"Lonnie, please, it's just too dangerous!" I argued.

"Dangerous, my butt!" She yelled back at me. "No way am I going to pack up and leave my home just because some snotty River Valleys want to take our territory!"

I groaned in frustration. Lonnie and I had been arguing for a while now. I had been trying to convince her to move out of her den in the woods and into the village where it was safer.

Recently, there had been several attacks on wolf families that lived closer to the border. Some of the pack had been injured or even killed in the attacks. And it worried me to know that Lonnie lived alone way over here, so close to the border. She'd be safer in the village, which was why I was trying to convince her to leave.

I sighed. "Lonnie...I just really worry about you when you're out here and there's all these attacks. I-"

"Will you stop that?! I'm not leaving, and that's final! I don't give a crap about all of these attacks! I have lived here pretty much my whole life, and I'll die here if need be!"

"Dang it, Lonnie! Can you just stop?! Why can't you just realize how much I care about you?! I just want you to be safe, and I don't want to lose my mom again!" I screamed. Tears were burning my eyes, and my breaths came out raspy. My legs were spread apart and trembling with both anger and fear. "I just...I just can't lose you, Lonnie," I whispered, a single tear slipping over the white fur of my muzzle.

Lonnie's eyes grew soft, and her expression was one of concern and sadness. Slowly, she took a step forward and another and another until she was standing in front of me. Lonnie gently brought her head around my neck and hugged me softly. We just stood there for a few minutes, our necks over each other's shoulders, in silence.

"Kate," she started, "Nothing is going to happen to me. I may be a little old, but I can still put up a little bit of a fight and run quite a ways. I had to raise a rambunctious pup like you after all," she chuckled causing me to laugh slightly, but I almost choked on it. Lonnie pulled back to look into my eyes. "I promise, Kate, that I won't let anything happen to me. I'm not going to get hurt, okay? I just can't leave this home. This was where I moved into as a teen when my parents left the pack and where I raised you, where you grew up. How could I ever give this up?" She said looking around at the old den, reminiscing in all of her memories of her home with tears in her eyes.

I sighed and nodded in understanding. "Okay, Lonnie." Lonnie looked back at me with a smile; she licked the side of my face and nuzzled my head.

"Now, how about we-" Lonnie froze just as I did, our ears pricked and alert at the sound of the howl.

My eyes widened, and I bolted out of the den yelling over my shoulder, "I have to go!" I ran straight out over the ledge and jumped down hill.

"Be careful, Kate!" Lonnie called from the ledge outside the den.

My strides lengthened as I sped up, and I began to pant tiredly. But I had to get there. At the border, there were River Valleys spotted, trying to get across the border according to the howl.

"Kate!" A familiar voice called from my left side. I looked over my shoulder to see Leo's sleek form running towards me. He joined me, running shoulder-to-shoulder towards the border.

"Where's Katy?" I asked.

"It's okay; she's fine. My mom is taking care of her," he relied. We sped up slightly before we finally broke through the tree line to see the huge field on the border before us.

Several Alphas had already arrived before us. They stood in a line, some in fighting stances, some crouched, and some growling.

Leo and I walked forward to see what was causing this commotion, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw. My whole body froze. My paws were stuck to the ground, and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

Leo noticed and turned his worried eyes to me. "Kate? What's wrong?" He followed my gaze until his eyes laid on the four River Valleys, standing tall and silent on the other side of the border. His deep blue eyes widened as he looked back and forth between me and the white wolf with the same brown eyes that I had.

The white wolf smiled softly when she saw me and called out my name. Everyone turned to look at me, making me want to shrink back from the many gazes.

"Kate? You know this wolf?" Max stepped forward and asked. I gulped and slowly nodded my head. "Well, would you mind explaining this please or would you like to speak to Alpha instead?" Max was speaking with a cold, calm tone, but his eyes were narrowed in suspicion. Did he think I was a traitor? That I was really working with the River Valleys?

That thought angered me. I stood up tall and confident, my tail raised high and my expression serious. "I would like to speak to the River Valleys before I explain if you don't mind." Max growled, but Leo came to stand beside me and growled back.

I turned away from Max and started towards the four wolves. The other Alphas parted to make a straight path from me, all of them with different expressions and feelings towards me and my actions.

I stopped in front of the white wolf, looking up into her familiar eyes since I was still smaller than her with being a runt and all. The air was filled with tension, and no one spoke a word.

"What are you doing here, trying to come onto our borders, River Valleys?" I asked with a serious tone.

My mother raised an eyebrow at me, but Bella behind her couldn't contain her laughter. "Oh my gosh, look at you, Kate, being all serious!"

She fell to the ground in her laughing fit before my mother yelled over her shoulder at her daughter, "Bella!" Bella immediately quieted down and stood back up. My mother turned to look at me again. "Kate...we want to join your pack."

My mother's words shocked me. I never saw that one coming. "You what?" I asked still in disbelief.

"We. Want. To. Join. Your. Pack." My mother repeated again, emphasizing each word more dramatically. I just couldn't believe it. Why would they want to join our pack rather than stay with their birth pack, the pack they have always lived in? "Please, Kate," she pleaded. Her voice became small, and her eyes filled with fear and desperation. But why?

"No way," Max growled. "We would never let River Valleys join our pack."

"Stop it, Max! It's not your decision in the first place!" I was surprised by Sunset, a sweet light brown wolf with a dark patch over her right eye, when she yelled out at Max. But she was right. Max wasn't the one to decide who was in our pack and who wasn't. And neither was I. Alpha was.

I looked back at my mother, Bella, May, and Mighty. "You must speak to our Alpha if you wish to join our pack. Follow me please." I turned around to start back to the village, but Max stood right in front of me, blocking my path.

"Why should you take them to see Alpha, right into the center of our village? Are you trying to get everyone killed?!" He snarled. Max has never liked me. He was just an older, traditional wolf. So, he believes in the act of abandoning runts and doing whatever it takes to make a strong pack and survive. He reminded me of Stacy, but at least he didn't try to get rid of me or hurt me or my family.

"I'm still an Alpha like you, Max. I have both a right and a duty to do this. Now, please, move aside so we can pass." Max growled and refused to budge. Leo came to stand beside me again, but Max just wouldn't back down.

We stood there, facing off for a few minutes before Sunset finally took a step forward. She cautiously came to stand on my other side and face Max.

"What are you doing, Sunset?!" He growled.

Sunset frowned at him. "Look at you. You're supposed to be a powerful and understanding Alpha, but all you're being is selfish and mean. Kate is one of us. I trust her, and so should you." Max didn't agree with her words, and his eyes began to blaze fire.

But before he could say anything else, others started to come stand beside me as well. I looked around, a small smile on my face as others stood up for me.

"Kate's one of us," one said.

"We have no reason not to trust her," another commented.

"We have to all stand together, not apart."

Max was surprised, and the fire in his eyes was extinguished. He slowly took a step back, then another before he twisted around and bolted back into the forest. Sunset looked over at me. "We need to get to Alpha. Everyone surround the River Valleys. We'll escort them to the village."

Everyone followed Sunset's order and surrounded my family as we began to lead them back to the village. Some of the Alphas split from the group since we didn't need everyone to help us take them to Alpha.

We entered the village, and most wolves avoided us. The adults threw weary glances at the River Valleys while the pups looked on curiously until their parents pushed them away in fear.

We finally made it to Alpha's den with a small crowd of onlookers that had started to form behind us. I barked at the entrance to the den. "Come in," a sweet, familiar voice called.

We started into the den and were greeted by the beautiful Kira who gave us her gentle smile. "Hello, Kate, all of you, what can I do for-" Kira froze as she started to sniff the air. "It can't be..." she looked over behind me to see my family standing within the circle. Kira's eyes widened. "River Valleys," she whispered.

"What's going on here?" A deep voice asked from the back of the den. The clattering of claws on the stone den floor grew as Alpha came closer and closer. Alpha stopped as he sniffed the air and growled. "Kate, what happened?"

I took a deep breath before I answered. "These River Valleys wish to speak to you."

Alpha raised an eyebrow as my mother came forward. "I am Hannah, a past member of the River Valley Pack and mother of these young ones as well as Kate." Eyes went wide in disbelief, and mouths hung open in surprise at the white wolf claiming to be the mother of a long ago abandoned runt. My mother ignored their expressions and continued, "We wish to join your pack. Please."

Apparently, no one was expecting anything like this to ever happen because I truthfully couldn't tell which one they were more surprised by, whether my mother who abandoned me had finally found me again or that four River Valleys, who's pack we were at war with, wanted to join our pack.

Alpha cleared his throat as he regained his posture. "You wish to join the Wild Wolf Pack?" My mother gave a simple nod in response. "Why would you want to join us? We are at war with your pack. And how do I know I can trust you when these events are occurring?" Alpha asked.

My mother shrugged. "Can you trust us? Really only time can tell. Even if I said that you could trust us, you probably won't. I could be a spy or I could be trying to infiltrate your pack to bring it to its end. However, I swear on my life that that is not my-our intention."

Alpha stood there dumbfounded for a second. He definitely wasn't expecting that answer. Finally, he looked over at me. "I see where you get your wisdom, Kate." I held back a laugh and settled for a smile instead.

"Also," my mother interjected again, "we can't live in that pack anymore." Her voice was smaller now, more distressed.

"And why is that?" Alpha asked.

My mother took a deep breath before replying. She looked up into Alpha's eyes as she spoke. "We didn't always have the Alpha that rules over our pack now. He took over after our last Alpha, a kind and caring wolf...passed away due to the poisoning of the River in our territory that killed so many of our packmates. Then our present Alpha took over and lead us here as well as started the war. My family and I do not believe in the war. This was your territory, but our ignorant Alpha doesn't care about anyone but himself. He has started to put pups out on patrols, sent them to train earlier than they should, and overwork them to the point that they are collapsing from exhaustion and starving from lack of food and water. It's absolutely horrid! And we cannot stand for it anymore!" Tears fell down my mother's face as she relayed everything that was happening.

Alpha sat for a moment in silence in thought. "I see..." he finally said. We waited for Alpha to speak again, shifting from paw to paw impatiently. "I understand why you came here; however, I can't ignore the fact that you and your family are from the pack that we are at war with." My mother hang her head slightly while Kira looked back and forth between her mate and the white wolf with a sad, sympathetic look. "But..." Alpha started again, causing my mother to raise her head in hope, "I think that you could be a good addition to our pack. Therefore, I agree to allow Hannah and her family to join our pack under Kate and Leo's supervision."

"Thank you so much, Alpha," my mother said respectfully, her and her pups bowing their heads to him as he returned the gesture.

"We will have to hold a welcoming ceremony for you to officially join the pack on the night of the full moon," Alpha said. Finally, he turned to look at Leo and I, standing side-by-side. "I trust both of you as some of my best Alphas. I believe that even though this is your family, Kate, that you will do what is best for everyone."

"Yes, sir," I replied before Leo and I lead my family out of the dark den and into the light of the village.

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Hey, you guys! I hope you are all doing well this fine day! So lately, I have been a bit stressed out, especially with school, and I have just been going through some tough times with that. However, I'm working on trying to make that all better and everything. Also, on Tuesday, I will be having my first soccer game! I'm so excited! And that's right! I got on the JV soccer team!!! And I have finally learned to read manga, so I have started doing that as well now! Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Kate's family is joining the pack (except for Fang)! Yay!!!So have fun! Vote and comment! :)