Aran didn't understand what it was about babies than made girls go all soppy.

He looked at his younger sister with disgust as she pulled faces and spoke in baby speak. Meinir was usually so stoic, to the point of being almost completely uncaring, but there was something about the little cub that had completely enchanted her.

Aran watched as Alric's daughter stared at him with her emerald eyes, a huge smile lighting up her face. She clapped her hands together as she giggled. Aran growled in response- he hated the cubs- but Jana didn't even whimper.

"Do we really have to babysit her?" Aran protested.

"Yes," Meinir replied, pulling Jana into her arms, "Alric and Arianne asked us to. They're out hunting."

"They could have stayed," Aran argued, "Gerwyn and Ceri stayed to look after Rhydian, anyway why couldn't they look after Jana?"

"They wanted to take Rhydian into the village," Meinir said, with a look of disgust, "Alric never wants Jana to see the human world. It's an honour for us to be asked to do such an important thing. One day Jana will be our alpha."

Aran smiled contemplatively, "Well maybe it is an honour then. We might be able to influence how she rules the pack- make her rule the way we want her to."

Meinir smiled in response, "That was exactly what I was thinking all along."

Break-Break-Break-Break-Break

"I'm leader of the pack!" Jana exclaimed defiantly, crossing her arms as she had seen her mother do several times when arguing with her father.

"No you're not!" the blonde haired boy argued, "I'm the alpha! I will always be alpha."

Jana shoved Rhydian as hard as she could, but was unable to knock him over. He might have only been half a year older than her, but he was already several inches taller than her.

"I'm the alpha!" Jana argued, "And if you don't agree I won't let you come to my birthday feast."

Rhydian rolled his eyes. It was Jana's third birthday and there had been a large feast arranged for that night. Alric and Arianne spoiled their only daughter, giving her everything she wanted- including a big tent all of her own.

Jana stuck out her tongue, before running off as fast as she could.

"Where are we going?" Rhydian yelled, running after her.

"Big tree," Jana replied, eyes beaming with excitement.

After a few minutes they stopped before a tall oak tree. There was a large hole in the trunk just above the roots, and Jana could just about fit- Rhydian was too big now.

"See," Jana said, "I must be the alpha, because I'm the only one who can still fit inside this tree. This tree can tell a true alpha."

Rhydian laughed, "You're crazy! You're such a baby, believing such stupid stories."

"I'm not a baby!" Jana yelled, "I'll prove it. Bet I can climb higher than you."

"Bet you a slice of cake I can climb higher," Rhydian argued.

"You're on," Jana said as she pulled herself up onto the first branch. This wasn't going to be as easy as she'd previously thought. She wished now that she could be as big as Rhydian; it would make it easier to reach the branches.

Rhydian climbed with ease and was soon only a few branches below her.

"I'm going to win," he said grinning, as he grabbed onto a branch next to where Jana was standing. They were very high up; they could see the tops of most of the trees.

"No you're not," Jana replied adamantly, but she was beginning to get a little scared now- she wondered how they would get down, this game didn't seem so fun anymore.

Rhydian climbed past her, but seeing the expression her face, stopped, "Are you ok Jana?"

Jana didn't want to let Rhydian win, but she was frozen with fear, "You can have that cake. I just want to go home, Mummy and Daddy will be wondering where we've gone."

"Ok," Rhydian said as he climbed back down. The last thing he wanted was to get on the wrong side of Uncle Alric.

Jana was still frozen with fear, she felt sick just looking at the ground.

"Come on," Rhydian said looking up at her; "You're not scared are you?"

Jana shook her head vigorously, "No, I'm alpha. Alpha's are never scared."

She carefully stretched as far as she could to try to place her feet on the branch below.

Rhydian held out a hand to her and she took it gladly as she tried to reclaim her balance.

"You're such a baby!" Rhydian exclaimed, "You can't even climb properly."

"If you keep on being rude to me I won't let you have any cake."

"Whatever, cub," Rhydian replied as he kept on climbing. Soon he was at the bottom of the tree and Jana felt very alone.

She tried desperately to reach the branch below, but couldn't and her arms ached with hanging on to the branch above.

She felt her hands slip and let out a cry.

"Jana!" Rhydian yelled.

Jana fell the last few feet to the ground and landed in a heap of leaves. Rhydian could hear her crying loudly, and raced to her side. Jana never cried- she must have been really hurt.

She was covered in cuts and leaves clung to her messy scarlet hair, but more worrying her left ankles was bent at an unnaturally angle.

"I want Mummy," Jana said, in a quiet voice, "I want my Mummy."

Rhydian raced off immediately to where the rest of the pack was staying. When he arrived he was met by an angry Alric.

"Where's my daughter?" Alric asked, "She's going to be late for her birthday feast. She might think she's already alpha but the rest of the pack won't be willing to wait on her hand and foot."

"Alric, dear," Arianne said gently, "I'm sure Jana will be back soon. You know how she gets about being out on her own after sunset."

Rhydian was always struck by just how similar Jana and Arianne were. They both had curly scarlet hair and the same emerald eyes. Arianne could be just as stubborn as Jana when she wanted to be.

"You have to come quickly;" Rhydian said breathlessly, "Jana's been injured."

Alric's anger dissipated immediately as he and Arianne shared a concerned look.

"She's near the big tree, we were climbing and she fell," Rhydian said.

"I'll gather the healers," Alric answered, "Arianne, you go with Rhydian."

Arianne didn't hesitate as she ran after Rhydian, earning puzzled looks from Meinir and Aran. He heart was filled with sorrow at the idea of Jana being in pain. The sun was beginning to set also, and she knew how scared Jana would be at the idea of being alone in the dark.

She heard Jana's crying before she saw her. Jana was very still and Arianne could imagine how cold she must be laying on the ground with only her thin summer coat for warmth. She raced to her side.

"Mummy!" Jana cried as Arianne pulled her into her arms. She could see that Jana's leg was bent at a sickening angle.

"Everything will ok, darling," she said stroking Jana's long hair. She was so small, so vulnerable and she felt guilty that she had failed to protect her.

"Is Daddy angry?" Jana said, her face creased with worry.

"No, no," Arianne reassured her, "He's just going to find Auntie Ceri so that she can help you."

Jana's eyes filled with tears, "I want the pain to stop."

"It'll be ok," Arianne said, as she stood up, holding Jana in her arms just like she used to when she was a baby.

Arianne raced towards the camp. She was glad that she was the fastest out of all the pack. It took her half the time it would have taken the others to get back to them. Rhydian appeared at her side moments after.

Arianne walked towards Jana's tent and was surprised to see all of the pack's healers gathered inside.

She placed Jana carefully onto the ground, covering her with plenty of blankets, aware of just how cold she was.

She felt someone tug at her sleeve- Meinir; she had not expected her to follow her.

"Rhydian, Aran and I want to know if Jana will be ok," Meinir said in a worried tone.

"Yes," Arianne reassured her, hugging the girl. Meinir was almost like a daughter to her, although there was only eight years between them- Meinir being thirteen and she being twenty one.

"I want to see Rhydian," Jana demanded suddenly.

"Jana," Ceri began, "You need to rest, you can talk to Rhydian tomorrow."

"No," Jana argued, "I want to see him now."

Arianne and Ceri shared an understanding look- they had forced the two together in the first place, hoping that the inevitable would happen when they were older; it should have hardly surprised them that the two of them would be inseparable.

"Ok," Arianne said and moments later Rhydian was kneeling next to Jana.

"How are you?" Rhydian asked, holding Jana's hand.

"It still hurts," Jana protested, fidgeting.

"Stay still," Ceri chided her, "I won't be able to fix it if you keep on fidgeting."

Jana sulked.

"Cheer up," Rhydian said, "I got you a birthday present."

Jana's eyes lit up with anticipation as Rhydian passed her a small bunch of violet flowers.

"Thank you," Jana replied, awkwardly hugging Rhydian.

"Young love," Gerwyn said, appearing at the door, "Come on Rhydian, let's leave Jana to rest."

Rhydian took his father's hand.

"Rhydian!" Jana called out.

"Yeah?"

"I'm still the alpha."