The next day, I told Lonnie about how Leo, Leonardo, and Brian found the Hot Springs. She wasn't mad at all! She said it wasn't our fault that they followed us, and it's our choice of who we wanted to know about the Hot Springs. Plus, Lonnie thought that it was great that we were gaining new friends from school.

So everyday, the six of us would go to the Hot Springs to hang out. We always had a great time together. Just the six of us in a glorious place.

Stacy keeps on trying to bully me, but I try to not let her bother me. But sometimes, what she says really hurts. She makes fun of me being a runt. But what she doesn't know is that every insult she makes towards me being a runt makes me work harder to be an Alpha to prove to everyone who thinks like Stacy, even those who don't, will learn that just because you're a runt, doesn't mean you're weak or helpless.

In addition, some new school activity called the Wolf Games is coming up. I didn't know anything about it, so I went to ask Mr. Rocket.

He said that the Wolf Games were a series of challenges, so wolves could show off their moves. It was only for my age group, and there was one every year. But you only get one chance in your life to be in the games, and it's only for fourteen year old Alphas-in-training.

This would be a great opportunity for me to show the pack that runts aren't weak. Of course, I will truly prove that when I become an Alpha after I take the PAW Test, but this could be another step on the way towards my goal. The problem was that you needed a team to qualify. Luckily, I knew just who to get.

"Guys!!!" I called as I neared my five friends.

"Hey, Kate," Lucy said, turning her head to look at me.

"What's up?" Leo asked, so I began to tell them about the Wolf Games and that we should be a team in them.

Each one of them loved the idea, so we signed up. Everyone took a vote to find out who would be team captain.And everyone voted for me! I was so excited. I wouldn't let them down.

That day after the howl for the end of school sounded, we bounded off to another secret place that not even Lucy and Molly knew about. Not even Lonnie knew about it. I was the only one.

It was on the outskirts like me and Lonnie's den was, but still quite a bit away from the den. At least far enough that you couldn't hear anyone from there to the den.

The trees of the forest gave way to a vast open area surrounded by cliffs. It was extremely similar to the cliffs at school. The others stared in awe, and I turned around to face them.

"This is it." I said as a smile spread across my face. "Now nobody knows about this place but us, so nobody can tell anyone else about these cliffs."

"How do you keep finding places like this?" Leo asked me, still looking around in amazement.

I shrugged in return. "I kind of just stumbled across this place one day when I was little. I've known about this place since I was eight. I have been training myself to be an Alpha ever since." I explained to them.

"So that's how you got so good! And then to train yourself! Kate, that is incredible. But...but why didn't you tell me and Molly about it sooner? We're your best friends." Lucy was clearly hurt, and so was Molly.

I looked down at my paws and in a soft voice replied, "I'm sorry. These cliffs were so special to me, and it was a place I could just get away to be alone. I just didn't want that to go away." I brought my head back up as my tail started to wag.

I looked at each and every one of them as I said, "But now you know. Isn't it just great! We can practice here without anyone around, and we can learn all kinds of routines and everything. Come on! What do you say?" They all looked at each other, giving each other nods of their heads.

After they were done, Lucy stepped forward. She cleared her throat and said in a serious voice with her head held high, "Kate, this place truly is amazing." My tail started to wag fiercely at the sound of that, but she wasn't finished. "But...we bet you'll do a great job at training us." My tail had stopped wagging at the first word she said, but finally the words started to sink in.

I jumped up and down and screamed in pure joy. The others joined in, too, until we were all screamed out. "Okay, so let's get started," I said enthusiastically.

All afternoon and for many more days, we practiced and practiced until we were sure that we were going to win the games.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Tomorrow is the first day of the Wolf Games, and I'm really worried. It's not my team; it's me. I'm scared that I will let my friends down. But I can't let that happen, and I can't let Stacy win. She's been bragging all week that she has the best team and that I will never win.

My team was ready, but was I? I don't know. All I know is that I have to give it my best.

That night I had to eat a Sinnia Root, which is a special tree root that helps a wolf go to sleep, because I was so anxious. There are so many fascinating and magical items, it's ridiculous.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

I woke the next morning to a sweet and familiar smell. I got up, and I started to sniff my way through the den to the living room. There, laying on the floor, was a large brown doe with Lonnie sitting beside it. I stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the marvelous breakfast I was about to have.

"How...how'd you..." I stammered.

Lonnie chuckled. "I had some help. Trina, Savannah, and I caught one deer a piece, so we could each take one home. It took quite a few hours to find them, hunt them, and bring them to the den. But it was worth it." She replied with a proud smile.

Lonnie tore pieces of meat from the deer's carcass without making a complete mess. The meat was warm and soft as I ate my fill. I didn't want to eat too much or I wouldn't be able to run as fast during the games later.

"You have to go. I'll be there later with Trina and Savannah to watch you guys." Lonnie said as she walked around the deer to give me a quick lick goodbye.

"Bye. Love you!" I yelled as I ran out the entrance of the den.

The pack was already lining up on the sides of the cliffs to watch the games. These games were big time, and we were going to win them.

I met up with the rest of the team to warm-up. Everyone was ready to do their best. After we had warmed-up, I had the team huddle up together. I spoke in a strong and encouraging but still quiet voice.

"This is it guys. This is the biggest thing in the world for us except for the PAW Test, of course. But this is the next best thing. We're a team, and we're friends. Nothing is better than that. It's about time we show everyone that we were meant to be Alphas. And we're going to win this thing!" We all jumped around and cheered at our friendship and teamwork.

Several howls rang through the cliffs suddenly. The games were about to begin. We ran as fast as we could to the starting line of the first event.

The first event is a relay race through the meadow, forest, and the cliffs, of course, while carrying a rabbit pelt.

Molly and Brian will each run half of the course in the meadow. Leonardo will run through the forest, jumping logs and passing obstacles, and Lucy will do the same but on an extremely narrow path. And Leo and I will each run half of the course in the cliffs, but the team insisted that I go last to sprint to the finish.

We all lined up in our sections, so we would be able to start our section of the race as soon as possible. Suddenly, another howl rose in the air to start the race. I could partly see the course from my vantage point, so I watched as Molly leap from rock to rock to get out of the cliffs and into the meadow. That part was one of the sections.

Next it was Brian's turn. As soon as Molly handed him the rabbit pelt, he took off through the meadow.

The grass was really tall, so you had to leap over the grass to see the rest of the meadow. But that was why Brian did this part. He had an extremely good sense of direction, so he was able to tell where the forest was while he was running in the grass without seeing anything.

These kinds of wolves are called direction seekers since they have such good instincts on directions. Molly is a rock climber since she is handle rocks with her paws so easily. Leonardo is a leaper since he can jump over really high things. Lucy is a tree dodger because since she is so agile, she is able to make her way through a narrow forest easily. Leo was actually the same as me which is a cliff jumper. We can use the cliffs to our advantage.

But back to the games.

The other wolves were having a hard time getting through except for one. Sebastian. He leapt over the grass as he started to gain on Brian. Luckily, Brian made it to the forest and gave Leonardo the pelt. Leonardo's section didn't have too many trees, so I could still see what was going on. Leonardo's path had logs and stones everywhere that he had to jump over. Nick had Stacy's team pelt now, and he ran as fast as he could. When he got really close to Leonardo, he bunched up his legs and leapt over his head, landing perfectly in front if him. Leonardo barked at him and tried to gain speed. Nick gave the pelt to Macy, and Leonardo gave the pelt to Lucy soon after.

I was really upset because I couldn't see this section of the race, so I waited anxiously on the cliffs.

Suddenly, a loud yelp rose into the air.

And not just any yelp.

Lucy.

"Lucy!" I screamed. I fought to stay in my position. Every single part of me wanted to run towards my friend. My best friend. But I held back just in case.

All the wolves from the teams started to pour out of the forest with Macy in the lead as she handed off her pelt to Stacy. Everyone had emerged except...Lucy.

Suddenly, I saw a young teenage wolf limping out the woods as she tried desperately to reach the cliffs. It was Lucy. She tossed the pelt into the air. Leo leaped up and caught it before he sprinted off.

Leo ran past wolf after wolf even with their head starts. He had passed every wolf, but he was lined up with Stacy. He was unable to get in front of her, but he managed not to fall back.

As he neared me, I got ready to dash off into the cliffs. Max waited beside me for Stacy. Both of them handed us the pelts at the exact same time.

I twirled around and ran. I ran and ran and ran. But Max was still beside me. I couldn't speed up or slow down. Now I knew what Leo had to go through with Stacy in the last section. It was really frustrating.

I ran on as my heart beat like never before. My paws pounded on the ground, and the crowd cheered from above. Then I remembered Lucy.
She was probably laying back there with our friends all around her, trying to comfort her. She was probably in extreme pain and bleeding.

I felt like I was going to collapse. I couldn't take it. My friend needs me.
My friend needed me.

All of my friends needed me. I couldn't quit now. Not when we are so close. I had to win. For Lucy.

Suddenly, I felt renewed strength as my legs pushed me forward faster. Someone was barking. I looked up to find Lonnie, Trina, Savannah, and all of my friends, including Lucy, barking at me to keep going.

I kept running faster and faster as I neared the finish line. I was well ahead until I realized that Max was gaining on me.

"You'll never win runt!" Max screamed at me. I was so close to the end.

I looked back at him and yelled, "Hey, Max. I have a message for your pre-mate. I'm glad I'm a runt!" And with that, I bunched up my legs and leaped onto the cliff, bouncing off with even more power than before.

I soared through the air, and the crowd went silent. As I neared the ground, I got ready to land. And I landed right over the line.

The crowd went up in cheers so loud that it hurt my ears. I dropped my pelt onto the ground as my friends ran to greet me. Lucy limped her way to me, and everyone let her through easily. "Good job." She smiled at me. She was calm, but I could see the excitement in her eyes.

"Well, come on. Let's go celebrate!" Leo yelled. We all barked in response and ran off, but I was going to take Lucy to a healer.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

As we neared the caves of the healer, I started to smell all of the weird remedies that they had all mixed together.

A healer's assistant led us to a small room in the caves. Lucy got to lay down on some fur pelts while I sat next to her. I started to tap my paw on the ground impatiently while we waited. Lucy looked at me and shook her head, chuckling.

Finally, the healer came in. He asked Lucy what had happened, so she started to explain everything.

"During the Wolf Games, I was running on the narrow path through the woods when Macy started to nip me. When she saw that I wasn't going to stop running, she nipped me harder until she just bit me and pushed me off the course. I fell into a ditch that was on the side of the path. And I think I broke my paw in it."

The healer left and came back with some Altica sap, which is this kind of magical sap that can heal a wolf really fast, and some leaf binding to hold the sap in place. He carefully put on the sap and bindings onto Lucy's paw. He said she was going to be alright and that we could go now.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

After we left, we were in silence for a long time until I finally broke it. "I don't think you're going to be able to be in the rest of the Wolf Games." I said.

I looked at her dark eyes that were filled with anger, disbelief, and sadness. I turned away from her, but I could still feel her eyes burning a hole through my flesh.

"Kate. You know that I won't stop just because I got hurt. You know me. And you know you would do the same." She countered. I looked back at her as my eyes welled up with tears.

Lucy's expression softened, and her eyes turned gentle. "Kate?" She said. There was another silence until I just ran to her while I cried.

"I can't take it. I can't take it anymore. You are like a sister to me. Lucy, you are my best friend, and I don't want you to get hurt anymore." I backed up, so I could look at her in the face even though everything was blurred from crying.

"It's okay." She said as she pulled me back and cuddled me closer. "I'm fine. And you are the toughest wolf I have ever met. You can take it because you can do anything." Her muzzle was resting softly on my shoulder, and heat radiated off of her dark fur. I suddenly felt small and innocent as I was when I was a pup...when my mother abandoned me.

"Come on. We should get back to the others." She started to walk back towards the path through the forest. I wiped my paws over my eyes to try and rub my tears into my fur, so the others wouldn't get suspicious and think that something was wrong.

I followed Lucy down the path as the clearing drew near. We didn't walk as fast as usual because Lucy was walking with a limp as she tried to stay off her paw, so it could heal better.

"Lucy!" A familiar voice yelled. Molly dashed forward, and started sniffing Lucy. When she finally got to her paw, she froze. Molly looked back up at us as her head went back and forth between the two of us.

"So...what happened?" She asked with a tilt of her head. The others walked up behind Molly to see us as well. I decided to explain everything.

"Well, it seems that Lucy has a broken paw, but she has some stuff on it to make it heal faster. And she wants to stay in the games." There was a long silence following this. I could smell the concern wafting off of them. Lucy finally broke the quiet moment.

"Look, I going to stay in the games for us, our team. We all need each other."

"We could still play with five players..." Leo started, but he was interrupted by Lucy.

"No, it wouldn't be the same. If any of us would have gotten hurt, that wolf would want to stay in the games no matter what, and I plan to do just that."

Another silence followed, but at least the argument was over. Lucy would stay in the games for day two and day three, and we were going to win.

"Well, let's go practice then." I said as the others started yipping in joy. "To the cliffs!" I screamed, and we took off towards becoming the best team in the Wolf Games.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Hey, you guys! I know it's a long chapter, but this is my longest one for quite a bit or there might not even be a longer one than this. Hope you enjoyed. A lot happened. So, ask questions and comment. :)