A Dangerous Time - Chapter Two

(Chapter two! Yays! >w<)

Kadis found herself lost in the woods nearby. The wolf-girl looked at her surroundings but nothing seemed familiar. The trees looked off and even the ground under her feet felt strange. Out of nowhere, she heard a scream. It sounded close. She panicked. She kicked dirt up behind her as she ran, pushing back branches that got in her way. At one point, she tripped and fell with a loud yelp. A loud rustling noise behind her. The alpha female was being followed. She scrambled to her feet and started running again. The rustling grew louder. Somehow, whatever was following her was managing to not only keep up, but close in on her as well. Her breathing became heavier as she ran. She was growing tired very quickly and tripped once more. She turned as a shadow hovered over her. Her eyes went wide and--

"Kaddy!"

She shot up in her bed. Her brother stood over her, a worried look on his face. A dream. It had only been a dream. She let out a relieved sigh and collapsed back onto her mattress. What had caused it, though? Was it the worried thoughts she was having about her loyal pet? Or was it the fact that any one of them could be attacked as well? She didn't know. But it was bothering her, either way. That dream was proof of that. Times were dangerous now. The enemy was unknown still. They needed to protect themselves and the other members as best as they could.

"Kaddy, are you alright?" Kaze asked her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "You were whimpering in your sleep and...well, it just looked like you were having a nightmare."

The alpha female nodded. "I'm okay, Kaze," she reassured him. "Just a bad dream...about the attacks that have happened lately..." She really didn't want to say more than that. Her brother understood.

"Alright... I was just asked to come in and watch over you, so I was just following orders." He stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

"Told to watch me? By who?"

"Who else? Your husband." Under his breath, he muttered, "It's still weird knowing you're married at only 17..."

She couldn't help but smile. "It wasn't supposed to happen yet...it was just kind of a spur of the moment thing..."

He shrugged. "Well...either way. Come on, get up. Akaru is awake."

"He is?" She pushed the covers back and jumped out of the bed. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner?" She quickly left her own room and practically ran down the hall towards their house's guest room, where Akaru was currently residing. He looked over at her when she entered and smiled, a bit weakly. Kadis sighed and smiled back. He was alright. All that work she and Tsumi had done paid off.

"Hey there, Mistress..." he said, sounding stronger than he looked, bandaged up and laying in a bed and all.

She moved over and sat beside him. "You look much better than you did, you know. You looked terrible."

He smiled. "I'm sure...I...I don't even know what exactly happened. All I remember is being attacked and pain shooting through my body. I kinda blacked out after that."

"It's alright, I sort of heard what happened from your brother. Tsumi and I worked hard together, trying to heal up the major wounds. They weren't completely healed, but they should be okay in about two days. Just rest a bit, okay?"

He nodded. "I understand, Mistress."

At that moment, the door opened behind the wolf girl and she turned to see Neko there, an odd look on her face. A look that said she was worried yet relieved at the same time. "Akaru..." Before she could have been stopped, she had embraced him quite tightly. "You're alright, nya..."

Kadis smiled. "Don't hug him too tightly," she told Neko. "He needs rest and time to be healed. I'll leave now." She stood and left the room with a sigh.

"You okay?" a voice said. She jumped a bit then calmed down when she saw it was only Himuro. He smirked. "Don't freak, it's only me, miss pack leader."

"Don't scare me, geez..." She sighed and leaned against the wall beside him, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm guessing you wanted to see how he was doing too?"

The red wolf shrugged. "Kind of. I was actually keeping Tsumi company until he woke up. I was told to alert Shiro, who then went and told almost everyone." He smirked. "The room got too crowded, so I stepped out for a bit." He pat her head. "You did well for a little brat, you know."

"I'm not a little brat! You're just too tall!" She pouted and sighed. "Himu...what are we gonna do about this? These attacks...every one of us are in danger. And I don't want something like this..." She pointed towards the room Akaru was in. "...happening to anyone else."

"I know. Shiro and I are going out tomorrow to search again. Don't worry, little pack leader. We'll figure out whose behind this and why. You just need to worry about keeping everyone inside the village and healing any injuries, alright? Leave the dangerous tasks to Shiro, Manako, Kaze, and I."

She nodded. "Alright...just be safe, okay? I'm already worried about everyone...don't make me worry any extra over you, got it?"

"Heh...alright."

She smiled. "Good. I'm gonna go look for Shiro now. Know where he is?"

He thought for just a moment. "Last I saw him, he was outside talking to your cousins about something while holding Kai on his back. Under the big tree. You should check there first."

"Thanks, Himu." She waved to him as she skipped down the hall and stairs. She headed towards the center of their little village where the big tree stood. The violet-haired wolf smiled as she saw Shiro tossing Kai, their adopted son, up into the air. The little grey wolf was laughing as if it was the most fun thing in the world. She made her way over to the two of them and Shiro grinned, catching the young pup a final time.

"Mommy!" Kai said as she joined them. His tail wagged happily. He seemed to have forgotten about what had happened with Akaru.

She took him from Shiro. "Hi, little guy," the female wolf said, patting his head. "You looked liked you were having fun."

"He was," Shiro said, slinging an arm around her shoulder. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Are you feeling better now?"

She smiled at him and nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm just glad you and the others are alright overall."

"Mommy, is big brother Akaru gonna be okay?" Kai cut in. "He was all covered with red stuff and dirt."

Kadis stared at him for a moment then sighed. "Akaru's fine, sweetie," she said. "You can go see him later."

"Kaddy, move!" Shiro shouted suddenly before pushing her out of the way.

She yelped and fell, holding her pup in her arms. "W-what the..." Her eye widened when she saw what she'd been blocked from. Shiro winced as he pulled and arrow from his arm. "Shiro!" A rustling noise and a laugh came from the tree above them. A shadow jumped down and landed in front of them for barely even a second before laughing and rushing from the village. "Wait, you...!" Kadis chased after him, barely hearing her mate's cry to stop her. She ignored him and continued after the intruder. It was easy to follow him, hearing his laugh. It stopped suddenly and everything went silent. She stopped, observing her surroundings.

"Well, well, you came after me, huh?" an amused voice behind her said. "Such a brave puppy..."

The alpha female turned quickly, but no one was there. The voice snickered. "Who are you?!" she demanded. "Show yourself!" She was afraid, yes, but she was enraged too. No one would attack her mate and get away with it.

"We'll meet again soon, Miss Kadis Ookami." The voice snickered again. "And next time I'll get serious."

"Answer me first!" But the voice was gone. She fell to her knees in defeat. Shiro had been hurt and she couldn't even stop the attacker. Was she really that weak? Could she do nothing but heal wounds and scratches? She needed to help protect the others. She didn't want to be protected all the time. She wanted to be the one to protect. Wasn't that in her job description as the pack leader?

A hand rested on her shoulder. She jumped and looked up. Shiro stood above her. "S-Shiro..."

He pulled her to her feet and looked at her, anger, fear, and worry in his eyes. "What the Hell were you thinking, coming out here on your own, Kadis? You could have been hurt! Killed! "Don't ever do that again, do you understand?!"

She looked down and nodded. "I understand..."

He embraced her suddenly, resting his head on top of hers. "If anything happened to you...I don't know what I'd do...Kadis, please tell me you won't do something this stupid again. Promise me."

She shook her head and pushed away from him slightly, just enough that she could see his face. "I can't promise you that, Shiro..."

He looked taken aback. "W-what? Why not, Kaddy, if..."

She shook her head again and looked back to him determined. "I can't stand by and do nothing while everyone's at risk. Being a healer is okay and all, but doing only that isn't enough. I want to stand up and fight like the rest of you." She paused, hoping he'd understand. "Shiro, I want you to train me. I want to grow stronger to help protect those around me."

The pack leader was silent for a long moment. It seemed to last minutes. Finally, he looked at her again and nodded. "Alright. I'll train you as best as I can."