Storm of Dogs by Erin Hunter Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t feel the Earth-Dog beneath him. The ground was cold, lifeless, and still. It was as if the Earth-Dog had been knocked out.
    Lucky heard an angry bark, and he spun around to see Mace and Dagger behind a group of dogs. The dogs’ heads were stooped, and their tails hung low.
    â€œKeep moving, Slaves!” snarled Mace, chomping and snapping at their legs.
    Lucky’s eyes rested on a golden-furred dog. She looked familiar, but her coat was patchy and thin and she struggled to walk. One of her hind legs was hideously misshapen,bent the wrong way. “Bella!” he cried. “Bella, what happened?”
    His litter-sister did not turn around.
    He noticed an old brown fight-dog and a small dog with wiry fur. Bruno and Daisy! Lucky gasped. The Slave Dogs were his old Pack, but they looked so injured, starved, and exhausted that he hardly recognized them. Mickey was leaning against Martha for support, and even the great black dog could hardly walk. Then Lucky noticed Sweet . . . .
    Sickness twisted in his gut. The swift-dog’s ribs jutted under loose flesh, and her legs were like bent twigs. There was a tear along her hip that was bleeding badly.
    Blood was running down Dagger’s chin.
    Lucky reeled with fury. “Leave her alone!” he howled, but they didn’t seem to hear him. He tried to run to Sweet, but his legs were fixed to the ground. He looked down to see red liquid sloshing over his paws.
    Where was it coming from? His eyes shot up. The Fierce Dogs were gnashing and biting at the Wild Pack to keep them moving. They plodded past a giant heap of dark fur, as big as a loudcage—no, as big as the entire Wild Pack camp—that was half-buried beneath rubble. The stream of blood was flowing from the heap, winding along the broken street and lapping at Lucky’s paws.
    Blade bounded onto the heap of fur, climbing to the top and standing proudly as the fires burned around her. But what was she standing on? Could it really be . . .
    Lucky blinked, shaking his head in disbelief.
    Yes, it was—Blade had conquered the Earth-Dog!
    Lucky tore his gaze away, only to find himself suddenly caged, staring at a wall of the Trap House. His muzzle was pressed up to the wire door of his cage as the other dogs slept around him. It was silent and still in the Trap House, but there was a faint quiver in the air. Something was coming.
    Lucky pawed at the cage door, then shrank back, confused. Why do I keep returning here?
    Alfie appeared in the passage between the cages and gazed up at Lucky. His voice wassoft. “It’s okay. You know what to do.”
    Lucky pawed the wire. “I don’t! You have to tell me!”
    His barks had woken the other dogs. The Trap House filled with whines and yaps as the ground started trembling beneath their paws.
    â€œAlfie, won’t you help me?” Lucky barked. “What do I have to do?” He threw himself at the wire, his face smacking the metal and his eyes clamped shut. When he opened them, the Trap House was red. Liquid clung to Lucky’s muzzle and ran down his whiskers. The taste was foul, like ash and spoiled meat. He knew what it was.
    It was the Earth-Dog’s blood.
    Lucky opened his eyes and blinked into the darkness. I’m alive! Salty water dripped onto his forehead and rolled down his nose. He raised his pounding head and looked to the ceiling. He was in a deep bowl, a cave within a cave in the Fierce Dogs’ lair, somewhere inside the cliff. It reminded him of the hollow pathway that the rescue party had discovered in the cliff nearest to the Wild Pack’s territory, the one they’d climbed through to escape the Endless Lake. His head throbbed where he’d hit it from the fall, but otherwise he seemed okay. He stretched his legs gingerly—nothing seemed broken.
    He stood up and looked around. There was an opening in the ceiling of the cave, and Lucky could see the Moon-Dog and the