Secrets of the Wolves (21 page)

Yllin saw my hesitation.

“Rissa and Ruuqo are the best pack leaders in the Wide Valley,” she said, “but they obey authority, as most wolves do. It’s a reason I may never be able to be a leaderwolf in the Wide Valley; I question too much, as do you. Ruuqo and Rissa will follow what the Greatwolves say, even when it’s wrong. If the Greatwolves tell them the Ancients think you are unlucky they’ll believe them. So you’ll be careful?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice tight. Then, impulsively, I blurted to her, “Don’t trust Demmen, either, Yllin. There’s something about him that isn’t right.”

“Thank you, Kaala,” she said. “I can take care of myself around Demmen. He’s still not fast enough to catch me when I don’t want him to! And I know when he’s being sneaky.”

A cool breeze rippled her fur. She raised her muzzle to it, taking in the scents of the valley. “Tell Ázzuen I’m sorry I didn’t say good-bye to him.” She took my muzzle in her mouth and placed her paws upon my back. Then she shook herself and dashed into the woods.

I stopped at the edge of Fallen Tree, Swift River’s largest gathering place. It was the first place we had come as pups when we left the den site and began our lives as pack members. It was a wide clearing, shaded by spruce and pine trees and split down the middle by a large spruce that had fallen in a storm when Ruuqo was a pup. The earth was soft enough to be comfortable but firm enough to keep from washing away in the rains. The scents of juniper, spruce, and oak mingled with the scents of my pack, reminding me of a time when I felt safe and protected. I stood between the two oaks that guarded one of the entrances to the clearing, and took in the sounds and scents of home.

I expected to find Trevegg telling Rissa and Ruuqo about our plan, but the oldwolf stood off to the side, watching with a bemused expression as Ruuqo and Rissa chased each other around the hillock we used as a lookout spot. Ruuqo and Rissa had been anxious and watchful since the Greatwolves had set our task. Now they were acting like pups in the snow. Rissa bounded over to me and touched her nose to my cheek. Leaderwolves usually wait for lower-ranking wolves to come to them. I returned her greeting, gently licking her white muzzle.

“You spoke to Yllin?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

“I’m sorry to see her go,” she said, sadness tingeing her voice, “but it’s time. It won’t be long before some of you pups leave, as well.” I startled, wondering if she knew what we had planned. Then I remembered that many youngwolves left their birthpacks once new pups arrived. Yllin and Minn were only two of five pups Rissa bore the year before I was born, and Demmen had been only eleven moons old when he left Swift River. Relieved, I licked Rissa’s muzzle once again, then trotted across the gathering place to greet the rest of the pack: Ruuqo, who was almost as friendly as Rissa; Werrna, who, to my relief, was as irritable as usual; Minn, who seemed preoccupied, probably by Yllin’s departure; and Marra, who nipped me hard on the ear.

“What happened when you left Oldwoods?” she demanded. “Ruuqo talked to the other packs and they’ll let us hunt in their territories for now. What’s it like in the Lin tribe’s homesite?” Her breath in my face was hot and impatient. “Why are you back? You’d better tell me everything.”

“I will in a minute,” I said, licking her muzzle.

Last of all, I greeted Unnan, giving him just the slightest touch of my nose to his face. I had to acknowledge him, since he was pack, and I had called the gathering, but I didn’t have to pretend to like him. Usually, he ignored me as much as he could, but this time, he bumped up against me and whispered in my ear.

“I know things about you,” he said. “Things you don’t want the pack to know.” Unnan was always listening behind trees and bushes, biding his time until he could do the most damage with what he knew. Annoyed, I placed both paws on his back and pinned him to the ground.

“I don’t care,” I said. “You’re a curl-tail and always will be. No one cares what you know.”

He struggled under me. When he couldn’t push me aside, he lay still, looking at me with hatred.

“Youngwolf!” Ruuqo shouted, sounding more like his usual self. “Get over here.” I pressed my paws into Unnan’s chest to make sure he knew he had lost the fight, then let him up and walked over to Ruuqo. He had gathered the rest of the pack around him at the lookout hillock.

“What is it you have to tell us?” he asked me.

“Do you have more food from the humans?” Rissa said, her eyes sparkling. “I would be happy to have it. I’m getting too old to run after everything in the valley.” She caught Ruuqo’s eye as she said this and stretched her long, lean back, causing the strong muscles under her snow-white fur to ripple, making it clear that she was anything but old. Her sore ribs were certainly not troubling her today. Ruuqo watched in appreciation.

He shook himself, avoiding Rissa’s merry gaze, a smile stretching the corners of his mouth. “Yes,” he said, “we oldsters mustn’t waste all our energy running after prey.” Marra and I exchanged embarrassed glances.

“You’d think they’d have other things on their minds right now,” Marra muttered.

Rissa gave Ruuqo one more look out of the corner of her eye. I watched them, too embarrassed to interrupt. Ruuqo caught me staring at them and looked down his muzzle at me. “You had a reason for bringing us together?”

The rest of the pack looked at me expectantly. Ázzuen dashed into the clearing, his fur still wet from the river. He looked around the gathering place, greeted the pack, then flopped down on the ground, his ears twitching in curiosity.

I thought carefully about what to say. If our plan were to work, we would need Ruuqo and Rissa’s support and the support of the entire Swift River pack. Getting them to allow humans into the gathering place was only the beginning. The entire pack would need to hunt with the humans and share even more food with them than we already had. We would have to get other packs to join us. We would need to trust them as we would another wolf. I took a deep breath.

“She wants to bring the humans here, to our homesite,” Unnan said. “She thinks it’s a good idea to show them where we rest so they can kill us in our sleep. Next, she’ll show them our den sites.”

“Is this true?” Ruuqo demanded, his good mood gone. “You want to bring the humans here?”

“Just two of them. TaLi and her grandmother, NiaLi.”

Quickly I explained about Milsindra and the council, and why I thought we needed to do more than just live with the humans. Minn and Unnan laughed outright, as I had expected the Greatwolves would, but Ruuqo and Rissa did not.

“You think this is a good idea, elderwolf?” Ruuqo asked Trevegg.

“I think it’s a necessity,” Trevegg said. “The Greatwolves truly believe that Kaala might be the wolf of legend. Whether she is or is not doesn’t matter. We have to make the council believe that her actions are for the good of wolfkind.”

My fur prickled along my back. It was one thing to talk about being the savior or destroyer with NiaLi or the Greatwolves. With my pack it just seemed silly. I tried to make myself as small as I could.

“Werrna?” Ruuqo asked his secondwolf. Werrna had been a warrior before joining Swift River, and Ruuqo and Rissa depended on her to plan strategies for battles and for evaluating any new undertakings. She was cautious and hesitant to try anything new. I was certain she would say no.

She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, a grimace on her scarred face. “It’s risky,” she said. “If we allow the humans here, they could come to kill us in our sleep. They could bring more of their kind and take Fallen Tree from us with their sharpsticks and their tools.” She said the human words as if they were distasteful. “But it is a risk I am willing to take. Doing nothing is just as dangerous.”

“I agree,” Ruuqo said. “We will allow them to come this one time, and then decide if it’s safe to bring them again.”

I blinked in amazement. I couldn’t believe how quickly Ruuqo had accepted our plan. Uncertainty began to gnaw at my confidence. What if I was wrong and was leading my pack to disaster? I caught Ázzuen’s eye. He was the smartest wolf I knew. If he thought it was a good idea, it couldn’t be all that foolish.

A disbelieving growl came from the direction of the fallen spruce.

Unnan was staring at the leaderwolves, his face contorted with disgust. “It’s wrong,” he spluttered. “It’s unnatural. We may as well tell them where our dens are, so they can kill our pups when they come. Or show them all our caches, so we’ll starve. They’ve done it before. Killed whole packs. Pirra of Wind Lake told me.”

I wasn’t the only one staring at Unnan in shock. He was the lowest-ranking wolf in the pack. It was unthinkable for him to speak to Ruuqo and Rissa in such a way.

“That is enough, youngwolf,” Rissa chided. “Some risks must be taken.”

“We’re to be the humans’ strecks then?” he demanded. “It’s repulsive.”

“Enough, Unnan.” Ruuqo’s voice sank into a growl. “You are a member of the Swift River and you will follow the will of the pack. If you do not wish to do so, you can leave now.”

Unnan looked as if he would say more but stopped himself.

“Kaala,” Rissa said, “when will you bring your humans?”

I dragged my gaze away from Unnan. “They’re waiting for us now,” I said. “Not far away. I can bring them when we’re ready.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Now?” she said. “You’re not wasting any time, youngwolf.” She cocked her head, considering. “Very well,” she said. “We will meet these humans of yours.”

The pack was silent as I led TaLi and NiaLi into Fallen Tree. NiaLi stood at my left flank, TaLi at my right as we walked slowly through the wide gap between the oak trees. The two humans stopped, then waited politely for the leaderwolves to invite them into the gathering place.

Ruuqo and Rissa stood, but the rest of the pack sat or lay flat so as not to intimidate the humans. I realized belatedly that I hadn’t told the humans how to greet the leaderwolves. I needn’t have worried. NiaLi was as gracious as any visiting wolf. Clutching her walking stick in one hand and my fur in the other, she lowered herself to her haunches. TaLi, following her example, flopped down on my other side, making a cloud of dust rise up around her.

Ruuqo and Rissa started forward, then stopped, staring at me. I looked back, not understanding what they wanted me to do. A look of annoyance flashed across Ruuqo’s face, but Rissa laughed.

“You can stand aside, Kaala,” she said. “We won’t hurt them.” I realized I had taken up a guard stance in front of the two humans. Abashed, I stepped away. I was lucky that Rissa was amused. It could have been seen as disloyal to the pack to stand with humans against them. I licked Rissa’s muzzle in apology, then, ignoring Unnan’s outraged growl, walked over to the flat sunning rock. Marra and Ázzuen were waiting there for me. We had agreed that we would let the other wolves of the pack examine the humans.

It was Rissa who greeted the humans first. She walked calmly to where NiaLi crouched and stopped half a wolflength away. “Welcome to Swift River pack,” she said formally. “You are welcome here and will be safe.” She took a few steps forward and sniffed NiaLi.

“Thank you,” NiaLi said, just as formally. “I am grateful for your welcome and will treat your home with respect.”

Rissa’s ears shot up in surprise. I had told her that NiaLi could understand our language and would reply to us in her own, but it must have been a shock to hear the old human answer.

Ruuqo came forward then, sniffing NiaLi first and then TaLi.

TaLi smiled. “Hello, wolf,” she said, her natural friendliness winning out over her fear. She held out her hand to him. Startled, Ruuqo stepped back, then jutted his head forward. To my surprise, he licked TaLi’s outstretched hand, then her face. TaLi laughed. I felt my mouth drop open. Ruuqo hated the humans.

Rissa whuffed softly, and stepped aside. It was the signal for the rest of the pack to greet the humans. Marra and Ázzuen shot from my side like rabbits running for the shelter of a warren. Werrna and Minn started forward more slowly, then trotted to the humans with an impatience that surprised me. They had both so often spoken of the humans with contempt, but now there was no mistaking the eagerness in their gaits. Soon the humans were surrounded by wolves. Only Unnan hung back, watching in disgust from a depression by the fallen spruce. My packmates were careful with NiaLi, understanding that she was an elder and frail, gently mouthing her hair and the skins she wore for warmth. They were not as careful with TaLi. Marra and Ázzuen were always exuberant around her, but Minn and Werr na were fascinated. Werrna kept sniffing and sniffing at the girl and poking her nose at TaLi’s face while Minn pawed at the girl’s long skinny legs. TaLi did her best to stay sitting upright, but when Minn placed his paws on her shoulders just as Werrna poked at her with her muzzle, the girl toppled over onto her back.