Dominance: Betrayal

7

I awoke with a gasp and had to tell myself to breathe. I got up and ran. Mind on one thing and one thing only. Tears streamed down my snout and blurred my vision, that didn't stop me, my mind was on one thing and one thing only. I burst into my den.

Mom wasn't anywhere to be found. I panicked. Due to the rain the day before, her paw prints were still visible on the damp ground, and I was able to follow them through the forest, past a pond, into a clearing, and off a cliff.

"MOM!" I screamed into the raging river below as I crumpled to the ground.

"Mommy.."

The next morning

My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to light of the morning sun. It took a second for me to gather my thoughts, but when I did, my eyes flew open and I gasped. Serabi awoke with a start.

"What's wrong?" she asked with worried eyes.

"I have to find Koda, then we're going to destroy the humans in white cloth."

"I don't think Koda's-"

"Please don't, just don't say the words." I fought the lump in my throat and blinked several times to rid my eyes of tears. "We've gotta go."

 She gets up and follows me as I run out of the clearing.

"Koda?!" I yell as I crunch through the red yellow and orange leaves. A thick frost grasps coldly at the pads of my paws, and they soon go numb.

"Serabi, where is the pack?" I ask as the eerie silence sets in.

"Oh, uh, they left Kiara." Her ears lowered guiltily.

"What? Th-they left? Where did they go?" I asked as I remember good and bad memories with my pack.

"I don't know, but I can tell you one thing: they were running from Koda. He killed Alpha Kovu and the guard wolves."

"N-n-n-n-n-no. NO! NO! He-he's not a killer! IT WAS THE HUMANS IN WHITE CLOTH! THEY DID THIS TO HIM!" I stopped running and embraced the cold ground as a wave of tears flooded my eyes, "He can't be gone," I sobbed, "I'm pregnant..."