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- Aug 25, 2011
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BOW DOWN TO ME, PUNY MORTALS
Chapter 18
A second after he called her name, Cedar saw him. Aki’s eyes were engulfed in flames of fury, and his muzzle was twisted in a ferocious snarl. Cedar could feel her blood freezing like the stream in the winter, and in Cedar’s eyes, the battle around them seemed to slow to a crawl.
No…!
Her greatest fear had come true. She thought she’d overcome it, but no; it had just been hidden. She couldn’t fight him. She just couldn’t.
Faedon seized her chance. She surged forwards, and swiftly snapped her jaws, digging her fangs into the side of Cedar’s neck; Cedar was taken off guard, and she yelped, kicking out at Faedon’s abdomen in a successful attempt to knock her off. Cedar rolled and jumped back to her paws, and snapped her jaws together at Faedon’s face; Faedon howled as Cedar’s fangs slashed open a long laceration just below her ear, and she stumbled back.
A wolf came crashing into Cedar and bowled her over; for a brief second, Cedar thought it was Aki and she went limp. When she opened her eyes, however, she saw that it was Quartz instead of him. “Oh, where did you come from?” Cedar spat with spite dripping into her voice. In reply, Quartz merely snarled and whapped her paw across Cedar’s nose. Cedar flinched, and biting back a yelp, she snapped at Quartz’s leg out of instinct; Quartz snarled, and tried to yank her paw back, but Cedar just bit down harder. A whine of pain began to rise in Quartz’s throat, and rivulets of blood began to trickle down Quartz’s paw.
“Let her go!” Faedon snarled as she launched herself at Cedar, and as she crashed into her, Cedar relented and let Quartz’s paw go. She rolled away swiftly.
“You feather-headed fools!” Cedar spat as she tried to get back to her paws, but Faedon met her with a swift snap of her jaws upon Cedar’s muzzle, and she stumbled back with a yelp. Faedon leaped forward again, and punched out with her front paws; before Cedar knew it, she was standing on her chest and pressing down with all her weight. Cedar wheezed for air, and kicked out with her hind legs up at Faedon’s chest; Faedon gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, and as Cedar snapped her jaws at her face, she stumbled back. Cedar snarled and flung herself at Faedon; she crashed into her, and sent her slamming up against the alpha’s rock. Faedon yelped and kicked out in defense; Cedar raced towards her, and was about to deliver the killing bite once in for all, when a wolf crashed into her. But this time, it wasn’t Quartz, or anyone else, but…
Cedar felt her limbs freeze up when she realized who it was.
Nonononono… Not Aki… Anyone but him…!
“Traitor!” Aki’s growl was muffled by her fur. “You will PAY!”
Out of pure instinct, Cedar snapped her jaws up at his face, as much as she didn’t want to; but the attack was dodged, and Aki clenched his jaws down on her back leg and swung her away. Cedar skidded back with a yelp, and cringed as she felt her pelt tear open where she hit the ground the hardest. She opened her eyes slowly to find three wolves cornering her: Faedon, Quartz, and Aki. Three against one… the odds were against her.
“So all of this time, you were with Darkpack, Cedar?” Aki spat each word as though they were bitter on his tongue.
“Yeah, I was!” Cedar shot back. She could feel her mind clouding again, and her connection to reality fading… all she wanted to do was fight.
“That’s disgusting! We actually trusted you!” Aki roared. “How could you?!” Cedar’s muzzle twisted up in a snarl, and she started to back away, but she stopped when she bumped right into Faedon.
“WHY?!” Aki roared again, and took a menacing step forwards.
“Yeah, Cedar,” Faedon spat with sarcasm dripping from her voice, “care to tell us why?” She matched Aki’s movements step for step and her muzzle was contorted in a vicious snarl.
A growl ripped up from Cedar’s throat, and every hair on her pelt was bristling in fury. “The real question is how you mangy furred idiots actually manage to feed your little band of mutts!”
A ferocious snarl ripped up from deep within Aki’s throat at her words. He crouched down low to the ground and sprang at her with all his might; he forced her to the ground, and sent her crashing into the alpha’s rock, enticing a yelp from Cedar. Cedar recovered fast, and with lightning speed, she snapped her jaws at his face; he winced as her teeth caught him just above his eyes, and he stumbled back as blood clouded his vision. Cedar was about to take advantage… but she stopped.
What am I DOING?!
The second that Cedar did that, Faedon threw herself at Cedar with a throat-ripping snarl. “Get away from him!” she roared, and lashed out with a ferocious snap of her jaws. Cedar regained her focus and sidestepped, but she was too slow and a gash slashed open on her side. She bristled and snapped back at Faedon in retaliation, but Faedon danced away just in time and Cedar missed.
Aki leaped to Faedon’s side. “Get out,” he growled to Cedar, his voice low and dangerous.
“And you’re going to make me?” Cedar spat.
“Even if it kills me!” he warned. His eyes blazed with fury, and his body trembled with anger.
“We all will,” Faedon added with a snarl.
Before Cedar could react, Aki crouched and sprang at her, and Cedar yelped as his fangs tore down the base of her neck and down her side. In retaliation, she snapped back at his throat, while trying not to fall; but even as her teeth tore into his neck, Aki didn’t relent. He snapped at her ribs just above the shoulder, shoving against her as he tried to knock her off her paws, and Cedar stumbled back, flinching. Aki danced away, before he lunged back again and tried to crash his large paws into her head; but Cedar dodged, used to the trick since she used it so often. Aki landed on the ground hard and painfully; he rolled and tried to regain his footing, while Cedar took this time to get back her bearings.
Aki leaped back to his paws. He crouched down, and a low menacing growl rose from his throat as he gave Cedar a hard kick in the ribs. Cedar snarled, and was about to retaliate… but what Aki said next stopped her dead in her tracks.
“To think that I loved you!” Aki roared.
The very second Aki said that, Cedar’s whole body froze up. Aki… Aki loved me?
“I was going to ask you to be my mate today,” Aki continued with a growl. “But it’s too late for that now.” He snapped his jaws at her, and Cedar cringed and yelped as she felt her ear slice right off.
“Today you die, Cedar!” Aki roared with the fury of a blizzard.
Cedar couldn’t have fought back if she wanted to as Aki clenched down on her foreleg, and swung her headfirst into the alpha’s rock. Darkness overtook her vision, and she blacked out.
Cedar’s eyes fluttered open slowly and light flooded her vision as she regained consciousness. She surged to her paws with a gasp as she remembered where she was, and her eyes darted around the clearing, but Aki, Faedon, and Quartz had long left. She bit her lip as the memories of what happened before she blacked out came flashing back to her.
Cedar’s gaze combed across the densite, and her eyes fell upon the fire-red and white form of Faedon, who was clear over on the opposite side of the densite. She was locked in battle with none other than her aunt, the alpha female of Darkpack. She watched them fight from where she was; Faedon charged at Atra, and the dark she-wolf whirled around on a dime. Atra slashed her fangs at Faedon, and the red furred she-wolf stumbled back, but not without scoring a hard blow on Atra’s shoulder with her fangs. Atra charged for Faedon in a successful attempt to bowl her over, and send them both rolling. Faedon kept slashing at her neck again and again; she almost always succeeded in drawing blood, but the wounds weren’t deep enough to kill her.
The fact that Faedon was losing was as clear as daylight. Faedon fought and fought, and there was no doubt that she was holding her own… but Atra’s experience and training was just too much for her. Cedar felt a sharp twinge twist her heart as she watched as Faedon’s movements grew weaker and weaker. Her mind flashed back to all of the times they’d hunted together.
She knows she’s probably going to die, and yet she won’t stop. She’s so loyal… they all are… unlike me.
Cedar’s heart was torn in two. I joined Darkpack because I wanted power. But… what’s more powerful? Violence, or loyalty?
Her mind flashed back to when she’d first come to Stonepack, to when she met Zero at the border, and to when Senkah had taken her in.
I know she didn’t trust me initially, but she took me in anyway and was so kind to me. If I really had been on the run… she would have saved my life. And Faedon… Faedon’s my best friend. She’s kinder than everyone in Darkpack combined.
Faedon cried out as she was slammed against a boulder, and a sickening crack rang out. Atra growled, and lunged for her again.
…What was I missing? Why did I join Darkpack, when all I ever wanted was right here in Stonepack all along?
Faedon sucked in a strangled gasp as the air was knocked from her lungs, and she took a rough fall down onto the snow. Atra stood over her in triumph, her muzzle twisted in a smirk, while behind her Tawny and Luna were having to restrain Senkah. Senkah had resorted to begging Atra to not kill her daughter, of whom she loved more than life itself, but her pleads fell upon deaf ears.
How much Cedar wished that things were different and honest was appalling. She wished that she could go back in time to before this battle started… or even before she was sent on this mission… and before she joined Darkpack. Why had she chosen Darkpack instead of Stonepack?
Cedar’s eyes hardened. I probably won’t have a chance to come back. I don’t expect Senkah and Hades to give me another chance. I don’t expect Aki to love me anymore… But I owe it to them all for all they did for me, even if I was just a spy. Even if I won’t have the chance to come back to Stonepack, I still have the chance to choose the side I truly belong to… And make things right…!
A throat-ripping snarl that carried the fury and power of a blizzard rose from Cedar’s throat. She surged across the clearing with blinding speed; Cedar didn’t think she’d ever run so fast in her life.
Atra’s jaws were wrapped around Faedon’s throat, and the red she-wolf’s eyes were closed as though they had been glued shut as she waited for death to come. Rivulets of crimson blood trickled down from the wounds where Atra’s fangs had sunken in, staining the white fur scarlet. Atra’s jaws were clenching down on Faedon’s windpipe, and Atra was ready to finish her off, when a weight crashed into her.
Atra yelped and instinctively released Faedon as she skidded away across the ground. Her eyes snapped open, but surprise crossed her face when she saw who it was. It had been such a surprise to her that she didn’t even retaliate; instead, she barked, “Cedar! What are you doing?! You’re DARKPACK!”
“Not anymore, Atra,” Cedar growled, and a second later, she flung herself forwards and snapped her jaws at Atra’s face. Blood welled up at the edge of Atra’s ear as half of it was sliced right off. “Darkpack is worthless. Stonepack gave me more than you could ever give me.”
“Cedar…” Faedon breathed in disbelief from where she lay nearby.
Cedar clenched down on Atra’s foreleg and swung her away. “You mess with Stonepack, and you mess with me. They’re my pack now.” A loud pop snapped in the air as Atra collided with the trunk of a pine tree.
As she said those words, Cedar felt empowered… but not in the sense that she ruled over many wolves, like she’d been searching for in Darkpack. No; a fog that had been clouding her mind for as long as she could remember had lifted. She’d discovered her purpose. She had what she had actually wanted all along: Companionship.
“Faedon, are you alright?” Cedar turned to face the she-wolf, who had just watched the entire thing, in utter shock.
Faedon’s sides were shuddering like leaves in the wind, and she took slow, deep breaths. “Y-yes. Now I am. Cedar… thank you.”
“Do you-“ Cedar was cut short.
“IDIOT!”
Cedar whirled around on a dime, and she realized that she’d been standing there for just a second too long. Atra was charging for her at breakneck speed; Cedar tried to leap back, but she was too slow. Atra had moved faster than Cedar had ever imagined she could.
Cedar let out a strangled squeal as Atra crashed into her, and sank her jaws into her throat. She kicked out wildly in a desperate, yet futile attempt to escape Atra’s iron hold. Her mind raced as she felt Atra’s jaws squeeze down tighter on her throat; she only stopped when her fangs touched after shredding the tissue that stood between them. Cedar’s jugular vein had been severed, and blood rushed out of the gaping wound in Cedar’s throat like a small stream. Atra released her hold on Cedar’s throat, and the alpha female licked the blood coating her muzzle away in cold satisfaction. Cedar landed with a sickening crunch on the snow, stained as red as her pelt from the blood.
“That oughta be a lesson for all of you,” Atra spat at Cedar’s body, “This is what you get when you defy Darkpack!” And with that, Atra turned tail and disappeared into the ever-raging battle. Tawny and Luna abandoned Senkah, and sprinted after their mother.
Cedar’s sides heaved as she gasped for air. Blood bubbled up in her throat with a sickening gurgle, and her sides racked with coughs every few seconds as it spilled into her damaged airways. She could feel herself growing weaker with every pulse of blood that drained out from her body. Faedon surged to her paws and raced over to her with blinding speed, and crouched down beside her. “Cedar!” she cried. “No…! NO! It can’t be too late, Cedar!” In a frantic, yet useless attempt to keep her awake, Faedon shook Cedar’s side with her paws firmly.
Cedar’s vision was blurring, and the noises around her were slurring together in one great big roar. Faedon’s voice sounded as though it was clear on the other side of the mountains. Talons of numbness began to creep down her spine, and she felt them spread across her body within seconds. These couldn’t be good signs… at all.
Then, she remembered something. She’d seen it so often from living in Darkpack, it wasn’t funny.
When wolves only think they are going to die, they panic. But… when they know they are going to die, they get very calm.
Cedar’s heart gave a lurch of sorrow as it hit her.
That’s where I am…
The thought both frightened… and yet soothed her. Even if things hadn’t gone the way she’d desired… even if Aki didn’t love her anymore… even if Stonepack rejected her… even if she hadn’t been able to see her brother Starling one last time… She’d gotten what she wanted, and that was to have fought beside her true pack – Stonepack.
But she still had one last thing she needed to say, before she joined Lupus and the Pack of Lupin.
“F-Faedon.” Cedar’s words were diluted by a gasp. “T-Tell Senkah, and Hades, and the rest of Stonepack that I’m sorry… For betraying you all…”
“I-I will,” Faedon choked out, “But-“
“And… Tell Aki… Th-that I loved him…” Black spots were peppering Cedar’s vision, and she felt as though she was floating. She knew that she didn’t have much time left.
Even though her body was going numb, Cedar could feel a pelt brush against hers as Faedon lay down beside her, lapping at the wound on her throat in desperation. She tried to lift her head in vain as she heard a voice and a familiar scent wafted into her nose. Aki? The familiar scent of the pines and the mountains clung to his pelt; it was a scent that, to Cedar, was unmistakable and unforgettable. She couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying, as Faedon blocked one ear, and the other was clogged with dried blood.
“No, Cedar,” Faedon whimpered, “Don’t talk like that! We’ll do something!”
Although Cedar’s vision was growing blurrier and blurrier, she could just barely make out several shapes around her: Senkah, Quartz, Faedon… and Aki. “Please don’t be sad, Faedon…” Mustering up all of the strength she had left, she gave Faedon a weak lick on the muzzle. “I got what I w-wanted… I’m happy…” Her sentence broke away into a fit of weak coughs as blood bubbled up from the back of her throat. She closed her eyes softly as she felt someone nuzzle her. Aki…
Cedar’s vision was dimming, and the noises around her were slurring together as they got quieter and quieter. She felt the urge to kick away the blanket of darkness that she felt spreading across her body, but she resisted it, knowing that it would be futile. She was dying… but she was happy. Better I die than loyal wolves like them, she thought. “Goodbye,” she choked out.
And with that, her tail fell to the ground with a halfhearted thump. The world faded to darkness as her eyes closed… for the last time.
Chapter 18
A second after he called her name, Cedar saw him. Aki’s eyes were engulfed in flames of fury, and his muzzle was twisted in a ferocious snarl. Cedar could feel her blood freezing like the stream in the winter, and in Cedar’s eyes, the battle around them seemed to slow to a crawl.
No…!
Her greatest fear had come true. She thought she’d overcome it, but no; it had just been hidden. She couldn’t fight him. She just couldn’t.
Faedon seized her chance. She surged forwards, and swiftly snapped her jaws, digging her fangs into the side of Cedar’s neck; Cedar was taken off guard, and she yelped, kicking out at Faedon’s abdomen in a successful attempt to knock her off. Cedar rolled and jumped back to her paws, and snapped her jaws together at Faedon’s face; Faedon howled as Cedar’s fangs slashed open a long laceration just below her ear, and she stumbled back.
A wolf came crashing into Cedar and bowled her over; for a brief second, Cedar thought it was Aki and she went limp. When she opened her eyes, however, she saw that it was Quartz instead of him. “Oh, where did you come from?” Cedar spat with spite dripping into her voice. In reply, Quartz merely snarled and whapped her paw across Cedar’s nose. Cedar flinched, and biting back a yelp, she snapped at Quartz’s leg out of instinct; Quartz snarled, and tried to yank her paw back, but Cedar just bit down harder. A whine of pain began to rise in Quartz’s throat, and rivulets of blood began to trickle down Quartz’s paw.
“Let her go!” Faedon snarled as she launched herself at Cedar, and as she crashed into her, Cedar relented and let Quartz’s paw go. She rolled away swiftly.
“You feather-headed fools!” Cedar spat as she tried to get back to her paws, but Faedon met her with a swift snap of her jaws upon Cedar’s muzzle, and she stumbled back with a yelp. Faedon leaped forward again, and punched out with her front paws; before Cedar knew it, she was standing on her chest and pressing down with all her weight. Cedar wheezed for air, and kicked out with her hind legs up at Faedon’s chest; Faedon gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, and as Cedar snapped her jaws at her face, she stumbled back. Cedar snarled and flung herself at Faedon; she crashed into her, and sent her slamming up against the alpha’s rock. Faedon yelped and kicked out in defense; Cedar raced towards her, and was about to deliver the killing bite once in for all, when a wolf crashed into her. But this time, it wasn’t Quartz, or anyone else, but…
Cedar felt her limbs freeze up when she realized who it was.
Nonononono… Not Aki… Anyone but him…!
“Traitor!” Aki’s growl was muffled by her fur. “You will PAY!”
Out of pure instinct, Cedar snapped her jaws up at his face, as much as she didn’t want to; but the attack was dodged, and Aki clenched his jaws down on her back leg and swung her away. Cedar skidded back with a yelp, and cringed as she felt her pelt tear open where she hit the ground the hardest. She opened her eyes slowly to find three wolves cornering her: Faedon, Quartz, and Aki. Three against one… the odds were against her.
“So all of this time, you were with Darkpack, Cedar?” Aki spat each word as though they were bitter on his tongue.
“Yeah, I was!” Cedar shot back. She could feel her mind clouding again, and her connection to reality fading… all she wanted to do was fight.
“That’s disgusting! We actually trusted you!” Aki roared. “How could you?!” Cedar’s muzzle twisted up in a snarl, and she started to back away, but she stopped when she bumped right into Faedon.
“WHY?!” Aki roared again, and took a menacing step forwards.
“Yeah, Cedar,” Faedon spat with sarcasm dripping from her voice, “care to tell us why?” She matched Aki’s movements step for step and her muzzle was contorted in a vicious snarl.
A growl ripped up from Cedar’s throat, and every hair on her pelt was bristling in fury. “The real question is how you mangy furred idiots actually manage to feed your little band of mutts!”
A ferocious snarl ripped up from deep within Aki’s throat at her words. He crouched down low to the ground and sprang at her with all his might; he forced her to the ground, and sent her crashing into the alpha’s rock, enticing a yelp from Cedar. Cedar recovered fast, and with lightning speed, she snapped her jaws at his face; he winced as her teeth caught him just above his eyes, and he stumbled back as blood clouded his vision. Cedar was about to take advantage… but she stopped.
What am I DOING?!
The second that Cedar did that, Faedon threw herself at Cedar with a throat-ripping snarl. “Get away from him!” she roared, and lashed out with a ferocious snap of her jaws. Cedar regained her focus and sidestepped, but she was too slow and a gash slashed open on her side. She bristled and snapped back at Faedon in retaliation, but Faedon danced away just in time and Cedar missed.
Aki leaped to Faedon’s side. “Get out,” he growled to Cedar, his voice low and dangerous.
“And you’re going to make me?” Cedar spat.
“Even if it kills me!” he warned. His eyes blazed with fury, and his body trembled with anger.
“We all will,” Faedon added with a snarl.
Before Cedar could react, Aki crouched and sprang at her, and Cedar yelped as his fangs tore down the base of her neck and down her side. In retaliation, she snapped back at his throat, while trying not to fall; but even as her teeth tore into his neck, Aki didn’t relent. He snapped at her ribs just above the shoulder, shoving against her as he tried to knock her off her paws, and Cedar stumbled back, flinching. Aki danced away, before he lunged back again and tried to crash his large paws into her head; but Cedar dodged, used to the trick since she used it so often. Aki landed on the ground hard and painfully; he rolled and tried to regain his footing, while Cedar took this time to get back her bearings.
Aki leaped back to his paws. He crouched down, and a low menacing growl rose from his throat as he gave Cedar a hard kick in the ribs. Cedar snarled, and was about to retaliate… but what Aki said next stopped her dead in her tracks.
“To think that I loved you!” Aki roared.
The very second Aki said that, Cedar’s whole body froze up. Aki… Aki loved me?
“I was going to ask you to be my mate today,” Aki continued with a growl. “But it’s too late for that now.” He snapped his jaws at her, and Cedar cringed and yelped as she felt her ear slice right off.
“Today you die, Cedar!” Aki roared with the fury of a blizzard.
Cedar couldn’t have fought back if she wanted to as Aki clenched down on her foreleg, and swung her headfirst into the alpha’s rock. Darkness overtook her vision, and she blacked out.
Cedar’s eyes fluttered open slowly and light flooded her vision as she regained consciousness. She surged to her paws with a gasp as she remembered where she was, and her eyes darted around the clearing, but Aki, Faedon, and Quartz had long left. She bit her lip as the memories of what happened before she blacked out came flashing back to her.
Cedar’s gaze combed across the densite, and her eyes fell upon the fire-red and white form of Faedon, who was clear over on the opposite side of the densite. She was locked in battle with none other than her aunt, the alpha female of Darkpack. She watched them fight from where she was; Faedon charged at Atra, and the dark she-wolf whirled around on a dime. Atra slashed her fangs at Faedon, and the red furred she-wolf stumbled back, but not without scoring a hard blow on Atra’s shoulder with her fangs. Atra charged for Faedon in a successful attempt to bowl her over, and send them both rolling. Faedon kept slashing at her neck again and again; she almost always succeeded in drawing blood, but the wounds weren’t deep enough to kill her.
The fact that Faedon was losing was as clear as daylight. Faedon fought and fought, and there was no doubt that she was holding her own… but Atra’s experience and training was just too much for her. Cedar felt a sharp twinge twist her heart as she watched as Faedon’s movements grew weaker and weaker. Her mind flashed back to all of the times they’d hunted together.
She knows she’s probably going to die, and yet she won’t stop. She’s so loyal… they all are… unlike me.
Cedar’s heart was torn in two. I joined Darkpack because I wanted power. But… what’s more powerful? Violence, or loyalty?
Her mind flashed back to when she’d first come to Stonepack, to when she met Zero at the border, and to when Senkah had taken her in.
I know she didn’t trust me initially, but she took me in anyway and was so kind to me. If I really had been on the run… she would have saved my life. And Faedon… Faedon’s my best friend. She’s kinder than everyone in Darkpack combined.
Faedon cried out as she was slammed against a boulder, and a sickening crack rang out. Atra growled, and lunged for her again.
…What was I missing? Why did I join Darkpack, when all I ever wanted was right here in Stonepack all along?
Faedon sucked in a strangled gasp as the air was knocked from her lungs, and she took a rough fall down onto the snow. Atra stood over her in triumph, her muzzle twisted in a smirk, while behind her Tawny and Luna were having to restrain Senkah. Senkah had resorted to begging Atra to not kill her daughter, of whom she loved more than life itself, but her pleads fell upon deaf ears.
How much Cedar wished that things were different and honest was appalling. She wished that she could go back in time to before this battle started… or even before she was sent on this mission… and before she joined Darkpack. Why had she chosen Darkpack instead of Stonepack?
Cedar’s eyes hardened. I probably won’t have a chance to come back. I don’t expect Senkah and Hades to give me another chance. I don’t expect Aki to love me anymore… But I owe it to them all for all they did for me, even if I was just a spy. Even if I won’t have the chance to come back to Stonepack, I still have the chance to choose the side I truly belong to… And make things right…!
A throat-ripping snarl that carried the fury and power of a blizzard rose from Cedar’s throat. She surged across the clearing with blinding speed; Cedar didn’t think she’d ever run so fast in her life.
Atra’s jaws were wrapped around Faedon’s throat, and the red she-wolf’s eyes were closed as though they had been glued shut as she waited for death to come. Rivulets of crimson blood trickled down from the wounds where Atra’s fangs had sunken in, staining the white fur scarlet. Atra’s jaws were clenching down on Faedon’s windpipe, and Atra was ready to finish her off, when a weight crashed into her.
Atra yelped and instinctively released Faedon as she skidded away across the ground. Her eyes snapped open, but surprise crossed her face when she saw who it was. It had been such a surprise to her that she didn’t even retaliate; instead, she barked, “Cedar! What are you doing?! You’re DARKPACK!”
“Not anymore, Atra,” Cedar growled, and a second later, she flung herself forwards and snapped her jaws at Atra’s face. Blood welled up at the edge of Atra’s ear as half of it was sliced right off. “Darkpack is worthless. Stonepack gave me more than you could ever give me.”
“Cedar…” Faedon breathed in disbelief from where she lay nearby.
Cedar clenched down on Atra’s foreleg and swung her away. “You mess with Stonepack, and you mess with me. They’re my pack now.” A loud pop snapped in the air as Atra collided with the trunk of a pine tree.
As she said those words, Cedar felt empowered… but not in the sense that she ruled over many wolves, like she’d been searching for in Darkpack. No; a fog that had been clouding her mind for as long as she could remember had lifted. She’d discovered her purpose. She had what she had actually wanted all along: Companionship.
“Faedon, are you alright?” Cedar turned to face the she-wolf, who had just watched the entire thing, in utter shock.
Faedon’s sides were shuddering like leaves in the wind, and she took slow, deep breaths. “Y-yes. Now I am. Cedar… thank you.”
“Do you-“ Cedar was cut short.
“IDIOT!”
Cedar whirled around on a dime, and she realized that she’d been standing there for just a second too long. Atra was charging for her at breakneck speed; Cedar tried to leap back, but she was too slow. Atra had moved faster than Cedar had ever imagined she could.
Cedar let out a strangled squeal as Atra crashed into her, and sank her jaws into her throat. She kicked out wildly in a desperate, yet futile attempt to escape Atra’s iron hold. Her mind raced as she felt Atra’s jaws squeeze down tighter on her throat; she only stopped when her fangs touched after shredding the tissue that stood between them. Cedar’s jugular vein had been severed, and blood rushed out of the gaping wound in Cedar’s throat like a small stream. Atra released her hold on Cedar’s throat, and the alpha female licked the blood coating her muzzle away in cold satisfaction. Cedar landed with a sickening crunch on the snow, stained as red as her pelt from the blood.
“That oughta be a lesson for all of you,” Atra spat at Cedar’s body, “This is what you get when you defy Darkpack!” And with that, Atra turned tail and disappeared into the ever-raging battle. Tawny and Luna abandoned Senkah, and sprinted after their mother.
Cedar’s sides heaved as she gasped for air. Blood bubbled up in her throat with a sickening gurgle, and her sides racked with coughs every few seconds as it spilled into her damaged airways. She could feel herself growing weaker with every pulse of blood that drained out from her body. Faedon surged to her paws and raced over to her with blinding speed, and crouched down beside her. “Cedar!” she cried. “No…! NO! It can’t be too late, Cedar!” In a frantic, yet useless attempt to keep her awake, Faedon shook Cedar’s side with her paws firmly.
Cedar’s vision was blurring, and the noises around her were slurring together in one great big roar. Faedon’s voice sounded as though it was clear on the other side of the mountains. Talons of numbness began to creep down her spine, and she felt them spread across her body within seconds. These couldn’t be good signs… at all.
Then, she remembered something. She’d seen it so often from living in Darkpack, it wasn’t funny.
When wolves only think they are going to die, they panic. But… when they know they are going to die, they get very calm.
Cedar’s heart gave a lurch of sorrow as it hit her.
That’s where I am…
The thought both frightened… and yet soothed her. Even if things hadn’t gone the way she’d desired… even if Aki didn’t love her anymore… even if Stonepack rejected her… even if she hadn’t been able to see her brother Starling one last time… She’d gotten what she wanted, and that was to have fought beside her true pack – Stonepack.
But she still had one last thing she needed to say, before she joined Lupus and the Pack of Lupin.
“F-Faedon.” Cedar’s words were diluted by a gasp. “T-Tell Senkah, and Hades, and the rest of Stonepack that I’m sorry… For betraying you all…”
“I-I will,” Faedon choked out, “But-“
“And… Tell Aki… Th-that I loved him…” Black spots were peppering Cedar’s vision, and she felt as though she was floating. She knew that she didn’t have much time left.
Even though her body was going numb, Cedar could feel a pelt brush against hers as Faedon lay down beside her, lapping at the wound on her throat in desperation. She tried to lift her head in vain as she heard a voice and a familiar scent wafted into her nose. Aki? The familiar scent of the pines and the mountains clung to his pelt; it was a scent that, to Cedar, was unmistakable and unforgettable. She couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying, as Faedon blocked one ear, and the other was clogged with dried blood.
“No, Cedar,” Faedon whimpered, “Don’t talk like that! We’ll do something!”
Although Cedar’s vision was growing blurrier and blurrier, she could just barely make out several shapes around her: Senkah, Quartz, Faedon… and Aki. “Please don’t be sad, Faedon…” Mustering up all of the strength she had left, she gave Faedon a weak lick on the muzzle. “I got what I w-wanted… I’m happy…” Her sentence broke away into a fit of weak coughs as blood bubbled up from the back of her throat. She closed her eyes softly as she felt someone nuzzle her. Aki…
Cedar’s vision was dimming, and the noises around her were slurring together as they got quieter and quieter. She felt the urge to kick away the blanket of darkness that she felt spreading across her body, but she resisted it, knowing that it would be futile. She was dying… but she was happy. Better I die than loyal wolves like them, she thought. “Goodbye,” she choked out.
And with that, her tail fell to the ground with a halfhearted thump. The world faded to darkness as her eyes closed… for the last time.
