Daisy was trembling. Her eyes shot to the high trees beyond the camp that marked the reappearance of the forest. She looked up at Sweet. “Beta?” she said.
“Yes, Daisy,” said Sweet, her voice a level growl. “You will do this, for the good of the Pack. You will leave tomorrow at sunup.”
Lucky and Alpha trod over the dewy grass of the meadow to the edges of the forest. Upwind, a dozen long-strides away, Daisy was leading Lick, Grunt, and Wiggle on a path between the trees. Lucky could hear the excited chatter of the pups. It was not long after sunup, and they hadn’t journeyed far enough to get tired and cranky just yet.
But how long will this last? Lucky wondered.
“Why were we picked to go on this journey?” Lick was asking.
Lucky had wondered the same thing when Alpha had woken him with a rough nip at his shoulder.
“Get up, Omega, and come with me.” When Lucky had given him a blank look, Alpha had gone on in a low growl. “I will be observing the Fierce Dogs from a distance. I want to see for myself how and when they fail our test, and I want you to see it too.”
Lucky had suppressed a growl of annoyance and followed Alpha, trailing behind Daisy and the pups as they left the camp.
“Alpha chose you because you’re small but strong, like me,” Daisy told Lick. “We’ll cover a good distance through the forest, but no one will notice us.”
“We’re going on an adventure!” yipped Wiggle.
“It’s about time we were given a proper task,” said Grunt. Lucky could not see his face but he could hear the satisfied note in the pup’s voice. He felt a surge of confidence. Perhaps this is what he’s needed all along—a sense of purpose.
Lucky and Alpha walked in silence, holding back regularly behind the cover of trees, careful not to get too close to Daisy and the pups, whose progress was slow. The forest cut a sharp course uphill. The land was sandy, making it difficult to climb, and thorny brambles twisted and crawled along the forest floor.
This journey was not going to be easy for the pups.
Lucky heard Daisy instructing the pups. “There’s a steep hillock coming up,” she told them. “It might be tricky to climb. Take small, careful steps—don’t overstretch yourselves, or you may catch on a thorn—or roll backward. Watch me.”
Alpha met Lucky’s eye with a hard gaze. He could guess what the half wolf was thinking. This is the first test.
Lick followed Daisy up the hillock in front of her litter-brothers. She seemed calm and composed, taking small steps as she had been told. Lucky’s tail wagged with pride. She’s learned her lesson from the accident with the tree. He watched as Lick mounted the incline and joined Daisy at the top. The pup gave a yap of delight and shook out her fur.
Wiggle bounded after her, trying to keep pace, but scrambled and slipped on the crumbling earth and slid back down, trying several times to bound up again, only to lose his paws again.
“Small steps, Wiggle,” Daisy reminded him.
The little pup gave a determined bark and started to mount the incline again. This time he followed instructions, taking small, careful steps. “Look, I’m climbing it!” he yipped. Soon he was at the top, panting alongside his litter-sister, his stubby tail wagging.
“Remember what I told you, Grunt,” said Daisy as the biggest pup started to work his way up the hill.
“I know how to do this,” snarled Grunt defensively. He rushed up the steep hillock, his muscular back legs working as he took long, energetic steps. Lucky watched, impressed by the pup’s ability. A moment later, Grunt lost his paws and slipped back down to the base of the hillock, dirt-dust billowing around him. The pup sneezed and shook off his fur. Then he stiffened and tried again, running at the hillock, reaching about halfway before sliding down again.
Back at the bottom, he barked: “This is stupid! We left a large, sheltered camp with a big house and porch and everything we could ever need for an empty old hill where the only thing to do is walk. It makes no sense!”
“You’re a Wild Dog now,” said Daisy firmly as Lick and Wiggle stood by her side. “Sometimes we need to do things for the Pack, like check the forest for new camps. In the future you will hunt or patrol with the Wild Dogs as well. You’ll come to love being part of it all.”
“We already have a Pack,” snarled Grunt.
Standing some distance away behind the trunk of an old oak, Alpha turned his cool eyes on Lucky.
He’s so sure he’s going to be proven right—that the Fierce Dog pups can’t be educated. Lucky looked away from Alpha to keep an eye on Grunt.
The pup started mounting the incline again, taking small steps. His quick pace sent clouds of dry earth behind him, and he soon reached the top of the hillock.
Lucky and Alpha walked in silence, keeping a slow pace upwind of Daisy and the pups. Lucky sniffed the air, enjoying the rich scent of earth, pine, and grass. Then he froze: He could smell something else, tangy and familiar—the scent of a dog. Lucky suddenly realized that it was the same odor he had detected on the dead pigeons that he and Bruno had found in the forest near the camp. He glanced at Alpha, who seemed not to have noticed.
A few paces on, Lucky spotted the remains of a small creature. He tapped it with his paw and lowered his muzzle to take a sniff.
“Mouse,” said Alpha. He stopped to stretch, showing off his long, muscular limbs.
Lucky caught a trace of that tangy smell. “It was killed by a dog,” he told Alpha.
“I know,” replied the half wolf indifferently. “It was Twitch.”
“Twitch?” Lucky echoed. He looked up, his eyes trailing over tree trunks and a low bush. He remembered the pathetic, injured dog he’d seen while making his way to the city—the dog who’d limped through the forest. How could a dog like that hunt? How could he survive?
Alpha stared down his nose at Lucky. “You seem surprised. Do you think it’s so hard? That only a City Dog can manage without a Pack? Twitch was always self-reliant. He got along fine, despite his injury. Perhaps because of it.”
Lucky’s tail gave a wag at this. He had assumed that Twitch wouldn’t make it, and he was pleased to know the injured dog was surviving on his own. He watched Alpha from the corner of his eye. He had not imagined that the half wolf would ever stand up for another dog. Perhaps there was something gentler beneath that pelt of gray fur.
“Maybe he’s thinking of returning to the Pack,” Lucky wondered aloud.
Alpha rose to his full height, glaring out into the forest, but he spoke quite calmly. “He deserted us as a coward—he would not be welcomed back.” He turned his wolfish face to Lucky. “And if I catch him hunting in our territory, I’ll have him killed.”
Beyond the hillock was a plateau from which it was possible to see the white ridge looming in the distance. There were trees up here but the cover was sparser, with skinny pines replacing the thicker-trunked hardwoods. The terrain was rocky. It would be unforgiving for small, delicate paws.
Lucky and Alpha crouched behind a boulder, within earshot of Daisy and the pups. As the Sun-Dog bounded over the sky, Lucky pitied the three young dogs—they would surely be tired and hungry by now. Their coats gleamed under the gaze of the Sun-Dog and they panted breathlessly. But they persevered, trotting slowly behind Daisy.
“Are we almost there?” yipped Wiggle.
“We’ll go a little farther; I can smell water,” Daisy told him.
Lick turned to her. “Water? I’m so thirsty! Where is the water?”
“It isn’t possible to smell water,” growled Grunt.
Daisy stopped. “If you take a very deep sniff, you’ll be able to smell it too.” She crouched down, rested her muzzle on the rocky ground, and took a long breath.
Lick and Wiggle mirrored Daisy’s movements, lowering themselves onto the ground. Lucky tensed, wondering what Grunt would do. He watched Alpha from the corner of his eye. The dog-wolf was also observing the exchange. Please, Grunt, don’t challenge Daisy’s authority, Lucky silently willed.
Grunt looked skeptical, but he dipped his head and sniffed. For a moment he hardly moved. Then his tail leaped up behind him.
“Water!” he barked. “Not far away! I can smell it!”
“I can, too!” yipped Lick. She bounded up to Grunt and they tumbled on the ground, rolling and barking. Then they raced off in the direction of the water.
“Not too fast,” Daisy called after them, but her tone was cheerful and she started after them with her tail thrashing.
Only little Wiggle stayed where he was. “I can’t smell anything,” he whined.
Daisy skidded on her paws. She returned to the pup and licked his ear comfortingly. “Keep trying,” she told him. “You will.”
The little stream cleaved a shaft of gray rock that cut through the pines. Daisy and the pups drank thirstily and washed their paws. Then Daisy led them toward the white ridge.
She wants to be far enough away from the stream to allow me and Alpha to drink without being detected, Lucky realized. She knows we’re following, but doesn’t want the pups to realize. Clever Daisy! He watched her from a distance, a warm tug of affection at his chest.
As the Sun-Dog eased himself lower in the sky, Daisy and the pups settled down for no-sun in the shelter between two rocks, under the small green leaves of a bowing tree. It would be some time before the sky was black, but Daisy seemed reluctant to go any farther, and the pups were more than happy to flop down onto the ground after walking for the entire journey of the Sun-Dog.
Not far away, Lucky and Alpha found a shaded spot beneath a low tree with branches that trailed down like pup-tails. Lucky was grateful to Daisy for having chosen to stop and make camp. The pups must be exhausted, he thought. She’s making sure they preserve their strength. That warm feeling coursed through him for the kindhearted little dog and the pups in her charge. It vanished when he turned back to Alpha.
The dog-wolf yawned, baring his huge, pointed fangs. He stretched out his forepaw and licked the livid scar.
“How did it happen?” asked Lucky, looking at the wound. “How did you get in a fight with Fierce Dogs?”
Alpha drew his paw toward him and snarled. “Why do you want to know? Do you enjoy hearing about my weakness? Is that it?”
“Of course I don’t enjoy it!” Lucky whined, struggling to control his voice. He looked out toward the rock shelter where Daisy and the pups had made a camp. If they hear me, they’ll know we’ve tricked them. They’ll never forgive me. His eyes trailed back to the dog-wolf. Anyway, what will it help to provoke Alpha? He spoke again in a gentler voice. “I just want to understand why you hate Fierce Dogs so much.”
“I don’t wish to talk about it,” Alpha growled. “Especially not with you, City Dog!” He tossed his head. “Why do you have so much faith in these pups? Everyone knows they’re killers.”
“I have faith in the Pack,” Lucky told him. “With the right support, even young Fierce Dogs can learn to be good. Look how well they’re responding to Daisy.”
“I’m impressed that you think so highly of the Pack,” said Alpha, relaxing onto his side. “But the truth is, a dog never changes. I’ve been around long enough to know that. Look at you—you’re a Lone Dog; it’s in your blood.”
Lucky grew cold and his hackles started rising. He took a deep breath and fought the impulse to snarl back at Alpha.
The dog-wolf went on: “Your Lone Dog nature will always get the better of you. First you joined the Leashed Dogs, then the Wild Pack. Now you have taken it upon yourself to foster the Fierce Dogs. I doubt your commitment will last. I’ll wake up one morning to discover you’ve deserted the Pack, including your precious Fierce Dogs. We’ll be left to pick up the pieces.” He stared at Lucky as if silently inviting him to rise to the goading—to fight back.
I won’t give him the satisfaction, Lucky thought, turning his face away and trying to hide the disgusted curl of his lip.
There was no point trying to reason with this half wolf.
Alpha yawned again. “The problem with you, Lucky, is that—”
Crash!
The sound of branches breaking had both dogs leaping to their paws, their ears pricking and bodies tensing. Beyond some nearby pines, the thump of heavy, lumbering paws rose through the dusty soil. Hackles up, Lucky watched as a dark mass shifted between the trees. From the noise it was making, and the snatches of movement, he knew it had to be huge. He sniffed, catching its thick, musty scent. He heard another crash as whatever it was shoved more branches aside. Spraying the air with pine needles, the thing burst out from the tree cover and stumbled onto the rock plane.
The beast was many times larger than the biggest dog Lucky had ever seen. Its fur was black, thick, and shaggy and it thumped its paws as it moved. Its body was broad and tailless. A giant head was covered in the same shaggy, black fur, with round ears, small, angry eyes, and a snout the color of scorched earth.
Fear shuddered through Lucky’s body. “What is it?” he gasped. He could barely breathe.
Alpha was frozen to the spot, his eyes wild. “A giantfur! They live in forests and hunt alone. They are stronger than the fiercest dogs. Even wolves are scared of them!”
Thankfully the beast had not noticed Lucky and Alpha. He turned with lumbering strides, moving toward the white ridge.
Lucky’s breath caught in his throat. Daisy and the pups! He spun around, looking Alpha in the eye. “I know this wasn’t part of the plan, but we must wake Daisy! She and the pups are in terrible danger!”
He made a move toward the white ridge but Alpha leaped ahead, blocking Lucky with his broad, wolfish body.
“You’re not going anywhere!” the dog-wolf snarled.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
Lucky tried to push past Alpha, but a paw sent him reeling back. “We have to help them! Don’t you understand? What’s wrong with you?”
The horror made Lucky’s heart thump through his chest. There wasn’t a moment to waste!
The wolf-dog gave a cruel laugh. “This has worked out even better than I’d hoped. Now we’ll see what the Fierce Dog pups are really made of. Let them face this challenge alone.”
“No, I—” Lucky began, but Alpha gave such a ferocious snarl that his words dried up.
“That wasn’t a request, City Dog. That was an order.” His yellow gaze traveled over Lucky’s back at the retreating giantfur as it plunged through the foliage. Alpha’s eyes lit up. “We’ll see the true nature of those Fierce Dogs.” His gaze came back to settle on Lucky. “Are you worried that their nature is a savage one?”
Lucky shook his coat and glared at Alpha. “What worries me is whether they will live or die.” He hadn’t felt so helpless in a long while. Had he rescued the pups just so that he could stand by and watch as they were mauled?
The giantfur trod heavily toward the white ridge. Before the beast had reached the two rocks where the dogs had settled to rest, Daisy’s small face poked out, eyes wild with fear. The giantfur paused, turning its head this way and that, sniffing the air. Lucky noticed the long, jagged claws at the end of each huge paw.
Don’t challenge him, Daisy! Lucky willed. His eyes flicked up to the sky. Which Spirit Dog could protect Daisy and the pups? He sent a silent message: Spirit Dogs. Dogs of the day and of the night; dogs of water and of earth; please protect my friends. I beg you!
Grunt suddenly appeared at Daisy’s side, growling at the giantfur, his short tail standing upright.
“Get back!” Daisy ordered, but the pup ignored her, standing by her side as Lick and Wiggle huddled just behind them.
Watching from a distance, Lucky pleaded with Alpha. “We have to help them! We can’t leave them to face this danger alone!”
“Yes, we can,” Alpha snarled, square on to Lucky. “I’ve told you. This is an important test for the savage pups.”
The giantfur took a few steps forward and stopped. It dropped its head, sniffing the dusty earth, ign
oring Grunt, who had started to bark in his high-pitched pup-voice.
Without warning, the beast bounded toward Daisy and the pups. The dogs scrambled away, cowering around the rock as the giantfur roared and threw himself up on his hind legs. Even Grunt moved out of the way, darting next to the base of a pine tree.
The giantfur raised a huge paw, but instead of lashing out at the dogs, he swiped the branches of the bowing tree, sending a storm of leaves through the air. His ragged claws sank into what looked like a nub of yellow bark and emerged sparkling in amber liquid. He stuffed his paw in his mouth and sighed, a dreadful, rumbling sound. In a moment a blizzard of bees swarmed over the beast’s face and he shook his head, his round ears twitching. Licking the last drop of amber juice from his claws, the giantfur took another swipe at the tree as the bees buzzed around him in a frenzied cloud.
Lucky shuddered with relief. “He’s not interested in the dogs,” he sighed. “Look, he’s ignoring them. There’s something in that tree he likes; that’s what he’s after.”
Alpha didn’t reply, his eyes fixed on the giantfur.
Lucky began to relax. They’re going to be fine. As long as Daisy and the pups keep calm, nothing will—
Grunt stepped out behind the giantfur as Daisy, Lick, and Wiggle cowered against the rocks.
Lucky felt a tremble of dread. What’s he doing?
“Get back here, Grunt!” Daisy urged the pup, who was squaring up to the beast.
“I’m not scared of him!” Grunt barked, stalking forward. “I don’t care how big he is!”
“That pup is a fool,” Alpha snarled.
Lucky tried desperately to keep calm. “Please, Alpha, we have to help! He’s young; he doesn’t know what he should do. He needs the help of senior dogs in the Pack—dogs like you.”
Alpha tossed his head dismissively. “Fierce Dogs are unruly mutts! I told you that right from the start.” He held his stance, refusing to let Lucky pass. “We must let this play out.”
Daisy was pleading with Grunt to stand down. “You’re just making him angry!” she yapped.
“A dog never backs down in the face of the enemy!” barked Grunt.