Warriors but Wolves: Into the Wild

Chapter 21

     "Yellowfang has killed Bluefur and taken my pups!" screeched Frostfur. The other queens rushed to Frostfur's side and tried to calm her with licks and caresses, but Frostfur pushed them away and wailed her grief to the darkening sky. As if in reply, the sky rumbled ominously and a cold wind ruffled the wolves' fur.

"Yellowfang!" snarled Bearclaw. "I always knew she was a traitor. Now we know how she managed to fight off the ShadowPack beta. It was a setup to let her trick her way into our Pack!"

Lightning crackled overhead, punctuating Bearclaw's words with a glaring white flash, and a clap of thunder rolled around the woods.

Firepaw couldn't believe what he was hearing. Dazed with grief, his mind whirled. Could Yellowfang really have killed Bluefur?

Above the shocked murmurings, Darkstripe barked loudly, "Spottedstar! What do you say?"

The wolves fell silent as they turned to look at their alpha. Spottedstar's gaze moved across the crowd of wolves, and settled finally on Bluefur's body. The first drops of rain began to fall, sparkling like dewdrops on the healer's still-glossy fur. Spottedstar blinked slowly. Grief clouded her face, and for a moment Firepaw was afraid that this new death would overwhelm her. But when her eyes opened they glittered with a fierceness that showed her determination to seek revenge for this cruel attack. She lifted her head.

"If Yellowfang has killed Bluefur and stolen Frostfur's pups, she will be hunted down without mercy." The crowd barked approvingly. "But we must wait," Spottedstar went on. "There is a storm coming, and I am not prepared to risk more lives. If ShadowPack has our pups, they will come to no immediate harm. I suspect Brokenstar wants them as recruits for his own Pack, or as hostages—to force us to let him hunt in our territory. As soon as the storm has passed, a patrol will follow Yellowfang and bring back our pups."

"We cannot waste time, or the scent will be lost in the rain!" Bearclaw protested. Spottedstar flicked her tail impatiently. "If we send out a hunting party now, our efforts will be wasted

anyway. In this weather the scent will already be lost by the time we are ready. If we wait until after the storm, we stand a better chance of success."

There were murmurs of agreement among the Pack. Even though it was barely sunhigh, the sky was growing much darker. The wolves were unsettled by the lightning and thunder, and seemed willing to listen to their alpha's advice.

Spottedstar looked at her beta. "I'd like to discuss our plans with you, please, Bearclaw." Bearclaw nodded and stalked away toward Spottedstar's den, but the alpha hesitated. She glanced at Firepaw, signaling with a flick of her tail that she wanted to speak to him alone.

The other wolves gathered around Bluefur and began to share tongues with her, their wails of grief sounding above the thunder. Spottedstar wound her way through them and went toward the fern tunnel that led to Bluefur's den.

Firepaw quietly skirted the mourning wolves and followed her inside. It was very dark beneath the ferns. The storm had blotted out the morning sun so that it seemed as if night had fallen. Rain was falling more heavily now, spattering noisily against the leaves, but at least it was sheltered in Bluefur's clearing.

"Firepaw," Spottedstar barked urgently as he arrived at her side, "where is Yellowfang? Do you know?"

"I...I saw Yellowfang go through the camp boundary after the pups went missing. Do you really think she killed Bluefur and took the pups?"

Spottedstar gazed steadily at him. "I don't know," she admitted. "I want you to find her and bring her back—alive. I need to know the truth."

"You're not sending Bearclaw?" Firepaw couldn't help asking.