***
The sun was low and red in the sky when the patrol made their way into the quiet redoubt. Simetra was in a terrible state. She was rasping and coughing up blood, and Nerasa guided her down the grass tunnel to Palva’s hollow.
As her wheezing faded, the others stood awkwardly in the center of the empty redoubt main. Wolves had already retreated to their dens to escape the cold wind; a few glowing sparks of eyes were visible peering out from several dens. The renegade stood in the center of the redoubt, bristling and making herself seem as large as possible as she surveyed her surroundings with undisguised suspicion.
“Where is this alpha?” she demanded, still facing forward “I will not wait. Take me to her.”
Without thinking, Tir began to lead her in the direction of Liyra’s den, but Captain Leron caught him around the scruff of his neck and shoved him back.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he said. “I’ll fetch Alpha Liyra. Xelind, keep an eye on the outsider and his renegade.”
The renegade gave no sign of anger at his contemptuous tone; in fact, she didn’t even turn to look at him, preferring instead to act as though he did not exist. This was probably wise of her, Tir decided. Leron was twice her size. He would crush her like a twig.
Leron stalked away, leaving Xelind and Tir alone with the renegade. Xelind sank to his haunches and stared straight ahead without saying a word. The renegade, however, remained standing, her bitter, green eyes sweeping the borders of the redoubt main. Tir had the uneasy feeling that she was memorizing her surroundings.
“Who are you?”
Alpha Liyra was padding stiff-legged across the redoubt main towards them. Liyra approached the renegade with caution, sniffing her over, her ears flat and eyes narrowed.
The renegade waited for Liyra to finish, staring stony-faced at the alpha the whole time. She had not answered Liyra’s question, and Tir had the feeling she was not planning to.
“You are alpha here?” she demanded in a voice devoid of any respect for Liyra’s status.
“I am,” Liyra said, cocking her head. “You are—?”
“‘Tis irrelevant.”
“Oh? Then why are you here?”
“There is a small thing I need to straighten out with you and your packwolves.”
The venom she stressed into her words made it perfectly clear that this “straightening out” would not involve any sort of diplomatic reasoning. Liyra, sensing this, gave Tir a piercing stare, and Tir reverted his gaze to the ground. No doubt, Leron had told the alpha that it was he who led this hostile creature here.
“What might that be?” Liyra’s voice had grown silky smooth. “If it is a matter of my pack living here, then you needn’t bother. This is our home now, and although we don’t wish for trouble, we will defend our territory most harshly.”
“Does it matter to me where you live? I have come to discuss what you seem to be hunting.”
Liyra looked surprised.
“The rabbits?” she said. “But surely there are enough rabbits for us all to share—”
“The deer. You are hunting the deer, no?”
“We are. And I am sure that if we regulate our hunting patterns, there will be enough of even those for us all to—”
“No, listen to me, you idiot!” the renegade snapped. “You think I have come to pass around shares?”
Liyra had taken a small step backwards when the she-wolf shouted. Now, she drew herself back up and met the renegade’s glare. “You would dare to insult me so? I must remind you, I am the alpha of this pack.”
“Alpha be damned. You shall listen to me if there is any sense in you—and if there isn’t, I shall force it into you. ‘Twill be the same to me, either way you prefer—as ‘tis, you’ve already a blood debt to pay”
Liyra growled, now fully angered. She showed her teeth and made a lunging motion at the renegade, but then appeared to think better of it. “If I might remind you,” she said. “I am in command of a pack. I hardly think you’re in a position to make outrageous requests—”
“‘Twas no request, you reeking vulture; ‘twas an order.”
“You do not order me. If you value your life, then it would be wise to show respect for the rules of my pack.”
“I don’t respect bloodsoaked carrion-eaters!”
“I—excuse me? What on earth are you talking about?”
The renegade seemed to lose control. In a burst of aggression, she thrust her face into Liyra’s, snarling like a creature gone mad. “What am I talking about? I’m talking about she that you’ve killed—you slaughtered her like a rabbit!”
Liyra took another step backwards. “Killed whom? You are insane; you are making no sense whatsoever—”
“THE DEER!” the renegade roared. “YOU ARE KILLING THE DEER!”
A few wolves had ventured out of their dens and were staring at the renegade with wide eyes. Tir looked behind him to see Palva watching from the mouth of her grass tunnel, pale eyes glittering with an unreadable expression.
“Of course we did! Surely there is enough for us all to share? There is no need to be fighting like this over hunting rights.” Liyra was quite taken-aback by the renegade’s sudden fury; she no longer even looked angry, just shocked and puzzled. And Tir shared her confusion. Liyra was right; there were plenty of deer to feed both the pack and this renegade. Why was she so angry?
The renegade was pacing to and fro, quivering with rage. Her tail was rigid and threatening. She looked positively murderous.
“I am sure,” Liyra was continuing, her voice smoothing into what she must have thought was a calming tone. “that you and my pack could live together in peace. We can share prey; there are enough deer in the herd for us all to survive. If—”
“Are you bargaining with me?” the renegade said.
“Well, yes, if you are willing to cooperate.”
“Then I shall cooperate,” the renegade said. She stopped pacing and faced Liyra head-on. “If you wish, I will give you my terms. I will strike a deal, as you say. You will stop hunting the deer, and in return I shall refrain from tearing out the throat of each wolf in this pack.”
There was silence. The air rang with the renegade’s words, and a few wolves exchanged nervous glances Tir even heard someone laugh, though the sound was quickly stifled. The renegade did not look at the packwolves, however. She was watching Liyra. And Liyra stiffened.
“I am afraid I cannot agree to those terms,” she said softly.
“Then I will kill you,” the renegade said. Liyra was bigger than her, but in her wrath the diminutive she-wolf seemed far more forbidding. “All of you. You remember what I’m saying to you, for I will open your throats and scatter your bleeding entrails over the fields ‘til your debt has been paid in full; I will water the grass with your blood, I will—”
“Excuse me,” interrupted a calm, cold voice. Tir turned around. It was Palva.
“Excuse me,” she repeated. “would anyone care to tell me what is going on?”
Liyra gave her an awkward look.
“We have a slight disagreement,” she said. “A—about the deer hunting.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, but it will soon be smoothed over—”
“No, ‘twill not!” snarled the renegade, making a sudden, violent movement towards Liyra, who actually flinched. “IF YOU LAY A CLAW ON THOSE DEER I SWEAR I WILL FLAY YOUR PELT AND LEAVE IT TO ROT IN THE SUN!”
But Palva had not even spared a glance at the enraged renegade. Instead, she was looking at Liyra, who seemed very uncomfortable.
“I see,” Palva said. “How unfortunate. You would do well to listen to me in the future, Liyra.”
Liyra didn’t respond, and Palva looked up at the darkening sky.
“It is nightfall,” she said. “I will be going.”
And she left the redoubt without another word.
As soon as Palva was gone, the renegade rounded on Liyra, grinding her teeth.
 
; “You heard my terms,” she said, softer. Her voice was low and gravelly from shouting. “If you are going to ignore them, then I shall have to force them upon you in what ways I can.”
“You will not force me to do anything.” Liyra raised her head and showed her teeth. “I do not respond to renegade’s threats. My pack and I shall do as we choose.”
“Choose to die, then. I shall feed your eyes to the birds, and the river will run red with your blood, and these fields will reek for seasons.”
If Liyra had at all been shaken by this renegade’s brutal promises, then she did not show it. Tir, however, was itching with unease. It could be that Liyra did not hear the hatred in this violent wolf’s voice; Liyra did not know exactly how dangerous she could be. It could be that Liyra was not taking this wolf seriously, but Tir knew that the renegade would use her last breath to carry out her threats.
“Leave now,” Liyra said. “or I will drive you out with my own fangs.”
“Your fangs will dry and snap off. You do not understand what you’re stirring up. I shall tear your sorry pelt to shreds, you great swollen tick. I shall sharpen my claws on your bones. I shall—”
“You will not touch me or any wolf in my pack!” Liyra snarled. “And if you do, then we will hunt you down and kill you without mercy.”
Then, incredibly, the renegade laughed. Tir couldn’t believe it—it wasn’t a forced or sarcastic laugh, but a true laugh, as though something in this situation was suddenly hilarious to her.
“You will never find me,” she said with scorn. Tir wasn’t sure now if she was baring her teeth or smiling. “You and your poor wolves are slow. You shall hunt forever. Your eyes cannot see through the darkness of my forest and within moments you shall be destroyed by your own fear. I will vanish like a shadow, and you will lose yourself searching.”
And she spat at Liyra’s feet.
Liyra snarled with fury and reared up, but the renegade stood even taller, her white fur bristling and making her appear vast in her rage. She shoved her face into Liyra’s, lips drawn back from ice-white teeth.
“Tear yourself with your own fangs,” she said. “But if you so much as breathe on the deer, I shall know of it. And at night, I shall come. I shall destroy all of you and free the fields.”
“We will kill you. Don’t you see what you are doing? There are many of us and one of you. If—”
“Numbers don’t matter to me, you bloated tick. The only number I care about is the number of deer you slaughter—because you mark my words, it shall equal the number of pelts I hang to dry from the trees in my forest. And if you do not listen to me, you will all die. I will slaughter every wolf in this settlement that has the blood of the deer on his paws.”
She turned, and challenged the silent wolves that were assembled behind Liyra.
“All of you,” she said. “Do you hear me? I swear on my own blood, I shall tear out the throat of every wolf in this pack before the season’s end.”
And she left, vanishing into the grass.