When Ceal nudged me in my sleep I had already been half awake, feeling the mountain as it rumbled around us. Slightly groggy, I roused myself and followed Ceal, glancing back over my shoulder at Dad, and then briefly wondering where Taliesin and Rhiannon were. If something was important enough for Ceal to wake me up, shouldn’t Dad be woken as well? And if something was wrong, shouldn’t we find out where our other adopted siblings were? Admittedly I did not know Tal and Rhi very well, but I liked them all the same. But my sister was on the move and apparently there was no time to stop and ask questions. I scampered after her, leaving the pitch darkness of the den for the moonlit night that swallowed the mountainside. Jogging up beside her I was about to ask what was going on when it all became very obvious. A colossal amount of snow tumbled down the side of the mountain, rushing towards the foothills and settling there as if nothing had happened. My brows raised in surprise. I had found myself quite fond of the powdery substance that dusted the earth. But that was a lot of snow! And from Ceal’s reaction, I assumed it could not possibly be a good thing.

And just like that Ceal was gone! Racing down the mountain and calling over her shoulder to me as she went. I launched after her, my body still not quite fully awake. If I was going to be a queen someday I would need to get better about this waking up thing – emergencies didn’t wait for you to rub the sleep from your eyes. I chucked a final glance over my shoulder towards the entrance to our den and spotted father standing upon the ledge, watching us as we dashed down the mountainside. Looking back to the path in front of me I figured he wouldn’t let us run off like this if he thought we were in some sort of danger. He was a good King, even if mother wasn’t around to help him all the time.

Mother. I missed her dearly and hoped she would return home soon. But I pushed the thought aside and regained my focus on Ceal as I loped along in her wake, appreciating the trail in the snow she had left as we went from den to den, rousing the other pups. Finally we reached our destination and stopped, Ceal addressing the group as Swallowbane sidled up to us. Looking up at Swallowbane my brow furrowed as he did everything in his power not to look at me. I hardly knew my brother, and I didn’t understand why he seemed to detest me so. I snorted once in his general direction, soft and as ladylike as a snort could be, and then looked away from him. I stood tall and proud, hoping I looked qualified to be heading up the small gathering, even if Ceal was the one with the plan. Then I spotted Tal sitting off on the edge of the clearing and my tail wagged, hoping he would come closer. He was family after all, part of our strangely branched mishpocha. Glancing around I wondered who else would join our cause, even if it was futile. I would gladly do anything to prove that I held purpose for the pack. That someday I would make a fit leader for them.