"What's wrong with her? Is she okay?"

"She fainted."

"Is she sick? She's been acting strange lately."

Sophia slowly blinked her eyes open. A crowd of her packmates clustered around her, their faces confused and concerned. Reed pushed to the front, growling, "Let me through! Don't crowd her!"

What happened?

The memory of Siglitun's sign suddenly came rushing back, and she nearly blacked out again. Cold terror seized her as she seemed to remember all her dreams at once.

Reed was quickly at her side, sniffing her up and down. "Sophia," he said gently. "Calm down, it's all right. You collapsed and were out for a few moments. How do you feel?"

Sophia blinked rapidly, her heart racing. "It's too late," she whispered. "They're coming." She could practically see the wolves, ripping the dogs apart. She covered her eyes with her paws, shaking uncontrollably.

She heard Cassidy's voice. "Do you know what's wrong with her, Reed?"

"No," Reed answered. "She's been out of sorts lately. Right now, though we need to give her space. She's badly stressed."

Cassidy sighed. "We'll be late for the Hunter's Moon. Take care of her, Reed, Flutter. Tell me how she is as soon as I get back."

Sophia's heart suddenly leaped with alarm. A deep sense of danger told her that the terrible thing she had been warned of was waiting at the Hunter's Moon. "Don't go!" she yelped, sitting up. "You can't! They're coming!"

A faint howl sounded in the distance. Sophia saw a few dogs prick their ears and glance at each other. She felt sick with fear. The wolves were coming...

Cassidy stared at her. "Who is coming?" she asked.

"The wolves," Sophia whispered.

There were some skeptical murmurs from the dogs. Someone muttered, "She is crazy!" but Sophia was far too afraid to care. "You can't go! They're coming..."

Dallas growled behind Cassidy. "This is nonsense. Take her into the trees, Reed. She isn't thinking straight. Cassidy, we need to leave."

Cassidy sighed and nodded, turning away. "All of you who are coming, follow me!" she barked, then led the way into the lake.

"Stop!" Sophia yelped, but the dogs ignored her. She saw Tarragon joining them and felt a flicker of hope. Tarragon would tell them, surely?

But before she could see if he was talking to Cassidy, Reed was nudging her to her paws. "Come along," he said. "Let's get you into the trees."

Sophia stood up shakily and followed him, aware of Bronze and Jarvis hovering anxiously behind her. The dogs that had remained began to talk in low voices, casting glances in her direction every now and then.

Reed sat her down inside the grove of trees. Flutter appeared beside him, some small purple flowers in her jaws. "Skullcap," she woofed when Jarvis looked suspicious. "It should calm her down."

She sat the flowers down in front of Sophia and nudged them toward her. "Go ahead," she barked encouragingly. "They won't hurt you."

Sophia sniffed them. She had never eaten plants before. She licked them up, frowning at the bitter taste. Quickly, though, the images from her dreams began to fade. Her fear slowly evaporated, to be replaced by sheer exhaustion. Her eyelids drooping heavily, she slid into the darkness of sleep.

~

She stood in a thick pine forest, watching a large crowd of dogs. The full, white moon shone down, painting the scene in silver. It wasn't long before she realized where she was--the Hunter's Moon!

Aaron was in the middle of talking when a long, low, loud howl split the air. Every dog whipped around, startled. Her fur stood on end. No dog could howl like that.

More howls joined the leading one, merging into a wailing chorus. The faint pounding of paws grew louder until it seemed to shake the ground. She heard a dog gasp, "What in Siglitun's name..."

The use of the Hunter Dog's true name was completely warranted. Racing through the forest, their eyes gleaming with pride and power, was a massive wolf pack.

More wolves than she could have imagined existed poured into the forest like a mottled tide of gray, brown, black, and white. The wolf in the lead, a tall, powerful male with sleek silver fur and brilliant golden eyes came to an abrupt stop before the assembly of dogs, who could only watch dumbfoundedly. He gave a short howl, and all the wolves behind him immediately halted.

The tall male strode forward, his coat illuminated by the moonlight. She saw that many scars laced through his thick fur, but the most prominent one was a raw, curved mark on his cheek. He stared down the dogs, showing no sign of fear. "Rulers of the land we enter," he barked. "We have come to speak with you."

She noticed how different his voice was from the voices of dogs. It was flowing and melodious, as though he sang every word. She knew wolves spoke a different tongue than dogs, one that consisted of howls more than it did barks.

The pack dogs were so stunned at the sight before them that they didn't even respond to the he-wolf. He didn't seem to care, however, and continued. "We see that you live on a wealthy, plentiful land," he said. "Land that can support much life. We have been driven out of our homes by sickness and famine. We have come here to claim new territory."

Silence followed his words until Gannon broke it. "You speak dog very well," he growled suspiciously.

The he-wolf smiled. "I know many tongues," he said proudly. "I am Songan, chieftain of my brethren."

The other leaders finally seemed to find their voices. "What do you mean by 'claim new territory'?" asked Gabriel.

"Sickness and famine came to our land," Songan answered. "We were many packs, but we united and left the land. It held nothing but death for us. We came here, and we have watched you. We find your land plentiful and good. We shall have a good home here."

"Wait," interrupted Cordan. Songan looked surprised, as though he hadn't noticed the tiny dog. "Are you implying that you want to take our territories?"

"Yes," Songan began, but was quickly drowned out by howls and barks of protest. The wolves behind Songan began to snarl, but Songan lifted his tail and they fell silent. "It is well known that the race of dogs is inferior to wolves," he said, as though this were obvious, "so, naturally, you must give your territory over to us."

Aaron advanced towards the he-wolf, his lip curled back to show his fangs. "Inferior?" he snarled. "I'll show you who's inferior!"

Songan shook his head. "I was told of the way dogs are--aggressive and unreasonable." These words brought more howls of outrage, but Songan ignored them. "If you do not choose to peacefully surrender your territories and find a new place to live, then we will take it from you. The sickness and famine weakened our numbers, but we are still strong. Think on it, dog chieftains. I expect an answer when the moon is half dark."

Songan turned and howled a command to his wolves. Immediately they all faced the opposite direction and charged back into the forest, leaving as quickly as they came.

~

Sophia jumped up, her heart racing. Reed, who had been sitting nearby, turned to her. "Are you feeling better?" he asked her, but she didn't say anything. She ran out of the trees and stared across the lake towards Storm Pack territory, where the Hunter's Moon was taking place.

"They're here," she whispered.

She knew that what she had seen was not a dream. Somehow, she had managed to see what had taken place at the Hunter's Moon. She turned to see Bronze and Jarvis hurrying over to her. "How are you feeling? Are you all right?" Bronze asked her.

Sophia looked at her brothers, fear and despair weighing down on her. "The wolves are here," she said, her voice rising in desperation. "They're here!"

Bronze and Jarvis exchanged a glance, clearly thinking that she still wasn't in her right mind. "Sophia, just calm down," Jarvis said soothingly. "There are no wolves here."

"Yes, there are!" Sophia yelped. "I saw what happened at the Hunter's Moon. I saw it! They're here! Dozens of them... So many..."

She was rambling like an insane dog, but she didn't care. All she could think of was the countless wolves, fearlessly staring down the dogs. They wanted to take the territories, and they didn't look like they wanted to take no for an answer.

~

The moon was sinking in the sky when Cassidy and the others returned. They all looked shocked and confused, talking among themselves. Cassidy and Dallas were deep in conversation and both looked very concerned.

Flutter trotted forward. "What happened?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

"You didn't see any wolves, did you?" asked Geronimo, with a slightly mocking tone to his voice.

Every single dog in the group gave him dagger-like stares. "As a matter of fact," Cassidy said, with an edge to her tone, "we did."

"What?!" Celeste gasped. "You mean you actually saw wolves? Are they the same ones that have been leaving the scent for all this time?"

"I would assume so," Dallas barked. "There aren't any other wolves left to leave scents, judging by the number of them."

"How many were there?" Reed questioned.

"Too many to count," answered Donovan, shaking his head. "If everyone else hadn't seen the same thing, I would have thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."

"Wait, so you mean Sophia was right?" demanded Jarvis, stepping out into the front. "She's been talking about wolves all night." He swung his head around to look at his sister. "Just what have these nightmares you've been having been about?"

Sophia froze. Every single dog was staring at her. She swallowed nervously. "I--I've seen wolves... attacking dogs," she stammered. "B-but I didn't know what dogs. There was a voice... Talking about terror a-and destruction. And then..."

"Yes?" Cassidy's eyes were bright with interest. She leaned closer. "Then what?"

"The... voice," Sophia said uncomfortably, not wanting to imply for a moment that it was Siglitun, "said that if I... didn't tell--them, then the terror and destruction would come. And when it did, he'd... show by setting the sky on fire," she finished in a rush.

"Like it was today," Kenya whispered, her eyes wide.

"It must have been a prophecy!" Ayla exclaimed. "The Hunter Dog must have warned her!"

"You can't mean that this trainee has been getting dreams from the Hunter Dog," Seneca growled. "Has there been any other signs?"

"No," Rowan said slowly. "I have not seen anything from the Hunter Dog warning of something like this."

"But what else could it be?" Ayla insisted. "She wouldn't be having dreams about wolves all on her own! She's never even seen a wolf before!"

"Exactly," Geronimo interrupted. "How do we even know that she saw wolves? She could have seen something completely different and not even known it."

A growl rumbled in Bronze's throat. "She's not stupid," he snarled. "Don't act like she is."

"Quiet!" Dallas shouted. "Enough of this. Let Cassidy and Rowan talk to her before you all start jumping to fluff-brained conclusions."

Some of the dogs grumbled slightly, but they didn't disobey the beta. They dispersed into groups, muttering and arguing among themselves. Sophia wished she could jump into the lake and forget about everything. Now even more trouble was aroused because of these stupid dreams.

"Sophia," Cassidy woofed gently. She nodded towards the trees. "Come with me. I think we need to talk."