Forest's Journey

Chapter 20

He took Forest's brief surprise as an opportunity to push Forest over and stand back on his paws. Forest scrambled to get up, but it was too late. The he-wolf dealt a blow from under his chin that knocked him back and incapacitated him. The he-wolf marched forward, his eyes filled with violent excitement, when suddenly Rose whipped around and kicked the he-wolf in the haunches. The he-wolf turned to face her, and Forest recovered from his daze and leapt back on his feet. He leapt for the flank of the enemy he-wolf, who was distracted by Rose. He knocked him over and dealt a blow to his head that knocked him out.

"Thanks." he panted as he gazed at Rose.

The corners of her mouth curled upwards in a smile.

"No problem." she replied.

They looked for Bush and found that he wasn't surrounded by that many wolves anymore. They raced towards him, hoping for an opportunity to talk. A few wolves tried to block them, but they pushed them away, painfully aware of how urgent the situation was. They came face to face with the rival Beta. Forest sighed. He was never going to let them pass.

"Why are you trying to find Bush?" he barked.

Forest and Rose took him out quickly, attacking both flanks at the same time. While he was recovering from the shock of being attacked so aggressively, Forest knocked him over on his side and Rose knocked him out. Suddenly, they were face-to-face with Bush.

"Why did you just knock out my Beta?" questioned Bush.

"He was trying to stop us from talking to you." Forest answered.

"What do we have to talk about? We're in the middle of a war, Forest, and we're rival Alphas." said Bush.

"But we don't have to be. You don't seriously believe I sent wolves over the border, do you?" asked Forest.

Bush stared him in the eyes, and for the first time in more than a moon Forest saw emotion glittering in Bush's eyes.

"No, Forest, I don't actually believe you would do something so dishonourable. However, my packmates have left me no choice but to attack. If I didn't, they would view me as weak, and they wouldn't want me as their leader anymore. Without me as their leader, the pack will disband. I'm only doing this for my pack."

"You should've told them how devastating a war is for your pack!"

"I've tried, Forest. They just wouldn't listen to me."

"You should've gotten your mate and your Beta and Delta to support you then. The pack wouldn't dare disobey you if all their top leaders agree with you."

Bush huffed with frustration and anger.

"You don't get it, Forest. The wolves who are supposed to support me are the wolves who are calling for this war. I tried to reason and argue with them but it didn't work. They wanted a battle, Forest, and I couldn't do anything about it."

"You can still fix things now, Bush. Tell your wolves to retreat and go home."

"If I do that, I won't be the Alpha by the time I get back, and the pack might fall apart. I'm sorry, Forest, there is nothing I can do."

With that, Bush spun around and ran off. Forest and Rose surveyed the fighting wolves with worry and anxiety.

"We can't let this battle rage on, Rose. We have to find a way to stop it." Forest said.

"Let's get more of our wolves here to fight them so they can lose and go back." decided Rose.

Forest called over the nearest packmate he could see.

"Go back to camp and fetch 10 Lambdas to join the fight," he instructed.

"But the camp would be quite unguarded." his packmate whispered back.

"It's ok, they don't know that. All we need to do is keep them away from the camp. Now go." he commanded.

Forest and Rose threw themselves back into the fight. The dry ground was now wet and sticky with blood. Adrenaline pumped in Forest's veins as he hauled a she-wolf off one of his struggling packmates. Soon after the other Lambdas joined the battle, Forest could see that the opposing pack was beginning to lose. Their army was overwhelmed and many of their wolves were injured.

"Retreat, Pack of the Bush wolves retreat." Bush called.

Forest and Rose gave a huge sigh of relief.

"Forest and Rose, we have decided to officially set the border to the thick line of bushes, like you initially suggested." announced Bush.

Forest's and Rose's eyes widened with shock. They had won over the land so easily? At first Forest thought there must be a catch to it, then he realised it was probably Bush who made this call, and he wasn't exactly a trickster. He felt proud of his friend for standing up for himself and making his opinions and wishes known to his packmates. Perhaps this was step one in him earning more respect and trust from his packmates.

"Thank you, Alpha Bush and Alpha Holly, for making the choice that would bring peace upon our packs." responded Forest.

Soon, Forest led his wolves home and announced the good news to his packmates. A few of them were suspicious of Bush's motives but most of them just celebrated. They gathered at the centre of camp, chatting merrily among themselves while the Theta, Iota, Sigma, Omegas and others who didn't fight tended to their wounds. Forest was beyond relieved that they didn't lose anyone in this battle. It would've been a huge shame to lose a packmate that he had gained only a month ago.

"So you managed to convince Bush to give over his land, eh?" asked the Delta.

"Yep. He said he wasn't going to at first, but then he must've changed his mind." replied Forest.

"I thought you'd be able to change his mind," said Amber.

"I'm glad we did. This way we can avoid war and death." responded Rose.

The next morning Forest and Rose took everyone to the new border to tell them where it was. They could smell the Pack of the Bush's scent markers there, and Forest was glad that Bush honoured his promise. The wolves were happy to have a distinguishable border they wouldn't accidentally cross all the time.