The two puppies kept squirming over one another. The bigger one was a male, still in his dark gray puppy coat. The smaller one was female, also gray, though with hints of brown on her chest. Laika regarded the vulnerable duo lovingly from her side of the den.

"They're beautiful," her mate, Bryce, said as he reached over to nuzzle her cheek.

"And nuisances," Laika added affectionately. She loved both of her pups very much, but they were far more hyperactive than she'd ever imagined. Especially the male, whom she'd named Rou. His sister at least knew when to quit it, but Rou was seemingly never tired of play-fighting with her.

"They'll grow up as valuable members of the Clan," Bryce pointed out. His amber eyes showed pride, but also something else Laika couldn't quite put her claw on. Worry?

Laika remembered when she'd first met the Clan. Not long after the vanishing of her brother and mother, her father had contracted an illness and died before she had even been able to process it. Being a Lone One pup left on her own, Laika never would've survived if it hadn't been for the kind Clan animals taking her in.

She'd heard that the Clan would sometimes make Lone One pups do awful things: killing other Lone Ones in the way of the Clan. But, for whatever reason, they had instead given her a foster mother, who raised her until she was able to be her own participating regularly-ranked member of Saedin's Clan. Her mate was one of the soldiers of the Clan, as shown in the scars he bore across his pale gray, nearly white pelt. Laika herself had been given the base-guard role, but for now was let off her duties to care for her pups.

"I'm gonna getcha!" Rou bayed as he leapt on top of his sister, Jewel. The gray-brown female let out a surprised yelp, but soon retaliated by playfully biting Rou in his ankle. "Ouch! Let go, you meanie!" he snarled.

"I think Rou'll follow in your footsteps," Laika told Bryce. "He shows the build and spirit of a future soldier."

"Has yet to display the discipline of one, though," Bryce murmured softly, so his son couldn't hear it.

Laika suddenly looked up to hear Jewel yelping loudly, more so than usual. Rou had gripped her left ear between his teeth and kept pulling on it. "Mommy! Daddy! Rou is hurting me! My ear! STOP!"

Laika got up and gently nudged her son. "Come on, Rou, dear. Let go of your sister's ear."

"A twue swoldier nwever gives wup!" he mumbled through his mouthful of ear as he frowned, his blue eyes fully focused on Jewel.

"Listen to your mother," Bryce commanded as he approached the trio of other wolves as well.

"Nwo!" Rou barked.

Seeing no other option left, Laika simply grabbed her son by the scruff. She figured he'd let go when he felt he was being held, but instead he stubbornly clung onto Jewel's ear. The weight of his sister became too much for it to handle, and with a tear and a yelp the female pup fell onto the ground, her left ear bleeding from a notch.

Laika instantly set Rou down. "Rou! Look at what you've done!"

"I'll go get a healer," Bryce muttered before running off.

Jewel was crying. "My ear! It hurts! It HURTS! Mommy! IT HURTS!"

Laika shot Rou a warning glare. The pup at first met her eyes challengingly, but then slowly moved his head aside as a sign of submission.

Laika settled down beside Jewel and started licking the little pup's ear. She looked at Rou again. "Apologize to your sister! Do it now!"

Rou stared at the ground with a frown.

"Rou!"

He bristled briefly. "Fine! I'm sorry, okay?"

Laika kept on licking Jewel's ear. What are we going to do with you? she thought while looking at her son.

***

Rou made his way to the prey-pile of the Base of the Third District. This was where he'd grown up, and he loved it here. Not everyone liked him, but he didn't care. He knew that one day he was going to be a great soldier, just like his father. He'd show any enemies that the Clan was not to be messed with.

The prey-pile was fully stocked, with two guards beside it per usual to make sure nobody got more than their rightful share.

"Give me a rabbit," Rou said, his chin held high, as he approached the duo.

One of them, a puma, raised an eyebrow. "Just for you? You're awfully small for an entire rabbit."

"Yeah," teased the second guard, a gray wolf. "You're so puny, you might want to start with something smaller. How's this?" She grabbed a mouse and tossed it at him. It hit him square in the face.

Rou backed off and barked indignantly. "How dare you? I'll show you!" He got ready to bite the guard, just when he heard his name being called behind him. He turned around.

Jewel. She was always there to stop him whenever he'd "go too far" in her opinion, whatever that meant.

"You saw that, didn't you?" the pup snarled at her. "She threw that mouse in my face and mocked me!" He turned back to the guard. "I'll make you pay for that!"

Jewel moved until she was at Rou's right flank. "That's no reason for you to act like that. They're adults, we're unranked pups."

"But she called me small! I'm the biggest pup my age on the entire Third District Base!"

"I thought he was in the right," a voice with an accent said beside them. The two gray pups looked around to see an oncoming pup.

Rou had never seen her before. She was obviously of their age, but somehow even bigger and bulkier than him. Her coat was a dark brown with a paler stomach, and a small tuft of black hair grew on her forehead.

"Who the fuck are you?" Rou snarled at her.

He heard Jewel gasp. "You're not supposed to say bad words!"

Rou ignored her. He kept staring at the newcomer. She held his gaze strongly, something he'd never seen a pup his age do for long before submitting. He noticed that one of her eyes was a darker shade of brown than the other, something which was rare in wolves.

The stranger didn't answer his question. "I like your style. Attacking a guard like that, I could've done it myself. Except I'd have actually done it. I don't have any dead weight to pull me back." She shot a glance at Jewel. Rou turned to his sister, who seemed hurt.

He narrowed his eyes, gazing back at the brown wolf. "You still haven't answered my question."

She scoffed. "Taima."

"That's your name?"

"Yeah, dumbass. I take it yours is Rou. And who is the pipsqueak?" She gestured towards Jewel.

Rou exhaled through his nostrils loudly. "That's my sister Jewel. Taima, Jewel. Now that we all know one another..."

Taima ignored him and looked at the two guards. "A rabbit, please."

The wolf guard nodded curtly and gave her the tasty-looking one Rou had been hoping for.

He felt his hackles raise. "Hey, I wanted that one! I got first dibs!"

Taima looked over her shoulder. "Well, wanna share it, then?"

Rou hadn't expected that question. For the first time in a while, he felt dumbstruck. He didn't eat with anyone, except sometimes Jewel. The other pups his age were always too put off by him to share a meal. Now this total stranger was inviting him?

"Gonna answer before it's dusk, Rou-wow?" Taima taunted as she put her paw on the rabbit.

Rou felt Jewel standing behind him, her gaze on the back of his head. He ignored his impulse to wait to eat with his sister. He glanced back at the bulky pup. "Fine."

They went to a quiet part of the Base, while Rou saw Jewel walking away slowly. She probably felt hurt, he realized, but, then again, Jewel was the most sensitive pup he knew. Anything he did somehow went too far for his sister.

Taima dropped the rabbit from between her jaws and settled down. Rou followed suit.

The two started eating, Taima going for the best part of the belly. Rou had to make do with the haunches, but he decided that part of this tasty rabbit was better than no part of it at all.

"So," he grunted after a while, "why exactly did they give you the rabbit without any struggle? You're only like... a mouse's height larger than me." He knew very well that wasn't true: Taima was significantly larger and bulkier, but he wasn't about to admit that anytime soon.

"Oh, well. I'm new, actually. My parents are important wolves, high-ranked officials close to Saedin himself. They recently arrived here for some official business, as did I. Well, not the official business part. But everyone knows who I am and that I'm awesome and therefore deserve the best food."

Rou felt like for the first time he may be outmatched by someone in their self-confidence. "I didn't know who you were," he said.

"Yeah, that's not cool, dude." Taima licked her bloody lips and stretched herself. "So, I heard you kind of rule the pups around here?"

Rou rolled his eyes. "Jewel says I'm a bully; I say I'm just putting them in their places. I'm the biggest and strongest pup, so I naturally deserve the best."

"Jewel sounds really, really stupid," said Taima. "I'm glad I'm not stuck with any siblings holding me back."

Rou hesitated for a moment, thinking. Jewel had always been at his side. What would it have been like if he'd been an only pup? Would his life be better?

"You lied about one thing, though," Taima pointed out.

"And what's that?" Rou grumbled.

"You're not the biggest or strongest anymore."

Rou licked his lips. "You may be bigger than me, but there's no way I could ever be beaten by a girl!"

Taima narrowed her eyes and started wagging her tail while sinking through her front legs. "Wanna prove it?"

Rou took the playing-bow position as well. "Oh, I will!" A moment later, he launched himself into a playfight with Taima. They scuffled for a while, until he suddenly felt himself landing on the ground so hard that all the breath was knocked out of him. Taima stood on top of him, pinning him down. "Who wins?" she inquired.

Rou tried to struggle from below her, but she was simply too strong. "Ugh. You win," he grunted.

"And don't you forget it." Taima let him go and stepped back. She had a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Part of Rou wanted to attack her again to wipe it off, but he also felt a different feeling bubble up inside of him. Respect. For the first time, he'd encountered a pup on his own level.

Taima settled down again. "Now, let's finish this rabbit."

***

Rou couldn't believe it. His loyalty to the Clan always came first. His life had been perfect. He was one of the strongest soldiers, only outmatched by Taima when it came to gray wolves. He'd served them for years. Yet, now, all of them were looking at them like he was... different.

The news had hit him, Taima and his sister the hardest. Laika had told it to them the evening before, after they'd come back from the patrol that was meant to kill the Deformed Demon. Rou loathed him, and he loathed the fact that he apparently still might be alive because Silkey couldn't do her job properly.

But what he loathed the most was the news that he was related to the Deformed Demon. His mother had apparently never known this before because the Demon had lived most of his life in solitude, away from active interaction with most Clan members. Whatever the excuse was, Rou hated it. How could he, one of the Clan's most loyal devotees, be related to that disgusting old creature? The Demon had never been high-ranked in the Clan, but he had outclassed all the other Lone One assassins. Though Rufus had abolished the practice of Lone One assassinations a while back, everyone knew that the Demon was a murdering Lone One lunatic.

And now they look at me like I'm him. Rou hated this feeling, like he suddenly wasn't the best anymore.

"Hey, maybe you should calm down a bit and stop pacing?" Taima sat on the same small clearing in the forest, abandoned by everyone else. Rou had come here to think, but his mate wouldn't leave him behind.

"How can I possibly calm down?" Rou boomed. "He's my uncle, Taima! Everything's gone to shit! No one will ever be able to see me for who I am anymore, because when they look at me, they see him!"

"I see you for who you are," Taima said bluntly. Rou stopped pacing and looked at his mate. She was right. Despite everything, Taima had his back, no matter what. He knew she wasn't the brightest around and had a real taste for blood, but she was loyal to him to a fault.

He sighed. "I know. I just..."

"Rou..." Footsteps approached and Taima took on her usual disapproving expression when Jewel entered the small field.

"What do you want?" Rou asked gruffly.

Jewel looked hurt again. "Rou, I just want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk. It's a shock for me, too! We can figure this out together!"

Rou blinked and looked at Taima. She shook her head. He glanced back at his sister. "I am fine, thanks."

"But you're not! I never see you this nervous!" Jewel bayed.

"I said I'm fine, Jewel." Rou had to keep himself from snapping. He broke her gaze. "I need to figure this out on my own."

"With her?" Jewel growled indignantly, indicating Taima.

"She's my mate."

"And I'm your sister!"

Rou still refused to look at her. "You go and look after Mom. I'll be fine, I promise," he finally said, calmly.

Jewel shot him an amber look of concern and hurt feelings, but then turned around without another word and left.

Rou was about to confront Taima when they heard Rufus' familiar howl coming from the Main Base. A meeting.

Both wolves went to the Base, to see a huge crowd had formed already. Rufus was standing on top of Meeting Rock, the highest boulder in the sandy clearing.

"I have grave news for all of you," he said as he looked down upon them from up high. "Silkey is gone."

***