He stared at her for a long time. The nausea and disappointment were almost overwhelming, robbing him of his voice, and for a moment he felt his legs wobble and thought he’d have to lie down. I still have to stay away?
“I suppose . . . but . . .” Suddenly his disappointment turned into panic. “I put my life on the line for you and the Pack! I did everything you asked of me, I betrayed a dog, and now you’re telling me I have to go back there?”
Bella quickly interrupted him. “While we’re at such low strength, we still need you in the other camp. Do you see? We need you to spy for us a little longer, to keep the land safe for us to travel through, for food and water. It’s best that you’re . . . with them. You have to stay well, Lucky! We need you!”
She knows just where to nip me where it hurts, thought Lucky dismally. He gave a wretched whine.
“Please, Lucky? For me?”
Everything has been for you, Bella. “If I have to.”
“Please, Lucky.” Her eyes were dark and intent and solemn.
He shut his own, so that he wouldn’t have to look at her. “Just a little longer, then. Only a little. Can I come back with you and see Martha and Bruno first? I’m worried about them.”
Bella’s tail drooped. “I wish you could,” she said. “But I don’t want you to catch this sickness.”
Lucky slumped with disappointment. “You’re right,” he said sadly. “Tell them I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Lucky.” Bella nuzzled his ear. “Thank you.”
“Bella, even going back tonight will be difficult. One of them—well, I think my absence might have been noticed.” His gut twisted when he thought of how he’d left Sweet, and the things she’d said.
“Then you have to be careful, Yap.” She licked him affectionately. “Don’t get hurt. I don’t want my litter-brother in any trouble.”
Why not? It’s you who got me into it! But in spite of his dread and misery, Lucky had to admit the sense in what she said. There was certainly no point in making himself ill, and it wouldn’t be for much longer. Just till the sickness had worked its way out of her Pack, if it was as bad as she said it was. . . .
“Don’t forget, then,” he sighed. “Whine’s a patrol dog now, and he’s weak. And however cunning he is, he’s not too competent as a Pack Dog. That’s a soft spot you can exploit when you need to move around. And remember, the Wild Pack hunts late after sun-high. The meadows on this side of the forest have good hunting. If you do it in the early sunup, and avoid scent-marking, your presence should have faded enough by the time we come around.”
“Yes, yes. I understand all that, Lucky.” Bella seemed thoughtful and serious, but there was a hint of impatience in her tensed muscles, too. “Now you’d best be getting back, if you’re worried. Be careful. And I promise you can be back with our Pack. Soon! It’ll be before another turn of the Moon-Dog, I’m sure of it. Go on!” She licked his nose fondly, her tail wagging.
“Good-bye, then?”
“Good-bye, Lucky! May the Forest-Dog be with you!”
She’d dismissed him like a pup, he thought, as he loped back in the direction of the Wild Pack camp. She wanted me gone. She couldn’t wait for me to leave. The very thought sent a chill of dread down his spine.
Don’t be silly, Lucky! You’re both anxious.
Still, he could feel his litter-sister watching him until he was well out of sight. The low-burning resentment in his belly was bad enough without this tingle of apprehension, too.
There was something Bella wasn’t telling him.
He couldn’t place his paw on it, but he knew it for sure. Something was horribly, dangerously wrong.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The next day, Lucky sniffed carefully at each patch of grass among the gopher burrows, and even licked at tree stumps, but there was no trace of Bella or the other Leashed Dogs. Had they covered their tracks so well, and moved like ghosts as they hunted? Or had she ignored his advice and stayed away from the hunting meadows?
There was nothing about her he could be sure of anymore, he thought with a ripple of sadness and unease.
“Have you turned into a grass-eater?” Snap’s cheerful bark made him jump. “Come on. There are rabbits!”
Snap was in a fine mood this afternoon, skittish and eager, and strangely enough her enthusiasm was catching. Lucky gave her a happy bark, suddenly glad to be jolted out of his misery.
“Drive a few my way and we’ll see who’s a grass-eater!”
Snap yelped a laugh and darted off, veering across the sun-splashed grassland until she disappeared beyond a rise in the ground. Only moments later panicked rabbits were careening toward him, and Lucky leaped after them with a gleeful bark. The creatures were in chaos, tumbling and racing across one another’s paths to reach their burrows, and some were too mindless with fear to even try to avoid him. One furry streak bolted almost between Lucky’s legs, but instead of doubling back he sprang for its companion, rolling the terrified rabbit over and over until he could grab its neck in his jaws and snap it.
The others were having just as much success. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fiery shaking the life out of a rabbit with his powerful jaws, and Spring was playing with another almost like a well-fed sharpclaw. She tossed it into the air and caught it.
“Good hunting today!” she yelped as she slapped her rabbit to the ground with a deadly paw.
Lucky barked his agreement and turned to chase another before they could all vanish underground. He was so charged with the thrill of the hunt, his blood fizzing in his ears, that he didn’t hear the first sharp barks of alarm.
It was Snap’s wild cry that finally made him look up, letting another rabbit scamper free and down into its hole. Snap wasn’t hunting anymore; she was staring at a dog who was racing across the meadow toward them, panting with distress.
“Dart?” she barked.
Fiery and Spring had frozen now, too, staring at the brown-and-white dog as she skidded to a halt.
“The camp!” Dart barked, breathless. “Come fast! The camp’s under attack!”
“What?” snarled Fiery, and then: “My pups!”
“Dart, who? Who’s attacking?” Spring bounded toward her, dropping a squealing gopher that skittered away as fast as it could.
“That Leashed Pack! There are more of them! And they’re attacking us!”
No! Lucky thought, his brain in turmoil. No, Bella! What have you done?
“That’s not possible—” began Snap.
“Yes! They sneaked past that slug-brain Whine! I knew he’d be a useless guard! They must have known the hunters were gone, and they’re going to kill us!” Dart turned and bolted back the way she’d come.
Without another word, the hunters raced across the meadow after Dart, Lucky at Fiery’s heels. He kept up with the furious pace though his heart was a stone inside him.
Branches whipped Lucky’s muzzle as they plunged into the trees, but all he could see was Fiery’s brown haunches as he pounded through the flickering sun-shadows. He didn’t dare think. His Packmates were a blur of speed at his sides. Packmates. Lucky’s belly twisted with guilt.
They were out of the trees and into the clearing before he could stop his brain from spinning. Lucky scrabbled to a halt beside Fiery as the huge dog squared up to the invaders, snarling and bristling.
The scene in the camp made Lucky’s stomach turn over. His Pack, the dogs he’d guided and protected and spied for, facing up against—
My other Pack, he realized with a jolt.
Bella was clearly in the lead, her tail stiff and her hackles high as she grimly faced down Alpha. Daisy and Sunshine were both trembling, but they stood firm, small teeth bared. Mickey was beside them, looking determined and fierce.
And there were two others.
Bruno. Martha.
The sturdy dog and the massive water-dog looked sleek and healthy and ready for a battle, not a sign of sickness in their eyes or their coats. Martha
wasn’t even limping anymore. Bella lied to me . . .
They all lied to me!
Lucky watched as the two Packs circled each other warily, growling and tense, each waiting for the first sign of weakness in the other.
Every hair on Lucky’s body was erect, and tremors of tension ran through his skin and muscles, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t even move, and though his mind raced in frantic circles like a rabbit, he couldn’t come up with a single useful thought. Where did he fit in this stupid, dangerous situation?
Whose side are you on, Lucky?
For a moment, his resentment and bewilderment made him dizzy. Why hadn’t Bella told him this was what she was planning? Did she not trust him, or had she wanted to make him some kind of unwitting bait? And what in the name of the Sky-Dogs made her think this could work? Alpha’s Pack was still bigger and fiercer than hers.
I can’t stand by while my litter-sister fights for her life. . . .
Can I?
“Get out, longpaw pets!” Sweet barked. “We’ll destroy you for this.”
“We’ll go where we want to,” Bruno snarled.
“And that includes the lake, and the hunting meadows,” growled Mickey. “If you don’t like it, by all means try to fight us.”
Twitch made a feinting move forward, but still none of the dogs launched a proper attack. Alpha’s eyes were cold and deadly, riveted on Bella’s, and Lucky knew that if any dog was going to die that day it would be her.
But he feared there would be more than one going to the Earth-Dog, before the Sun-Dog lay down to rest. Many more . . .
Maybe I can still talk them all down from this.
No. It’s hopeless. Oh, Forest-Dog, help me. I don’t know what to do!
The dog-smells around him were sharp and rank: anger and hatred and fear. The air was thick with it, but there was something else, something that made him sniff the breeze. None of the others had noticed, too concerned with threatening one another. Snarling and whining filled the glade, making his ears ache, but there was nothing wrong with his nose.
I know that scent.
Frantically Lucky opened his nostrils and snuffed the air, desperate to pinpoint the elusive odor. It was familiar somehow . . . and then he knew why. He’d smelled it on Bella at their last meeting—that dark, dusky scent he couldn’t place.
Bella had said it was dogs they’d fought off. Had she lied about that, too? Had she brought them as hidden reinforcements? Or had they returned to have their revenge on her; were they even now waiting beyond the trees?
A great courageous bark silenced the low growls of challenge. Bella.
“Alpha!” she cried. “We’re here to demand a share of this territory. You have food, water, shelter. Share it, or we’ll take it by force!”
Lucky stared at her, open-jawed. Had she lost her mind?
Alpha clearly thought so. “You’re welcome to try,” he told her in his silky growl. He shared an amused glance with Sweet before turning back to Bella. “If you’re stupid enough to take us on. But if you’re smarter than I take you for, you’ll leave now. And then,” he licked a huge paw idly, making the long claws gleam, “we’ll say no more about it.”
Lucky doubted it would be that easy, but still he barked at Bella inside his head. Slink away now, Bella, while you have the chance!
She didn’t even blink or cower. Instead she drew herself even stiffer and higher, and said, “You’re making a huge mistake, Alpha.”
For the first time the dog-wolf looked genuinely surprised, his ears pricking forward in disbelief. Then he gave a great bark of laughter. “I’m not the one making a mistake, Leashed Dog. Not me!”
Bella said nothing, only wrinkling her muzzle in disdain. Then she gave a great summoning bark.
Shadows rippled through the bushes; pointed snouts lined with gleaming teeth emerged from all around. Lucky felt a roiling dread in his belly. The other dogs of the Wild Pack were glancing around nervously, showing the whites of their eyes. From all around, creatures were creeping slyly into view. . . .
Foxes!
In sheer disbelief, Lucky watched them, gray and thin and savage. One snapped its cruel teeth, its tail standing up straight.
“With you, Bella-dog,” it leered. “Hello, smelly-dogs.”
Lucky’s head reeled and his stomach churned. So that was the reek on Bella’s fur, the scent he couldn’t quite identify. Not dogs at all. And not Bella’s enemies—they were with her!
“Foxes!” howled Alpha in rage. “Foxes in my lair!”
The dogs around him erupted into a din of furious yelping as Lucky backed away, horrified. Foxes were creatures of the city, feral and wily and savage. Why had they come here? They belonged in the broken longpaw town, scavenging and lurking and killing by stealth. How in the name of the Sky-Dogs had Bella found them, and why?
Did she go back to the city? For these?
A great hideous shudder went through his bones. What has she promised them?
“I told you you were making a mistake.” Bella’s growl was cool and certain. “We’re not weak Leashed Dogs now, Alpha, and you can’t drive us from this valley.”
Alpha stood stock-still in disgust, rigid and stunned.
“My friends,” barked Bella. “Attack!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“NO!”
But Lucky’s howl of protest was drowned out by the deafening barks and screams of dogs colliding in battle. Bella had knocked Sweet flying, but Sweet was already on her paws again, snarling her rage as she tore at Bella’s neck. Mickey and Bruno were taking on Snap and Spring, and they rolled on the crushed grass and earth, snapping and biting and scratching. Yelps of pain and fury battered Lucky’s ears as he saw the foxes spring like streaks of gray mist at the Wild Pack, tearing and raking at their ears and eyes and throats.
His heart was pounding so hard it felt too big for his chest. Oh, help me, Forest-Dog! I don’t know what to do! He didn’t want to see the Leashed Dogs defeated and killed, but how could he fight against his comrades in the Wild Pack? How could he ally himself with foxes? They weren’t to be trusted, ever!
His whole body was shaking with the struggle to choose, but if he didn’t get involved soon, one or the other of his Packs would start to fail. His friends would be killed. He didn’t want any of them to die! The foxes could go to the Earth-Dog as far as he was concerned, but not the dogs he knew, the ones he fought and hunted beside—
The foxes . . .
Lucky crouched, creeping forward, peering into the pitching, tumbling bodies as they fought and howled. All dogs, though—all dogs, killing one another. Where were the foxes?
He sprang to his paws and spun around. Six gray shapes were scuttling around the food store, grabbing any scraps they could. Treacherous brutes! Lucky almost felt sorry for Bella, with her trusting innocence. He’d been wrong about these animals—they weren’t city foxes at all. They were too ruthless and cunning. Foxes living off scraps in the city would look slow and lazy by comparison.
He snarled and bolted after the thieves. The foxes wouldn’t get even a scrap if he had anything to do with it.
As he ran, the sickening realization hit him like a longpaw’s kick. The foxes had lost interest in the meager food store, and had come to circle Moon’s den. They paced around it, their eyes fixed on the pups, lips curled back in snarls. They didn’t want scraps, Lucky thought with a flash of pure rage. They wanted prey, live prey. Moon’s pups.
Moon was crouched before the den, snarling her hate, spittle flying from her jaws as the foxes darted in one by one to bite and torment her.
“Mommy-dog, tired, all alone,” Lucky heard one of them say. “Can’t fight our hunger!”
Moon was weak from nursing, but she was as fierce as Alpha ever had been, clawing and snapping at her tormentors. Squirm, Fuzz, and Nose were cowering somewhere behind her, and Lucky could hear their terrified whimpering.
Lucky cannoned into the middle of the fox-pack, sending them sc
attering and rolling onto their backs, but his surprise attack gave Moon only a short reprieve. The foxes bounced back to their paws, flying at him.
All of Lucky’s fury poured through him as he leaped and snapped and drew fox blood, flinging one away as the next came at him. This was a fight he could throw himself into without doubts or torn loyalties. Moon’s eyes met his with a flash of gratitude, and she turned on the foxes with new hope and energy, fighting as hard as she could from her post at the den’s mouth. The foxes were clever fighters, taunting and nipping her, trying to draw her away from the den.
“Give us tasty pup-snacks!” one of the foxes whined.
Lucky heard the pups howling in terror. “No, Mother, don’t go!”
“Don’t leave us!”
Moon looked exhausted, but she battled on.
A fox sprang onto her neck, snatching a mouthful of skin and hanging on. Lucky snarled and struck his own attacker across the snout with a paw, then dashed for Moon, seizing the fox and tearing it from her. Yelping with agony, Moon rolled away. At the same time, Lucky felt sharp fangs sink into his flank, and he had to turn to crunch his jaws into the fox that had grabbed him.
Are these creatures unkillable? he thought in despair as it tumbled over in the grass, then came back at him, drool and blood flying from its muzzle.
They were so strong, so resilient—much hardier brutes than the ones he used to fight in the city, and worst of all, braver. Any of the foxes of the city would have run from him by now.
He snapped at one that was sneaking to his flank, but suddenly there were two more. They came at him from both sides, biting his neck fur and holding on hard. Lucky felt the warm flow of blood and the sting of pain, dazing him and making his head spin. They were dragging him, but he didn’t know for a moment which way was up and which way was down. He was falling, rolling, over and over—