DogForge by Casey Calouette Read Free Book Online Page A

that the bigger dogs could smell, but not well enough. She was safe, for now.
    “Nothing, now go, we’ve work to do. We move out in three days,” a voice growled in the dark.
    Safe. Or so she hoped.

CHAPTER FOUR
Glow
    D enali followed behind Barley with a stout leg of caribou firmly in her teeth. The pair walked through the low side of the camp past buildings and away from the snowfield where the meat was kept. It was a daily ritual, all around the females of the pack spread out with the morning meal.
    Already the sleds were being rigged. Heaps of metal, wires, and ancient devices were piled and strapped onto axles and sledges. Each household had its own that was passed down through the generations. Some bore markings, but none knew the meaning.
    Denali stumbled and yawned. When she finally escaped from the crack it had taken her until almost dawn to get back to the camp. She had hardly shut her eyes when Barley woke her to get the meat.
    Her desire to run from her fate melted with the rising sun. If she could have gone the night before, she would have, but not now. The events came together and she’d see her own fate. No one was going to drive her out.
    Most of all, she felt angry for not telling the truth. She could, she knew she could, but she didn’t want anything to happen to the pups. After the trial, she thought, then she’d tell. Samson would fail.
    “Wait,” Barley said.
    Denali almost ran the hindquarter into Barley’s legs and instead skidded to a stop.
    Grat sat in front of the entryway with his legs sprawled out to the side. Beside him Samus lay with his front paws almost touching Grats. Three other dogs, each with a tint of white on their faces, stood on all fours. Karoc, Yuma, and Diogenes.
    Denali knew them all. They were the elders. If Samus was the word of law, they were the voice behind him.
    Grat looked at ease and this made Denali nervous. She glanced over at Barley. Barley shook her head in response. They waited.
    Grat glanced beyond the elders and looked straight at Denali. Samus looked and then the elders. They all looked to be judging her.
    The meat felt suddenly heavy in her mouth and she set it down. “Mother.”
    “Denali,” Karoc barked.
    Denali looked to Grat and didn’t move until her father nodded. She held her head high and walked under the gaze of the five before her. As she came closer they loomed large, she felt so very small. Almost small enough to scoot under their stomachs.
    She came to them and sat. Each watched her and nodded to the others. Grat said nothing and looked at Denali.
    “As pups, we’ve all made mistakes,” Karoc said slowly, with a growl like gravel in his voice. “But this is different.”
    “If you were older, you’d suffer a different fate,” Yuma added.
    “And you still might,” Diogenes said with a frown.
    “We are here, as custom requires, to find a resolution,” Karoc said.
    Denali wanted to tell him where to stick his custom. She was afraid, but knew that the truth would have served better.
    “Did you lead my sons into the forbidden place?” Samus said.
    Denali looked at Grat for some reassurance. Grat said nothing. “I did.” The words came out quickly, she felt nothing but hatred as she said them. The sounds of the pups inside of the shelter reminded her of why she was lying.
    “Did you stand with them and fight?” Karoc asked.
    Every part of her wanted to scream the truth. “I did not.”
    Diogenes turned away and looked back. “We live as a pack.”
    “And die as a pack,” Yuma finished.
    “If we forsake the pack, we are nothing but animals, wolves, exiles,” Karoc said.
    Samus nodded with no emotion on his face.
    “Blood or metal?” Karoc asked Grat.
    “Metal,” Grat growled.
    The three elders looked to each other and agreed.
    Karoc stepped forward and stood before Denali. “You came to us long ago. We raised you as a pack, and when your trial is done, all shall be forgotten. But until then, the shame of your deeds are