Ázzuen, Marra, and I each carried a piece of deer meat up Wolf Killer Hill. True, our first deer had been old and injured, but its meat was as sweet as any I’d tasted. I had been wrong about MikLan. He was strong for his size, and he had been the one to make the first strike. The humans had special sticks that helped them throw their sharpsticks far, and MikLan was especially good at using them. The six of us brought the deer down so easily I wanted to laugh. And just in time. Most of the elkryn had left the Great Plain and only a few remained at the Tall Grass field. Two days ago Ruuqo had told us that if there were no successful hunts over the next few nights, we would have to begin our winter travels. I spent a lot of time wondering how I would manage to see Girl during the winter. It would be harder to hunt with the humans then, so I was glad we had already succeeded in catching large prey together. And I was glad that hunting with the humans allowed me to forget as much as possible what had happened at the Speaking. Not even Ázzuen had any ideas of what we should do about what I’d learned, and I could only hope that any trouble would wait until we could figure something out.
Ázzuen, Marra, and I had argued about what to do with our share of the deer. We had buried some, but would still have to explain ourselves to the pack.
“They’ll notice it on our breath,” Marra said. “It’s one thing to smell of rabbits or even hedgehog. We could easily catch those on our own. But not a deer. If they knew we’d caught a deer they’d want to know all about it.”
Marra was the best of all of us at understanding pack dynamics. It made sense to listen to her.
“We could say we found it already dead,” I suggested.
“It’s too fresh,” Ázzuen said, “and we smell of the hunt. They’ll know we’re lying.”
Unlike the smell of humans, which was only on the surface of our fur and skin, the large-prey hunt scent was deep within us and could not be washed away or easily disguised.
“Well, what are we supposed to tell them? Do we have to leave it?” I asked, frustrated.
“We can’t do that,” Marra answered slowly. “They’ll know we hunted large prey and wonder why we didn’t bring any back to the pack.”
“We’ll just have to think of something.”
Ázzuen sounded confident that he would come up with a solution. I envied him his cleverness. I could almost hear his mind working. Marra and I waited as his ears twitched and he closed his eyes halfway. It wasn’t long before his eyes lit up.
An hour later, we carefully made our way up Wolf Killer. It was a relatively small but steep hill that rose up strangely right in the middle of the forest, a twenty-minute run from Fallen Tree. Some said that long ago Wolf Killer Hill had been a great volcano, and that the small jagged hill was all that was left of it. Others said it was made by humans or by the Greatwolves in a time long ago. It got its name because wolves who were not careful would run on it, only to fall off one of its many steep drops onto jagged rocks below. Ázzuen’s idea was simple. We’d say we followed a deer to the hill, and chased it off the edge, and that we were only able to reach a little of the meat before it slipped off a cliff. All we had to do was to roll in the dirt near the yew trees that grew only on the top of Wolf Killer. The ancient trees were poisonous, and every wolf knew their distinct scent. There would be no reason for them to question us. We hoped.
“Can’t we just leave the meat here?” I mumbled, halfway up the hill. The slope was steep and it was hard to climb while keeping hold of the meat.
“It should smell of the top,” Ázzuen panted. “It’s not that much farther.”
“You both need to run more.” Marra grinned around her meat. “You’re getting soft.”
I stopped to catch my breath and to find a suitable response. That was when I smelled the Stone Peak wolves. Ázzuen and Marra caught the scent at almost the same moment. We heard the mumble of voices, but could not make out the words.
“What are they doing in our territory?” Ázzuen demanded, setting down his meat.
“And more important, where are they?” Marra looked around her.
“They must be on the other side of the hill,” Ázzuen said. “Somehow their voices carry over it.”
“At least four of them,” Marra said, raising her nose to the wind, and then lowering it to the dirt. “I think Torell is one of them. I’m not sure who the others are.”
I had also caught Torell’s distinctive, sickly scent. Indignation mixed with my fear as I realized the Stone Peak wolves must have been in our lands for at least two days. The hill blocked the flow of the wind so our pack had not yet smelled them.
“We have to tell Ruuqo and Rissa,” Ázzuen said doubtfully.
“We can’t,” Marra said. “The pack will come here to look for them, and then they’ll follow our trail back to the humans. We won’t have time to disguise the trail.”
Marra was right. But our obligation to pack required we tell the leaderwolves about the Stone Peaks.
“We could find out what the Stone Peaks are doing,” I suggested. “If they’re leaving the territory and aren’t going to cause trouble, maybe we wouldn’t have to say anything. If they’re not, we’d have something more definite to tell Ruuqo and Rissa, and we might have time to disguise our trail.”
“Then we’d be bringing valuable information to the pack,” Marra said thoughtfully.
“And we could tell Ruuqo and Rissa we heard the Stone Peaks on our way back from Wolf Killer,” Ázzuen added. “Someplace they might not be able to find our trail to the humans.”
Ázzuen and Marra were both looking at me as if I should make the decision. Oddly, I found myself wishing Tlitoo was around. It had been more than half a moon since I had seen the bird outside the old woman’s shelter. I never expected to miss his annoying comments, but at least he never looked at me like he thought I should know what to do.
“We don’t want Ruuqo finding out that we’re lying,” I said, coming to a decision. I had brought Ázzuen and Marra into this. It was my duty to make sure they were not banished from the pack because of me. “We’ll find out what the Stone Peaks are doing.”
Ázzuen and Marra dipped their heads in agreement. We buried the meat shallowly so that we would be able to find it again easily on our way back.
“Marra, you lead us there; Ázzuen, you listen for trouble,” I said. Marra had the best nose among us, and Ázzuen the best ears. Between the two of them, they could track anything. I wanted to make sure we were as careful as possible.
We found the Stone Peak wolves hiding under an overhang just on the far side of the hill. The outcropping provided a good place to rest, and probably helped to hide their scent. If the wind had not changed as we climbed the hill we might never have smelled them. Marra led us downwind of the Stone Peak wolves so they would not smell us, and we had to lie at a sharp angle on bits of broken stone, just above and to the right of their hiding place. The stories of wolves falling off Wolf Killer once again ran through my head, and I dug my paws into the rocks. My heart was beating so fast that I was sure the Stone Peaks would hear it. I twisted my neck a little to see better into their hiding place.
Torell, the fierce, terribly scarred wolf who had challenged us at the Tree Crossing, was there, along with three others—two males and a female. The female was Ceela, Torell’s mate. I did not know the other two wolves.
“It’s now or never,” a lean but strong-looking young male was saying. “Our territory is becoming useless to us. We have no good hunting left, no safe places to rest. If we do not kill them, our bloodline will die out.”
“We must be careful,” Torell said, his ravaged face grim. “We must be smart. This is not like taking land from Vole Eaters. We are outnumbered. They have strengths we do not.”
“Do they mean us?” Ázzuen whispered.
I glared at him, pulling back my lips, warning him to be quiet. I did not dare speak aloud. He lowered his ears in apology.
“I am not afraid of weaklings,” the large female said.
“Don’t be stupid, Ceela,” Torell said. “If we are not careful we will lose everything. We won’t get more than one chance. Besides, the Greatwolves will kill us if we are not smart about it. We cannot count on their own conflicts distracting them. We must see if the Tree Line pack and the Wind Lake pack support us. Without them we won’t have a chance.”
Listening to them wasn’t helping me understand what was going on. What did they mean about the Greatwolves’ conflict? And why did they want Tree Line and Wind Lake’s help? I knew that the Stone Peaks wanted our territory. It had to be us they wanted to attack. I leaned forward to hear better, not noticing the loose rocks at my feet. Several of them clattered down the hill, and the Stone Peaks looked up.
Just then the wind changed, blowing our scent toward them. Torell lifted his nose. With surprising speed, he bounded toward our hiding place. Marra was closest to him, and crouched low to the ground, exploring the scent marks they had left, and she was last to her feet. Before she could rise, Torell had her pinned to the ground. She scrabbled ferociously, then lay still as Torell’s weight pressed down upon her.
“The Swift River pack must not care much for their pups, to let them wander the territories like this,” he said.
Ázzuen and I had begun to run down the hill, but we could hear the other Stone Peaks coming to help Torell. I turned, and began to run back up the hill, with Ázzuen right behind me. We leapt at Torell, managing to knock him off Marra just as the other Stone Peaks came crashing to the top of the hill. Then we ran.
We skidded down the hill, trying to control our descent as best we could. For an instant I considered stopping for our deer meat, and then thought better of it. We reached the bottom of the hill without injury and pelted toward Wood’s Edge, where the horses once had been. We knew our pack was there now, trying for one last pre-winter hunt. It was a relief to run on flat ground. I thought the Stone Peaks would stop pursuing us after a few moments—they were in our territory after all. But they kept coming.
“Why don’t they stop?” I gasped.
“Because they don’t want us telling Ruuqo what we heard,” Marra answered grimly.
I felt my insides grow cold. If Marra was right, then the Stone Peaks would kill us if they caught us. We ran faster than we had ever run, faster even than we had run to surround the deer. Marra led the way, stretching several wolflengths ahead. Stone Peaks are large and strong. Their heavy bones make it easier for them to catch large prey, but they are not as fleet as Swift River wolves, and even half-grown pups like us could outrun them over a short distance. And it was our territory. We knew every bush and bramble. One of the Stone Peaks, however, did not fall behind. It was the lean male who had been urging Torell to act. I could smell that he was young, probably not more than two years old. I kept Ázzuen ahead of me. He was a fast runner now, but not as fast as Marra and I, and I didn’t want to leave him behind. The woods thickened and the deer trail we ran upon disappeared. It was harder to run fast without the trail, and Ázzuen, Marra, and I were separated by trees, rocks, and bushes. I heard the young male gaining on me as he easily jumped over rocks and limbs.
Moments later, I heard him leap, and he landed on me, catching my back legs and knocking me over. He was nearly half again my weight but I didn’t think twice. I bit him hard, where his foreleg met his chest, in a spot where there was tender webbing and not much muscle. He yelped in surprise and pain. I scrambled to my feet. I heard pounding feet around me, but couldn’t tell where the Stone Peaks were, or where Ázzuen and Marra ran. I faced the youngwolf, fury burning within me. It felt good to have my anger back.
“This is our territory!” I growled. “You don’t belong here.”
The youngwolf looked surprised and then laughed. “Why don’t you come join us, littlewolf? You are wasted in Swift River. Ruuqo does not appreciate you. Your raven friend told me as much. And I would like a strong female as my mate. I am Pell. Will you remember that?”
Confused, I just stood there and looked at him, even though I heard the crashing of the other wolves around us. Suddenly Ázzuen burst out of the trees and slammed into Pell, snarling. He had come back for me. The attack took Pell by surprise, and Ázzuen was able to throw him off balance.
“Come on, Kaala!” Ázzuen shouted, as he turned to growl at Pell.
I was a little shocked at Ázzuen’s ferocity. I could smell Ceela close on Ázzuen’s tail and turned to run. We picked up Marra’s scent. She was leading Torell and the other Stone Peak wolf in a vigorous chase. We found a shortcut through the trees and caught up to her. She had left the two larger wolves far behind. The three of us ran together to the Tall Grass plains to find our pack.
I put every bit of energy I had into running. We were getting tired, and although they were slower than we were, the Stone Peaks had more endurance. I was glad we did not have much farther to run. I could smell that the pack was spread out along the edges of the woods. Just as we reached the edge of the plain, I almost tripped over Unnan. He was waiting for us. He opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the Stone Peaks chasing us, he turned and ran. I was too tired to call out a warning to the pack. Even Marra was gasping for air, but she managed a breathless warning bark.
Minn and Yllin were the first to reach us, just as we emerged from the trees. They had been circling a few elkryn who had wandered over from the Great Plain. Perhaps Torell and the others did not bother to smell for the rest of the pack or perhaps they did not care, but they laughed when they saw the two slight youngwolves running toward them. Torell sneered as he and Pell bowled into Yllin and Minn. The youngwolves were outmatched and we leapt to help them. Two breaths later, Ruuqo, Rissa, Werrna, and Trevegg ran to us. Ceela and the fourth Stone Peak wolf reached the plain at the same moment. After a quick scuffle, both packs stood apart. The four Stone Peaks held their ground, but prepared to run, outmatched by six grown Swift River wolves.
Ázzuen, Marra, and I were covered with dirt, twigs, and leaves, and our fur was matted from our encounter with the Stone Peaks, but I had been too concerned about escaping to notice. Ruuqo looked at our disheveled appearance and pulled his lips back in a snarl. It seemed like the late afternoon light actually steamed off his fur. Rissa stood beside him, white fur raised along her back, growling furiously.
“What are you doing in Swift River territory, menacing Swift River pups?” she demanded.
“If you care so much about them, why leave them to run alone?” Ceela snarled.
Ruuqo and Rissa ignored her, awaiting Torell’s answer. For a few more moments, the three stood staring at one another. Ceela, Pell, and the fourth Stone Peak stood behind Torell, tensed to fight. Finally, Torell allowed his fur to settle a little. The other three stood guard.
“We would not have hurt them,” he said at last. “We have important matters to discuss with you. We were on our way here when we found them spying on us.”
“He’s lying,” Ázzuen whispered, but too softly for anyone but me to hear. Marra looked over at me. I, too, was terrified of the Stone Peaks, but I had to speak up.
“He’s lying,” I said loudly, lowering my ears as every head swung to me. “They were planning to attack us. And they were in our territory. They want to get Tree Line and Wind Lake to join forces with them against us. We heard them say so.”
I shifted uncomfortably as everyone stared at me.
“It’s true,” Ázzuen said stolidly, standing beside me. “We all heard them.”
Marra grunted in agreement, and Ruuqo turned a cold gaze on Torell. I saw Pell trying to catch my eye.
“That’s enough reason for us to kill you, Torell,” Ruuqo said. “Why should I let you live to attack us when we sleep? We should slay you where you stand.”
“You can try, runtwolf,” the largest of the Stone Peaks grunted, his brown coat bristling. It occurred to me that he was rather stupid. Which was probably why a wolf of his size wasn’t leading a pack.
“Shut up, Arrun,” Torell said. “Your pups misunderstood what they heard, Ruuqo. It is not you we plan to kill.” He paused. “It is the humans.”
The pack fell so silent, I could hear the elkryn chewing on the plain twenty wolflengths away. It was as if Torell had said he was going to pull the wolfstar out of the sky and slay it like prey. I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been. Even after hearing what the Greatwolves and the spiritwolf had said at the Speaking, I had never dreamed wolves would really attack humans. It was like thinking prey would grow fangs and hunt.
Rissa was the first to find her voice. “Have you gone mad, Torell?” she asked very softly. “You know the penalty for killing humans. The Greatwolves will destroy your entire pack, and any wolf who bears your blood. They will wipe out your entire bloodline. Stone Peak will be no more.”
“The Greatwolves have grown weak and soft willed,” Torell said. “If they know what is really going on in the valley, they don’t care. Do you know that the humans have declared war on all of wolfkind, Ruuqo?”
Ruuqo was silent, meeting Rissa’s eyes.
“I thought not. You do not even know what is happening in your own lands. The humans on our side of the river kill every wolf they see. They kill every long-fang, every bear, every fox and dhole. Every creature that they think competes with them for the hunt. If we do not kill them, they will kill us.”
“I had heard it,” Werrna said, speaking for the first time. “But I did not believe it could be true. Are you sure your scouts are not exaggerating, Torell?” She seemed to respect the Stone Peak leaderwolf.
“It is true,” he said, acknowledging her with a nod. “I’ve seen it myself. The humans hate us. All of them.”
I saw Ázzuen trying to catch my eye. He wanted me to tell the pack about our humans, who certainly didn’t want us dead. But I could not. It would be admitting breaking pack rules. My heart beat so fast I thought it would burst from my chest.
“The Tree Line and Wind Lake packs will join us,” Torell said. “Vole Eater may not, but they are not strong enough to matter. You are, Ruuqo. We need you as our allies. You must join us.”
“I cannot so lightly break the covenant,” Ruuqo said. “You are insane to do so.” He paced restlessly. “But if what you say is true, we must do something. I will consult with Tree Line and Wind Lake,” he said. “And with my own wolves. And I will let you know what I decide.”
“It is no longer your choice, Ruuqo,” Ceela said. “All packs in the valley will agree once they know what is happening. You either join with us in this war or you are our enemy. There is nothing in between.”
“You cannot make decisions for the whole valley, Ceela,” Rissa said. “And you should not threaten us lightly. Torell is right—we make good allies. But you do not want Swift River as your enemy.”
Ruuqo took a deep breath. “I will not break the covenant unless I know there is no other way,” he said again. “Go from our lands in peace, Torell. But do not trouble my pack again.”
Torell’s tail still stood stiff and I could tell he was struggling to stifle a growl.
“You have a night to decide, Ruuqo.” Torell’s ravaged face was grim. “Tomorrow night is moon’s wane—the night the humans of the two closest tribes gather together here on the Tall Grass plain. They will have a hunting ceremony where their young prove their worth by challenging elkryn. They will be preoccupied and therefore easy prey. That is when we attack. If you are not with us,” he repeated, “we will consider you with them.”
With that, Torell nodded to his packmates and the large wolves ran into the woods. Pell stayed back for a moment, trying to catch my attention. I kept my eyes lowered, refusing to meet his. Ázzuen rumbled a low growl. Pell gave a concerned growl-bark, and followed his packmates.