Silvershore

Chapter One

Wood had thrown himself at Daruk with everything in his power. Wood was clearly stronger, larger, and more dominant than Daruk. If Wood killed him in this moment, would everything go back to normal?

"Aries, attack." Daruk ordered.

Aries responded immediately after Daruk gave his command. He really was, in every way possible, a slave.

Aries headbutted into Wood, instantly knocking him to the grass that swayed with the howling wind.

"Hold him down," Daruk told Aries as soon as Wood hit the ground. Aries instantly jumped up, landing right above Wood. He dug his claws into the dirt below so that no matter how hard Wood kicked his stomach, Aries wouldn't budge.

"D...DAMN YOU!" Wood shouted. "WE TRUSTED YOU! W-WE LOVED YOU!" His voice was shaking. "EVERYTHING IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

This was a side to Wood that no one had seen before. Stormjay had never heard Wood yell at anyone like this, no matter how clear his annoyance was. But now, his fury sprang to life, thrumming through his veins. There was nothing in his heart and soul at this moment but pure anger.

"Don't blame this on me..." Daruk sighed, "you were all too dumb to figure it out. Anyway, there's no point in trying to attack me, since Aries is stronger than almost everyone here combined.

"If we were to kill you...would Aries revert back to normal?" Jupiter gave Daruk an icy stare. Anger and distrust flowed through his expression like lava.

"Eh...if something were to happen to me, I dunno what would happen to him...my guess is, Aries would continue to be in this state, but with no one to give him commands. He'd just be stuck in the same spot until he died of starvation or something...but I dunno...that's just an assumption. On all levels except physical, Aries is dead. There is no saving him."

"We got her! We saved Nyla!" Keaton sprinted to the remaining wolves in the crowd, with relief and victory sparking through his eyes. "Sakura has her. Everything is gonna be okay!"

Daruk cackled. "Good job. Well, I'm leaving...c'mon, Aries."

Aries jumped off of Wood in an instant, following Daruk east towards The Pack of the Fire's Main Territory.

"...What?" Keaton tilted his head slightly to the left.

"What's going on?" Fawn and everyone else approached the crowd, in blissful ignorance of the events that took place.

Everyone was silent.

"...Great job at getting Nyla back," Wood's voice had calmed to normal again, as if nothing happened. As if he hadn't absolutely lost it, and as if everything had ended up all a dream.

"I-I wanna go home..." Bright Moon sniffled. "C-Can we go yet...?"

"Yes. We're leaving, dear." Misa sighed.

"What's with the atmosphere?" Ragna asked. "And...where did Daruk go...?"

"...We'll have a pack meeting tomorrow. I'll explain what took place here to anyone in the dark about it. Daruk is no longer a member of The Pack of the Earth, which means I need to choose a new beta."

"W...What do you mean, he isn't a member...?" Sakura asked.

"He's a traitor." Loki growled. "There's nothing more to it."

"I'm friggin' leaving..." Jupiter growled.

"I'm coming with you." Roscoe sighed.

Fawn immediately ran to Wood, as if she'd been drawn to him like a magnet. Wood responded by wrapping his tail around her waist gently as she shivered, not only from the wintry breeze, but fear and confusion.