4

The two parties split at the mouth of the gorge.

Ours followed the old road our ancestors had worn in and migrated south by the book.

The first day took us along the border forest track.

The three Alphas took no chances.

One scouted ahead, one directed from the middle, one held the rear.

Every half mile, they left their own claw marks.

The route was lined with safe water sources, sheltered rock ledges, and hunting spots that had been marked in advance.

The healers with us checked everyone's condition every two hours.

At midday, while we rested on a sheltered stone slope, the Alphas hunted down two fat mountain goats nearby.

They roasted the goats over the fire until the fat sizzled, then served the meat to the rest of the group with warm, clean water.

At night, we sheltered in a large natural cave. With guards rotating through the night, everyone slept soundly.

The second day's route was longer, but the column maintained its steady pace and successfully skirted three low hollows where the fog pooled.

A young wolf at the rear tried to approach the fog, but an Alpha immediately barked an order that sent him back.

That evening, the she-wolves traveling with us sat by the fire and reflected on the journey.

"Thank goodness we chose to come with you. The road looks gentle, but danger lurks everywhere."

"If we'd gone charging off on our own, who knows when we'd have walked straight into the fog."

I stirred the fire with my short blade and nodded.

Wolves had followed this migration road for more than a century.

Every marker and every stretch of the route had been paid for with our ancestors' lives.

Rebecca's impulsive little adventure could never compare.

Just then, the phone clipped at my waist lit up.

It was a call from Rebecca.

I tapped to answer, and Rebecca's video filled the screen.

Rebecca was crouched in the middle of a wide cave with thirty-two excited faces packed in behind her.

She panned the camera around the cave, lingering on the bright daylight at its mouth. Smugness spilled through every word. "Elara, have a look at our camp. Beats being crammed into a little stone hole, doesn't it? We've covered half the distance today. Tomorrow we'll be through most of the gorge, at least five days ahead of you. Once we've claimed the richest river-valley hunting grounds, I'll send you photos so you can see what you missed."

Laughter went up behind her.

Someone shouted, "Cowards should crawl."

The she-wolf beside me had her ears up and was about to argue back.

I simply rested my hand over hers, my expression unchanged, and ended the call.

On the other end, Rebecca took my silent departure as proof that I was ashamed, and grew all the more triumphant.

The next day, they followed an animal trail along the edge of the gorge and came across several dead wolves.

The meat was tough, but eating it saved them the time and effort of hunting.

Toward evening, they found another large abandoned cave, roomy enough to hold all of them if they crowded together.

Rebecca crouched smugly on the boulder in the middle of the cave, her tail held high. "I told you this was the right route! Elara and the others are still crawling along the old one. Two more days and we're through the gorge, ten days ahead of the main column! Once we've claimed the richest valley, we'll raise a stone monument at the mouth of the gorge so the whole pack can see whose route was right!"

The cave filled with cheers. Every wolf there was certain they had chosen correctly.

Everything I had said about the dangers must have been nothing but fearmongering.

Someone even shouted, "When we get back, we'll nominate Rebecca as leader! She's far better than that border guard clinging to old rules!"

Stefan stood in the crowd, looking as proud as if Rebecca's success were his own. "Rebecca has courage and brains. She's a hundred times better than certain people who are afraid of their own shadows."

They sat around tearing at roasted meat and imagining life in the south.

Nobody assigned a watch, and their firestarters were dumped carelessly by the cave entrance.

It had all gone smoothly so far, so of course it would keep going that way.

Their heads were full of arriving early and seizing the best ground.

Suddenly, one wolf pointed toward the sky beyond the cave, terror on his face. "Something's wrong! Look at that!"