Read Online Sweet's Journey by Erin Hunter - Free Book Online Page B

wouldn’t get used to being Beta?
    She bounded ahead to where Spring and Dart were tugging at a deer’s leg, straining to drag it back to camp. Still gripping with their teeth, they both looked up at her, cocking their ears, waiting for her orders.
    â€œPull to the left, there,” she barked encouragingly. “There’s a tussock, see? The haunches are getting caught on it. You’ll have to drag it around.” She seized the deer’s neck in her own jaws and began to tug on it, showing them the way. Both the other dogs squatted back on their haunches, using the leverage to drag the deer’s body farther.
    â€œThanks for coming out here to help us, Beta.” Dart let go of the deer for a moment, panting. “This prey’s awkward, to say theleast.”
    â€œBut you brought it down,” Sweet pointed out encouragingly.
    Dart’s jaws broadened in a grin. “Yes. I never thought we’d manage one, but your training tips were exactly right. We don’t all have to be fast, so long as we have enough hunters to drive it.”
    â€œEven Twitch contributed,” said Spring, sounding proud of her litter-brother. “That leg holds him back, but he followed your advice and stayed out to the flank. If he hadn’t been in position, the deer would have gotten away.”
    Sweet felt warm with pleasure and satisfaction. “I’m glad the training paid off,” she said.
    â€œWe’re going to do some more sparring this evening, before prey-sharing, aren’t we?” Dart twitched an ear hopefully. “I’d like to learn some of your speed-tricks for a fight.”
    â€œI need to organize tomorrow’s patrols,” said Sweet cautiously. “Moon’s still excused from hunting duty because of her pups, so we’re shortpawed. But after that, why not?” She gave Dart’s ear an affectionate flick of her tongue. “I’ve learned a lot from the Pack, so if there’s anything I can teach you back, I’m happy.”
    â€œI love learning new fighting skills,” said Dart. “It’s been a long time since the Pack freshened up our tactics. You know Alpha, he does nothing about that or hunting practice, just skulksin his den all—”
    â€œ Dart ,” growled Spring warningly.
    Sweet shot her a dry look—Spring was one of the dogs who’d had her ears nipped by Fiery for bad-mouthing the old Beta—but on this occasion the young dog was right. Dart really shouldn’t show disrespect to Alpha. It was true that he took little part in organizing patrols, or training the younger dogs, but that was fine by Sweet. She enjoyed being Beta more than she’d ever expected, and she was happy to take on the half wolf’s share of the practical work. After all, she was rewarded with the second-best choice of prey at the end of the day, and she never went hungry or grew thin from hard work. And in her more fanciful moments, she could imagine she was in charge of the whole Pack herself—that she was Alpha.
    I should have stood up to the old Beta sooner , she thought ruefully. For that matter, I should have faced down Callie long ago, in the days when I was still in my old Pack. She’d probably have respected me more if I had .
    And I’m good at this, better than I ever knew. If I’d been Beta of the swift-dog Pack, maybe we would never have been caught by the longpaws. Maybe then so many of us wouldn’t have died in that terrible Trap House. . . .
    The dogs had dragged the deer almost to the edge of the camp by now, and Sweet was distracted from her regrets when a smallsquirming body bumped into her paw. A tiny pup, its eyes still blurry, had escaped from Moon’s den and was wobbling its way into the outside world.
    â€œYou’re an adventurous one.” Laughing, Sweet left Dart and Spring to haul the deer by themselves to the prey pile. She picked up the tiny pup gently