“You need to remember,” Alpha went on, “that these weaker dogs look up to you. You are my Beta. The Pack respects you.” He threw a dubious look at Bella. “And your dogs look up to you, too, I imagine. You must both demonstrate that you have courage and good sense. That you won’t compromise the security of the others by being reckless or selfish . . . the way Omega was.”

Lucky froze, his tail stiffening behind him. What does he mean by that?

Alpha stood up straight, his yellow eyes glinting with confidence. “All the bad things that have fallen upon the Pack happened after Omega showed up.” The dog-wolf turned to Lucky and narrowed his eyes accusingly. “We’re stronger together but not with the City Dog around.”

“But the cloud wasn’t Lucky’s fault,” Bella said in a reasonable voice.

Alpha turned to her. “You will address him by his proper name,” he growled. “And whether or not Omega caused the black cloud, it took the shape of a Sky-Dog. I have no doubt of that. You saw it too!”

Sweet stared at Alpha. “A Sky-Dog? What do you mean?” She hadn’t been there when Lucky and Bella had watched with Alpha as the cloud seemed to assume the form of a dog. She hadn’t witnessed Alpha’s panic and horrified certainty that an evil Sky-Dog was to blame for their miseries.

“The black cloud was a Sky-Dog,” Alpha barked. “I would not be surprised if his rage was punishment for Omega’s deceit in playing the two Packs against each other.”

Lucky felt the blood drain away from him and he caught his breath. He’d heard that the Spirit Dogs could turn on a dog in anger. Hadn’t his Mother-Dog told him so when he was only a pup?

Could this have been my fault? Lucky’s eyes shot to the sky, where the black cloud was concealed beyond the forest.

The dogs watching from beneath the rocky overhang had crept forward, anxious to understand what was going on. Alpha turned to acknowledge them.

“I have made my decision,” he said. “I will keep my word and not force the Leashed Dogs to leave. They may still have a role to play in this Pack. It is a dangerous, unknown world that we face, and it will be safer if we stick together.” He spoke softly, but with authority, like a gentle Father-Dog giving his helpless pups an important lesson. “But Lucky cannot be part of this Pack, even as Omega. Look at the trouble he causes—conflict follows him like his own tail.”

Alpha turned back to Sweet and Bella, making a show of ignoring eye contact with Lucky. “You have both spoken up for Omega, as though he is your ally. But he has brought you to constant bickering. He is at the center of all that has gone wrong for both our Packs.”