Warriors but Wolves: Into the Wild

Chapter 25

     Overcome with relief at being home again, Firepaw and Ravenpaw sprinted ahead of the patrol into the ThunderPack camp. Frostfur was lying in the middle of the clearing, her head resting sadly on her paws. As the two apprentices bounded in, she lifted her nose and sniffed the air. "My pups!" she cried. She leaped up and raced past Firepaw and Ravenpaw to meet the rest of the party as they emerged from the tunnel.

The warriors carrying the pups set them down, and the pups rushed over to Frostfur and nuzzled into her side. She curled her soft body around them and licked them each in turn, purring loudly. Yellowfang hung back at the camp entrance and looked on silently.

Spottedstar strode up to the returning patrol. She glanced fondly at Frostfur and her pups and then turned her eyes to Whitestorm. "Are they all right?" she asked.

"They're fine," barked Whitestorm.

"Well done, Whitestorm. ThunderPack honors you."

Whitestorm bent his head to accept her praise, and added, "But it was thanks to this apprentice that we found them."

Firepaw lifted his head and tail proudly, about to speak, but Bearclaw's accusing snarl sounded from across the clearing. "Why did you bring back the traitor?" The dark warrior stalked up to the patrol and stood beside his alpha.

"She is no traitor," Firepaw insisted. He looked around the camp. The rest of the wolves had quickly gathered in the clearing to see the pups and congratulate the search party. Some of them had spotted Yellowfang and were eyeing her with looks of pure hatred.

"She killed Bluefur," spat Redtail.

"Look between Bluefur's claws," Ravenpaw suggested. "You will find the white fur of Blackfoot,

not Yellowfang's gray fur!"

Spottedstar nodded at Mousefur, who darted away from the crowd, toward the spot where Bluefur's body lay, waiting for its dawn burial. The Pack waited in tense silence till she returned.

"Ravenpaw is right," Mousefur panted, rushing back to the clearing. "Bluefur was attacked by a white wolf." A murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd.

"But that doesn't mean she didn't help to take the pups!" spat Bearclaw.

"Without Yellowfang we never would have recovered the pups!" Firepaw spat, his exhaustion making him impatient. "She knew that a ShadowPack warrior had taken them. She was hunting for them when I found her. She risked her life returning to the ShadowPack camp. It was Yellowfang who thought up the battle plan that got us into the ShadowPack camp and gave us a chance to defeat Brokenstar!" The wolves listened to Firepaw's words, astonished.

"He's right," Whitestorm barked. "Yellowfang is a friend."

"I'm glad to hear it," murmured Spottedstar, catching Firepaw's eye.

Frostfur's anxious bark sounded from the crowd. "Is Brokenstar dead?" she asked.

"No, he and his closest supporters escaped," Whitestorm told her. "But he will never lead ShadowPack again."

Frostfur sighed in relief and returned to nuzzling her pups.

Whitestorm looked at Spottedstar. "I promised ShadowPack we would leave them in peace for the next moon," he explained. "Brokenstar's time as alpha has left their Pack in chaos."

Spottedstar nodded. "That was a wise and generous offer," she barked approvingly. The ThunderPack alpha walked past Whitestorm and the rest of the patrol and approached Yellowfang. Yellowfang lowered her eyes as Spottedstar touched the gray wolf's rough coat with her nose.