Coriander heaved a shuddering sigh, every bone in her body aching with exhaustion. It wasn't physical; the walk to Wind Pack's burial place hadn't been incredibly long. No, her drained energy was purely emotional.

Ranger stood next to her, staring blankly as Picasso and Alabretta gently lowered Sadie's body into the grave they dug next to Gideon's. Coriander wondered if he had truly processed what had happened yet. Her heart went out to him, losing both of his parents in such a short timespan.

And now he's my responsibility. Merciful Hunter Dog, don't let me mess this up.

Remiel sat next to the grave, his eyes closed and murmuring softly, saying prayers to commend her spirit to rest. Gabriel waited until he finished, his head bowed, then looked up at the surrounding dogs. "Sadie will be missed," he said solemnly. "We lost her and Gideon far too soon, but we can trust that they are together again in the lands of Siglitun."

His eyes flicked over Ranger and flashed sadly. The alpha shook his head and then slowly pushed a clump of dirt into the grave. Coriander stepped forward and did the same, then glanced back at Ranger. "Ranger?" she asked softly. The pup didn't meet her gaze and turned his back with a muted growl. Coriander sighed and stepped away from the grave, allowing her packmates to continue filling it in.

Lightning was glaring at Gabriel and bared his teeth. "Don't tell me you're still going to wait for the Hunter's Moon to confront those curs," he said. "You know their attack is why Sadie is dead."

Gabriel glowered back at the Smooth Collie. "Show some respect," he snarled. "Our packmate hasn't even been buried and you're already thinking about revenge?"

"As we should be!" Skipper came up to stand beside Lightning. "Night Pack needs to pay for this."

Coriander stiffened and decided to leave. Ranger didn't need to become more upset by talk of revenge. "Come on," she murmured to him. "Let's go back."

The two began to walk away, Gabriel's low, responding growl fading as they left earshot. Wind buffeted their fur as twilight crawled over the meadow. Winter would come soon, Coriander remembered, thinking of the snow that would cover everything. Prey would flee for warmer climates or retreat within the ground. The plants would be covered up to, she realized, making healing more difficult.

Coriander sighed again and glanced down at Ranger, walking sullenly next to her. She couldn't think of anything to say, so they entered the hollow in silence. Ranger went straight to the healers' den without stopping and Coriander followed him, curious.

The collie pup went and laid down in what just a few hours ago had been Sadie's bed. He buried his nose in the dry grass, and Coriander heard a soft sob. She stood in indecision, unsure of whether she should try to comfort him, when Grace suddenly came up beside her. The corgi had remained behind to tend to those who had been wounded in the attack.

"Leave him," she whispered, her eyes dark with sympathy. "How did it go?"

Coriander shrugged. "As well as a funeral can go, I suppose. She's next to Gideon." She turned to look at Grace. "How is everybody here?"

"Well, Atlantic and Focus have their fair share of cuts and scratches," Grace said, trying to sound somewhat optimistic. "Nothing that won't heal, though. Dakota made it out unscathed, somehow, so none of her wounds have been reopened."

"That's good," Coriander commented, glad that not everything had been affected in the worst way possible.

"Eleazar strained his leg again, so it will take longer to heal," Grace continued. "But the dog Compass fought reopened the wound on his leg, and tore it up pretty badly." She sighed. "Too badly. The muscles are damaged beyond repair. He'll be lame for the rest of his life."

Coriander blinked, first shocked and then angry. "Filthy mutts," she growled. "There's no way we'll be able to get that territory back with our defenders injured like this."

"Well, that would be their intention," Grace pointed out, her voice gloomy.

"Oh..." Coriander groaned and laid down, covering her head with her paws. "All this and now I have a pup to raise. What in Siglitun's name am I supposed to do? I don't know anything about pups!"

"Watch your language," Grace warned, then smiled slightly. "Just be there for him. Ranger already loves you, and I know you love him. You can help him through this."

Coriander sighed and padded over to where Ranger was lying, unsure if he was still awake or if he had fallen asleep. She laid down next to him and she felt him tense up, but then he relaxed and leaned into her. Coriander couldn't help but smile slightly at the feeling of warmth that spread through her flank. Everything was going wrong, but something about this moment felt deeply right.

~

The next few weeks passed quickly and forgettably; all anybody could think about was the Hunter's Moon and finally resolving the trouble with Night Pack. Storm Pack was hosting this time, and Wind Pack was the last to arrive. The other five packs seemed to be chatting amiably, having no issues with each other, but they fell silent when Wind Pack entered.

"Kestrel. Martin. Lyra. Aster. Pawnee." Gabriel greeted each alpha in turn, his voice turning icy as he spoke Pawnee's name. "If you have no pressing matters then I would like to begin."

Kestrel glanced around at the other alphas, an eyebrow raised, then shook her head. "No, Gabriel. Please, continue."

"Thank you." Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the Night Pack dogs. "A little over two months ago, we discovered evidence that Night Pack was stealing our prey. I brought this issue up to Pawnee myself, and he denied the accusation, swearing on his honor as an alpha that they had not stolen from us. Shortly after the previous Hunter's Moon, Night Pack stole some of our territory. This leads me to believe that Night Pack was stealing from us before, and that Pawnee has lied on his honor."

The Night Pack dogs snarled in response, their hackles raising at the accusation. Pawnee, however, said nothing, his face impassive.

Gabriel continued, still staring at Night Pack. "And now, only a few weeks ago, we were attacked in our own hollow by a party of Night Pack dogs. A dog is dead because of it. Do you care to explain yourself?" His voice dropped to a growl as he finished.

Pawnee's dark eyes remained calm, seemingly unaffected by Gabriel's accusatory tone. "We attacked you," he said plainly. "This time, we lost. But if you expect me to relinquish the territory, then you are sadly mistaken."

"So you admit to lying on your honor?" Gabriel growled.

"No," Pawnee answered tersely. "I stand by my previous statement. We never stole from you. We claimed new territory, as we have the right to do, and if you want it back, you'll have to come and take it."

Coriander saw several of her packmates jump to their paws, snarling at Pawnee's challenge. Gabriel loomed over the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, his teeth bared. "I have absolutely no reason to believe you," he snarled. "You are an honorless alpha as far as I am concerned."

"Don't push me, mutt," Pawnee spat back. "I'm about to forget that its the Hunter's Moon."

"Enough!" Martin howled, bringing the snarling to a halt. The Frost Pack alpha glowered at the Wind Pack and Night Pack dogs, his eyes glittering furiously. "Merciful Siglitun, you're acting like pups! We're wasting moonlight, so sit down and shut up, all of you! You can resolve your petty differences later!"

Gabriel turned to the Northern Inuit Dog, his eyes cold. "Do you consider it a petty difference, Martin, when a packmate has died?"

"Condolences," Martin said in a tone that sounded very unremorseful. "I am truly sorry for your loss, but now is not the time for you and Pawnee to fight. Respect the truce!"

"No," Pawnee growled. "Night Pack's honor has been insulted, and I refuse to hunt with these mongrels. I withdraw from this Hunter's Moon."

The comment earned him shocked stares from everyone, including his own packmates. "This is an act of war, Pawnee," Gabriel said, his eyes narrowed. "Do you really want to risk it?"

Pawnee met his gaze unflinchingly. "War is upon us, whether I would risk it or not." He turned away. "Come, Night Pack, we're leaving."

The alpha walked out of the clearing, his pack following somewhat reluctantly. The remaining dogs simply stared at each other, stunned. Coriander was unable to suppress an icy feeling of fear rising in her gut. War.

~

The rest of the Hunter's Moon passed by in a miserable mood, the usual magic ruined by Night Pack's departure. Coriander was thoroughly drained as they arrived back at the hollow. As she plopped down onto her bed, Ranger suddenly appeared beside her.

"What happened?" he asked. "What did Night Pack say?" He had seemed more energetic today, even if he was still far from normal.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Coriander growled.

"I've slept," Ranger snapped. "Why does everyone want me to sleep all the time? Tell me what happened!"

Coriander sighed heavily. She chose to condense the events, guessing that Ranger wouldn't understand it all anyway. She especially didn't want to bring up the subject of war. "Night Pack is acting like the fleabags they are. They aren't giving the territory back. That's all."

Ranger's muzzle twisted. "I'm going to kill Night Pack," he snarled. "Mama's dead because of them."

Coriander snapped her head around, shocked. "Don't talk like that!" she hissed. "Night Pack didn't kill your mother."

"Yes, they did!" Ranger shot back. "I heard Lightning say so. All of them say so. I'm going to kill them."

"Listen to me, you're not going to kill anyone," Coriander said firmly. "Now go to sleep."

Ranger muttered something under his breath and flopped down next to her, breathing heavily. Coriander tucked him in a little closer, sighing again. Between the coming winter and the threat of Night Pack, the future looked bleaker than ever.

Hello everyone! As you may have noticed (or maybe you didn't, I don't know) I have republished this chapter and Chapter Eleven. I did a quick rewrite, taking some stuff out and adding some stuff in, as you have read. I decided I wanted the story to go in a different direction and I have a couple ideas, so we might actually see a new update sometime soon! I can't promise anything, but I will do my best. So yeah, that's all for now. Thank you for reading!