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Chapter 3: Judgment

"Winston! Winston!"

Hutch came running into Winston's den. His shouting made the old alpha to spring up from his bed (a pile of leaves) and nearly hit his head against the rock ceiling, which was lower in the corner where he and Eve would rest.

"What is it, Hutch?"

Hutch gasped for air. He must had run a good half mile. Slowly, he began to break out words.

"Your...Your daughter...Kate...Her and the others found trespassers!"

As Winston began to get to his feet, stirring Eve who lay next to him, his eyes turned white in anxiety.

"Northerners?"

Hutch shook his head. "No...I mean...no one ones. But they should be here any minute."

******************

The alphas formed a circle around the strange pack of dogs. As the rest of the mutts looked on with fear at the large alpha wolves surrounding them, the two red dogs seemed to unnervingly keep their cool. Whereas the female walked every step proudly, her piecing green eyes poised forward, her brother (they were definitely related) stepped so lightly that it almost looked as if he was trotting carelessly and...lightly smiling. It was indeed unnerving, to Kate anyway, who stood at their side. But she felt some sense of admiration for the female dog. She was fearless, even in the face of what was to come...Tony's mood. Almost like an alpha.

At the head the circle of alphas, leading the pack, was Garth. Against his back, laced around his chest with a black strap, was the strange stick. The wand that the arrogant red dog used to make those horrific sounds. It was not like anything he had ever come into contact with. It was smooth. Smoother than any rock Garth had ever laid against. And it shined like water. It was made of no element Garth had known. He did his best to hide the weakness in his legs as they walked, fearing that the smiling dog behind him knew of some secret power the thing processed that would make him burst into flames.

Finally, they reached Winton's den, which was located on a rock ledge that had become the central meeting place for the newly united packs. Standing on the edge of the ledge, outside the entrance of his den, was Winston with Eve standing beside him. His wise old eyes widened in amazement at the site of the captives accompanied by the alphas.

Winston was not alone in wonder. Word spread quickly through the valley and about half of both packs turned out to witness the ominous strangers.

"What's going on here?" cracked a bitter voice coming from behind Winston. It was Tony joining Winston's side.

Garth stepped forward, proudly throwing the strange wand down to the ground in front of Winston.

"We found them over by the Overlook. They had a bunch of strange things in their possession. Including this." Garth pointed his nose at the wand.

Winston, Eve, and Tony looked at it baffled. Then Winston looked up, "What were they doing?"

Garth looked toward Iago. Iago nodded his head, stepped forward and, as if rehearsed, gave testimony:

"They, these vermin, were using black magic to summon evil spirits." Iago then turned his eyes to the surrounding wolves, as if putting on a show.

"They cast a spell on us. All of us! They made our ears rip and spines crawl. They had these strange black veins they channeled their magic from. And this one..." he pointed at the red male dog, who was still smirking, "...all this one had to do was to strum the silver veins on that wand and horrific sounds echoed from it." The on looking wolves gasped. As eying the crowd gathered around them, Kate noticed Humphrey, standing next to Lily. He looked at her in concern, as if ensuring himself that she was alright. Lily only gazed at Iago, who was still inducing in his own spectacle.

Once Iago was done, Winston gazed at the five dogs.

"They must be disposed of...NOW!!!" Tony scorned.

"Quiet!" Winston demanded, "Let's hear what they have to say for themselves." Looking that the pack of dogs, Winston called out, "Which one of you is the...pack leader?"

Three of the dogs began to look at the female, but without even noticing them, she stepped forward with pride.

"You lead this pack of these degenerates?" snorted Tony.

The female gave a controlled smile. "Couldn't say it better myself."

"What is your name," asked Winston calmly.

"Helen. Helen LaFleur?"

"You have two names?" scolded Tony.

The female dog chuckled, "Actually, I have three. Helen Rachel LaFleur."

"Stop this insolence," Tony shouted, "what is your name?"

"Just call me Helen."

When Tony settled, Winston continued, "Where do you come from?"

"From the south. Way, way south. From a big human city called San Francisco."

"And where are you going?"

"North. Toward Alaska."

Winston found in himself some respect for the female dog for her direct and affirmative responses.

"So you are not part of the Northern Pack?"

The female dog shook her head, "No. We're just five performers."

Tony cut in front of Winston, bursting out, "Then why did you attack our alphas with black magic?" The female dog only smirked, "Careful. Or we might conjure up a spell that'll raise the pitch of your voice even higher."

Winston couldn't help but smirk himself. Tony reproached, "Choose your words wisely, dog! Remember, we have the power over your life and death!"

The female dog did not allow her smile to sink. "If I choose, you have no power."

Before Tony could respond, Winston pushed him aside. "And what do you have to say about this black magic?"

"Like I was saying. We are performers. We play human music. What we had with us on top of that cliff were what humans call instruments." Then with her nose, she pointed towards the wand Garth had thrown to the ground. "That one over there is my brother's guitar. We were playing around and...well I guess when your wolves showed up, my brother got a little carried away. No harm was meant by it."

Again, Tony interjected, "Then what are you doing in our valley?"

"Some friends in the nearby villages said to check it out. We've been tour for almost a month straight, so we needed to get away."

Humphrey, who was listening to the whole thing, could relate.

"Tony, can I talk to you for a second," demanded Winston.

As the two pack leaders discussed in whispers, the red male dog began to creep toward his strange shining stick, which the female dog referred to as a guitar. But just as he began to sling it over his shoulders again, Iago came bursting towards him, pushing him to the ground and pressing his body against the dirt with his huge, black paws.

"Hey!" shouted the female dog as she came running over, grilling Iago with her piercing green eyes. Iago glared back, snarling and growling.

"Let him go, Iago," Kate shouted, which made Garth look back at her in surprise. Iago, himself taken off guard, looked at Garth, who reluctantly nodded his head. With that, still sporting his razor sharp teeth, Iago moved off the dog.

"Enough," Winston scolded, looking back down at all of them. "We've come to a decision." Looking at each of the five dogs, Winston said bluntly, "With the Northern pack encroaching, we cannot take any chances. I'm afraid we cannot let any of you go."

The female's face finally dropped, her brother, who was just getting to his feet, looked up in anguish, and the three others' faces sank even deeper. But quickly, the female dog gathered her strength and moved toward Winston, prostrating herself against the base of the rock ledge.

"Perhaps we can compromise."

Winston looked down on her curiously, "What do you mean?"

Before she could answer, a sensuous sound came from behind her. It was the male dog, strumming the silver vines of his guitar. The alphas, startled, heaved backward. But these were not the menacing sounds they had heard earlier. They were rhythmic, sharp, slow, and pronounced. It sounded like air breezing against fallen fall leafs. The dog grinned in joy as he played, swaying side to side with his hind legs. It was the most beautiful music Kate had ever heard. She had heard human music during her journey back to Jasper Park with Humphrey, but this was different. It made her want to leap and sway, laugh and cry all at the same time. Looking back at Humphrey, she could tell that he was enjoying the sound as well, tapping his tail against the ground and smiling. Kate had not seen him smile like that since...she suddenly felt her tail gently hitting the ground too. Each strike was in unison with the rhythm the dog's peculiar tune. It was if she had lost control of her own tail, and the dog noticed, winking at her with his deep green eyes.

"They call that a beat," he said. His voice was rasp and slightly wheezy, but youthful and friendly. Kate returned a light smile, and then looked up at her father, who looked down at her with his understanding eyes. Finally, the female dog spoke:

"In exchange for our freedom, we would be glad to perform for you for a couple of nights."

Tony burst back in front of Winston and shouted, "Hell no! You think we would let you spies stay in our dens? You'd corrupt our alphas and turn our omegas against us with your...human sounds!" This made the male dog stop playing. For the first time, Kate felt like lunging at Tony.

Winston brushed Tony aside, "Hold on!" He then looked back down at the young female dog, "You really know how to use these things, don't you?" The female nodded. "And could you do again what you did to our alphas, right?" Tony's face turned pale in horror, "What are you saying, Winston?"

The female answered, "We can't. You're stud over there," she pointed toward Iago, "knocked our generator over the cliff. Without it, we cannot possibly amplify...er...make our sounds louder."

Iago raised his head proudly. Winston shook his head, "Shame. You might have been use to us after all."

"Wait!" the female dog interjected, "there's a human village nearby. I'm sure we can find a new one. If we have a little help."

Winston smiled, "Very well...Helen. You and your dogs can stay here. Once you get a new gen...ere...whatever you call it, then we will discuss your freedom." Winston then looked at Garth and Kate, "take them down to the Old River Den."

Once again, Tony stepped in, "Place them under complete supervision. Two guards for each day. And only an ounce of meat each per meal."

"Make it fives ounces each," Winston interrupted. Tony looked up at him in fury, "What's the matter with you? We don't give generous rations to prisoners." But he quickly backed up once he saw Eve starting for him. Winston smiled, "Now Tony, that's not how we treat guests. Five ounces each!"

As the alphas began to lead the pack of strange canines away, Tony made his way back over to Winston. "Don't tell me that you trust these depraved mutts."

Winston shook his head, "You know as well as I do that all they want is their freedom, and they'll earn it on our terms."

"And what're they?" Tony scorned.

"To be our best secret from the Northern Pack."