Artic woke up when her ears heard footsteps approaching. She raised her head, eyes half open, to see a pack of wolves approaching. Artic shook her head, struggling to wake, and stood up weakly. Her legs trembled from the running she did last night. Artic looked up to see the Alpha of the Plains Pack, Gorse.

"Greetings." Artic murmured, dipping her head.

"What are you doing on our territory?" Gorse growled. "Go back to your own pack!"

"Have you not heard?" Artic asked, astounded. Even though the Plains Pack lived quite far from her pack, the Forest Pack, news travels fast in these parts.

"Heard what?" Gorse snarled. "Speak, Lone Wolf!"

Artic shivered as she heard the name. Lone Wolf. I am being called a Lone Wolf. Thought Artic sadly. Lone Wolf is a term used to describe packless wolves or lone survivors of an incident. It's also an insult, since wolves are supposed to live in packs, but most wolves regard it as a name.

"My pack's camp was set on fire by Twolegs." Artic quietly muttered. "My pack is gone."

"What? Speak louder, for our ancestors sake!" Gorse barked.

"My pack is gone." Artic murmured a bit more loudly.

"WHAT PART OF SPEAK LOUDER DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?" Gorse asked, shouting.

Fury rose in Artic. How dumb are you? Surely your ears are strong enough to catch my words? She thought angrily. And you're scaring all the prey off! How in the world did you even become Alpha?

"MY PACK IS GONE!" Artic screamed at Gorse. "ALL KILLED BY A FIRE!" Gorse froze with shock, and so did his pack members. Happy? Artic thought to herself. I told you, and I told you loudly.

"I'm... sorry for your loss." A gray and white wolf, with highly contrasted fur, dipped his head towards her. "But your whole pack? How are you sure none survived?"

"Well, I'm alive, aren't I? And how about we go see now about the others?" Artic suggested. A few wolves looked worried, and swung their head to look at Gorse.

"Sure, I'll go and see if you're saying the truth." Gorse announced, recovering from the surprise.

Wow. Artic thought, astonished. You're really stupid. Going to an enemy camp all by yourself? This could have all been an ambush. Lucky for you it isn't.

The gray and white wolf seemed to think the same thing as Artic. He ran up to his leader and muttered something in his ear. Gorse nodded, and addressed his pack again.

"Beta has suggested I take some of our warriors. I agree." Gorse then began picking out warriors to come.

So he's the Beta, huh? Thought Artic, curious. A much smarter one than his Alpha, that's for sure. She looked at the gray and white wolf, and a moment later he caught her staring at her. He gave a hastily smile and turned back to his Alpha. Artic looked away.

Why are my cheeks burning? Artic asked herself. Why... why do I feel embarrassed?

To distract herself from her own mind, Artic called out to the Plains Pack. "Are you ready or not?" She asked. "We don't have all day, you know."

"We're ready." The Beta replied, leading several wolves towards her. "Lead the way."

"What about your Alpha?" Artic asked, scanning over the patrol.

"He likes to be at the back." The Beta answered, slightly apologetic. "Come on."

Artic lead the small patrol, containing around seven wolves, to her camp. The Beta was walking beside her, matching her step by step.

"Sorry about my Alpha." The Beta muttered in a low voice, so only they could hear. "He's young, and..."

"Rash?" Artic asked with amusement.

"You could put it that way." The Beta laughed softly. "Anyways, I realized we haven't got your name. Fancy telling us?" He said this louder, so everyone in the patrol could hear.

"Artic." Artic told the patrol. "My name is Artic."

The Beta sweeped his gaze over her before replying. "It suits you. I'm Loyal, Beta of the Plains Pack." He told her.

The other members of the patrol introduced themselves as they neared the Forest Pack's camp. Artic noticed that Loyal got tenser as they journeyed nearer. And he should. Artic concluded. This could be an ambush.

But it wasn't, and the Plains Pack members soon saw it for themselves as the Forest Pack camp came into view.

"Oh my!" Loyal gasped, his emerald green eyes widening with astonishment. Artic blinked and looked at her destroyed home. Burnt trees littered the ground within a radius of a couple deer-lengths. The brambles bordering the camp that had kept so many enemies out before finally failed against the fire, and died along with the camp.

The patrol fell silent, and Artic padded grimly through the entrance of the camp. She looked around, barely recognizing the place she grew up with.

"Any survivors?" Loyal asked her. Artic raised her snout to scent the air. The dusty scent of ash and smoke filled her nose. Then, under that, the stale scent of her pack. But Artic knew that it was the scent that had long lingered in her camp. There was no fresh smell of her packmates.

"Nothing." Artic told Loyal. "Not that I can tell of, anyways." She padded further into camp, stiff from what she knew what she was going to see.