Lucky caught a trace of that tangy smell. “It was killed by a dog,” he told Alpha.

“I know,” replied the half wolf indifferently. “It was Twitch.”

“Twitch?” Lucky echoed. He looked up, his eyes trailing over tree trunks and a low bush. He remembered the pathetic, injured dog he’d seen while making his way to the city—the dog who’d limped through the forest. How could a dog like that hunt? How could he survive?

Alpha stared down his nose at Lucky. “You seem surprised. Do you think it’s so hard? That only a City Dog can manage without a Pack? Twitch was always self-reliant. He got along fine, despite his injury. Perhaps because of it.”

Lucky’s tail gave a wag at this. He had assumed that Twitch wouldn’t make it, and he was pleased to know the injured dog was surviving on his own. He watched Alpha from the corner of his eye. He had not imagined that the half wolf would ever stand up for another dog. Perhaps there was something gentler beneath that pelt of gray fur.

“Maybe he’s thinking of returning to the Pack,” Lucky wondered aloud.

Alpha rose to his full height, glaring out into the forest, but he spoke quite calmly. “He deserted us as a coward—he would not be welcomed back.” He turned his wolfish face to Lucky. “And if I catch him hunting in our territory, I’ll have him killed.”

Beyond the hillock was a plateau from which it was possible to see the white ridge looming in the distance. There were trees up here but the cover was sparser, with skinny pines replacing the thicker-trunked hardwoods. The terrain was rocky. It would be unforgiving for small, delicate paws.

Lucky and Alpha crouched behind a boulder, within earshot of Daisy and the pups. As the Sun-Dog bounded over the sky, Lucky pitied the three young dogs—they would surely be tired and hungry by now. Their coats gleamed under the gaze of the Sun-Dog and they panted breathlessly. But they persevered, trotting slowly behind Daisy.

“Are we almost there?” yipped Wiggle.

“We’ll go a little farther; I can smell water,” Daisy told him.

Lick turned to her. “Water? I’m so thirsty! Where is the water?”

“It isn’t possible to smell water,” growled Grunt.

Daisy stopped. “If you take a very deep sniff, you’ll be able to smell it too.” She crouched down, rested her muzzle on the rocky ground, and took a long breath.

Lick and Wiggle mirrored Daisy’s movements, lowering themselves onto the ground. Lucky tensed, wondering what Grunt would do. He watched Alpha from the corner of his eye. The dog-wolf was also observing the exchange. Please, Grunt, don’t challenge Daisy’s authority, Lucky silently willed.

Grunt looked skeptical, but he dipped his head and sniffed. For a moment he hardly moved. Then his tail leaped up behind him.