A Pack Divided Read Online Free PDF

Martha’s tongue gently caressed her ear. “The darkness is in you .”
    Cold horror rushed through Storm’s body like a freezing river, and the shadows swirled, engulfing her.
    And she jerked awake, gasping for breath.
    Reeling on her paws, Storm stumbled, then gazed around in a daze, the dream still clinging to her like tendrils of night. Violently she shook herself. Beneath her claws she could feel hard, cold rock, and there were no warm bodies near her, no gentle rise and fall of flanks. She wasn’t in the camp; she wasn’t with her hunting mates. There was no sound of them, no scent.
    The Earth-Dog was still, the night black, but Storm could make out the looming shadows of trees. She became aware, as the dream finally drifted away, that her paw pads hurt, and as she bent to lick them, she realized they were cut and bruised, as if by a long walk over rough ground.
    Blinking, Storm forced herself to focus on her surroundings. She knew this place. It was a knoll far from the camp, where Twitch and his friends used to hunt, but still within the new Pack’s territory. How did I get here?
    She had no memory of leaving the camp. She clenched her fangs, shook her head. No, this wasn’t her dream any longer. This was real.
    Exhausted by panic, she let her head droop as she turned inthe direction of the camp and began to plod back down the rocky slope. But I don’t remember climbing up it. A fragment of the dream flitted through her brain once more, and she shivered and gave a stifled whimper.
    Is this why my paw pads have been hurting lately? Have I done this before?
    Panic squeezed Storm’s chest. If I have, how often has it happened?
    The woods seemed darker and deeper than ever, the moon no more than a cold sliver glimpsed now and again between the overhanging branches. The thought of running into a patrol dog horrified her: What would she say? I don’t want to face any questions. How can I give the answers when I don’t know them? What if they start thinking I’m odd? That I’m not quite one of them?
    She knew just where Daisy would be on patrol, so she lay quietly in the long weeds until the pale little shape passed, sniffing dutifully at the camp’s fringes. Storm held her breath as Daisy paused, raised her head, and sniffed the air as if she’d caught a strange scent. But then she shook her head and moved on, and it was easy enough for Storm to slip through behind her on her belly, staying low and silent.
    She thought she was home and safe, thought she had made it back unseen, and her fur began to settle and her breathing tocalm. Then she raised her head to see two dark figures cross the path right in front of her.
    One halted, turning in shock, and she saw glowing eyes blink in the shadows.
    â€œStorm?” asked the dog. “What are you doing out here?”
    â€œBella!” The name was hoarse in Storm’s throat: Lucky’s litter-sister. Her heart sank. Beside Bella was the slender, powerful shape of Arrow the Fierce Dog, and he too had cocked his head, eyeing her with suspicious curiosity.
    â€œYes, Storm.” He looked at Bella, then back at her. “What’s going on?”
    â€œI . . .” Storm’s throat felt dry as dust. I don’t know what’s going on, Arrow. “I couldn’t sleep. I thought—I decided to take a walk.”
    There was a sharp bark of Liar! in her own head, but Bella only nodded, and hunched her golden shoulders.
    â€œAll right,” she murmured. “A walk does help a dog to sleep, it’s true. But you ought to get to your den now, Storm. You’ll have another hard day’s hunting tomorrow.”
    Storm dipped her head. “You’re right, Bella. I am tired.” She forced her jaws into a friendly panting grin. “Good night. Good night, Arrow.”
    She padded on, glad to feel the soft grass of the glade under her sore paw pads again. What she’d told