fours with a thud. Then he turned toward the forest and started plodding away.
"He"s leaving!" whispered Lucky, his body flooding with relief.
Alpha wasn"t so quick to celebrate. "Not if your Fierce Dog stops him. . . ."
Grunt was stepping forward, barking: "Get out of here! You"re no match for dogs! The enemy never wins against a true warrior!"
Lucky could hardly believe what he was seeing. The pup had obviously taken the giantfur"s retreat as a sign of weakness. "No, Grunt!" he yelped, but the little dog ignored him.
"See what happens if you try to come back!" Grunt was barking.
"Silence, pup!" Alpha snarled.
The giantfur stopped in his tracks and spun around, his eyes fixed on Grunt. He rose onto his hindpaws once more, flexing his claws, then lunged over the pup and roared so loud that the whole world seemed to rumble with a curious thunder. Lucky dove toward Grunt and dragged the pup away from the giantfur.
"Let"s get out of here!" he barked, not caring how loud his voice was now. "Run to the camp! Go!"
"This way!" Alpha barked to Daisy. He bolted around the rocks and she ran after him, glancing back to make sure that Lick and Wiggle were close behind. They scampered this way and that through the rocks, and wound their way back into the forest, disappearing between tree trunks and thickets of green foliage.
Lucky was farther back, half pushing and half dragging the reluctant Grunt. The giantfur dropped to its paws and roared once again, turning its head and rolling back its lips. Its yellow fangs were covered in s...o...b..r. Lucky"s heart shuddered with fear as he and Grunt got closer to the forest. The beast"s paws thumped the ground as it gave chase, gaining on them. Then, almost as suddenly as it had turned on the dogs, the beast stopped. Lucky risked a glance back and saw the giantfur sniffing the air. It followed its nose in another direction.
Lucky dropped Grunt and collapsed beneath a tree, his flanks heaving. He turned angrily on the pup. "What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed! And what about the others-don"t you care what happens to them?"
Grunt was unapologetic. "I"m not scared of bullies!" he growled. "You never back down before the enemy!"
Lucky noticed that Grunt"s growl had grown deeper. There was a ruthless look to his eyes that Lucky hadn"t seen before. He"s less of a pup every day.
"You could have gotten us all killed," Lucky told the pup. He couldn"t believe he needed to say this. "Your behavior was reckless. It"s good not to be scared of bullies, but it is foolish to pick fights with them. The giantfur was bigger than the rest of us put together! You need to think before you go charging in like that. Hasn"t Daisy taught you anything today? Do you think she"s proud of you now?"
Grunt"s eyes shifted to the ground. He at least had the decency to look ashamed. Lucky felt the anger drain out of him. How could he begin to explain to this young dog that he was being manipulated by Alpha-that he had walked into danger only because the half wolf wanted him to?
He sank his head against the gra.s.s, closing his eyes and wondering if Alpha could have been right.
Maybe there was no hope for the Fierce Dog pups after all.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
A day later, when the Sun-Dog was reaching the highest point in his journey, the Pack a.s.sembled in the meadow not far from the sloping hill. The sweet scent of pines and warm earth mingled in the air, lifting on a gentle breeze. Lucky glanced back at the rocks that lined the edges of the forest. He pictured Grunt, Lick, and Wiggle, who were taking a nap in the main part of the cave with Dart watching over them. Lucky had listened as Alpha had instructed her to keep the "vicious Fierce Dogs" away from Nose and Squirm, who were resting in the pup den. He could accept that Grunt had behaved badly and needed to learn his lesson, but to condemn Lick and Wiggle in the same breath seemed deeply unfair.
He turned back to the Pack. A short distance away, Spring was talking quietly to Snap. Lucky heard the words aggressive and untrustworthy and his tail drooped. Daisy crept close to him and Mickey sat nearby, nodding at Lucky supportively.
Most of the dogs will side with Alpha, he thought, catching Sweet watching him.
She turned away as Alpha appeared between the pine trees, sauntering down the stoop toward the gathering, taking his position at the center.
"No doubt you will all be interested in the result of our test," he began, casting his cool eyes around the Pack. "Some of you have probably already heard about the giantfur."
A ripple of fear pa.s.sed through the dogs.
"Did you actually see a giantfur?" asked Spring. "Do they really exist?"
Moon was on her paws. "Where was it?" She threw a nervous glance back at the rocks and the entrance to the cave.
"Nowhere near here," Alpha a.s.sured her. He scratched his ear and waited for calm. When the dogs were silent again, he continued: "We saw this monster while we were tracking Daisy and the pups. It seemed to be feeding from a tree."
"They eat trees?" asked Fiery, his dark face registering confusion. "Don"t they like meat?"
"I am not here to discuss the giantfur," Alpha growled impatiently. "The beast was huge. It walked close to where Daisy had settled the pups. But it wasn"t interested in them. Isn"t that right?"
Alpha directed this comment to Daisy, who dipped her head. "It"s true; the giantfur ignored us at first. He just wanted to get to the tree. We were fine as long as we didn"t get in his way."
"And then what happened?" asked Alpha.
Lucky tensed. This was unfair-the half wolf"s questions seemed innocent and unthreatening. But he was actually guiding Daisy into saying things that would reflect badly on the pups. Yet again, Lucky was impressed by how clever Alpha was-even as he hated the Pack leader"s tactics. He clamped his jaw shut to keep from barking in frustration.
Daisy glanced at Lucky, nervously licking her lips.
"No point turning to Omega," Alpha snarled before catching himself. His eyes darted around as if he was checking who"d noticed his lapse into anger. He took a deep breath and when he continued, his voice was calm. "Just tell the Pack the truth. What happened then?"
Daisy dropped her gaze and spoke down toward her paws. "Grunt started barking, challenging the giantfur."
There were cries of astonishment from the dogs.
"Reckless," Alpha confirmed. "A foolish choice that only a naturally vicious dog would make."
"Despicable," agreed Whine, bowing to the dog-wolf obsequiously.
Lucky couldn"t bear to hear any more of this. "Or brave," he barked. It was true-Grunt had been reckless-but he would not see the pups rejected because of a momentary mistake. Grunt and the others needed time to learn; that was all. "They will grow to be great a.s.sets to the Pack, protecting it from intruders. You surely must see their potential."
Alpha snarled at him. "Protecting yourself is one thing, but causing a fight is another. They wanted a conflict. They couldn"t help themselves! Particularly that nasty little Grunt. He"s growing up fast and showing real malice. What dog in their right mind would chase after that sort of beast when the danger had pa.s.sed?"
"He chased it?" Spring howled.
Lucky glared at her. Standing next to Spring, Bruno"s eyes widened, although he had the good sense to stay quiet.
"Are you sure that the beast was retreating?" asked Bella carefully. "Maybe-"
"It was retreating," snapped Alpha. He glared in Daisy"s direction, and she nodded sadly.
"You see?" Alpha went on. "Fierce Dogs can"t be trusted!"
Lucky"s muscles clenched with frustration. This is not fair! How can Alpha throw the pups out of the Pack after putting them in this danger in the first place? He looked desperately around the circle of dogs, trying to work out who among them was on his side. Spring was looking fiercely angry, and Snap"s ears and shoulders drooped sadly-but were either of those good things? Every dog seemed lost in his own thoughts. Even Martha"s face wasn"t easy to read. Her eyes seemed to stare at nothing.
Alpha rose to his paws. "The question now is what to do with the Fierce Dogs. Do we move on and leave them in the wild, or do we"-his wolfish ears twitched-"end this?"
Lucky"s jaw fell slack.
"You can"t really mean . . . kill the pups?" Mickey yapped.
Alpha was calm and unapologetic. "It"s an option."
"We"d have to do it quickly," said Snap. "They"re already getting big."
"They"re pups!" Lucky yelped. "How can you even think of hurting them?"
"I won"t allow it!" howled Martha, stepping forward. She had stayed silent as the other dogs squabbled, but now her dark face was twisted with emotion. "I"ll leave with them. You won"t have to worry about the pups after that! But if you try to hurt them you will have to go through me!"
Alpha spun around to snarl at her, and Mickey took a step toward the water-dog, licking her neck and urging her to back down. He turned to Alpha, his voice soft and reasonable. "The pups don"t mean any harm. We"ll make sure that they behave. It"s just a question of training."
"It"s too late for that," Fiery barked. "One of them attacked Squirm. He might have killed her!"
"That was a misunderstanding," Martha growled back at him. Several other dogs backed away, afraid to get between the two ma.s.sive dogs. "He was play-fighting, that"s all."
"And it was only Grunt," murmured Daisy. "The other two are good; they listen to instructions."
Moon barked over her. "Killing is so brutal. I say we leave them behind."
Spring shook her long, floppy ears. "But they will come after us. They will seek revenge and hunt us down!"
Revenge? Lucky shook his ears. Did Spring honestly think these pups were capable of wreaking their revenge?
"It"s true," agreed Whine in his cringing voice. "Better to finish with the problem now and for good."
"They are not "a problem"!" Lucky howled. He couldn"t sit here and listen to this anymore. "They"re pups!"
"It was wrong to trick them," said Martha, an edge to her voice. "It was unforgivable!"
A furious howl cut through the arguing Pack and the dogs froze, shocked into silence. Standing several long-strides away were Grunt, Lick, and Wiggle.
Dart was behind them, trembling. "They heard barking . . . they wanted to know what was going on. I couldn"t stop them."
Grunt unleashed a volley of angry barks: "You let the giantfur get close just to test us?" He glared at Alpha. "How could you do that? What if he had eaten us alive?"
Alpha didn"t flinch at the pup"s frenzied barking. "Quiet, runt! I am the leader here, in case you hadn"t noticed," he shot back. "The giantfur was not part of my original plan, but yes, I did take that opportunity to see how you Fierce Dogs would react to danger. I was protecting my Pack. Such responsibility weighs heavily on me. I"ll do whatever it takes to make sure that they"re safe."
"Grunt," Lucky began in a soft growl. Even if he didn"t agree with the half wolf"s tactics, he"d do whatever it took to calm this situation. "I"m sure you understand-"
His words were cut short by another high-pitched bark. "How could you be in on this?" Lick was staring straight at Lucky. "We trusted you!"
Little Wiggle gazed at Lucky, his brown eyes wide and his short tail between his legs. Unlike his brother and sister, he spoke so quietly that Lucky only just caught his words: "I thought you liked us. I thought you were our friend."
Lucky"s heart twisted with guilt. "I am your friend. I didn"t mean for this to happen." He grappled for words, but found none that could explain what he"d done. It had never felt like betraying the young dogs-all along, he"d just been trying to do the right thing. But yes, he had helped to carry out Alpha"s plan. He had let the pups down. He took a step toward them, looking from Grunt to Lick, and finally to Wiggle. "I am so sorry."
Wiggle turned to his litter-sister. "They did save us," she said. "Lucky and Alpha, they distracted the giantfur. And Lucky and Mickey looked after us when we were all alone."
Lick looked at her brother, then tilted her head to look at Lucky. "We forgive you-don"t we, Wiggle?"
Wiggle responded by bounding up to Lucky, who leaned over to lick him on the ears. Mickey took a step forward, calling Lick to him as the other dogs watched.
Relief coursed through Lucky"s limbs. The pups had forgiven him. And they"d done it in front of the Pack, showing their maturity and ability to fit in. That they belonged. Lucky saw doubt crossing Bella"s eyes. Sweet pawed the ground thoughtfully. They"re seeing another side to these pups-a gentler side.
Only Grunt remained fixed to the spot, standing away from the Pack. Lucky looked up and met his glare.
"How about you, Grunt? Do you accept my apology?"
Please say yes. Just do whatever it takes to save this situation.
The pup rose to his full height, puffing out his chest. "I will never forgive you!" he barked. "My brother and sister are weak, but I know an enemy when I see him. Dogs that aren"t like us cannot be trusted-wild, ill-bred, sneaky dogs without any pride or honor. We should never have followed you." He turned to Lick and Wiggle with a growl. "You two! We"re leaving!"
Lick took a step toward Grunt but hesitated, turning back to Mickey. Wiggle stayed firmly at Lucky"s side.
Grunt howled at them. "Come on! They don"t want us here, and we"re better than this shabby Pack. We"re going off to find our own kind-that"s where we belong!"
A shadow fell over the a.s.sembled dogs. Lucky spun around to see a large black shape at the base of the pine trees. Dark eyes glinted above a glossy face, jaws parted with a flash of white.
The voice was brutal. "You don"t need to find us. . . . We"ve found you."
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
The Fierce Dog raised her muzzle and glared down at the Wild Pack. Her coat gleamed, rippling over her taut, muscular body. Dizzying fear gripped Lucky"s stomach. It was the dog called Blade-the Alpha of the brutal Pack. He remembered her from the Dog-Garden-remembered her angry barks and her ferocious leadership. Standing a few paces away, Bella whimpered: "It"s her! We escaped her once and she"s come looking for us. She wants revenge!"
"I don"t think it"s us that she wants," Lucky said, nuzzling Wiggle protectively. He pushed the pup behind him, putting his body between Wiggle and Blade.
"What is it? What"s happening?" Wiggle asked, trying to see around Lucky.