32.
River Daughter
Alanki flew out of the shadows and down into the roiling hollow the moment the battle began. The only clear idea in her mind was to find the silver alpha and kill her. Delphinium had been right. Alanki hated the alpha more than she had ever hated any other creature. The alpha was the one who had ordered the death of Sundew and Eryngo. The alpha was the one who had ordered for the hunt and destruction of Alanki. But tonight, the alpha was to be the hunted.
Alanki came to a sudden halt, snow flying up at her paws as she scanned the pulsing battle around her for the hated she-wolf. A silver pelt like the alpha’s should be easy to spot amongst the mingled darker colors of brown, black, and smoky-grey, but the alpha was nowhere in sight. Alanki hissed and lashed at the ground in frustration. Had she run away?
“The renegade!” a voice barked from behind her. Alanki whipped around just in time to see a snarling, grey wolf come crashing into her, knocking her flat onto the ground.
In an instant, Alanki had sprung back to her paws and thrown her attacker off of her back where he had been clinging like a tick. He fell back, but only for a moment before he regained his balance and flew at her again. She jumped backwards and then flung herself out towards him, colliding in the air. They wrestled and twisted for a few short moments, Alanki shoving her attacker hard down to the ground. He twisted beneath her, but she pinned him down with an iron paw.
Snarling, she cracked his head as hard as she could with her paw, sending him jerking to the side, blood spurting from his muzzle. He went limp for a second, and she fell upon him harder than ever, slashing again and again at his face with her fangs.
Ignoring the frantic scrabbling of the wolf beneath her, Alanki clamped her jaws in an iron hold around his throat, his gurgling yelp of panic vibrating like the shattering of a sheet of ice in her ears. She ripped to the side, fur and flesh coming away in her fangs, blood stringing in a bright trail from her head’s movement.
She rose, panting, and blinked the blood out of her eyes. Then she froze. Her eyes flickering around the hollow. Without a moment’s hesitation, she abandoned the grey corpse and dashed off, flying in pursuit of a silver streak she had seen flash by.
She dodged past the screeching, battling wolves, focusing on nothing but finding the alpha. Alanki followed the silver streak without paying any mind to what was going on around her. Several times she was lunged for, but Alanki ducked their attacks without stopping to fight.
There!
The silver wolf was standing beneath the low, snow-laden branches of a pine, surveying the battle scene with cold eyes. Alanki hissed under her breath. The alpha’s coat was still smooth and unmarred—she had not been fighting at all.
Paws skimming over the snow, Alanki made a quick change in direction, moving around the pine tree to catch the alpha from behind. Alanki crouched amongst the sharp-scented branches, her breath fogging in the air as she waited for the right moment to spring. The alpha twitched, her fur beginning to bristle as though she sensed that something was wrong.
Alanki dug her hind paws into the snow, taking a small step backwards and—
She crashed into the alpha with all her might, which was at least enough to knock the silver she-wolf backwards. Alanki fell upon her, ripping out chunks of her smooth silver pelt with her sharpened, hooked claws.
But the alpha was stronger than Alanki had bargained for. She kicked herself off from the ground, whipping around to shake Alanki off of her back and rearing up on her hind legs. Alanki twisted in the air, landing on all fours and springing back up within a heartbeat. She flattened her ears, flying down into a duck as the alpha aimed a blow at her head. Alanki whipped back up again, slamming against her like a fall of boulders.
Winded and surprised, the alpha reeled backwards. For the first time, she seemed to realize who her attacker was, and her eyes widened.
“You!” she said.
Alanki spat in reply and slid back, kicking against the snowy ground to propel herself forward with lethal speed to crash against the alpha again. The two grappled with each other, rolling out from beneath the pine tree and out into the thick of the battle in a cyclone of fur and snapping fangs.
The alpha reared, slamming herself down against Alanki to crush her beneath her larger weight. It was the alpha’s turn to slash Alanki now—and she did, her fangs finding a hold on the back of Alanki’s neck. Alanki writhed, slipping out of the alpha’s grasp but snarled as her muzzle was sliced open in a new set of red gashes. Little flecks of blood spattered her face and she was blinded for a moment, her fur wet with melted snow—then she slipped. The alpha managed to pin her down beneath a heavy paw and glared down at her, panting and dripping blood into Alanki’s face. Alanki thrashed, but was surprised by the alpha’s steely strength. The silver she-wolf’s paw descended on Alanki’s throat like a nail, and Alanki’s fangs flashed up to sink in her flesh. Howling, the alpha released her and recoiled, Alanki upon her in an instant, rolling with her sharp blows and lashing against her flailing limbs.
After a few seconds, Alanki had managed to bring herself to the top, despite the alpha’s larger size and weight. Snarling, she flew at her throat, feeling her fangs latch around the soft flap of skin. Alanki bit down—hard—but the alpha tore herself away, leaving Alanki with her jaws clamped around torn fur and lose bits of flesh. Alanki spat in frustration and fury, whipping up for another chance.
But the alpha had run away, her fur trailing in bloody clumps behind her.
Alanki dashed through the hollow, splashing through puddles of slush and blood. The alpha was still ahead, running as fast as she could in an apparent attempt to escape the battle. Alanki soon reached her, crashing into her and sending them both tumbling back down into the center of the hollow.
Alanki slashed and tore with a hateful vehemence, battering the alpha’s face down into the bloodstained snow. The alpha struggled, throwing Alanki off as she tried to stand. But Alanki slashed at one of her paws from the ground, biting down hard. With a blood-curdling howl of pain, the alpha collapsed again. Alanki wasted no time in diving for her neck. But this time, it was different. The alpha was not in some isolated corner of the hollow, hidden beneath the branches of a tree. She was in the center of the battle, surrounded by wolves of her pack. And the moment their alpha screeched, they were alerted.
Alanki was buried under a roiling mass of snarling fur and fangs as about five different wolves leaped at her. She wriggled like a snake, slipping out from underneath the sudden weight and attempted to make a quick dash into the bushes. But fangs snagged in her fur, dragging her back. Pain soaked like a burning liquid into every inch of her pelt as the wolves tore and lashed at her. Alanki twisted and kicked with all her strength, but the wolves continued to beat her, loyally defending their alpha, who had vanished again.
In a sudden burst of energy, Alanki thrashed out with her hind legs. She felt one of them connect with someone’s face, and the wolf howled with pain. Alanki flew upwards, clawing and snarling, slipping out from beneath them in a flurry of snapping fangs. A few continued to swipe at her, but Alanki ducked and dashed off, vanishing into the bushes.
She sat there, fuming and panting in the shadows, watching as the alpha’s defenders dispersed. Her pelt was stinging, and new scars had slithered down her sides like melting red ribbons. The leaves beneath her paws were wet with blood.
Fine, then—if that was the way they wanted it. She had been willing to take the alpha and no one else, but she now knew that the pack would do anything to protect their leader. Fine. That was fine with her. She couldn’t care less what happened to the hated pack, so long as she and the deer would be able to live in peace. Redshank had been right. If she killed the alpha, they would only hunt her down with even more fervor.
She looked up, panting. The moon—the bloodfire moon—hung suspended above the tops of the black pines like a paled crimson disc. In her eye, it seemed to grow larger each minute, as though feeding off
of the battle’s fury below—and Alanki laughed at this spark of insanity, wiping the blood out of her eyes. The moon was the same color as the snow in the hollow.