Horizon's End: A Wolf Story based on RWTP

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Chapter 9



As the sun sank below the horizon, and day gave way to dusk, Cedar slipped away from the densite to make her nightly report. It was bustling with activity tonight, but Cedar could slip away with ease; they were too busy chatting amongst themselves that they wouldn't notice another wolf slipping away. Let's hope, anyways. Cedar kept glancing around as she padded through the forest; although she'd never been caught, she was paranoid that she could be followed on her way out here.

She slowed her pace as she stepped over the border into the loner lands. The spot Atra and Kodiak had picked was in a small grove of trees by the lake, and a rock blocked the view of the only other angle of where they could be viewed. It had been chosen well; it was unlikely that they'd be seen, unless you ran right into them. In which case, they'd likely be seen ahead of time, anyway.

"Right on time."

Cedar perked her ears when she heard Akira's voice. She sniffed the air; she smelled Atra and Akira's scents. Sometimes, Kodiak stayed behind to tend to the pack while Atra and sometimes Akira came to receive the report from Cedar. This must have been one of those nights.

"Any news?" Cedar inquired in a hushed whisper as she slinked into the shady grove. The moonlight reflected off the surface of the lake, making Cedar's pupils glint.

"Tawny convinced a youngling named Mosquito to join," Akira told Cedar in a quiet murmur. Tawny was also one of Atra and Kodiak's three pups, therefore making her Akira and Luna's sister.

"What's been happening in Stonepack?" Atra spoke up for the first time. "Have you noticed any recent weaknesses?" She sat down, curling her gray tail around her paws.

"Quartz and Nebrivo officially became mates today. They're very anxious for pups," Cedar explained.

Atra growled. "That's just what we need: More Stonepack spawn running around in our forests and mountains."

"Wait," Akira offered, "Why don't we let them have pups, so that we can use them as hostages? The parents will be at our mercy."

"It's a desperate thing to do and it would be an embarrassment to Darkpack. No, the best idea is to kill those stupid wolves before the pups are born." Atra turned back to Cedar, and was about to say something, when suddenly a wolf came flying out of the shadows. Cedar yelped, and recoiled; inwardly, she started to panic. Have we been discovered?!

Akira surged to her paws expertly, pulling her lips inwardly in the start of a snarl. Surprise crossed her face when she saw who it was. "Nighta?! What are you doing here?"

Cedar breathed out a sigh of relief. Nighta was the beta of Darkpack; for some strange reason, Cedar always saw him and Akira together. She wondered if something was going on between them, even though Akira didn't believe in love, and looked down upon wolves that were mated.

"Atra." Nighta bowed his head in submission to the alpha, "It may interest you that I just spotted Timber with a Stonepack she-wolf."

Cedar's eyes widened, He must mean Sierra! Did she fall in love with him after... just one visit..?

Atra's eyes, on the other hand, narrowed to fiery amber slits. "Oh dear. Is Ebony's dearest little brother in love?" she spat.

"It looks like it." A suppressed growl quivered Nighta's deep voice.

"Lead the way, Nighta." Atra rose to her paws. "You can come with me, Akira." Akira nodded, and fell behind her mother. Cedar didn't want Sierra, or whoever the Stonepack wolf was to see her with Darkpack, but she was overtaken with curiosity, so she followed Akira and Atra willingly.

Nighta led the three other Darkpack wolves to a clearing. The carcass of a caribou lay beside two particular shapes; Cedar instantly recognized them as Timber and Sierra. Timber rasped his tongue over Sierra's head, and asked softly, "Have fun?"

Sierra swalowed a mouthful of the caribou. "Lots." She smiled up at the brown he-wolf with shining blue eyes.

Timber ran his muzzle along her neck. "Me too." He nuzzled her, and licked her ear.

Cedar felt outrage and fury boil in her veins. How dare he, go off with a Stonepack she-wolf like that! Atra's not gonna be very happy...

Indeed; beside Cedar, Atra was fuming. She looked like she was about to explode, in fact. "Akira, Nighta. Make sure that they stay here." Atra uttered her words through clenched teeth. "Kodiak is going to hear about this." She turned and slipped into the shadows, her pawsteps trailing away into the night.

Nighta looked to Akira, who nodded. They stepped out of the shadows, and into the clearing; Nighta's greenish-yellow eyes burned with blood lust, and his silver fangs flashed in the moonlight. "What a great catch, Timber," he sneered. "Her blood will be beautiful, spilled in the moonlight. So do you want the kill, or do you want my help?"

Icy terror gripped Sierra's heart. She pressed against Timber, and let out a terrified scream. Akira snarled and came around from behind, smacking Sierra across the nose. "Don't scream like that!" she barked. A terrified whimper rose in Sierra's throat.

"A-Akira! Nighta!" Timber exclaimed as fear swam into his yellow eyes. He swallowed. "H-how did you find us?"

"Simple comrade." Akira's large form towered over Timber. "We followed you."

"You really oughta learn to over your tracks, pup," Nighta sneered. "You wouldn't want anyone to discover you, now would you?"

Akira snapped her jaws at Timber's face. He flinched, and stumbled back. "You are a disgrace to Darkpack and everything we stand for, Timber."

Timber knew that he was caught. Realizing that he had only one way out, he elected to have Sierra killed instead of himself. "Kill her," he choked out, and pretended to have an itch so he wouldn't have to watch.

"Oh, we'll kill her alright." Nighta stalked on over to him. "But we'll kill you, too, traitor."

Cedar realized that she needed to get a move on if she didn't want to be spotted by Sierra. Lupin forbid that Sierra got away after seeing Cedar, her cover would be blown. She turned and slunk away into the shadows, and she flinched when she used her sprained paw. But as the pain shot through her leg, it hit her: She had an excuse, if there was going to be a battle! Cedar grinned, and made her way back to the densite.

As she slunk inside, she glanced around, noticing that Aki wasn't at the foot of the alpha rock as he usually was. "Where is Aki?" she murmured to herself.

"He went hunting earlier with Faedon." Senkah was perched on top of the alpha rock, and Hades was seated beside her. "He's been gone for a while, though. I'm starting to get concerned."

Cedar's ears shot up when she heard a few distant barks. That sounded like Faedon... A few more barks split the air. Cedar realized that it was coming from the loner lands. And Aki! Worry tugged at her pelt. Oh no... he heard Sierra scream earlier, didn't he?

From the alpha rock, Hades looked over at his mate and bit his lip. "That's it. I'm going to investigate. I don't like this."

Senkah nodded. "Let's go." She picked her way down the rock, with Hades flanking her. The two alphas bolted into the woods, and Cedar watched from the mouth of her den. As the distant barks got louder and louder, the pack was becoming more and more unsettled and concerned. Some even went to investigate like their alphas had. Cedar merely laid her head down on her paws, staring off into the forest with concern.

Aki... please be safe.
 
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Chapter 10



Faedon's white paws thrummed on the ground as she sprinted after Aki down the mountainside. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and her mind was whirling. Sierra couldn't have gone off and done that... could she? Would she? She was born in Stonepack... there's no reason for her to not be loyal to us...

They crossed over the border into the loner lands. Aki came crashing into a clearing, and Faedon nearly tripped on her face to avoid slamming into him. She sucked in a gasp at the scene before her.

There was Sierra, pressed up against the Darkpack wolf called Timber. They were coated in each other's scents very thickly. Two other Darkpack wolves; one that Faedon recognized as her cousin, Akira, had them surrounded. Sierra was sobbing as Timber tossed her over to Akira.

"Go for it," Timber choked out, and leaned down to itch his leg.

"Someone, help!" Sierra cried, only to receive a smack on the nose.

"This is what you get for running off and playing lovey dovey with a Darkpack wolf," Akira hissed.

Faedon's heart hammered in her chest. Aki gave her a nudge, "Let's go!" He scaled down the hill, and Faedon shook herself out of her fearful trance, and charged after him.

The other Darkpack male, who was Akira's companion, locked eyes with Aki. "Hello brother," he spat. Faedon almost tripped on her face again, and stared at him in shock.

Aki, however, didn't seem fazed in the slightest. Snarling, he leaped between Akira and the Darkpack wolves and Sierra. "Faedon, take Sierra and leave."

"B-but..!" Faedon started to protest. If she left, that would leave Aki alone to fight against three wolves... not even Aki could manage that, and he was one of the best fighters in Stonepack.

"GO NOW!" Aki snapped.

Faedon bit her lip. She didn't want to do that, but she had to obey the beta's orders. She turned and raced back to Sierra, and growled, "We need to go."

From behind, Akira jeered to her, "Y'know, cousin, if you could just kill something you could actually live in a pack that stands for honor."

"A pack that stands for honor?" Faedon couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Darkpack stands for anything but honor, Akira!" she spat.

Nighta snarled, and bunched his hind legs. With a powerful push, he lunged for Faedon, but Aki jumped into his path. He grabbed his scruff and tossed him away, leaving him scrabbling for his paws beside Akira. "You'll have to get through me before you hurt my pack, brother!" Aki spat the word out as though it was poison.

Timber stared after Sierra longingly as she limped after Faedon, sobbing bitterly. Aki snapped for Nighta's face, and Nighta leapt back with a fresh cut on his muzzle. He lunged forward and head butted Aki in the ribs; Aki yelped and slid against the hard ground, his ribs bruised and scraped. Akira snarled, and snapped down at Aki's face. "Are you going to help Timber or watch?" Nighta barked with fury. "Maybe, just maybe you could redeem yourself!"

"Snowball's chance in Lupus," Akira muttered with a growl, but Timber luckily didn't hear her.

"Are you alright?" Faedon inquired to Sierra rather curtly. Faedon was more than a little ticked at Sierra right now for starting all of this trouble. While it wasn't forbidden for a wolf to take a mate from another pack, it was generally frowned upon. Taking a mate from Darkpack, however, was another story, for obvious reasons.

"No!" Sierra sobbed, and pressed against Faedon. Faedon felt no sympathy for her; only disgust now. Aki was risking his life after she had gone off playing lovey dovey with a wolf that hated Stonepack, but because she was supposed to be escorting Sierra back, Faedon didn't react. Sierra was pelted in Timber's strong scent, and Faedon wrinkled her nose at it. "Faedon. Go help Aki. Please! It's three against one!"

In the background, Timber snapped at Aki's face, but purposely missed.

"Gladly," Faedon growled. She whirled around and lunged right back for Timber, crashing into him head-first. He fell back with a yelp, and Faedon snapped onto his muzzle. Her teeth dug into his nose, and Timber whined loudly. He tried to jerk back, but Faedon kept an iron grip on his muzzle. Finally, Faedon took Timber by his scruff and tossed him away, and whirled around to face Aki, Nighta, and Akira.

Nighta jumped to his feet and charged Aki, slamming his paws into his side. Aki slammed to ground, and Akira grabbed Aki's neck, shaking him like a ragdoll. A deep gash ripped open Aki's neck, and he let out a strangled yelp. He kicked out with his back legs; Nighta stumbled and fell with 6 deep gashes on his chest and stomach. Aki leapt to his feet, and faced his opponents again.

Just then, two shapes broke into the clearing. Nighta and Akira grinned, and Faedon sucked in a breath. Oh no... not them... anyone but them! It was none other than the massive shapes of Kodiak and Atra, the alphas of Darkpack.

"What are we gonna do?" Faedon whispered to Aki in despair. Although she usually kept a cool head, she was starting to panic. They were barely managing Nighta and Akira; how could they possibly manage the alphas?

Aki tilted his head back and howled, "SENKAH!" His howl echoed across the mountains and to the heavens above. He cut off his howl and glared at the alphas of Darkpack. "Faedon, please take Sierra and run. Get Senkah and Hades."

"No, Aki!" Faedon protested, and this time, she wasn't giving in. "You'll be killed!"

"No, you worm!" Atra lunged forward, throwing herself so she would slam into Aki with as much force as possible.

Aki slammed into the ground and skidded back; he gasped for air, but managed to leap back onto his feet and face Atra. "Your sister will be here soon," he spat. Then he leapt at her, his teeth snapping wildly at her face.

Atra stumbled backwards, her forepaws lifting off the ground. She avoided his strike but was unable to get her paws back on the ground correctly. "Like she'll stop me," she said spitefully, backing away instead of biting back. Aki turned on a dime; he kicked out hard with his back legs, aiming for Atra's chest. Atra was shoved back with a loud cry. However, she recovered quickly this time. Ignoring the pain at the bottom of her chest, she leaped at Aki in an attempt to send both of them tumbling. Aki sidestepped just in time; as Atra came alongside him, he reached out with his fangs and tried to grab Atra's scruff. Atra rolled aside, trying to smash him into the ground when she felt his teeth dig into the fur of her neck.

Meanwhile, Faedon was fighting with Kodiak... if "fighting" was the right word. Kodiak was so much more experienced that he was pretty much just beating Faedon up, and it wasn't much of a fight.

He grinned down at Faedon with a look of pure malice and hatred in his eyes, and a second later, he lunged forward. He aimed for Faedon's ears; if she managed to escape, Kodiak would give at least give her a permanent scar. Faedon swerved out of the way and just barely got away in time. She felt herself about to take a step back to get away from Kodiak; she allowed her body posture to stay in the run away position, and then faster than she thought she could she dropped low and came up fast, her teeth gripping onto Kodiak's chest. Kodiak had started to charge forward again just as Faedon made her attack; the two wolves collided, and Kodiak grunted as the wind was knocked out of him. He growled as Faedon's fangs dug into his chest, and he felt flesh and fur tear; he half-sailed in the air, and half stumbled to where Faedon had just stood seconds before. Kodiak lunged again; he had his eyes on Faedon's muzzle, and looked like he was about to snap at her face again. But instead, at the last second, Kodiak's weight shifted and he attempted to bowl her over with his sheer weight.

But before Kodiak hit Faedon, a white streak crashed into him, snarling madly. Sierra snapped wildly at the much bigger male's neck and punched out with her paws.Crashing into Kodiak was like crashing headfirst into a brick wall. Kodiak hardly even grunted as the much smaller she-wolf crashed into him; he wheeled around, and snapped his massive jaws at her face wildly, giving Sierra no time to get away. Sierra was sent sprawling on the ground, belly up. His teeth cut through her muzzle easily, and she shrieked in pain. In a split second, she dove for his belly, mouth agape. Kodiak jumped away, but her fangs cut a long and shallow cut along his leg. He snarled at the pain, and lunged for her again, instead trying to use his sheer weight to crush her.

While Kodiak was then occupied with beating Sierra to a pulp, Akira made a lunge for Faedon. Faedon made a sound that was between a yelp and a snarl as Akira's jaws snapped at her face. A long scratch tore open just below Faedon's eye, spilling rivulets of blood into her red and white fur. She used the same tactic that she'd used on Timber, and bit down on Akira's muzzle, digging her fangs into her enemy's nose. Akira yelped as she jerked back, which only made the scratches that Faedon tore open worse. Akira snarled furiously, and sank her fangs into Faedon's scruff. The world spun around Faedon as she was tossed away, and she gasped for air. Her vision swam into focus, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. She could have howled for joy at what it was.

Senkah and Hades are here!

Senkah raced forward and crashed into Akira in a flurry of snarls and snapping jaws. Grabbing Akira by her scruff, Senkah managed to toss her away, before she whirled around to face Faedon. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Faedon rose to her paws and shook the dust out of her pelt. She watched as Atra battled with Aki on one edge of the clearing, and Hades fought with Nighta on the other. It was quickly evolving into a full-scale battle; this was no longer just an everyday loner land or border skirmish.

Kodiak snarled as he grabbed Sierra by her scruff, and roughly swung her away. She fell on the ground with a cry, and Kodiak growled; he looked like he was about to attack again, but he didn't. Instead, he tilted his head back and howled, "DARKPACK! COME TO YOUR ALPHA!"

Faedon bit her lip, and looked to her mother urgently. But Senkah didn't seem panicked at all; she just narrowed her eyes to sapphire blue slits at the alpha male of Darkpack. "Okay, Kodiak. I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." She tilted her head back and howled, "STONEPACK! COME TO YOUR ALPHA!" Her howl echoed across the mountains.

She broke away, and surged towards Atra and Aki. She threw Atra off of her beta, and the two alpha females began circling one another. Faedon raced over to Aki, and barked, "Are you alright, Aki?!"

"I'm fine," he barked. "Hades?"

Hades loped towards them; the alpha male of Stonepack had a few scratches and gashes in his pelt, but he was still going strong and was ready for battle. "Fight beside me, Aki, Faedon. Let's go."

Faedon nodded, and charged after her father. She glanced around as both Stonepack and Darkpack wolves flooded into the clearing, all of them just as eager to fight for their alphas as the rest. Faedon's green eyes hardened. We'll defeat you, Darkpack.
 

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