Fall of the Packs: Blood Ties

Chapter Eleven

"Come on, Axle!"

Petra tugged at his scruff but Axle shook her off, shrinking back. "I don't want to, Petra. Mama said it's best if we stay in the den when she's not here."

"She doesn't need to know," Petra said breezily. "Listen, I don't want to stay under this stuffy old bush all the time. Let's go play!"

Axle shuffled his paws uncertainly. "But you know how angry the other dogs get when we go out there. I don't want them to yell at us again."

"We won't make trouble, they won't even see us." Petra pushed from behind, trying to force her brother out from under the bush. "Come on! It'll be fine!"

Axle glanced over where their other two siblings were sleeping, piled on top of each other. "Should we wake up Kuro and Mira?"

Petra shook her head. "No, you know how fussy Kuro gets. We can play with them later. Let's go!"

She charged out from underneath the bush and Axle reluctantly followed. It was midday and there weren't many dogs in the clearing, which he was glad about. The other dogs were big and scary. He didn't like being around dogs that weren't his siblings or his mother. They all looked at him with that same expression on their face. He didn't have a word for it, but he didn't like it at all.

"Wow, it's all squishy out here," Petra barked, sniffing at the wet ground and making squelching noises with her paws.

"I think all the snow's melting," Axle said. "See, we should go back inside."

"No." Petra gave him a look. "Don't be such a wimp, Axle. Come on, mud is fun!" She threw herself down onto the ground and began to roll around. Jumping back up, she grinned at him. "Look, now I'm brown like Mira!"

Axle laughed and experimentally kneaded his paws through the mud, having to agree that it felt good. "Okay, so mud is fun, but I miss the snow."

Petra nodded. "Yeah, the snow was awesome. I want it to be snowy all the time." She suddenly perked up. "Hey, we should go see if there's still snow in the forest!"

"The forest?!" Axle stared at her incredulously.

"Yeah! I heard some of the big dogs talking, they said there's still snow up by the mountains."

"What's a mountain?"

"I don't know. Wanna find out?"

"But we can't go outside the clearing!" Axle insisted. "Mama will get upset. She's sad all the time, I don't want to make her more sad."

"We won't," Petra said. "We won't be gone for long. Look, no one's watching, they won't even notice that we're gone. We'll go find her something nice and bring it back. How about that?"

Axle still hesitated until Petra gave an exaggerated sigh. "Great Hunter Dog! Why are you so afraid all the time?"

"I'm not afraid," Axle said defensively. "I just--"

"Get scared?"

"No!"

"Well, I'm going whether you're coming or not," Petra declared, jumping up and trotting towards the entrance.

"Petra, wait!" Axle hung back for a moment, then ran after her. "If you really want to leave, we can't walk out the front. One of the big dogs is always standing out there."

"Oh, right. Let's sneak out through the brambles in the back." Petra changed course, heading for a part of the woven wall around the clearing that was less reinforced. "See, that's why you should come, Axle. You're smart."