Sophia slowly followed Cassidy into the trees, her stomach twisting in knots. The Bloodhound sat down beneath a tall spruce and faced Sophia, her eyes serious. "All right, Sophia," she sighed. "Start at the beginning. When did you start having these dreams?"

Sophia sat down and looked at her paws. This shouldn't be so hard--she had already told Tarragon, after all. But she knew her alpha could be brutally honest at times, and she feared she wouldn't be very gentle if she thought Sophia was crazy. Not to mention she could feel Rowan's eyes boring into her with disapproval. "Just before the Hunter's Moon when the wolves were first mentioned," she said, struggling to remember everything the voice had said in that dream. "The voice... he said that the packs would suffer a punishment. If I warned them, the punishment would be less... I saw dogs fighting, and shadows, and the lake... it turned to blood." The Toller shuddered, closing her eyes.

Cassidy made a "hmm" sound in her throat. "And you've been having dreams like this ever since."

"Yes," Sophia woofed. "They were kind of far apart at first, but then I started having them almost every night. And just a little while ago, I had the dream about the sunset. I didn't know what to do... I didn't think you'd believe me," she added in a small voice.

Cassidy snorted. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I probably wouldn't have." She fixed Sophia with a hard stare. "I do wish you had told me, though. You should have trusted me."

Sophia ducked her head, ashamed. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"But why would the Hunter Dog send this message to you?" Rowan demanded. "I'm the preceptor, and I've seen nothing indicating such a threat."

"Are you certain?" Cassidy asked, an eyebrow raised. "You haven't misinterpreted any signs?"

Rowan bristled. "I find your lack of faith in me disappointing," she growled.

"That's not my problem, Rowan," the alpha retorted. "If you're incapable of doing your job correctly then I don't think I should have faith in you."

The preceptor gasped and looked as though she was about to say something in response, but she finally looked away with a low growl.

"Well, regardless," Cassidy said, shaking herself, "the sign in the sky couldn't have been a coincidence. And if you have any more dreams, Sophia, I expect you to tell me about them immediately."

Sophia nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she said sincerely. "I will, I promise." Now that she knew the alpha didn't think she was crazy, it wouldn't be so hard to talk about her dreams.

"Come with me," Cassidy barked, standing up and heading back towards the open part of the island. "We need to tell the others. A battle seems to be coming, and we need to prepare."

~

Dawn was breaking over the lake and the dogs were still talking about what had happened--no one wanted to go to sleep. Cassidy had told the pack all the information on Sophia's dreams, and now she, Dallas, and some of the defenders seemed to be discussing training plans. Sophia saw that Bronze was with them, and headed over to Jarvis, who was talking with Seth and Ayla.

"Sophia!" he exclaimed, jumping up to meet her. "Are you all right now? You're feeling fine?"

Sophia nodded and rubbed her head against his neck. "Yes, I'm fine now." For the most part, anyway.

"Now, what I would like to know is why you didn't tell me or Bronze about these dreams," Jarvis said, his face uncharacteristically stern. "We were really worried about you."

Sophia ducked her head, ashamed. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, not meeting his gaze. "I... I was too scared."

"Sophia." Jarvis moved his head until he was looking his younger sister in the eye. "Bronze and I care about you. We just want you to be safe and happy. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Sophia yelped, shocked that he would think that she didn't. "It wasn't that, it... It's too hard to explain."

Jarvis sighed and nuzzled the top of her head gently. "Well, if it happens again, please tell us," he murmured.

"I will," Sophia promised softly.

Seth cleared his throat slightly and the two jumped, slightly embarrassed. "I think the whole question is very easily settled," the black Cocker Spaniel barked, returning to the former focus of the conversation. "None of the packs are going to agree to just let those outsiders take our land. We don't even need to think about that."

Ayla nodded, but her eyes were wide. "Naturally, but did you see the number of wolves? There were so many! I wouldn't be surprised if they stretched all the way to Storm Pack's border. Can we fight that many?"

"We're six packs, Ayla," barked Aurora, cutting into the conversation. "They can't possibly have more than that."

"We might be evenly matched, though," put in Jett, who was sitting next to the Kooikerhondje. "There was a lot of them. He said that they were many packs banded together, after all."

The conversation was interrupted by Dallas' commanding bark. The pack immediately turned to face their alpha and beta attentively.

"The answer to the wolves' question is obvious," Cassidy began, "and I have no doubt that the other packs will agree with us. However, I do not think that the wolves will be willing to take no for an answer. We may be forced to fight them. Because of that, I want everyone to start a training regime to keep our battle skills in top condition. That includes the hunters; their training will need to be increased. Also, I want more patrols around the borders. Being in the center of the territories, we are unlikely to be attacked, but you can never tell what will happen. Does anyone have anything to add?"

Cassidy's words were met with the silence of approval. She nodded and then barked, "Sinbad and Jayla, as our two most experienced defenders, will fill you in on what we have planned. For now, though... we need to get some rest."

The dogs grudgingly retreated to their sleeping areas, still whispering and murmuring to each other. Sophia settled down between the strong, furry bodies of her brothers and was swept away by a swift, dreamless sleep.

~

The next two weeks were a bit of a blur for Sophia. Between training with Sinbad and Jayla and also catching food for the pack, she was tired, but it was a much better tired than it had been before. She could sleep all through the night now, and never had anything more than a normal dream.

She felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and could finally socialize normally with her packmates again. The looks and whispering didn't stop, but they were being much nicer to her than they were before.

"The half-moon is tonight," Cassidy declared to her packmates as they ate the evening meal. "It's almost time to leave to meet Songan and give him our answer. I want to take most of you as a show of strength, but some of you do need to stay and guard. Wolves are crafty animals; you never know what tricks they might pull."

"I'll stay," Cody volunteered.

"I will too," Kenya added.

"And I'm perfectly capable of defending myself," Celeste barked, shaking herself slightly.

Cassidy smiled and dipped her head. "Excellent. The rest of you who wish to come, follow me."

The pack departed across the lake. Sophia's heart hammered in her chest as she swam next to Tarragon. For all these months she had dreamed of the Terror, of the wolves, and now she was going to see them in person.

Tarragon's soft bark distracted her from the images of dark, leering faces in her mind. "Are you all right?" he asked. "You can go back and stay at the island if you want."

Sophia opened her mouth and then closed it, shaking her head. "No," she said, sounding more confident than she felt. "I have to come. It's kind of... important for me to be there. I was the one who dreamed about it."

Tarragon nodded. "Okay. I just wanted to make sure you weren't..." He stopped awkwardly. "Well, not to say you're a coward or anything, but I thought you might be..."

"Scared?" Sophia finished for him, and then sighed, looking away. "I am. But I still have to come."

"All right," Tarragon murmured, and their conversation faded into silence.

As they climbed ashore on Storm Pack territory, they met Night Pack, who was just making their way to the meeting. Cassidy and Dallas exchanged cordial greetings with Gannon and his beta, Finn, and the two packs began to mingle.

The Night Pack dogs looked undaunted by what lie before them, but Sophia could tell that some of them had their short fur bristling and were casting glances around them cautiously. She was slightly surprised--Night Pack had a reputation as the most fearless, battle-ready pack, though Storm Pack might argue otherwise. To see them looking almost afraid was strange for her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Dakan, one of the Great Dane trainees, who had begun talking to Tarragon. "Isn't it weird traveling like this when it's not a Hunter's Moon?" he asked. "It's a lot darker. And it's also weird, knowing that we're not even going to be hunting."

Tarragon nodded in agreement. "What do you think about the wolves?" he asked the dark gray-and-white trainee.

"I think they'll turn tail and run when they see that we're not afraid of them," Dakan replied confidently, puffing out his chest.

Sophia and Tarragon exchanged a glance. "You weren't there when the wolves arrived, were you?" Tarragon barked.

"Nope, but my father says that all the wolves he's met are cowards at heart," Dakan said. "They don't stand a chance against us, anyway."

And how many wolves has your father met? Sophia thought, but she remained silent. The dogs approached the clearing in which Hunter's Moons took place. It looked strange in the light of the half-moon, casting shadows on the dogs' faces and making it difficult to discern a living animal from a tree or a rock.

Frost Pack had already arrived, and it wasn't very long before Wind Pack and Earth Pack showed up as well. Obviously, no one wanted to be late for what was happening tonight.

As though on signal, a long, keening howl rose from the trees, sending chills down Sophia's spine. She sat stock still, wide-eyed. She had seen the wolves in dreams, but now they were really coming...

The wolves burst forth from the trees, Songan leading the pack. As before, he came to an abrupt stop and the wolves behind him quickly fell into order. Songan's golden eyes scanned over their numbers and then asked in his soft, musical voice, "What decision have you made?"

Aaron stood up, his ears forward and his tail in the air, everything about him shouting confidence and boldness. "We will not surrender our lands," he said coldly, "especially not to a wolf."

Songan's eyes temporarily flared at the way Aaron spat the word, but he remained calm. "Very well then," he woofed. "Howahkan has led us to this land. If you do not wish to consent with his will, then you will pay the consequences." He leaned forward slightly, his eyes glinting darkly. "Beware of what this decision may cost you."

Sophia's blood ran cold and she shuddered. Something dark flashed at the back of her mind, too quick for her to understand what it was. A cloud suddenly covered the moon, casting the clearing into darkness. When the light of the moon returned, the wolves were gone.

Yay! Oh wait, maybe that's not the right word for this scenario... Um... no yay? Erherm, yeah, sorry about this almost taking a month. I've got a somewhat heavy school load now, so I don't know if that will affect my writing. I mean, I wrote the first part of this chapter almost a month ago and then I finished it in an hour or so, sooooo... We'll see. Keep your fingers crossed and don't forget to vote and comment!