He’s not acting like an Alpha or a Beta, realized Storm, her heart plummeting. He’s not concerned for the Pack, and he’s not calming them down. He’s thinking only of his mate and their unborn pups.
In that case, some other dog had to do it. Storm spun on her haunches and raced back across the clearing. She almost tripped across the panicking Snap, but shouldered her aside and bounded on, barking.
“Calm down! Every dog, be quiet!”
Rake turned on her, wild-eyed. “But they’re coming for us!”
“No, they aren’t. Not yet.” Storm tipped her head back to give a penetrating howl. “Calm down, all of you!”
The racket in the glade subsided, just a little, as dogs began to halt, panting, and turn to watch Storm. They were desperate for leadership at this instant. That was her only way to get through to them.
“Listen,” she barked fiercely, her voice carrying even above the loudbirds’ roar. “Loudbirds have no teeth, no claws. They aren’t predators! All they’re good for is carrying longpaws.”
“But if they land in our camp—” whimpered Daisy.
“Yes, they have to land first, before they can hurt us. And loudbirds are slow! We’ll have plenty of time to escape if they decide to perch here.”
Whisper bolted forward, pressing his flank tightly against Storm’s; she could feel the terrified tremors in his skin. “But even if we run, where will we go?” he whined. “We’ll never find another camp as good as this one! Where will we find prey? Storm, help us!”
Storm clenched her jaws. The last thing she needed right now was Whisper’s cowering hero-worship. It riled her even more now that there was such a need for calm and focus from the whole Pack.
Breeze had stopped dead, and she was glaring at Storm. “You really think you should be giving the orders?” she snarled.
Storm stiffened so abruptly, her legs trembled. She wanted to let out a bewildered whine, but she was speechless with shock. Breeze had never spoken like that to her before. So why—
“If your leaders are in no shape to make a decision”—Breeze jerked her head at Lucky and Alpha—“then it’s Twitch we should look to!”
Lucky’s head snapped around, and there was shock in his eyes. But if he felt any guilt for his lapse in leadership, it was clearly still overwhelmed by his confusion and his concern for Alpha. He backed even closer to his mate, who was panting with alarm as she licked her swollen flanks.
“Breeze is right! You’re not our leader!” Dart’s snarl came from behind Storm, and she twisted to face the small dog, but Dart was not alone. Ruff and Rake were eyeing Storm too, lips peeled back from their teeth.
“But,” Storm began, confused and hurt. “I don’t mean—”
At that moment, to her intense relief, Twitch himself bounded forward on his three legs. “We can all argue about leadership some other time,” he barked, a steely look in his eyes. “For now, get yourselves organized. If we have to run, we must be ready. We will all go together.”
Storm felt like leaping on him and licking his ears with gratitude, but she only dipped her head. She was about to bark her agreement, too, but above their heads something was changing. The racket of the loudbirds was not as deafening, and the terrible gale of their spinning wings was lessening.
“They’re flying back upward,” she barked, filled with renewed hope.
“Are they leaving?” Mickey backed a few paces, narrowing his eyes at the sky.
“Yes! They’re flying away!” Daisy leaped off the ground with all four paws, she was so relieved and excited.
A few last disturbed leaves whirled down, pattering onto the grass, and the high branches calmed their wild thrashing. Around them the more slender trees creaked back upright, and birds began to sing hesitantly again. The loudbirds circled higher and higher until they were nothing more than faint black dots flying toward the sunup horizon.
The whole forest seemed to shiver and relax. Bruno gave his shaggy coat a violent shake. Ruff licked her black flank, seeming angry at her own panic. Sunshine crept out, trembling, from beneath her rock. All around Storm, dogs were shaking themselves, wagging their tails, and letting out yelps and barks of relief. Storm’s own flanks were heaving, and she was panting with exertion.
“Who do you think you are, Storm?” Dart seemed to have recovered quickly, and her bark was vicious.
“She’s making a play to be Alpha, if you ask me,” snarled Ruff.
“Packmates.” Lucky bounded forward before Storm could even open her jaws to argue with them. His brown eyes were unusually hard. “Storm’s one of the few dogs who kept her head cool just now. She was trying to help us—and it’s obvious we needed all the help dogs could give!”
Dart, at least, looked slightly abashed, and the others fell into a surly silence, but Alpha padded to Lucky’s side and solemnly watched Storm’s eyes.
“All the same, Beta,” she murmured. “Following Pack Law is more important than ever now. We all have to respect the hierarchy, or every dog is lost. Now is not the time for any dog to make challenges, or get ideas above her rank.”
Lucky hesitated, then nodded. Storm felt her heart sink like a stone, and her tail clamped tightly between her hindlegs at the reprimand. She wanted to apologize, but no sound would come— and why, she thought with sudden anger, should she say she was sorry? The Pack had been in chaos a moment ago! She had been trying to help!
Searching the circle of dogs for a single supportive face, Storm caught Bella’s eye. The look the golden-furred dog gave her was very knowing and intent, and Storm felt a small shiver in her gut. She knew exactly what Bella was telling her: This is just the kind of thing I warned you about.
But it was too late for Storm to argue. Without waiting for her reply, Alpha nudged Lucky’s neck, then paced forward to the center of the glade.
Into the silence, the swift-dog gave a commanding bark. “The danger has passed. It was a strange thing, seeing the loudbirds so close, but they’ve gone now.”
“Huh.” Moon gave a gruff growl. “They appeared out of nowhere, straight from the sky. That means they can do it again, at any time. How can we know the danger’s truly past?”
Whisper shrank nervously closer to Storm, and Ruff and Woody exchanged glances. Beetle and Thorn stepped nearer to their mother, their expressions protective. No dog spoke.
“And if the longpaws in their bellies have loudsticks?” Moon demanded. “What would we do then? There would be no escape!”
“That’s enough.” Lucky bounded forward to Alpha’s side, meeting Moon’s angry blue eyes. “The danger has passed, for now at least. The best thing we can do is get back to our normal routine.” He cast his gaze around them all. “Right now.”
Slowly, still giving themselves occasional shakes and growling softly, the dogs of the Pack began to disperse around the clearing. Rake barked to his patrol to summon them for duty. Woody nudged Sunshine to her paws, then turned to trot over to Snap, who was gathering her hunters.
“We need prey,” growled Snap. “Let’s get hunting. Whisper! Bella! Mickey!”
Storm stepped eagerly forward, but the hunt-dog shook her head, averting her eyes coldly. “Not you, Storm. I have enough hunters for this patrol.”
Storm’s tail drooped as she watched Bella, Snap and the rest of the hunters bolt away into the trees. I was only trying to keep the Pack safe. I tried to make things better for us all.
But in doing that, had she only made things worse for herself?
CHAPTER NINE
It had been a long day, Storm realized as she slunk through the long grass late that afternoon. She’d barely slept at all, even before that nerve-jangling encounter with the loudbirds. Her body ached with tiredness and she couldn’t suppress an occasional yawn, but she was proud to be part of the special patrol Lucky had organized, and she wasn’t going to let him down. After all, Bella must be tired too, she thought with a glance at Lucky’s litter-sister; she’d already been out with the hunting party earl
ier in the day.
The meadow grass was long enough to tickle Storm’s nostrils, but she wasn’t worried about that. She was much more concerned with the outline ahead of her, the broken shapes of longpaw buildings that marked the edge of their deserted settlement. The very sight of the town made Storm’s hackles spring erect, but she made herself pad on.
I won’t let Lucky down.
“This is roughly where the loudbirds were hovering,” said Lucky, raising his growl just enough for each patrol member to hear. “They did spend time over our camp, but I watched them. Mostly they seemed to be hunting for prey over the longpaw town. I think it was something particular they were hunting for—and I want to know what it was.”
He’s making excuses, Storm thought miserably. He says he was watching the loudbirds while they hovered, trying to find out what they were up to. He’s trying to tell us he was afraid but he didn’t completely lose his senses.
But I’m not sure I believe that. I think this time, Lucky let the Pack down.
Storm heaved a silent, unhappy sigh. Her pawsteps slowed as the patrol drew closer to the town, and around her Bella, Arrow, and Bruno walked more carefully, too. Lucky padded rapidly on, though, until Bella gave a sigh of exasperation and bounded ahead to block his way with her body.
“Beta,” she growled. “Be more careful! What if there are longpaws there? The ones from the loudbirds’ bellies?”
Lucky hesitated, one paw lifted. He cocked an ear at his litter-sister, and sighed. “You’re right. I suppose I’m being reckless.”
“And I know why.” Bella gave him a sympathetic lick. “That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”
“What?” He looked startled.
“You feel bad because you froze when the loudbirds came. Don’t look at me like that, Beta; you know it’s true.” She tilted her head to study his face.
Storm froze where she stood. How would Lucky react to what, in Storm’s opinion, was the simple, feather-free truth? She looked from the Beta to his litter-sister and back again, licking her chops anxiously.
Bella, though, did not look the least bit wary or nervous. “Beta, you brought us out on patrol because you want to do something to make up for panicking.”
Lucky’s muzzle wrinkled and he averted his eyes. “I was watching the loudbirds, but I didn’t want to leave Sw—Alpha.”
Bella licked his ear. “That’s perfectly understandable. You’re going to be a Father-Dog! Of course you’re going to worry about your mate and your pups. You don’t have to feel bad about it.”
As if embarrassed, Lucky turned toward the town again. He looked as unconvinced as Storm felt.
His main responsibility is to the Pack, and he knows it, she thought. He’s Father-Dog to all of us, in a way, just as our Alpha is our Mother-Dog. He can’t think only of his mate.
Bella was talking to her litter-brother again. “Listen, Beta, the best way to help Alpha and the pups is to do what we came here to do. Right?”
The Beta nodded, and seemed to focus properly on the task at hand. “Let’s go forward carefully. Every dog on his belly. This grass is long enough to conceal us if we do it right. If there are any longpaws in the town, we can still avoid being spotted.”
Bella obeyed immediately, followed by Storm, Arrow, and Bruno. One paw after another, they crept through the long stiff grass. It certainly did hide them, Storm thought, but it also made it hard to see. Irritated by an itch in her nose, Storm gave a muffled sneeze, then shunted another clump of grass aside with her muzzle.
There were no longpaw sounds from the town, only the tweeting of birds, the whine of wind in empty buildings, and the occasional creak and clang of loose-hanging wire. The place seemed as deserted as they’d always found it before, except . . . Storm sniffed. Through the dry bitter scent of the meadow, she could smell something else.
“Longpaws,” she growled to Lucky. “Their scent is fresh. And it’s pretty strong.”
“Yes,” he said grimly. “They’ve been here recently.”
“I don’t understand why they would come here,” Bruno said, puzzled.
“I don’t know, but let’s get closer and find out.” Lucky edged forward with caution.
Storm followed his lead, her heart crashing against her ribs. Her instincts howled at her to turn and run, but she couldn’t disobey her Beta, and she didn’t want to.
But she knew so little about longpaws. . . .
What happens if we meet one? she wondered. What if it attacks? Do we attack it back?
I’ll just have to wait and take my lead from the others.
When they reached a clear track that led toward the town, all five dogs began to scent methodically at its edges, checking for longpaw traces. Still strong, realized Storm, but gradually fading. The longpaws might have been here recently, but it seemed they’d left.
Storm paused, pawing at a deep, dark groove of mud in the grass. “What’s this? It doesn’t look like a mark of the Big Growl.”
Bella trotted back to her. “No, that’s not damage from the Growl. Ah. Look, there are two ruts. A loudcage has been here.”
“One with very large paws,” added Bruno, tilting his head to examine the deeply scored marks. The raw earth looked damp, and there were strange patterns etched into it.
Lucky and Arrow had joined them now, too, sniffing at the scars. “Yes,” said Lucky, “and these marks are fresh, too. A huge loudcage cut across the grass quite recently.”
“But why?” murmured Arrow.
Good question! Storm looked expectantly at Lucky—didn’t he always know how the longpaws’ strange minds worked?—but he only shook his head in perplexity. Storm felt a tremor of unease. If Lucky couldn’t explain this, what dog could?
Staying closer together, the dogs crept into the town with trepidation, bristling at every strange scent. As they rounded a sharp corner onto a stretch of hardstone path, Lucky took a breath.
“More loudcages,” he murmured, “but they’re not moving.”
“They’re asleep,” said Bruno, staring at the massive shapes of the slumbering monsters. “Let’s move very quietly.”
Storm found it hard to breathe as she stepped trembling between the first two giant creatures. Each had a single huge fang, poised in the air as if ready to bite down; she was glad that the monsters were sleeping. But they had already done their damage. There were deep, ragged wounds in the hardstone, and the walls of some of the longpaw houses had been torn into careful piles of rubble. That’s not the work of the Big Growl, thought Storm with a shiver. The loudcages ripped down those longpaw homes, and they dug those great gashes in the hardstone, too. The wounds looked so deep, Storm knew the Earth-Dog must be hurting.
What were these longpaws up to?
As the dogs came to a halt between the dozing loudcages, Lucky pricked his ears, scanning the road ahead of them. “I’m not sure we should go much farther.”
Arrow’s fur rippled visibly with a tremor of anxiety. “These loudcages might be guarding something, but I don’t want to be here when they wake up,” he muttered.
“And there are others, farther on,” said Bruno. “They look almost as big.”
Storm couldn’t express her own opinion; her throat was tight with fear, but she knew she’d rather saunter into a giantfur’s den than walk between more of these gigantic loudcages.
Bella narrowed her eyes, thoughtful. “If any longpaws jumped out and surprised us, escape would be difficult in this place. We could be hemmed in among the loudcages.”
“True,” agreed Lucky. “We’ll go back to the camp and report to Alpha. I think we’ve seen enough.”
A wave of relief made Storm dizzy, and she spun on her haunches to begin the retreat, but Bruno’s desolate voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Are we going to have to move on again?” he whined.
Turning back, Storm saw that his head was drooping with unhappiness.
“It took us so long to find our camp,” the big dog went on, glanc
ing longingly in the direction of their forest. “It’s our territory!” He licked his chops, and an element of resentful loathing crept into his voice. “We fought off Fierce Dogs to claim it.”
Storm bristled at the tone of his growl, and she saw Arrow’s hackles spring up too. She caught her fellow Fierce Dog’s narrowed eyes, and knew he was thinking what she was thinking.
Does Bruno despise us, then?
Lucky had hunched his golden shoulders. “I understand, Bruno. Nobody wants to move on again. But longpaws and giant loudcages—and loudbirds? Seems to me they’re an even tougher enemy than Blade’s Pack. We may not have a choice.”
Storm felt misery rise in her throat, and her ears and tail drooped. “We came so far to get here, Beta.”
“Yes, Storm, but—”
An abrupt whine interrupted them, and Storm turned with surprise to look at Arrow. He had stiffened, and he took a backward step, his sharp nostrils flaring. Then he paced forward, his pointed ears pricked as high as they could go.
“Arrow!” Lucky was startled. “What’s wrong?”
There was a low, agonized growl in Arrow’s throat. In a choked voice he said, “It’s Ripper.”
Storm jerked back in surprise. Ripper was one of Blade’s dogs!
Surely Ripper had fled with the rest of Blade’s Pack after the battle? But Arrow must know her scent, and if she really was here, then there could be big trouble.
Blade’s Pack wanted to kill me. And if any of them survived, they might still be clinging to her wish. . . .
With a suddenness that took them all by surprise, Arrow sprang forward and bolted between the sleeping loudcages.
“Arrow, come back!” barked Lucky.
He might as well have been calling to the Wind-Dogs. Arrow streaked around a corner and vanished into the town’s deserted streets. Bella made to bound after him, but Lucky nipped her haunches to stop her. She turned, annoyed.
“That’s not a good idea, Bella,” growled Lucky.
Bella’s muzzle curled. “We can’t let him go alone! What if he runs into one of Blade’s dogs? What if it’s a trap?”