“Then think!” he yelped. “The dogs in that Pack aren’t going to change their minds just because one of us has fallen sick! All that means to them is there’s one less dog that they have to fight!”

Bella glanced over her shoulder, as if checking to make sure no one else had come close. When she turned back, her eyes had that stubborn look he dreaded. “And that’s exactly why we need to insist on sharing the lake and the hunting.”

“No—it’s why you need to get away from here. That Pack is vicious and ruthless. There is no way you will ever persuade them to share their territory. That’s how Packs work in the Wild. Bella, you have to figure out how to tell when you’re picking a fight you can’t win.”

Her lips curled back over her teeth. “I won’t let them drive us away. We’ve survived this long, out in the wild without any longpaws to take care of us! I won’t give up now. We can do this.”

“But you don’t need to be so stubborn!” Lucky didn’t want to lose his temper with her, so he concentrated for a few moments on scraping sandy earth across the mysterious paw prints. He didn’t want anyone else seeing them and panicking. “You wouldn’t be letting them drive you away. You’d be steering clear of them so that they won’t kill you and the others. You would be making the smart decision.”

“No.” Bella’s face had that stubborn look about it, the one Lucky remembered from their days in the Pup-Pack. “This time it’ll be different.”

Lucky barked at her. “How?”

She didn’t avert her eyes from his. “Because now, we will go in with a plan. Last time I couldn’t think straight to argue properly with that Pack leader. But I will make him listen to me.”

“He won’t wait to listen,” Lucky growled through his own bared teeth. “He will just drive you off, no questions asked or answered. That’s if he doesn’t kill you first.”

“No.” Bella sat up, staring directly at him. “I said I had a plan, and I do. It’s a good one, Lucky.”

“Don’t be ridiculous—”

“One of us needs to infiltrate that other Pack,” she interrupted. “To become a member, so that they can speak for us as one of them. Do you see now, Lucky?”

There was triumph in her voice, and Lucky let out a low growl.

“The other Pack never laid eyes on you, because you weren’t in the fight.” Bella paused, her eyes narrowing as she stared at him. “Because you had left us.”

Lucky’s jaws clenched. Part of him resented that Bella was trying to make him feel bad about that, but another part of him felt that she was right to be angry with him. After all, he had his own guilty secret. How could he explain to her that one of the dogs from that other Pack had seen him? And that this dog knew exactly who he was, and maybe even knew him as well as Bella did?