Promise Of The Wolves (25 page)

Ázzuen, Marra, and I were covered with dirt, twigs, and leaves, and our fur was matted from our encounter with the Stone Peaks, but I had been too concerned about escaping to notice. Ruuqo looked at our disheveled appearance and pulled his lips back in a snarl. It seemed like the late afternoon light actually steamed off his fur. Rissa stood beside him, white fur raised along her back, growling furiously.

“What are you doing in Swift River territory, menacing Swift River pups?” she demanded.

“If you care so much about them, why leave them to run alone?” Ceela snarled.

Ruuqo and Rissa ignored her, awaiting Torell’s answer. For a few more moments, the three stood staring at one another. Ceela, Pell, and the fourth Stone Peak stood behind Torell, tensed to fight. Finally, Torell allowed his fur to settle a little. The other three stood guard.

“We would not have hurt them,” he said at last. “We have important matters to discuss with you. We were on our way here when we found them spying on us.”

“He’s lying,” Ázzuen whispered, but too softly for anyone but me to hear. Marra looked over at me. I, too, was terrified of the Stone Peaks, but I had to speak up.

“He’s lying,” I said loudly, lowering my ears as every head swung to me. “They were planning to attack us. And they were in our territory. They want to get Tree Line and Wind Lake to join forces with them against us. We heard them say so.”

I shifted uncomfortably as everyone stared at me.

“It’s true,” Ázzuen said stolidly, standing beside me. “We all heard them.”

Marra grunted in agreement, and Ruuqo turned a cold gaze on Torell. I saw Pell trying to catch my eye.

“That’s enough reason for us to kill you, Torell,” Ruuqo said. “Why should I let you live to attack us when we sleep? We should slay you where you stand.”

“You can try, runtwolf,” the largest of the Stone Peaks grunted, his brown coat bristling. It occurred to me that he was rather stupid. Which was probably why a wolf of his size wasn’t leading a pack.

“Shut up, Arrun,” Torell said. “Your pups misunderstood what they heard, Ruuqo. It is not you we plan to kill.” He paused. “It is the humans.”

The pack fell so silent, I could hear the elkryn chewing on the plain twenty wolflengths away. It was as if Torell had said he was going to pull the wolfstar out of the sky and slay it like prey. I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been. Even after hearing what the Greatwolves and the spiritwolf had said at the Speaking, I had never dreamed wolves would really attack humans. It was like thinking prey would grow fangs and hunt.

Rissa was the first to find her voice. “Have you gone mad, Torell?” she asked very softly. “You know the penalty for killing humans. The Greatwolves will destroy your entire pack, and any wolf who bears your blood. They will wipe out your entire bloodline. Stone Peak will be no more.”

“The Greatwolves have grown weak and soft willed,” Torell said. “If they know what is really going on in the valley, they don’t care. Do you know that the humans have declared war on all of wolfkind, Ruuqo?”

Ruuqo was silent, meeting Rissa’s eyes.

“I thought not. You do not even know what is happening in your own lands. The humans on our side of the river kill every wolf they see. They kill every long-fang, every bear, every fox and dhole. Every creature that they think competes with them for the hunt. If we do not kill them, they will kill us.”

“I had heard it,” Werrna said, speaking for the first time. “But I did not believe it could be true. Are you sure your scouts are not exaggerating, Torell?” She seemed to respect the Stone Peak leaderwolf.

“It is true,” he said, acknowledging her with a nod. “I’ve seen it myself. The humans hate us. All of them.”

I saw Ázzuen trying to catch my eye. He wanted me to tell the pack about our humans, who certainly didn’t want us dead. But I could not. It would be admitting breaking pack rules. My heart beat so fast I thought it would burst from my chest.

“The Tree Line and Wind Lake packs will join us,” Torell said. “Vole Eater may not, but they are not strong enough to matter. You are, Ruuqo. We need you as our allies. You must join us.”

“I cannot so lightly break the covenant,” Ruuqo said. “You are insane to do so.” He paced restlessly. “But if what you say is true, we must do something. I will consult with Tree Line and Wind Lake,” he said. “And with my own wolves. And I will let you know what I decide.”

“It is no longer your choice, Ruuqo,” Ceela said. “All packs in the valley will agree once they know what is happening. You either join with us in this war or you are our enemy. There is nothing in between.”

“You cannot make decisions for the whole valley, Ceela,” Rissa said. “And you should not threaten us lightly. Torell is right—we make good allies. But you do not want Swift River as your enemy.”

Ruuqo took a deep breath. “I will not break the covenant unless I know there is no other way,” he said again. “Go from our lands in peace, Torell. But do not trouble my pack again.”

Torell’s tail still stood stiff and I could tell he was struggling to stifle a growl.

“You have a night to decide, Ruuqo.” Torell’s ravaged face was grim. “Tomorrow night is moon’s wane—the night the humans of the two closest tribes gather together here on the Tall Grass plain. They will have a hunting ceremony where their young prove their worth by challenging elkryn. They will be preoccupied and therefore easy prey. That is when we attack. If you are not with us,” he repeated, “we will consider you with them.”

With that, Torell nodded to his packmates and the large wolves ran into the woods. Pell stayed back for a moment, trying to catch my attention. I kept my eyes lowered, refusing to meet his. Ázzuen rumbled a low growl. Pell gave a concerned growl-bark, and followed his packmates.

“I
won’t stand by and let any other creature kill wolves!” Werrna burst out as soon as the Stone Peaks were out of earshot. “Covenant or no.”

“Quiet,” Ruuqo ordered. Then he sighed. “I did not want to make a commitment in front of Torell,” he said, “but, no, we can’t let humans kill wolves, and I won’t let the Stone Peaks do our fighting for us.”

I yelped. I couldn’t believe the pack would even consider fighting. Ruuqo wouldn’t even steal food from the humans.

Trevegg stepped forward. “This fight is wrong,” he said. “You know that, Ruuqo.”

Ruuqo was not angry with him. “It’s wrong,” he agreed. “Every choice we have is wrong. But if it’s the best of many wrong choices, we must take it. I won’t wait for them to come to us.”

“Torell likes to hear himself talk,” Rissa snorted. “I won’t run after him just because he wants us to. We will speak to the leaders of Tree Line and Wind Lake and hear what they know. Then we will decide.”

“If there is another way, we’ll take it,” Ruuqo said. “But the covenant says nothing of sitting by and letting ourselves be slaughtered. I’m not convinced that the Greatwolves have our best interests at heart. I’m not even sure they’re watching over us anymore, or that they really will kill us if we defend ourselves. If we must fight, we will fight.”

Ruuqo looked to Trevegg and Rissa. “I must have the pack with me on this,” he said.

Reluctantly, Trevegg and Rissa nodded their agreement.

“If there is another way, we must take it,” Trevegg said. “If that is agreed, then I am with you.”

“We will avoid fighting if we can,” Rissa added. “But we will fight if we must.”

“We can’t!” I said before I could stop myself. “We can’t fight them.”

Every head turned, and as everyone stared at me I lost my words for a moment. I looked to Ázzuen for help. He pressed against me.

“And why can’t we?” Ruuqo asked.

A sensible voice in my head told me to be quiet. To find a way to influence the pack without getting myself in trouble. But the humans’ hunt ceremony was only a night away, and Torell was determined to fight. I had to stop it. TaLi’s tribe would be under attack. She was small, and even though she was skilled with her sharpstick she was no match for a wolf. She would surely die. And my pack would die. The Greatwolves had said so.

“I overheard the Greatwolves,” I said. “They meet far away in a stone circle. With humans. They do know what is going on, that wolves and humans might fight. And they will kill any pack that does.”

“When did you hear this?” Rissa demanded.

“At the full moon.”

“The night you were not here for the antelope hunt,” Ruuqo said, his voice dangerously calm. “How did you come to overhear the Greatwolves? How is it that you were there to begin with?”

I paused, trying to think up a good lie. Ázzuen was better at clever stories than I was, and I looked to him. But before he could speak, Unnan stepped forward.

“Because she’s been going to the humans,” he said. “Since the horse frenzy when she killed Reel. She visits them all the time, and hunts and plays with a human girl. She takes Marra and Ázzuen with her.”

Ruuqo’s jaw dropped and his eyes narrowed. Rissa gave an anxious whine.

“Unnan, you’d best not be lying to me,” Ruuqo warned.

“I’m not,” Unnan said. “I’ve seen her go again and again. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want Kaala to hurt me.” He lowered his ears and tail to make himself look weak and helpless.

Stupid curl-tail
, I thought.

“She did try to go to the humans when we first took the pups to watch them,” Werrna said. “I would have told you then, but Rissa forbade us.”

“You were disposed against the pup, Ruuqo,” Rissa said, glaring at Werrna, “and I thought it best you did not know. But now,” she turned to me, “you must tell us the truth, Kaala. Have you been to the humans?”

I thought fast. If I said yes, they could banish me. But if I said no, they would never believe me about the Greatwolves and what they had said. Torell would lead a fight against the humans and TaLi would die. And if Ruuqo joined in, my packmates would die, too. I looked at Ázzuen and Marra, at Trevegg and Yllin. I didn’t want them to die. I didn’t want TaLi or BreLan or his brother to be killed in the fighting. And the spiritwolf had said we must not fight. I heard Ázzuen’s soft whine beside me. He and Marra watched me closely. I had to speak up. Every eye was upon me, every nose attuned to the truth of my words. I was terrified. But the truth was the only thing that might stop them from fighting.

I took a deep breath.

“Yes,” I admitted, swallowing hard. “I rescued a human child from drowning in the river and have been spending time with her.” I said nothing of Ázzuen or Marra. “That’s how I know many humans don’t hate us, they care for us. We can hunt with them,” I said, thinking that if I showed the humans to be useful, my pack would like them more. “They are not unlike wolf.”

There was a long silence. When Ruuqo spoke, his anger was quiet and controlled.

“I have seen a human child in our territories,” he said. “More and more often of late.”

“Gathering plants,” Rissa added softly, “and carrying small prey.”

“And did you take your packmates with you?” Ruuqo demanded.

I said nothing. I would not bring Ázzuen and Marra into my trouble.

“We went, too,” Ázzuen said. “We have hunted together. That is how we were able to get so many rabbits and badgers. We caught a deer,” he said proudly, “and hid it on Wolf Killer Hill. That is how we overheard the Stone Peaks.”

Marra winced as he spoke, shoving him with her hip. He looked at her, surprised.

“So not only do you break the rules of the valley but you lead others into defiance,” Ruuqo said. He raised his muzzle. “I can smell the human-scent on you.” He shook himself, hard. “I knew I should have killed you when you were a pup. I should not have let the Greatwolves stop me. It is as the legends say. You bear the blood of human-lovers and I allowed you to live. This fight, this trouble, is the consequence of that.”

“We just hunted with them.”

“You
just
hunted with them? You broke the law of the valley and disturbed the Balance of the creatures here. If you had not, then the humans would not have grown so bold and we would not be in this war.”

I turned to Rissa for help.

“We just hunted,” I said again. “And only with their young. They’re not dangerous. We didn’t mean any harm.”

“I’m sorry, Kaala,” Rissa said, shaking her head. “The rules of the valley are clear.” She turned to Ruuqo. “Need we lose all three pups? The others were following her lead. She influenced them.”

Ázzuen opened his mouth to protest. I glared at him.

“Perhaps,” Ruuqo said. He turned slowly to me. In his eyes I saw not only anger, but something like triumph. “You are no longer pack,” he said. “Your familiarity with humans has brought calamity upon us. Leave Wood’s Edge and the valley, and do not return to our lands again. We may have to fight the humans now that you have brought them so close to us.”

“I won’t!” I said, surprising myself. “I won’t let you fight them. I’ll tell the Greatwolves you are killing humans and they’ll stop you.” I was amazed at my words.

Ruuqo snarled. He slammed into me, pressing me into the ground, only letting me up when I whimpered.

“
I
am leader of this pack. The Greatwolves do not know what is happening. Perhaps their time is done.” Rissa and Trevegg looked a little anxious at Ruuqo’s blasphemy. “If I learn that you have gone to them I will track down your human and kill her. I will find her as she sleeps and I will tear the life from her throat.”

My body reacted before my brain could catch up to it, and I leapt at Ruuqo. I heard Marra’s and Ázzuen’s surprised yelps and Rissa’s anxious growl. If I had been thinking straight, I never would have challenged Ruuqo. He was stronger, more experienced, and angry. But he was surprised, and my initial attack bowled him over on his back.

Growling, snarling, we rolled over and over each other on the ground. This was nothing like the fights I’d had with Unnan and Borlla. There was a viciousness, a desperation, to this fight I had not experienced before. And no one was going to intervene to help me. I had challenged the rightful leader of the pack. Now I had to fight him on my own. I was not yet full grown and fought desperately, biting and pawing at Ruuqo with my front and back feet, using every scrap of strength I had just to keep him from crushing me. I tried to tell my legs to move more quickly, my head to snap around. But every time I tried to bite, Ruuqo evaded me and knocked his head against mine. When I tried to pin him down, I found myself tossed on my back. My muscles wouldn’t respond quickly enough to what my brain wanted me to do. I’d thought I had grown strong but my strength was nothing compared to Ruuqo’s. Every time I wanted to give in, I thought of his threat to TaLi, and I kept fighting. But it was over quickly. Ruuqo was so much stronger than I, and I tired while he was still strong and full of energy. His sharp teeth ripped at my shoulder and I yelped and scrambled away. He did not let me run, but tackled me again. He held me down and his jaws closed on my throat.

“I could kill you,” he said softly, “and no one would fault me.”

I trembled, trying to find my voice, but all I could do was lie there looking up at Ruuqo, remembering the last time his jaws had been poised to kill me.

“Leave,” he said, stepping off me. “Do not return to Swift River territory, or you will be killed. You are no longer Swift River. You are no longer pack.”

The full impact of what I had done hit me, and I began to shake harder. I lowered my ears and tail, bent my head, and crept back to Ruuqo. He growled and bared his teeth. Remembering his sharp bites, I backed away. I made myself even smaller, coming forward again. I was not that far from being a pup. Surely he would let me stay. Again he chased me off.

“You are no longer pack,” he said again.

I turned to Rissa, but she turned her head away. I looked at Werrna, growling angrily, at Unnan, who smiled smugly. I looked over at Ázzuen and Marra, whining anxiously, and at Trevegg’s sad, sad face. None of them would, or could, help me. Yllin looked as if she wanted to intervene, but Ruuqo glared at her, and she stepped back.

I stood there, head down, until Ruuqo chased me once again.

“Go!” he growled and ran me down the path. I did not dare return again. I fled into the woods.