Lucky couldn’t bear to hear any more of this. “Or brave,” he barked. It was true—Grunt had been reckless—but he would not see the pups rejected because of a momentary mistake. Grunt and the others needed time to learn; that was all. “They will grow to be great assets to the Pack, protecting it from intruders. You surely must see their potential.”

Alpha snarled at him. “Protecting yourself is one thing, but causing a fight is another. They wanted a conflict. They couldn’t help themselves! Particularly that nasty little Grunt. He’s growing up fast and showing real malice. What dog in their right mind would chase after that sort of beast when the danger had passed?”

“He chased it?” Spring howled.

Lucky glared at her. Standing next to Spring, Bruno’s eyes widened, although he had the good sense to stay quiet.

“Are you sure that the beast was retreating?” asked Bella carefully. “Maybe—”

“It was retreating,” snapped Alpha. He glared in Daisy’s direction, and she nodded sadly.

“You see?” Alpha went on. “Fierce Dogs can’t be trusted!”

Lucky’s muscles clenched with frustration. This is not fair! How can Alpha throw the pups out of the Pack after putting them in this danger in the first place? He looked desperately around the circle of dogs, trying to work out who among them was on his side. Spring was looking fiercely angry, and Snap’s ears and shoulders drooped sadly—but were either of those good things? Every dog seemed lost in his own thoughts. Even Martha’s face wasn’t easy to read. Her eyes seemed to stare at nothing.

Alpha rose to his paws. “The question now is what to do with the Fierce Dogs. Do we move on and leave them in the wild, or do we”—his wolfish ears twitched—“end this?”

Lucky’s jaw fell slack.

“You can’t really mean . . . kill the pups?” Mickey yapped.

Alpha was calm and unapologetic. “It’s an option.”

“We’d have to do it quickly,” said Snap. “They’re already getting big.”

“They’re pups!” Lucky yelped. “How can you even think of hurting them?”

“I won’t allow it!” howled Martha, stepping forward. She had stayed silent as the other dogs squabbled, but now her dark face was twisted with emotion. “I’ll leave with them. You won’t have to worry about the pups after that! But if you try to hurt them you will have to go through me!”

Alpha spun around to snarl at her, and Mickey took a step toward the water-dog, licking her neck and urging her to back down. He turned to Alpha, his voice soft and reasonable. “The pups don’t mean any harm. We’ll make sure that they behave. It’s just a question of training.”

“It’s too late for that,” Fiery barked. “One of them attacked Squirm. He might have killed her!”