Ice Age: The Next Generation

May The Best Wolf Win

A/N: The picture above is Lone Star

Exactly one week later, Denali, Rorik and Haken emerged from the brush and onto the shores of the river, Sassy and the girls right behind them. The rest of the herd waited on the other side of the flowing water, watching with heavy anticipation. Lone Star stood in front of his pack with Nikita at his right and Anker at his left. He smiled cruelly as Denali stepped forward.
"Well, what do you know. Saskia didn't mate a coward like I originally thought she had."
"The only coward here is you." Denali said, his deep voice firm and unwavering. "Only a coward rapes an innocent 10 month pup and then turns tail and runs for years, only to show up later and not even give her the respect of the challenge." Lone Star's ears flicked back and his eyes grew cold as he glared at Denali.
"She's a female, and she should've expected the challenge to be issued to the men who can handle it." He gave Sassy a leering smile. "I never would've left such an...innocent...to fend for herself. She and I could've made that pack ours. But no." His lips curled back in a snarl. "Your precious wife forgot her place and decided that she alone was alpha and ordered me off her territory. And to think I was in love with you Saskia."
"If you loved me then why did you force me and then mate with my beta the very next night?" Sassy growled out. "And here's a bit of news for you, Fenrir...," Lone Star growled at the name. "You got me pregnant. But I lost the pups within three weeks." Surprise crossed Lone Star's face before he remembered himself and snarled again.
"It's of little consequence to me that you made the wrong decisions Saskia. I would've mated you and raised our pups."
"I'm grateful they died so they would never know a father like you." At that, Lone Star drew himself up to his full height and brought his eyes back to Denali.
"The challenge a three part process. You and your sons will each fight my three best wolves; Anker, Raksha, and Gunner. Whichever one of you survives, should any of you survive which I doubt you will, that wolf will face me in a fight to the death."
"Yeah that's real fair." Rorik snarked. "Meanwhile whoever does end up facing you is going to be tired and hurt from his own fight, which you are fresh and strong." Nikita stepped forward.
"If I may Alpha...," Lone Star looked at her with contempt and her own eyes flashed with hatred. "This fight is for territory, or so you say. Shouldn't the fight be strictly leader against leader, the way it's always been done?" Lone Star looked at Nikita a moment before suddenly lunging forward to bite her throat. Nikita howled in pain and surprise and before anyone could move, a blur shot towards the wolves and collided with Lone Star. Haken wrestled the older wolf off of Nikita and stood over her protectively, fur puffed out and fangs bared in anger. Lone Star observed Haken for a moment, looking between him and Nikita, laying on her side under Haken, panting shallowly, blood running in a slow stream down her neck.
"Treacherous bitch." Lone Star spat out, getting to his feet and squaring off with Haken. "Alright, since you want to protect that useless female and already presumed to attack, this will be between you and me."
"No!" Two voices shouted at the same time and Rorik looked to Sassy in horror as she ran forward.
"Lone Star this has been between you and me since I was a pup and that has never changed. Leave my family out of this and face me like real wolf!" She raised her head high, looking down her nose. "Or are you afraid of being bested by a female?" Lone Star snarled and lunged for Sassy. She met him halfway and the two collided, rolling in the dirt before jumping apart, only to attack each other again. Lone Star dove for her throat but she smacked him away and instead latched her teeth onto the bigger wolf's shoulder. Her fangs sank in hard and the male howled as he tried to shake her off. Sassy could vaguely hear her sons and husband yelling, probable at each other.
"Keep them away Denali. Let me finish this once and for all."

Rorik tried to attack Lone Star as he went after his mother but his father jumped in front of him, forcing him away.
"Dad let me fight him! I know I can nail the snake if-,"
"No!" Denali yelled. "Don't you get it? She needs to do this. This is her fight, her enemy. If she doesn't fight him, she'll never be free from him." Rorik knew Denali was right. Mom had to settle the past herself or she'd never be at peace with it. And as much as he wanted to fight for her, he knew she had to do this. His heart broke as he helplessly watched his mother grapple with the larger male. He knew she'd win. She was the smartest fighter he'd ever seen, she had to win. If she didn't, he didn't care about wolf tradition. He'd rip Lone Star's throat out himself.
Sassy whined as Lone Star managed to land a bite on her flank, but quickly whipped around and caught him by the scruff in her maw. He struggled hard and she fought to keep the upper hand. If she could just pin him down and latch onto his neck, she could end this. Lone Star bucked like a horse and Sassy let go, only to immediately lunge for the vulnerable part of his neck underneath his chin. She latched on and he flopped to the ground with her on top. She growled and bit down harder, intending to just rip his throat out and be done with it when he whined.
"Sassy please!!" His voice was high pitched and full of panic. She froze momentarily but didn't release her hold. "Sassy I promise I'll leave and never bother you or your family again! Just please don't kill me!" She slowly detached her jaw and raised her head slightly to look him in the eyes. He was terrified. She knew it. Her lips curled back in a snarl, her fangs dripping with his blood.
"Give me one good reason why I should spare you, you demon." Lone Star's eyes widened and he looked earnestly at her.
"Because I really did love you!" Sassy couldn't believe her ears. Then, something clicked. A sense of relief washed over her and she almost chuckled. Instead, she looked over him, her teeth still bared.
"You never loved anyone but yourself. But I'm not a murderer." She got off him and jerked her head towards the woods. "Get out of here now. And if I ever so much as smell your scent on the wind, I'll hunt you down and kill you without a second thought." Lone Star stared up at her for a moment, stunned, before lowering his head in a sign of submission. He shakily got to his feet and kept his head down as he passed Sassy and her family and slunk off into the woods. Sassy heaved a sigh of relief and Rorik ran up to her.
"Mom! Why did you let him go!?" Sassy looked to her son and smiled.
"Because the past is the past. I moved on with my life and created something beautiful out of it. Lone Star wasn't worth the death on my conscience, even if it was him. All he ever cared about was himself and how he was treated and how he looked to others. I just humiliated him in front of his entire pack and my whole herd and family. He'll never show his face again, and in fact he might still die of blood loss. I took out plenty of anger on him." Rorik stared at her in disbelief and Sassy laughed and nuzzled her eldest under his chin. "Move on little one. Life's too short." Sassy then ran to her husband and her daughters surrounded them, nuzzling their mother. The herd was cheering and crossing the river to join them. The sabers were the first ones over and Rose ran up to Rorik.
"She did it! Though I'm sure you would've kicked his butt just as well." She gave him a mischievous smile. Rorik looked at her a moment, his mother's words playing over in his head. "Life's too short." Rorik suddenly leaned forward and licked Rose right across the lips. She gasped and stumbled back a bit, staring at him in shock.
"Rose, you drive me nuts but so help me I think I'm in love with you." He blurted out. Her eyes grew even rounder if that was possible and her jaw dropped open. She gaped at him like a fish out of water for several moments before gulping hard and blushing under her fur.
"I um....I...might be in love with you too." She mumbled. Rorik looked at her for a moment before smirking in pleasure.

Freya licked her mother's cheek affectionately and looked at her.
"I'm proud of you mom. But can I ask you something?" Sassy nodded. "Why did you keep calling Lone Star, Fenrir? What does that mean?"
"It's an old legend among wolves. Basically Fenrir was the evil son of a god. The name literally means evil." Freya considered this for a moment before nodding.
"It fits." Sassy chuckled, but then everyone went silent as Anker approached Sassy, head lowered slightly as a sign of respect.
"You defeated our alpha. We look to you now as our leader." Sassy was silent for a moment before shaking her head.
"I have no desire to return to pack life, much less be in charge of one again. The way I see it, if any of you would like to stay with us, you're more than welcome. If not, you can stay with the pack or go your separate ways, whatever you would like to do. I hold no grudge against you." Anker nodded once and gave a small smile.
"Thank you. I will discuss it with the pack." He bowed his head to Sassy again, then cut a quick glance at Freya. Freya's heart skipped a beat and she nearly slapped herself. Anker again have a small smile, then turned and ran to his pack. They quickly disappeared into the trees. Freya wondered if that would be the last they'd ever seen if the pack, of Anker. She kind of hoped so.

A/N: Hi everyone!! I wanted to thank you all for reading this far! Quick disclaimer, the story about Fenrir is in fact a true Viking myth. Fenrir was the evil wolf son of Loki, the god of mischief. (I'm sure all my fellow fangirls know who I'm talking about.....) Ahem, anyway like I mentioned in my first chapter, I am of viking decent so I added that bit just for one more little Nordic easter egg. Anyway, stay turned for the ending!!