He turned back to the Pack. A short distance away, Spring was talking quietly to Snap. Lucky heard the words aggressive and untrustworthy and his tail drooped. Daisy crept close to him and Mickey sat nearby, nodding at Lucky supportively.

Most of the dogs will side with Alpha, he thought, catching Sweet watching him.

She turned away as Alpha appeared between the pine trees, sauntering down the stoop toward the gathering, taking his position at the center.

“No doubt you will all be interested in the result of our test,” he began, casting his cool eyes around the Pack. “Some of you have probably already heard about the giantfur.”

A ripple of fear passed through the dogs.

“Did you actually see a giantfur?” asked Spring. “Do they really exist?”

Moon was on her paws. “Where was it?” She threw a nervous glance back at the rocks and the entrance to the cave.

“Nowhere near here,” Alpha assured her. He scratched his ear and waited for calm. When the dogs were silent again, he continued: “We saw this monster while we were tracking Daisy and the pups. It seemed to be feeding from a tree.”

“They eat trees?” asked Fiery, his dark face registering confusion. “Don’t they like meat?”

“I am not here to discuss the giantfur,” Alpha growled impatiently. “The beast was huge. It walked close to where Daisy had settled the pups. But it wasn’t interested in them. Isn’t that right?”

Alpha directed this comment to Daisy, who dipped her head. “It’s true; the giantfur ignored us at first. He just wanted to get to the tree. We were fine as long as we didn’t get in his way.”

“And then what happened?” asked Alpha.

Lucky tensed. This was unfair—the half wolf’s questions seemed innocent and unthreatening. But he was actually guiding Daisy into saying things that would reflect badly on the pups. Yet again, Lucky was impressed by how clever Alpha was—even as he hated the Pack leader’s tactics. He clamped his jaw shut to keep from barking in frustration.

Daisy glanced at Lucky, nervously licking her lips.

“No point turning to Omega,” Alpha snarled before catching himself. His eyes darted around as if he was checking who’d noticed his lapse into anger. He took a deep breath and when he continued, his voice was calm. “Just tell the Pack the truth. What happened then?”

Daisy dropped her gaze and spoke down toward her paws. “Grunt started barking, challenging the giantfur.”

There were cries of astonishment from the dogs.

“Reckless,” Alpha confirmed. “A foolish choice that only a naturally vicious dog would make.”

“Despicable,” agreed Whine, bowing to the dog-wolf obsequiously.