Sweet's Journey (8 page)

I can't give her a single chance
. Sweet twisted up onto her forepaws, Beta's leg still clamped in her teeth, and yanked hard. Her teeth tore into the flesh, and against the soft inside of her mouth she felt something strain and snap in her enemy's leg muscles.

Beta's howl turned into a shrieking yelp. Her big body collapsed sideways, thumping into the dust. Sweet flung herself on top of the red dog, releasing her leg and grabbing a tight hold on
her neck.

“Yield!” she snarled through a mouthful of fur and flesh. “
Yield!
”

Beta was squirming and wriggling and whining with fury beneath her, but Sweet had her pinned. At last, flanks heaving, the red dog went limp, her teeth still bared in a snarl.

“I . . . I
yield
.”

Sweet left her teeth in Beta's scruff a moment longer, to make certain, then abruptly released her. She scrambled off the red dog's sprawled body, letting her stagger to her paws and stand there, panting with defeated fury.

Sweet lifted her head high. “You made me out to be a thief, Beta. You called me a food-stealer and a deserter in front of my Pack.” Her fangs clenched. “You lied.”

Beta's tail was low and her head hung down, but her face still wore its hateful snarl.

“You lied, Beta,” barked Sweet in her face. “Say it!”

“I lied,” growled Beta, “to rid our Pack of a useless lightweight.”

Sweet's muzzle curled, but she didn't respond. She didn't have to. All around, other dogs were muttering, growling, barking out the things they hadn't dared say before.

“Beta did lie. I never believed Sweet would steal,” whined
Twitch.

“Not after she carried that rabbit all the way here,” barked Spring in agreement.

“Beta's sneaky that way,” growled Snap. “I always said you couldn't trust her.”

Fiery gave Snap a sidelong frown of disapproval, but he said, “You can trust Sweet.”

“Yes,” said Moon, coming forward to lick the swift-dog's ear. “Sweet has always been a good dog. She's an asset to this Pack.”

Sweet glanced at Beta. She almost felt sorry for her, but she couldn't afford to give in to pity. Beta had pushed and pushed till Sweet had had no choice, and Sweet knew that she couldn't show weakness now. That was the world after the Big Growl: it was about survival. And she would survive. She knew now that she had the strength.

Beta curled her muzzle as she regained her breath and her dignity. “Enjoy your victory, Sweet.” She didn't call her
Sweetie
now, thought Sweet with satisfaction. “But you just wait. I'll challenge you again, swift-dog. I'll challenge you on a day when I'm not tired from hunting, and I'll take back my rightful place in this Pack.”

“No,” came a silky voice. “No, you won't.”

Alpha paced forward as dogs gave way before him, drawing
back, every eye riveted on him. He stalked right up to Beta, till his nose was almost touching hers. Silence fell among the other Pack members.

“You lost this challenge, Beta,” he growled. “Not that
Beta
is your name anymore. But you lost more than a fight, and you know it. You've been exposed as a liar and a traitor, and this Pack has no room for dishonorable dogs. Leave now.”

Beta looked stunned. Her jaws parted. At last she stammered, “But, Alpha—”

“Leave,” he snarled. “Leave now,
Packless dog
, while you still can.”

There was no mistaking the threat in his voice. Beta could only stare at him, her face stricken. She took a pace backward, glancing to left and right, and her gaze fell on Sweet.

The hatred there was piercing, but at least it was fleeting. With a heartbroken whine, Beta turned and limped away into the forest.

Sweet shook off the tremor that rippled through her skin.
I can't help thinking I haven't seen the last of her. . . .

For now, though, life with the Pack promised to be a lot more peaceful, she thought with relief. The Pack was dispersing, and dogs were murmuring and gossiping about the unexpected turn of
events. Only Alpha still stood there, watching her with his head slightly cocked.

“Well, Sweet,” he growled. “Are you ready for this? You are Beta of this Pack now.”

Sweet raised her head, slightly shocked. “Alpha, that's not why I fought her. I know that's the rule, but I never really wanted—I mean, I only wanted to challenge her lies, stop her bullying me . . .”

The half wolf hunched his shoulders, looking amused. “Whether you meant it or not, Sweet, you can't break Pack rules. You defeated our Beta in a lawful challenge.”

Sweet stared at him, her jaws slightly parted. It made sense, and Moon had warned her, but it really hadn't crossed her mind when she issued her challenge to the red dog.
Maybe
, she thought,
I didn't quite think this through. . . .

The light in Alpha's eyes was somewhere between mirth and menace.

“You'd better get used to it, swift-dog. You are now the Beta of this Pack.”

How in the name of the
Earth-Dog, thought Sweet, could I ever have hesitated? How could I have thought I wouldn't get used to being Beta?

She bounded ahead to where Spring and Dart were tugging at a deer's leg, straining to drag it back to camp. Still gripping with their teeth, they both looked up at her, cocking their ears, waiting for her orders.

“Pull to the left, there,” she barked encouragingly. “There's a tussock, see? The haunches are getting caught on it. You'll have to drag it around.” She seized the deer's neck in her own jaws and began to tug on it, showing them the way. Both the other dogs squatted back on their haunches, using the leverage to drag the deer's body farther.

“Thanks for coming out here to help us, Beta.” Dart let go of the deer for a moment, panting. “This prey's awkward, to say the
least.”

“But you brought it down,” Sweet pointed out encouragingly.

Dart's jaws broadened in a grin. “Yes. I never thought we'd manage one, but your training tips were exactly right. We don't all have to be fast, so long as we have enough hunters to drive it.”

“Even Twitch contributed,” said Spring, sounding proud of her litter-brother. “That leg holds him back, but he followed your advice and stayed out to the flank. If he hadn't been in position, the deer would have gotten away.”

Sweet felt warm with pleasure and satisfaction. “I'm glad the training paid off,” she said.

“We're going to do some more sparring this evening, before prey-sharing, aren't we?” Dart twitched an ear hopefully. “I'd like to learn some of your speed-tricks for a fight.”

“I need to organize tomorrow's patrols,” said Sweet cautiously. “Moon's still excused from hunting duty because of her pups, so we're shortpawed. But after that, why not?” She gave Dart's ear an affectionate flick of her tongue. “I've learned a lot from the Pack, so if there's anything I can teach you back, I'm happy.”

“I love learning new fighting skills,” said Dart. “It's been a long time since the Pack freshened up our tactics. You know Alpha, he does nothing about that or hunting practice, just skulks
in his den all—”

“
Dart
,” growled Spring warningly.

Sweet shot her a dry look—Spring was one of the dogs who'd had her ears nipped by Fiery for bad-mouthing the old Beta—but on this occasion the young dog was right. Dart really shouldn't show disrespect to Alpha. It was true that he took little part in organizing patrols, or training the younger dogs, but that was fine by Sweet. She enjoyed being Beta more than she'd ever expected, and she was happy to take on the half wolf's share of the practical work. After all, she was rewarded with the second-best choice of prey at the end of the day, and she never went hungry or grew thin from hard work. And in her more fanciful moments, she could imagine she was in charge of the whole Pack herself—that
she
was Alpha.

I should have stood up to the old Beta sooner
, she thought ruefully.
For that matter, I should have faced down Callie long ago, in the days when I was still in my old Pack. She'd probably have respected me more if I had
.

And I'm good at this, better than I ever knew. If I'd been Beta of the swift-dog Pack, maybe we would never have been caught by the longpaws. Maybe then so many of us wouldn't have died in that terrible Trap House. . . .

The dogs had dragged the deer almost to the edge of the camp by now, and Sweet was distracted from her regrets when a small
squirming body bumped into her paw. A tiny pup, its eyes still blurry, had escaped from Moon's den and was wobbling its way into the outside world.

“You're an adventurous one.” Laughing, Sweet left Dart and Spring to haul the deer by themselves to the prey pile. She picked up the tiny pup gently in her mouth and carried it back to Moon, ignoring its protesting squeaks.

Moon appeared at the entrance to the den, her face anxious, but when she caught sight of Sweet, her jaws relaxed and she let her tongue loll. She sat down and woofed gently to her pup.

“Oh, Squirm! You're such a wanderer already, little one!”

Sweet set the tiny pup down. As soon as he smelled his mother, he blundered under her body and nestled there, clearly deciding adventure could wait till he was a few hours older.

“Another good hunt, Sweet?” Moon nuzzled her shoulder. “The Pack's been well-fed this last Moon-Dog journey. I think you've brought us good luck.”

“I hope so. I owe you all so much.” Sweet returned Moon's affectionate lick. “The pups are looking healthy!”

“They're already getting too lively—oh!” Moon snapped her head around to stare, and Sweet stiffened, her hackles springing erect.

The peace of the evening and the relaxed mood were shattered as Snap bounded into the clearing, her volley of barks sharp and urgent.

“Dogs! Dogs are approaching. A strange Pack! In our territory!”

Now Sweet saw why Alpha was the head of the Pack. He sprang out of his den, leaped up to his favorite boulder and let loose a deep, barking howl of summons.

“Packmates! Our territory is threatened by strangers. Prepare for battle!”

Instantly Snap, Spring, Dart, Twitch, and Fiery bounded to his side, tails high and ears pricked keenly forward. Alpha barked out orders, fast and confident, and in moments he was tearing into the woods, his loyal followers at his heels.

Filled with true admiration for her leader for the first time, Sweet paused only for a moment. After checking over the camp to make sure Moon and her pups were safe and well defended, she left them with a reassuring bark, and followed the rest of the fighting party.

I've never been in a real battle before
, she thought.
Only food-fights with other Packs, and the fight with the longpaws—and I ran away from that
.

Well, Sweet wasn't running from this battle. She was actually
running toward it—and not only was she determined, she felt a thrill of real excitement in her skin and blood and nerves. She was the Beta of a powerful Wild Pack, and she was running to confront its enemies.

The others were just ahead of her now, racing up a dry streambed, leaping from rock to flat rock, with Alpha in the lead. Sweet bounded forward to lope alongside at his flank, her muscles tingling with pride. Alpha slowed as he reached a ridge, then turned and ran along below the skyline till he reached a tumble of sandstone boulders. He trotted silently among them and halted, glaring down into the shallow valley below.

At his side, Sweet panted quietly as she watched the ragtag bunch of dogs who were trotting down the valley. She narrowed her eyes in surprise.

It was the oddest Pack she'd ever seen. There was a black, shaggy dog who was massive, but did not look particularly fierce. At her side were two stocky little dogs, one with a snub nose, and one with a pointed face. There was a black-and-white farm dog who kept retracing his steps and herding the others, fussing over them and trying to keep them together. There was a yellow-coated dog who reminded Sweet, a little painfully, of Lucky the City Dog—but this was a female, her fur sleeker and shorter, and she
didn't move with Lucky's strutting, jaunty confidence. The last was an extraordinary-looking animal, and for a moment Sweet wasn't sure it was a dog at all. It looked like a trailing bundle of white moss, except that it had tiny eyes in front, and a black button-nose. It gave a pathetic little yelp as a strand of its fur caught on a branch.

A low growl was building in Alpha's throat, and Sweet shook herself. No matter how bizarre this Pack of mutts looked, they were still intruders. And they must be more dangerous than they looked—because why else would they trot so confidently into the territory of a half wolf like Alpha?

“Take them down,” snarled Alpha.

Sweet gave him a nod, then growled low in her throat to summon the others into their fighting positions.