Bella dropped back so she could walk at Lucky’s side. She, too, threw a worried look toward Twitch, and Lucky knew she was thinking the same thing. The Pack advanced without talking as the Sun-Dog bounded over the sky. The overhanging branches carved shadows in the light.

Lucky peered through the gloom. He had the uneasy feeling that something was creeping, lurking behind the veil of darkness. It’s this place, he thought. All these shadows make you imagine things that aren’t there.

A short distance ahead, the Pack had stopped. Lucky and Bella went to investigate.

Bruno was standing at the front of the group, where the trees ended abruptly. They’d traveled around the lake and now they’d come upon the shore. From here, Lucky could see the land curving around the shimmering body of water. He could just make out a large rock face at the distant shore.

“Where to now?” asked Bruno, looking at Lucky.

Lucky felt a wave of frustration. This is the dog who helped to pin me down so that Alpha could brand me a traitor. If the black cloud hadn’t appeared when it did, I would have carried a permanent scar. And now he’s acting like nothing happened? Now he’s asking me for help?

“What do you think, Alpha?” asked Snap.

Lucky turned to look at the dog-wolf. He was standing a short distance from the others, gazing back through the forest in the direction of the dark cloud.

“How about over there, where the water meets the big rocks?” Bella barked. She was standing by Lucky’s side, the other dogs converging behind her.

Lucky could see that the rocks formed an overhang. “Yes,” he agreed. “Even if the cloud comes, those rocks should give us good shelter.”

“But it’s so far away,” whimpered Sunshine. Her long white pelt was matted and dotted with burrs, and her tail was drooping. She gnawed ineffectually at a burr that had become lodged in the fur by her paw pad. The conversation reminded Lucky of the first time they’d left the city, when he had to coax the dogs every step of the way. Not again! Not after everything that’s happened.

“Can’t we stop here for the night?” Whine put in. “The trees will shield us from bad weather and the black cloud won’t reach us here. It’s too far to the rocks.”

“We can’t keep going much longer. It isn’t fair to Twitch,” added Sunshine.

The injured dog limped toward them. “I will keep up with the Pack,” he sniffed proudly.

Sweet was squinting through the trees. “I think we should keep moving. There are creatures that live in the deep forest, things that come out at night. . . . We need to be clear of this place by no-sun.”