Alpha's Tale by Erin Hunter

Author:Erin Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2014-02-03T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Through a dark fog of sleep and grim dreams, Dog heard a sharp clatter that made his head jerk up from sleep. Dizzied, he blinked at the morning sunshine that slanted into the barn, burnishing the straw with early golden light.

Dog kicked out, raking the straw beneath him as he staggered to his paws. The Rancher was there, right in the pen with him, setting down fresh bowls of water and dusty dry meat.

Dog hunched his shoulders low, a growl beginning at the back of his aching throat. This was the longpaw who had taken him from his Pack, had sent his Fangs to kill Dog’s mother. Dog sprang at him.

The fur-faced longpaw turned with surprising agility. Too late Dog saw the hefty stick in his hand; he felt it smack down across his muzzle.

Flinching back, Dog was unable to suppress a shocked whimper of pain. The Rancher was eyeing him closely but without fear. His long-fingered paws were sheathed in thick hide and he held the stick in both of them, alert and ready to whack it down again.

Dog’s eyes shifted to the bowl of food; the Rancher was between it and him. If he couldn’t even eat—

He lunged again, his fangs bared. Once more the stick smacked down, catching his skull hard enough to make stars explode behind his eyes. Dog whined and shrank back.

This is intolerable! Dog snarled and jumped, and this time the stick caught him on the nose again, even harder. He yelped and crouched, confused and angry.

The Rancher only watched him, tapping the stick lightly against one of his sheathed paws. Dog eyed him back, wary now and afraid of that stinging stick. He took a couple of shuffling paces forward toward the food bowl, his stomach growling and his jaws slavering with hunger. When the Rancher didn’t hit him again, he crawled past his feet, almost close enough to touch the longpaw. He pulled himself up, dipped his muzzle into the bowl and began, resentfully, to eat.

The Rancher’s front paws were so nimble, Dog’s mouth was still full of meat nuggets when he felt the pressure on his neck ease. The longpaw had loosed him from the wooden post! For a moment he was too confused even to swallow, and then he felt a new and different pressure on his throat.

Another collar. Different!

This one felt cold, like metal instead of hide, with a stiff leash already attached to it, tethering Dog to the Rancher’s paws. Dog turned, snapping, but the collar instantly contracted on his throat. He went rigid, his eyes rolling. Only when he let his muscles relax did the collar loosen too, and he could breathe easily again.

“Wolf.” The voice was familiar.

He looked around. Calamity stood outside the pen with the other Fierce Dogs, watching every move the Rancher made.

“The Rancher is your Alpha now, Wolf,” she told him. “Just accept that, and do as he tells you. The sooner you learn it, the sooner the collar will stop squeezing you.

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