It has been a month since Ivy died. My friends, Lonnie, even Alpha and Kira, have tried to get me to eat or speak. Luckily, they got me to eat a few days after Ivy died. But I still refused to speak. It wasn't until a month later that I had been willing to speak again.

Now, if you're thinking that I wasn't eating or speaking because of Icy dying, then you're dead wrong. It's not just that at all.

The River Valley Pack has been attacking more and more frequently. We had lost a few wolves to the fights, but we weren't be only ones losing wolves to fights, and we were always able to stand our ground on our territory.

Prey is also becoming more scarce since the River Valleys won't stop stealing our prey, but, fortunately, there is still plenty for the pack, at least for now.

Finally, every night when I went to sleep, visions of fighting wolves, blood, pain, suffering, and fear would appear. But also the image of a vicious black wolf leaping at me with his jaws wide. I would always wake up sweating and crying. It scared me. It truly scared me. I didn't know what it meant. And I didn't know what to expect.

But now, I finally got out of my den to start to help the pack again.

I was walking along the border by myself. Alpha had told all Alphas to go on patrols of three or more but to make sure that didn't happen to me, I just left without seeing Alpha first.

I was still weary of everything around me. The pack didn't seem as safe anymore. I was worried and so were the other Alphas.

Suddenly, I heard rustling in a bush near by. I jerked around and crouched there. I stayed where I was, not making a sound. Then the scent came to me. Rabbit.

I leaped at the bush, and the rabbit burst out. I bolted forward as the rabbit zig zagged through the trees. I started to gain on it as I growled happily. I was so hungry.

I was reaching the Barren Desert and the Deep Woods. I was about to leap at the rabbit for the final kill when a murder of crows (and yes that is what a group of crows is called) flew upward squeaking, shocking me. I skidded on the ground as the rabbit hopped away.

"Dang it!" I snarled as I pawed the ground angrily. I sighed and turned around to get back to the border I was patrolling when I heard a high-pitched wailing.

My ears pricked up curiously as I walked through the Deep Woods until I came to the Barren Desert. Only a very, very small part of the desert is actually part of our territory. Most of it was just neutral land since no pack really wanted it.

I scanned over the desert when my eyes landed on a tiny, black and gray shape with two orange lines under her eyes, which I'm guessing were birthmarks, wiggling on the ground. It was a pup.

It was wailing and whimpering in its high-pitched voice, and when I looked deeper into the desert, I saw a black shadow running over a ridge in the distance and disappeared over the top.

I cautiously stepped towards the little wolf pup. Just by her size I could tell...she was a runt. The pup started to wail again in fear. My eyes softened, and I licked the pup's face. "Shhhhhh. It's okay. I'm here. Poor little thing." I recited the words from long ago.

I picked up the black and gray pup by the scruff of her neck and trotted back to the den. This was her new life.

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"What is that?!" Lonnie looked at me in shock, more than ever before. I sat the pup on the floor of the den as I explained.

"A pup," I replied simply.

"A pup?" Lonnie raised an eyebrow at me. I nodded my head. "And who's pup is this exactly?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"She's mine."

Lonnie's eyes went wide. "What do you mean she's yours?! You don't even have a mate!" She exclaimed.

"Lonnie! She's a runt!" Lonnie went silent. The pup started to whimper, so I bent down to lick her with my tongue. "It's okay, Katy," I whispered.

"You named her?" Lonnie asked softly.

I nodded my head. "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

Lonnie looked at me with gentle, concerned eyes. "Kate, are you sure you're ready to care for a pup? You're only nineteen, and you still don't have a mate."

"Lonnie, there's no way I can leave her. She's a runt. I saw her mother abandon her...right where I was abandoned." I hung my head and tears welled up in my eyes.

"Oh, Kate," Lonnie said as she licked the side of my face. I leaned my head onto Lonnie as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Lonnie backed up and gave me a small smile. "Now, who do you think will want to know about this?" She said with a playful smile.

A smile grew on my face before I picked up Katy and ran to the Hot Springs. Luckily, it was about the time that my friends were done for the day, and later on, I was going to have to tell Alpha. But I'll worry about that later.

I sat Katy down in the shelter of one of the bushes on the edge of the clearing before I trotted into the clearing to see my friends playing in the hot springs.

My scent drifted downwind towards them, and Molly's head whipped around to look at me. "Kate!" Molly screamed and with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, swam as fast as she could towards the shore.

My friends followed Molly out of the hot springs and ran to tackle me. I screamed and laughed with my friends as we ended in a heap of fur.

Suddenly, I heard Katy's high-pitched crying. I quickly scrambled out of the pile as my friends looked around the clearing, surprised. "What was that?" Lucy asked as her head darted back and forth around the clearing.

I ran to the bush I had put Katy in and looked at her small frame. She looked up at me, and for a second, her eyes opened. I licked her little face before I laid down in front of her.

"Kate, what are you do-" Lucy froze when she saw me with Katy under the bush. "Oh my god, what is that?" She asked panicking.

I quickly jumped up as I tried to calm Lucy down. My friends rushed forward and saw Katy. I finally got Lucy to calm down.

I turned back to pick Katy up and put her in the center of the clearing. I sat down next to her and licked her face again. My friends slowly came forward to look at the small pup.

"Guys, meet Katy, my new pup." I smiled as my friends looked at me with disbelief. Soon, a smile slowly started to grow on their muzzles. Then I was peppered with all kinds of questions from my friends.

"Where did she come from?"

"She's so cute!"

"How are you going to take care of her?"

"Where's her family?"

Finally, they went silent as they looked at Katy adoringly. Leo walked forward and licked the side of my face. I smiled and licked him back. "So? Where did she come from?" Lucy asked as her tail wagged excitedly.

My smile fell as I looked down at my small pup. "She's a runt." I said quietly as I closed my eyes. I heard my friends gasp.

Then I felt Leo's tongue licking the side of my face again. I opened my eyes to look into his deep blue eyes as tears brimmed my eyes. "You're not alone, Kate. I'm here for you. We're all here for you."

I smiled at him and looked around at my friends. "You guys are the best," I said with a smile before I grabbed Katy by the scruff of her neck and ran up the small cliff to the top and laid her down next to me as the sun dipped below the horizon in a range of colors from yellow to red. "Welcome to your new life, Katy."

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Hey, guys! Took me a little longer than expected to finish this chapter, but it's finally completed. Katy! I have been waiting for you don't know how long to put her in. Actually, I'll tell you guys a sort of secret. I have this whole series planned out, and yes, there will be more books in the series besides this one. And Katy might be quite important later on. *smirks* Just wait and see. Oh, and the picture above is a picture of Katy. And she was just born with the orange lines. They don't make her that much different; it's just I wanted to include them because of the pictures I have for her. This picture I actually had to edit to get the birthmarks, but that's not important. Anyways, have fun! Ask questions and comment! :)