"What are we going to do?" asked Terra.
"I don't know. There's nothing we can do," Stormfast spoke softly. "I cannot go to Stone. I'm too weak."
"You're right," said Terra. Suddenly, Stormfast got an idea.
"Which means you have to go."
"What?" She was confused.
"Yes. You go and tell him I can't come right now. Do what you do best and tell the truth. He should understand. He's my brother."
"Okay, I will tell him, but what if he takes me anyway?"
"He won't. Take Sparky with you." Terra licked his muzzle.
"I'll be back. Hopefully."
Later. . .
"I'd like to see the look on his face now," Stone snickered. Rhys watched him walk in circles. Simon was gazing at his garden. Some of his crops began sprouting. He used to be a great hunter, but that was a long time ago. He did not know much about hunting now.
Terra was nearby, hiding behind a couple of bushes. She felt scared to come out. It seemed to her that Stone was a very aggressive wolf. In reality, he wasn't very skilled. Garth was considered the best Alpha of the East with Stormfast after him.
"For Stormfast," she told herself. She came out of the bushes, regretting it almost immediately. Stone noticed her.
"Where's Stormfast?!" he yelled.
"He... he can't come."
"What? Why?" Terra didn't want to let Stone think her true love was stupid enough to go toe-to-toe with a bear, so she said something else.
"He's sick. He has distemper."
Sick? No doubt. Stormfast's mom and dad died of sickness.
"Yes, he's too weak to come to you." Stone thought more for a second.
"Well, it wouldn't be fair to fight a sick wolf. Fine. But when this sickness is over, he's coming to me." He then walked away. Terra knew this lie was not going to hold for long, that Stormfast would eventually have to face Stone someday.
She met up with Sparks on the way back, and she told him what she said to them.
"But why did you lie?" said Sparks. "You didn't really need to. I thought you were against lying?"
"I know! I know! It's just... I love him, and I just wanted to buy us a little more time. I don't want to see him hurt again."
"Well, I hope he doesn't find out you lied to him. It's like what they say: lying will only make things worse."
But, Terra thought. In this case, I needed to lie. Terra wondered about her past and future. She abandoned her pack. Stormfast lost his. Should they make a new pack? Have other wolves come in to protect them and be loyal to them? The most sensible thing to do was run away, but she was tired of running away. She had run away with Rhys when her father killed their best friend. He killed him because he thought he was a bad influence, and Terra was hanging out with him a lot.
She knew what she must do now: make a pack, a pack that will protect Stormfast at all costs. But making a pack will be hard. Maintaining it will be harder. Even though she was an Omega, she felt like an Alpha, a tough, athletic Alpha that went through all the Alpha training, all the winter moons of Alpha School. She knew in her heart that conflict was coming. She figured in a few years she would experience war for the first time. But on the side of Sparks and her future family pack, she will defeat Stone and bring back Rhys. The only thing that could mess it up was maybe Stormfast's curse. But she thought, since he had already fallen into the river once, it wouldn't happen again.