Minerva tried not to drag her paws as she followed behind the rest of the pack on the road to the Hunter's Moon. She had no desire to interact with the other packs, much less when Wind Pack was hosting. Hunting in their rival pack's territory just made her very uncomfortable.

But Draco had chosen her to come, and she hadn't voiced any objections. It was only one night, after all, and mercifully it was clear. There would certainly be more rain as summer continued to draw to a close, but at least she wouldn't have to spend more time out in the meadow underneath the rain. She guessed it would be rather difficult to hunt with the muddy ground, however.

Night Pack was one of the last to arrive, with only Frost Pack coming afterward. Minerva guessed Draco was trying to make some point by being fashionably late, but Gabriel made not so much as a comment towards it. The Wind Pack leader rarely ever did, to the point that Minerva wondered why Draco even bothered baiting him so much. She had started to believe that wondering about why her uncle did most of the things he did was a fruitless exercise.

There was little time for conversation before the packs settled in for the announcements, but Minerva wouldn't have engaged in it anyway. She could feel hostility radiating off of her packmates as Gabriel started speaking--the memory of Chloe's death was all too fresh.

"Wind Pack has had no major events in the past months," the red Kelpie said. "The rain has somewhat compromised our attempts at hunting, but our trainees are progressing swiftly and overall we have done well."

"I wonder if that wild young collie of theirs is 'progressing swiftly,'" Minerva heard Jade whisper to her mate, Colt. "That one is dangerous."

Colt scoffed. "No more than the rest of them."

"No, you haven't seen him," Jade insisted. "Something in his eyes gives me the chills."

Minerva turned her attention away from their conversation and back to the alphas. Since Gabriel had finished, Kestrel, Storm Pack's alpha, was now speaking. "Due to the rather unreasonable amount of rainfall that we have received in the past weeks a large portion of our territory was flooded. We say with immense sorrow that our sister and packmate, Salixa, was lost in the flood."

A brief moment of silence followed for the fallen dog, and then Kestrel continued. "However, we continue to work hard in her memory and are making preparations to return to our previous living quarters. Even out of tragedy, Storm Pack stays strong."

A few Storm-dogs barked loudly in agreement, and then Kestrel finished. Minerva didn't care much for Storm Pack, what with all their bravado and flaunting and condescension, but she did have to admit that most of the time they could back up their claims. She guessed there was a reason Draco had chosen to assail their eastern neighbors rather than their northern ones.

Lyra, Lake Pack's alpha, went next. "The flood has also been a trial for us, as many of you might have guessed. We were forced to evacuate the island, but, thank the Hunter Dog, none of our packmates were lost. We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to Frost Pack for allowing us to refugee on the edges of their territory."

Frost Pack's alpha, Martin, flicked an ear dismissively. "We weren't using it."

Lyra smiled slightly before continuing. "We are also very happy to announce that Ciana was able to safely deliver a healthy son. As soon as the lake recedes, we will return home and continue life as before."

Frost Pack and Earth Pack then relayed their news, of which there was not much of note. Draco went last, which Minerva guessed was once again by design. She was realizing for the first time just how much her uncle's pettiness annoyed her.

"We pity your loss, Kestrel," he began, "and regret to announce that Night Pack has also lost a packmate. Chloe fell defending our territory, but we will honor her memory by continuing the fight. Otherwise, Night Pack continues to gain strength as we go into autumn."

Minerva could see that Gabriel was glaring at Draco now. She wondered if Wind Pack really knew whether or not Chloe had died up until now. She doubted they would have been truly remorseful, regardless, and she didn't entirely blame them. She'd heard about the Wind-dog that had died after Draco had invaded Wind Pack's hollow, and she doubted he regretted it at all.

"Why do either of you bother?" Martin growled suddenly. "I could sink my teeth into the amount of tension between the two of you. It's very obvious that you're not going to act as one pack, so why do you come to the hunt?"

"My pack has done nothing to warrant us withdrawing from the Hunter's Moon," Gabriel said coldly.

"Oh, and mine has?" Draco snarled. "Is that what you're implying?"

"Proving my point," Martin muttered, but both alphas ignored him.

"We did not steal territory," Gabriel snapped. "You speak of defending when in reality you are constantly attempting to claim land that isn't yours!"

"If the markings are there, it is ours," Draco retorted. "The packs have operated under that law for generations. The territory is yours as long as you can maintain it."

"Oh, and you're clearly doing a marvelous job at that," Gabriel said, a sarcastic tone entering his voice.

"Not to obstruct the two of you resolving your differences," Kestrel interrupted, "but the rest of us would rather not be privy to it. So either put it aside for tonight or leave."

Gabriel took a slow, deep breath, and turned away from Draco toward the other alphas. "I am the host of this Hunter's Moon. We are not leaving."

Draco slowly curled his lip and then straightened up as all of the alphas turned to look at him. "Night Pack has no reason to leave."

"Oh, for Siglitun's sake," Martin said under his breath before turning to the preceptors. "Let's get on with the hunt already."

The preceptors said the prayer--a little awkwardly--and then the dogs were divided up into their hunting groups. Minerva noticed that there were no groups with both Night-dogs and Wind-dogs in them, although she couldn't tell how intentional that was on the part of the organizers.

Minerva ended up in a group with Gannon, one that was being led by Martin and Kharaa, the Earth Pack beta. There were two dogs each from the other packs, but Minerva was not interested enough to retain all of their names. At one of the Lake-dog's suggestion, the group took off to the eastern side of the meadow.

"Gabriel has some nerve," Gannon growled to Minerva as they followed behind. "He acts like he respects pack laws so much, but when it's his territory he'll act like we're the ones at fault."

Minerva sighed. "We're supposed to be looking for prey, Gannon."

He gave her a look. "What, don't you care?"

"I care about finishing the hunt so I can go home."

Gannon paused for a moment and then shook his head with a scoff. "Sometimes I wonder if you care about anything."

Minerva raised an eyebrow in response but before any more could be said there was a bark from the front of the group signaling the discovery of a target. Minerva drew closer to the forefront so she could see what they were looking at.

There was a small group of deer far ahead in the distance. Minerva could just make out their silhouettes against the night sky: young bucks with still growing antlers. Martin turned back to the group, gesturing to the deer with a jerk of his head. "Those look like a good option to all of you, or do you have any better ideas?"

No one did, so the alpha continued, "All of you can run, right? Then we single one out and chase it until it can't run anymore."

"That sounds exhausting," commented one of the Storm-dogs, a young white she-dog.

"Oh, because Siglitun forbid we get tired by hunting," Martin answered sardonically. "Young dogs these days..."

"It could be an all right plan," Kharaa interrupted. "We all start chasing and if any of us start to wear out we can fall back, then those who are still running can get the deer to turn back around to us. Sound good?"

"You Earth-dogs may have some sense after all," Martin rumbled with a slow nod. "All right. Let's be off, then."

Both Kharaa and her packmate, a Norwich Terrier, shot Martin a glare but the group nevertheless began to move forward. Minerva somewhat doubted whether or not she would be able to keep up with the runners for the whole time, but she was willing to give it her best attempt.

They approached cautiously, concealing themselves in the tall, wavy grass of the meadow. After some brief discussion the group agreed on which of the bucks they would single out, and at a signal from Martin they all charged.

The deer instantly scattered in several directions, causing the dogs to break up from their previously concentrated state in the ensuing chaos. They were soon able to reassemble, however, and the real chase began.

Minerva and a few others were soon outpaced by the longer-legged dogs, and Minerva dropped from a run into a steady lope until she recaught her breath. Her Bullmastiff half meant she was far bulkier than Gannon was, and so she was content to fall back for a bit while he stayed at the forefront.

Some of the dogs began to flank the deer, causing it to turn and forcing it back in the direction of the dogs who had fallen behind. Minerva glanced at the other dogs around her and sank into a crouch, prepared to launch at the buck once it came into jumping distance.

As the buck drew near, however, it skidded to a stop and started grunting aggressively, brandishing its antlers toward the dogs before it. The previously chasing dogs hemmed it in from behind, causing it to be completely inclosed, but the deer maintained its aggression.

"Gutsy," commented one of the Lake-dogs. "I'm impressed."

"It won't do it much good," Martin said. "Take it down!"

Gannon sprang forward first, just as the buck began to rear up, flailing its hooves. Minerva's eyes widened and she charged forward, knocking Gannon out of the way just before pain exploded along her left side. She hit the ground and the air was forcibly expelled from her lungs, but the rest of the group were on the buck swiftly and it was soon taken down.

"Minerva!" Gannon gasped, coming to her side. "Are you okay?"

Minerva grimaed, sucking in a sharp breath as she slowly attempted sitting up. "I'll live."

"Why did you do that?" Gannon demanded.

"Because you were about to get your head split open, idiot," Minerva growled.

"Yeah, and now your ribs are probably broken!" Gannon retorted.

"If I may," interrupted one of the Lake-dogs, a Gordon Setter. "I'm a healer. I can check to see if anything's broken."

Minerva gave a nod of acquiescence and the Setter carefully ran his paw down her side. "I think it'll just be a bad bruise," he said, "although you'll want your own healer to take a look at it."

"Thanks," Minerva grunted, attempting again to get up and succeeding this time.

"You were both a good help," Kharaa said with a nod towards the two Night-dogs. "But you might want to be a bit more cautious next time."

"Well, those of us who can still walk need to get this back," Martin said. "Let's move along."

Gannon volunteered along with a few others and Minerva trailed along behind the main group, her side still throbbing intensely. The healer, who had introduced himself as Reed, kept pace with her during the trip back, but Minerva felt even less conversational than usual when it hurt to breathe.

They finally made it back and the dogs began to eat and share gossip, but Minerva didn't have much of an appetite for either, keeping to herself until the meal was over. When Night Pack regrouped for the journey back, Draco gave her a concerned look. "Minerva, are you all right?"

"She decided to get kicked for me," Gannon said before she could respond. "I had it under control."

Draco smirked slightly. "I'm sure you did. Come on, then, let's get you back where Sundae and Geo can get a proper look at you."

"I'd rather just go to sleep," Minerva said. " One of the Lake-dogs already looked at it, and he said it's just a bruise."

"And the healers have things that can make bruises better," Draco replied. "Don't be so stubborn. I know your mother would not appreciate how resistant you are to healing."

Minerva said nothing in response and the pack eventually made its way back to the overhang, with her continuing to hang in the back. Her mood had soured more and she didn't think it was just because of the pain, but she also couldn't exactly pinpoint the reason. Maybe it was because socializing with the other packs made her uncomfortable. Maybe it was because Gannon hadn't said thank you. Or maybe it was because even though she would throw herself in front of a threat to protect her cousins, she didn't know how to just talk to them. And she felt lonely.