"Let the Alpha Award Ceremony begin!" Alpha called over the crowd of wolves. I sat in the front of the crowdwith Leo sitting next to me. It was time for the new Alphas-in-training to become Alphas. I was so excited. This was the first Alpha Award Ceremony that I would be able to watch that wasn't my own.

I, also, got to help with the PAW Tests earlier that day. Alpha had wanted me to be the lead hunter for the field test. I was so excited that I had hardly kept myself still when Alpha told me.

Captain Mace moved down the line of wolves, nodding and shaking his head. I saw one of the girls that I had worked with during the test shake with excitement as Captain Mace made his way to her. She reminded me of Molly. She was extremely energetic and positive about everything.

I could tell that she wanted to jump in the air when Captain Mace nodded his head at her. She glanced at me happily. I smiled and tilted my head to point towards the line of passing Alphas. Her smile grew as she trotted forward to stand beside the other new Alphas.

This is awesome. I love that I get to see others accomplish what I had tried so hard to do. I moved my head to look down the line of wolves, but my eyes landed on a single wolf that shouldn't be here. Well, of course she has the right to be at the Alpha Award Ceremony, but she shouldn't be standing with the Alphas-in-training, waiting to be told if she became an Alpha or not.

A growl rose in my throat as I stared at the dark gray pelt and yellow eyes. They seemed to pierce into me as she turned to look me straight in the eyes. She smirked before Captain Mace came to stand before her.

I could tell that Captain Mace was hesitant, but finally, he nodded. My jaw almost dropped to the ground. How could they let her become an Alpha?! She doesn't deserve it! Not her or her sister! Especially not her sister.

After all of the Alphas-in-training had found out what they would become, Alpha began to speak again. "These young wolves have worked their hardest to become leaders of our pack. We will honor them as they fulfill their duty to the Wild Pack. Alphas, do you take this position and vow to do your part and protect the pack even at the cost of your life?"

"Yes, sir," the new Alphas replied in unison.

"Then I, Terrek, Lead Alpha of the Wild Pack, officiate these wolves as Alphas," Terrek yelled to the sky. "Also, we have a special wolf here with us. Dart, please step forward." Dart stepped forward proudly. "Dart here is only a ten year old wolf, but she has shown that she is way ahead of her class. She is already ready to become an Alpha. However, because of her age, she will be unable to move up to a pack Alpha until she is at least fifteen like any other Alpha. But we have only had a handful of wolves either leave Alpha school early or join it late and still become an Alpha by fifteen. One of those wolves are here today. Kate," I stood up with surprise and Alpha nodded his head for me to come forward. "As many of you probably already know, Kate joined Alpha school when she was fourteen and managed to graduate with the other wolves in her age group at fifteen. These incredible achievements among our Alphas is one is the things that make us a stronger pack. Now, let's celebrate our new Alphas."

We cheered for the new Alphas, but I just couldn't take my eyes off of Dart. I will have to work with her probably. Ugh. That will be one of the worst days of my life.

I was jerked out of my thoughts as a voice called out to me. "Kate!" I turned with a smile to see all my friends running towards me with Lucy in the lead.

Lucy wrapped her muzzle around my neck, and I did the same. She looked at me with a smile. "This is so exciting. I just love watching these events." I nodded my head, completely understanding what she was talking about when I felt a cold nose on my flank.

I turned to look at a reddish, white wolf standing next to me. "Hey, Kate," she greeted me as she shook with excitement again.

"Hey, Jasmine," I said to her. A smile grew on her face. "You did very well on the PAW Tests today. You will be a lead hunter in no time," I assured her.

"Thanks, Kate," she said sweetly before she ran off to join her friends.

"How was it to test her?" I looked back at Lucy with a smile.

"Great."

"Hey, girls!" Brian came bouncing up with Leonardo. "Stop hanging around. Let's get this party started!" The girls and I laughed.

Leo came up beside me with a rabbit bone in his mouth. "Here," he whispered in my ear, "I got this for you."

I smiled sweetly at him before I licked the side of his muzzle. I grabbed the bone from him and waved in front of my friends. "Look at what I got," I teased.

Lucy narrowed her eyes menacingly at me, then a smirk found a way to her face. Lucy turned to Leonardo and batted her eyes. "How come I don't get a bone?" She asked innocently.

I held my breath, trying to control the laughter that wanted to erupt from my chest. "O-of course." Leonardo ran as fast as he could towards the pile of food set out for the celebration.

"Do want me to get you one, Molly?" Brian asked her.

"Nah; I want to have some fun! Come on!" We raced after Molly as she ran straight down through the center of the cliffs. I dropped the bone and dashed after Molly, my friends close behind. "You guys can't catch me." That's another thing about Molly. She is actually one of the fastest wolves in the pack. But she always seems to forget that I am faster than her.

I ran faster and faster until it just seemed as if I were running on air. I passed Molly and continued to run ahead. The wind whipped through my pelt, sending my fur in all directions.

I skidded to a stop a little bit after. I looked up to see the bright mixture of colors of sunset flooding the sky. We had to get back to the celebration. "I'll race you," Leo whispered in my ear as he passed me.

I smiled as I raced after him, covering ground quicker than lightning. I leaped at Leo as we reached the end of the cliffs and the opening to the fields. Crashing on top of Leo, we rolled over each other before we stopped with me standing on Leo, my front paws on his tough chest. "Like I always tell you, you should know better. I will always win."

I backed off of Leo, smiling wickedly down at him. "Come on," I said before I trotted off to join my friends who had already rejoined the party.

I listened into the conversation and chatted with the group that me and my friends had started to talk to. "Well, the hunting is pretty nice at the time, but foxes are becoming more and more common," one of the wolves said. She was an Alpha hunter with a golden pelt.

I shivered at the memory of the small gray pup my hunting group had saved from a pack of foxes. We had lost two young wolves, an elder, and a pup to fox packs over the last few months.

"It's becoming a real problem," Lucy agreed. "I wonder what has caused it." The other wolves nodded their heads.

"Well, come on, you guys. This is a celebration. Let's party!" I yelled energetically to change the mood. The other wolves howled in agreement, and we raced through the fields.

Now, I actually have a surprise for the whole pack. Everyday, with Alpha's permission, I went to the Alpha school to work on something with the Alphas-in-training that were about to become Alphas. No one but Captain Mace, Alpha, and Kira knew about the surprise, not even my friends.

I stood in the center of the clearing and howled. I howled a tune to both call the new Alphas and to get the attention of everyone else. The Alphas ran from all directions towards me. Each one flipped over me as they each howled a quick tune. The girls gathered around me, howling the same tune as me but in a different pitch. The guys then joined in as they stood onthe outside of the gathered girls. I stood in the complete center, still howling my tune.

Once everyone was in place, we danced. We moved in unison, howling as one. We twisted and shuffled on our paws, following the beat that we had set in the crowd.

Next, the Alphas split into two sides to let me walk out from the center. I charged forward, howling with all my might. The boys came to stand in a line in front of the girls. They howled in there low pitched howls. The girls lined up several feet behind the boys, each one lined up perfectly behind one of the guys. They ran forward howling in unison as they somersaulted onto the boys backs.

I ran over into the crowd, nudging Leo urgently. He looked at me surprised, and I smiled. I ran back to the Alphas with Leo in tow. Even though I never told Leo about this, he still knew what to do. He was good at that. He stood in front of the boys as I charged him, somersaulting onto his back. I howled with Leo, once again connected as one.

I leaped off of Leo's back with the other girls gracefully. As we turned back to the boys, we spread out with the other. We circled each other, howling softly.

Leo and I danced in perfect unison, like two stars in the sky. Leo smiled lovingly at me. I smiled sweetly in return. We leaped and danced and howled as the moon rose in the sky, the moonlight shining off of our pelts. Finally, all of the Alphas came together as one and howled into the night, like the true leaders of the pack. I smiled, glancing at Leo howling his low howl next to me with his eyes closed.

We lowered our heads and the other wolves went crazy. There were howls and yips and barks as the crowd surged forward towards us and the Alphas.

Everyone congratulated the Alphas and their wonderful performance. Suddenly, the crowd parted to let Alpha, Kira, and Captain Mace through.

Alpha smiled proudly down at me, and I smiled back. Alpha chuckled. "Well done, Kate. This was a splendid idea of yours." I smiled again, my grin even bigger than before. "Congratulations, Alphas!" Alpha's voice rang through the night air. "You truly deserve your titles as leaders of the pack!" The crowd cheered again before everyone split back into separate groups to talk.

"Oh my god, Kate! That was amazing!" I turned around to see Lucy running towards me, the rest of my friends racing after her.

"Thanks, guys!" I smiled cheerfully at them. "I have been working really hard with them for a while now. Sorry I didn't tell you. It was a surprise."

"Kate," Lucy started, "we understand that it was a surprise. Don't worry about it. Now, come on."

We trotted off to one of the other groups to talk. It's still early, since the sun went down about an hour or two ago. Yeah, we had a long performance. We talked with the other wolves for a while, chatting, laughing, and just having fun. It was a wonderful night.

I felt a nose nudge my side. I looked around to see Leo. I looked into his deep blue eyes. Worry and fright clouded them. Something's wrong. "What's up?" I ask casually. Leo's eyes immediately cloud over, so I can't see his emotions anymore.

"I was just going to go do something real quick. I didn't want you to worry." I gave him a small smile and licked the side of his face.

"Sure," I turned back to the group as Leo bounded off through the clearing. Hmm... maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's fine.

I continued to talk for a while longer before I started to worry. Leo should have been back by now. "Hey, Lucy," I called. Lucy paused in her conversation to look at me. "I'm going to go find Leo. I'll be back later." She nodded quickly before continuing to talk to the other wolves again.

I trotted off through the clearing, following Leo's scent. I went straight through the clearing and into the woods. I continued to follow Leo's scent as another scent started to mix with it. It was familiar, but I just couldn't place my paw on it. I walked on through the forest before Leo's scent was extremely strong. But so was the other scent.

I pushed my way through the undergrowth into an open clearing. I froze. There in the center of the clearing was Leo. But not just Leo. Oh, no. It couldn't be...

I wanted to cry. In the center of the clearing, Stacy laid, her head buried beneath her paws, curled up next to my pre-mate. Leo nuzzled against her, whispering in her ear.

I was about to charge into the clearing when Stacy lifted her head and licked the side of Leo's muzzle. That's it. "How could you?!" I screamed at Leo from the edge of the clearing.

Leo's head shot up with alarm, and he stuttered to talk to me. I turned around as quickly as I could, and I ran. I ran and ran and ran. I could hear Leo calling me in the distance, but I didn't stop. I just kept running. How could he? How could he do that to me? Especially for Stacy. He chose Stacy over me.

Tears streamed down my face as I continued to run through the forest at full speed. Out of all of the challenges, the obstacles, the pain in my life, this was one of the worst possible things that could have happened to me. He left me. One of my best friends. My pre-mate, left me for my enemy.

Maybe...I gulped... maybe I am just a runt.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

*Sniff* Hey, guys. I am so sad right now. Look at what happened to poor Kate. Oh, man. I know I'm the writer and everything, but truthfully, the story impacts me probably as much as it impacts you. I want to cry. Anyways, how do you guys feel about the routine Kate made? How about Leo and Kate's dance? And how about Stacy and Leo's betrayal? *Sniff* Again, I want to cry. Well, I finally found a picture of Stacy, thanks to the help of my friend. It's not colored, but Stacy is a dark gray wolf. So this is what Stacy and Dart look like. Also, ask questions and comment! Thanks! :)