Sweet's Journey (5 page)

“Nicely done!” he barked. “See, you can do it!”

“Of course she can,” agreed Snap happily.

“Huh!” Beta got to her paws and strode forward. “This is fighting practice, not mothers playing battle games with their pups! This is the Pack's survival we're talking about. I know you two feel protective, but she's useless. Those legs would break in a strong wind, for the Sky-Dogs' sake!”

Panting hard, Sweet glowered at Beta. The red dog reminded her of Callie, and the way she'd taunted and bullied Sweet in her old Pack. Beta knew just how to provoke her, just as Callie had. And Sweet couldn't help wishing for a moment that Beta would meet the same fate. . . .

No
, she scolded herself.
That's not Pack thinking
. Snap and Fiery were looking away, unwilling to interfere between Sweet and their Beta. Sweet gave Beta a simpering, over-friendly, very insincere whine, just to irritate her.

The red dog glowered at her as Alpha paced over to them. “What's all the noise?” barked the half wolf.

Beta started, and gave him a nervous look. “I was giving them some fighting advice. That's all.”

Alpha's face was cold and expressionless. “Interesting. I've never heard quite such
loud
advice.”

“Sorry,” Beta muttered, licking her chops as she backed sullenly away.

“Fiery,” said Alpha sharply. “Show me what you were all working on. Then I can see what got Beta so worked up.”

Fiery nudged Sweet. “Come on. Show Alpha what you can do.”

Sweet took a breath, bunching her muscles in preparation for what she knew was coming. Sure enough, Fiery stretched his jaws in a grin, then sprang onto her. He knocked her flying, gripping her slender neck in his soft jaws and wrestling her to the ground.

Sweet wriggled desperately, trying to kick him off.
Come on, Sweet. Get angry again, that worked!

The trouble was, she couldn't get angry. It was all just so
silly
. She couldn't fight like this!

Right. So I'm going to fail, in front of Alpha this time, and Beta will never let me hear the end of it. . . .

The very image of Beta's mocking sneer gave her a sudden strength. Twisting sharply, Sweet writhed out of Fiery's grip, grabbed his shoulder with her foreclaws and hauled herself on top of him. She sank her teeth into the folds of flesh at his neck, and held him down until he went limp. She had a feeling he was submitting for her benefit, so that she could impress Alpha, but she kept her teeth firmly locked on his neck. Around them, there was silence from the other dogs.

“Well,” said Alpha at last, tilting his muzzle skyward. “What's
wrong with that, Beta? It looks perfectly efficient to me.”

“Fiery's just—” began Beta, but Alpha cut her off.

“In fact, it looks a lot sharper than some of
your
moves.” The half wolf gave her a supercilious look. “I think Sweet's a natural fighter.”

Despite his words, Sweet felt a twist of annoyance in her gut. What Alpha said sounded suspiciously like what the older swift-dogs used to tell her when she was a pup.
He's indulging me
, she thought angrily.
Patronizing me—just to make a point to Beta
.

Maybe Alpha was trying to boost her confidence—which would be bad enough—or maybe he was using her, to keep his Beta in her place. Whatever it was, it didn't sound honest to Sweet. She felt a growl rise in her throat, but she bit it back.

Without waiting for the stammering Beta's response, Alpha turned with a flick of his bushy tail and stalked back toward his den. Beta watched him go, then turned her ugly stare on Sweet.

“This isn't over,” she snarled. She twisted and bounded into the forest.

It's not my fault!
Sweet wanted to bark. Beta's hostility felt like a gigantic paw on the back of her head, shoving her down into the mud.
I didn't ask Alpha to praise me for something I didn't do!

She knew there was no point running after Beta, though. The
red dog didn't want to listen to anything she had to say. Sweet felt a warm flank pressing against her side: Fiery. Snap too sidled closer, giving her ear a reassuring lick.

“Don't worry, Sweet,” rumbled Fiery. “Alpha likes you, that's obvious. And that counts for a lot.”

“Yes,” agreed Snap. “And Beta had better watch her hindquarters.”

Sweet took a step back, startled, and met Snap's eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Huh.” Snap tilted her head and cocked a brown ear. “Every dog knows Alpha and Beta haven't been seeing eye to eye recently. Maybe you're just what's needed in this Pack to—”

“That's enough, Snap,” growled Fiery sharply. “Don't gossip about your leaders. There's nothing honorable about that.”

Snap gave a dismissive hunch of her shoulders, but Sweet turned to her with horror. “I don't want to cause any problems. All I wanted was a Pack, somewhere to belong. Somewhere to feel
safe
. I want to be an asset to this Pack, not make things worse!”

“That's all very well,” muttered Snap, despite Fiery's warning glower. “But I'm not sure Beta's going to give you much choice. . . .”

With the exception of Beta, thought
Sweet, her new Pack had made her life a lot happier. She felt more content now than she had since the Big Growl had struck. Already, nearly a Moon-Dog's journey after joining the Pack, she'd been elevated by Alpha to be a hunter. There was nothing more satisfying than prowling the forest for prey, doing her part to provide for the Pack. Sunlight dappled the forest floor, there was warmth in the air, and Fiery was an able and friendly hunting partner.

“Now I smell that deer you saw,” said the big dog. “We're closing on it. But I'm still not sure we can catch it.”

“I think we can,” Sweet told him confidently. “I'm faster than it is, and I know the forest better.”

When she'd first caught sight of the creature, she could tell—even from a distance—that it was not at its strongest. Many animals were underfed and scrawny, in the aftermath of the Big
Growl, but the deer would still provide a good meal for the Pack—if they could run it down.

“Deer are so easily spooked,” Fiery pointed out, “and this one will be even warier. It doesn't belong in the forest, and it'll be on edge. No dog in this Pack has managed to catch one before.”

“We need to drive it into the denser trees,” advised Sweet. “Then it'll have far less space to dodge.”

“Stop talking about it.” The derisive snarl came from behind them. “Just take the deer down, or find something else.”

Fiery paused to look over his shoulder. “Beta. I didn't know you were joining us.”

“I'm not,” growled the red dog. “I want to see how Sweetie manages a hunt.”

Sweet ground her jaws together, hanging on to her temper. She knew Beta was waiting for her to fail at something—longing for it, in fact—and she'd gloat for days if Sweet failed to catch the deer now. The sneakiness of the red dog riled her so much, she could feel her muscles quiver beneath her skin—and that wouldn't help her to keep cool and calm for the hunt.

Drawing herself up, Sweet ignored Beta and turned to Fiery. “Are you ready?”

Fiery inclined his massive head. “If you think we can do it.”

“I know we can.” Sweet could sense Beta almost twitching with irritation. The red dog had been furious, Sweet knew, when Alpha had promoted her to hunter. If they didn't make this kill, she was certain that the tale of her failure would make its swift way to Alpha's ears. Deep in her throat, Sweet growled softly. Failure was not an option now.

“Fiery, if you circle the edge of the forest there, you'll force the deer toward me. Don't rush it, all right? Just walk in step with it; don't let it escape past you. I'll do the rest.”

The big dog nodded. Without another word, to Sweet or to Beta, he padded off in a wide flanking movement. Crouching lower, watching silently, Sweet saw the deer's head come up in alarm. Taking no more notice of Beta, Sweet began to lope carefully forward.

The deer was upwind of her, and it was focused on the huge shadow of Fiery, slipping through the tree trunks to its left. It sprang forward, then hesitated, doubled back, and began to trot deeper into the trees. Again it stopped, scanning the forest, but its only concern was the threat of Fiery.

Sweet moved smoothly and silently, a lean shadow, her long legs delicately finding the best path through the leafy undergrowth. Ahead of her the deer jerked to the side, uncertain now.
Its eyes were huge.

Finally panicking, the deer leaped into a run, bolting across Sweet's path. But she was close enough now. As she sprinted to intercept it, it skidded to a halt, panicked into indecision. Sweet had only an instant, and she took it, springing and seizing the creature's throat, then hanging grimly on as Fiery plunged through the bushes to join her.

When the deer flopped limp beneath them, its kicking legs finally going still, Fiery drew back, panting. “We did it!”

“I told you we could,” said Sweet quietly.

No need for noisy bragging
, she thought with satisfaction.
I've proved myself to Fiery—and in front of Beta!

Between them, she and Fiery hauled the deer's carcass back through the trees to the camp. It wasn't an easy job, thought Sweet, with her skinny legs and narrow jaws, but she had Fiery's powerful help even if she didn't have Beta's.
She disappeared fast
, thought Sweet bitterly,
when I made the kill and there was prey to drag
.

Beta continued to linger on the edges of the camp, glowering resentfully, while the rest of the Pack members gathered excitedly around the deer, barking and whining their pleasure. The dogs parted, though, when Alpha padded forward, sniffing
appreciatively at the scent of dead prey.

“A fine catch.” The half wolf nodded, growling with approval. “The best this Pack's ever had, in fact.” He shot his contemptuous yellow gaze at Beta, still lurking on the fringes of the group, and the red dog turned and slunk into the shadows.

Sweet expected Alpha to say something to her directly, but all he did was turn on his paw and saunter back toward his den. She furrowed her brow curiously.
What is Alpha playing at?

She had no time to worry about it, though. Fiery was busily retelling the story of the deer over and over again, to any dog who would listen.

“I tell you, I'd never have thought of it,” he was saying to Snap. “Sweet was unbelievably fast. And smart!”

“I can't believe you caught an actual deer!” a young dog called Dart butted in breathlessly.

“Catch the deer? It never had a chance!” guffawed Fiery. “Not with Sweet on its tail.”

“We'll have deer every day!” yelped another youngster, Twitch. “We'll never be hungry again!”

“You'll get even fatter,” teased his sister, Spring.

Alpha stuck his head out of his den at that, glaring at the younger dogs. “It's a fine catch, and I said so,” he growled, quieting
every dog with his stare. “But don't get too comfortable. There won't always be stray deer in the forest, and even Sweet might not be able to catch them
all
the time.”

He gave Sweet a cool glance that she couldn't quite read. What was that in the Alpha's yellow eyes, she wondered . . . a
challenge?
Was he trying to goad her into catching prey like that every day? Did he think she was that desperate to impress him? Sweet looked away, her fur prickling with irritation.

“How did you get to be so fast?” Spring yelped at her side.

“Yes, tell us about swift-dogs,” added Dart. “How come your legs are so long and thin?”

Distracted from her annoyance with Alpha, Sweet laughed. “All right, I'll tell you where the swift-dogs came from.”

Dart and Spring sat expectantly on their haunches while a few more of the Pack members gathered around. “Go on, then,” said Snap, cocking an ear. “I want to hear this too.”

“You've heard of the Fastest Hare?” asked Sweet, looking from dog to dog as more of the Pack sat down. “He was the worst trickster in the world. He was always playing jokes on the Spirit Dogs, and making them look like fools, and they grew very angry with him. Hares were made for dogs to chase, and no hare should get away with such insolence!

“Well, one day the Alpha of the Wind-Dogs was running through the golden meadow of the sky, and beneath her she saw the Fastest Hare keeping pace with her. As she watched him in surprise, he looked up at her and winked his yellow eye, and smirked. And then he sped up, till he was running so fast he outpaced even the Wind-Dog.

“The Alpha Wind-Dog was enraged. She went to the Sky-Dogs and demanded the Hare be punished for his impudence. So the Sky-Dogs and Wind-Dogs leaped down to the earth and surrounded the Hare, and demanded he put an end to his tricks. But the Hare just laughed at them, and ran between their legs, teasing them. ‘I'm the Fastest Hare,' he laughed, ‘and there's nothing you can do. My legs are the longest legs of all the animals, and I'm thin and narrow and I cut through the air. No one can catch me!'