Secrets of the Wolves Read Online Free PDF Page A

Greatwolves who threatened us. He cocked his head, as if surprised to find them there.
    “Milsindra,” the ancientwolf said in a voice that sounded like twigs breaking underfoot, “did I not ask you to wait for me?”
    Milsindra took two quick steps back. I don’t know how Zorindru did it. He was old, older than Trevegg, who had lived nine winters. Zorindru had been old when Trevegg’s father led the Swift River pack. Milsindra and her followers were all wolves in their prime. But just a lift of his grizzled lip made the other Greatwolves cower like scolded pups. I could hear my packmates’ muscles loosening: Rissa’s shoulder blades releasing down her back, Ruuqo’s chest relaxing. Next to me, Ázzuen let out a whuff of air that ruffled the fur on my muzzle. My throat slackened, and I sucked in a great gulp of air.
    Milsindra shook herself once. Then, as if to make up for cringing away from Zorindru, she growled at him.
    “It’s our right to be here,” she said. “We were promised that we could see for ourselves.”
    “See what?” a voice croaked from above. Tlitoo peered down at us from a low branch of a pine tree, directly above Milsindra. In one foot he held a good-size stone. In a bend between two branches, he had stacked several others. “Have you not seen wolves before? They are everywhere in the valley.”
    “To see this pup,” Milsindra snapped, keeping a wary eye on Tlitoo. “This arrogant pup who breaks all the rules and is rewarded for it.”
    “So see her,” Zorindru said. His eyes found me just behind Trevegg’s rump. “Come forward, youngwolf.”
    Even as I trembled in fear, I found myself pleased to be addressed as a youngwolf rather than a pup. Ázzuen pressed against me and quickly touched his nose to my face. Ruuqo dipped his head to me and moved slightly to the side, allowing me to step past him.
    “That’s her?” Milsindra said with unflattering disbelief. She turned her tawny head to Zorindru. “You want us to entrust our future to that scrap of wolf?”
    “That scrap of wolf stopped a battle you said couldn’t be stopped,” Zorindru said. “And the council has agreed to give her a year to find a way for the humans and wolves of the valley to live peacefully together. You know that, Milsindra.”
    “ I didn’t agree. I would never agree to let an aberrant, mixed-blood wolf take on the task that belongs to the Greatwolves. She’ll destroy everything we’ve worked for!” She lowered her head and pulled back her lips. Three of the four wolves who stood with her growled. I could sense Ruuqo, Rissa, and Trevegg tensing up behind me.
    “Enough!” Zorindru said. “You are part of the council, Milsindra, and thus bound by its rules. Unless you wish to challenge me? Here and now?”
    Milsindra shifted from paw to paw . For a moment it looked like she might actually attack him. Then the Greatwolf standing next to her, the one who had not growled with the others, shoved Milsindra with his hip, glaring at her out of the corner of his eye. He was as tall as Milsindra and stockier, with fur almost as light as Rissa’s.
    “We only want what’s best for wolfkind,” he said, his voice conciliatory, his tail held low. “It’s too risky to entrust the humans to smallwolves. Especially to one half grown.” He paused. “And especially to one that is known to be unlucky. This pup is dangerous.”
    A stone fell from above, landing just to the right of the Greatwolf’s head. He jumped, then looked up at Tlitoo, who held another stone ready in his foot. Tlitoo raised his wings enough that I could just glimpse the white crescent on the underside of his left wing and quorked at the Greatwolf.
    “Every raven knows
    Gruntwolves talk more than they think
    Fine. Their heads are hard.”
     
    Someone behind me laughed. I looked quickly at Zorindru. He was watching the male Greatwolf steadily.
    “Thank you, Kivdru,” he said to the Greatwolf who had spoken. “I’m glad you’re