"Come along, Katy," I said as I walked through the Golden Forest with a playful and bouncing Katy. She was so happy and excited today; she wanted to play with everything and run around like the little rambunctious pup that she was.

Katy leaped out to land on a plant but tripped and toppled over onto her back. However, as if nothing had happened, she leaped back up onto her feet with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She gave a little yip and started to run around my legs.

I chuckled and reached down to grab her by the scruff of her neck as she ran past my muzzle. She gave another yip as I picked her up; she struggled for her in my mouth, too hyper to want to be carried.

I spoke, my voice slightly muffled by her fur, "Katy, calm down. Behave, please. Sheesh, you're so hyper today."

"But I want to run. Can I, please, mommy?" She looked up at me with big, puppy eyes. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I sat her back down on the ground and smiled down at her.

"Only if you behave. We need to get to the village, but if you can't walk on your own, I won't hesitate to carry you myself. Understood?" Katy nodded her head frantically. I stood up tall and continued to walk through the forest towards the village, Katy trotting by my side now obediently.

A gentle breeze blew, shaking the leaves of the Golden Forest trees. A few late spring blossom petals fell around us, and Katy looked up in wonder. The wind seemed to whisper as it brushed against my fur, past my ears and away, deeper into the woods. The undergrowth and dirt beneath my paws were soft to the touch, even though it kind of got stuck in my claws a tad. It was really a magnificent and beautiful forest to be in. It was a part of my home, and I loved it. I would protect all of my home, all of my pack, and all of my family from those who wanted to take it all away from me.

"Mommy?" I was shaken out of my thoughts by the little voice, and I looked down at Katy with a smile.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" She asked in a cute, little worried voice.

I smiled a little bit more. I bent down to lick the top of her head. "Of course. Just thinking about some things." She tilted her head at me but before she could ask anything, I started to walk again.

We were almost there. We walked the rest of the way to the village in silence. I was lost in thought again, of course, but I needed to figure out what I needed to do today. I had to do the sunset patrol with Roxy, the lead patrol wolf, and I told Alpha I wanted to do the night hunt instead of the morning hunt so I could watch over Katy for the day. I also needed to-

We emerged from the tress into the bustling village. Katy moved closer to me. With so many other wolves walking around all over the place, it would be easy for us to lose each other in these crowds. "Excuse me," I said as I started to make my way to the right side of the village.

I weaved in and out of the wolves, keeping Katy close by my side as we walked. Finally, we made it.

"Lucy! Molly!" I called as Katy and I approached their side-by-side dens. They had gotten their own dens with their mates a while ago, but of course, there was no way they weren't going to live next to each other. Nothing could separate the two.

Just like when we were younger, the two walked out of their dens at the exact same time as if on cue.

Molly bounced over to us and leaped down into a playful position as she growled, her tail wagging with her shaking rump in the air.

Katy returned the gesture and attacked Molly, snagging her left ear with her little teeth. Molly rolled over onto her back and continued to play around with Katy.

I softly laughed at them before turning to Lucy, who was watching them as well with a small smile. I bumped her side with my hip and tilted my head at her.

Lucy looked at me real quick before looking back at them. "You know...you're really lucky."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Lucy looked at me, envy and admiration in her eyes. "You have a sweet little pup to call your own."

I smiled and looked at Katy. She was jumping back and forth around Molly, her little black tail wagging, her orange birthmarks bringing out the beautiful light of her eyes. She was so sweet and playful and...

Small. My smile faded. She was so small, just a tiny runt, found in the desert after she had been abandoned by her own family, the ones who were supposed to care for her and love her.

But I did. I loved her with all my heart. She wasn't just a runt, just like I wasn't. She was my little wolf pup, my daughter. And she would always be just that.

My smile returned, and I replied to Lucy, "Yeah. And she's amazing in every way possible."

Katy perked up her ears and looked over at me with her tongue hanging out and a tilted head. I laughed as she ran over to me and leaped to hit my chest. She nuzzled her head into my fur, and I pulled her close. I closed my eyes and sighed contently. "That's my girl," I whispered.

We spent a little while longer with Lucy and Molly as I talked to them about patrols and attacks.

Suddenly, we heard barking from closer to the center of the village. Lucy, Molly, and I looked at each other before we stood up and made our way towards the commotion.

There was a huge crowd of wolves surrounding something, but from our view point on the sidelines, we couldn't see what.

Molly swiftly picked Katy up in her mouth; we started to push our way through the crowd. Finally, we made it to the front and saw what this was about. A patrol was just coming back. However, in the center of their group were three River Valley wolves with hung heads and slightly bared teeth.

I narrowed my eyes at the three wolves. They didn't seem like they were completely obedient about being taken by the enemy pack.

Then it happened. In a split second, the leader flashed a devious grin before barking and starting to snarl. The other two followed his example as they prepared to attack.

The patrol Alphas knocked the back two down to the ground. But it took all of them just to do that, so there wasn't anyone to stop the leader.

The lead wolf snarled and jumped at the crowd, but just as quickly as it happened, it was over as I dashed forward and kicked out his legs and twisted around to land on top of him, one paw on his side and the other on his neck.

The wolf growled at me, and I smirked at him. "Do you seriously want to risk getting yourself and your packmates hurt over this? You've lost. Now, shut your mouth, stand up, and follow us without causing any trouble. You got that?" I growled with bared teeth to get it into his thick head.

He scuffed at me but obeyed anyway. The other two compiled as well, and I began to lead the patrol to the Cages.

"Kate?' I turned to see Bailey behind me. He was probably the lead wolf for this patrol. "Thanks for that back there. I don't know what we would have done if he had actually attacked."

I smiled. "No problem. Just doing my job."

"Mommy!" I turned just as Katy hurled herself at me. She snuggled her little head against my legs before she looked up with slightly frightened eyes.

I kneeled down in front of her and licked the top of her head. "It's alright, baby. Nothing is going to happen. Go back to Lucy and Molly until I'm done, okay?" She nodded in understanding before padding back to the girls on her little puppy legs.

I turned back to Bailey. With a simple nod, we carried on with the patrol, finishing up with putting the three River Valleys in the Cages.

"Thank you again, Kate, for your help with them," Bailey said. I smiled and said the same before trotting out of the Cages.

Molly, Lucy, and Katy were waiting for me right outside. Katy smiled as her little tail began to wag excitedly. She ran over to me and jumped up to put her paws on my leg. I nuzzled her head.

"Come on, Katy. We need to go see Leo now," I said, standing up tall. Katy backed off of my leg and started to trot by my side, saying bye to Lucy and Molly as we headed towards the center of the village.

We passed more wolves, some greeted us with sweet words and smiles. Katy was so joyful and excited. She was bouncing so much that I was afraid that she was going to drill a hole into the ground and fall in.

Suddenly, we parted through the crowd, and Katy ran forward towards a dark figure that was separating from another returning patrol. "Daddy!" She screamed as she flew through the air, paws outstretched. Leo turned with a smile just as Katy crashed into him and sent him bowling over.

The two laughed as Leo began tickling Katy. The two looked so perfect together; I couldn't help but smile at them.

Leo stopped tickling Katy and got up, making Katy slid off of him. He walked over to me and nuzzled my head. "I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you, too," I replied before pulling back to look at him. I smiled as I asked, "So how was the patrol?"

Leo didn't say very much, just said that they had seen two River Valley patrols and had helped the other patrol capture the three River Valleys that had crossed over onto our territory.

I nodded and told Leo about how they had tried to attack in the village, causing him to growl angrily. I calmed him down real quick and explained that they were now in the Cages.

"Mommy kicked out the stinky wolf's legs and then tackled him to the ground! It was awesome!" She yelled excitedly while she tried to demonstrate what I had done, just to fall over onto her side.

Leo and I laughed at our little pup. She was so cute. But finally, it was time for me to go, so I said bye to Leo and Katy. I nuzzled and licked each of their heads before I turned away towards the tree line.

I made it to the edge of the village where the group of Alphas were beginning to form. Roxy looked around at us and began roll call. "Okay, so do we have Hazel?"

"Here," the golden brown wolf replied sweetly.

"Otis?"

"Here," the deep voice rang.

"Peter?"

"Here."

"Lucky?"

"Here," he replied.

"And finally, Kate?"

"Here," I called out as I reached the group.

Roxy smiled and nodded. "Okay then. Head out!" She yelled, turning away to start to lead the patrol through the Golden Forest as the sun stared to set, lighting the trees a beautiful orange color. One of the many things I loved about my home.

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Hi, you guys!!! Man, it's been a long time since I've posted a chapter in this book, but if you have been reading Prophecy in the Eye of a Wolf, first of all thank you sooo much! Second, I had said in one of my author's notes that I had finally lost my writer's block for this book, and I would be able to write here again! I'm very excited about that! And I'm very excited about my soccer tryouts next week! I seriously hope I get on the team. I really want to. Well, have fun! Vote and comment! :)