The sound of the angry wolves had died down. He had done it; he was free. The clan that had bound him for one and a half moon cycles no longer had him under its control. He wouldn't ever have to answer to a chieftain ever again, nor worry about what would happen to him every second of his life. The MacHeaths were gone, dead to him in his mind, but along with them went his family.

Despite his hatred for his clan, he had loved the little family he had within it. He had lived with his mother, his father, who was rarely ever home because of fierce loyalty to Dunbar MacHeath, and his newborn little sister. She was the reason for his leaving, not because he didn't want a little sister, but because the chieftain had torn her eye out at birth, something he had failed to do to him when he was born.

Dunbar's full intention was to get a wolf to the Watch, and he figured the only way to do it was to make a malcadh, a cursed wolf, since no MacHeath wolf had sired a malcadh in many moon cycles. Not surprisingly, he went to the den of the wolf he hated the most, the wife of the wolf that constantly pestered him about becoming higher ranked in the clan and tore out their newborn pup's eye, claiming that she was a malcadh from that day forward. That wolf whose eye Dunbar tore out was his, Brent's, little sister. He couldn't take it any longer and fled the clan a week later, after carefully making sure that he had memorized his sister's scent, so if he ever met her later on, he would know who she was.

And so there he was, wandering around in the western Beyond as a lone wolf, a free runner, as the lone wolves called themselves. That was when he found a new clan; not quite a clan, but a clan nonetheless. He was quickly accepted into their ranks and found great pleasure in living under their rules.

They were more of a society of free runners, who accepted all who met their standards. Many of their laws were different from those in the Beyond, though some were similar, and they spoke quite a different language, even though most of them spoke the wolf language of the Beyond. He stayed with them for many moons before he met a night where his life changed forever. This is the account of Brent, Myre Society wolf in the time of the Fengo Finbar.

Brent had never had a more unsuccessful time at hunting in moons beyond. Famine had fallen upon him and likely every other wolf in the Beyond. The Myre Society had been finding less and less food ever since the weather had gotten strange. Blizzards plagued the land during what should have been summer moons, while caribou herds dwindled and many other species on which the wolves preyed seemed to disappear entirely.

"Must be a curse," Brent said to himself as he successfully lost the scent of another caribou. He had arrived at the spot where it would have been, but deduced from the emptiness of the clearing that it had run off. The scent was gone.

Most wolves would call him quite handsome. He had golden fur and was very large and muscular, perhaps one of the strongest fighters in the Myre Society. He was also incredibly fast and very romantic. He constantly tried to flirt with females, though they usually ended up keeping away from him. He never really liked any of them anyways. He was just desperate for someone to have as a mate. The only thing that really ruined his look was the long scar running between his eyes.

Most Myre Society wolves blamed the clans of the Beyond for the terrible famine. They thought that maybe those wolves had eaten themselves fat and hadn't let their food source reproduce so that more could be eaten. Brent found it differently. As he was a more recent society wolf, he still clung slightly to some of the Beyond teachings. He thought that maybe the strange weather and sudden food disappearance were a sign of the end of an age, when the mending would occur. Perhaps the wolves would be enlightened and realize that everyone was equal. He couldn't remember all of the details. He often found himself believing his fellow wolves in the society.

But whatever happened, the wolves were starving now and had to fight to survive. Some of the society wolves had been kicked out for breaking out in violence over food against each other. Such behavior was unthinkable in the Myre Society standards. Yet more and more wolves, mostly outside the society as the wolves heard through howling songs, were getting into fights over food. The wolves were getting desperate.

Brent sniffed the air. He was in the northeastern Beyond. He could see the tips of the volcanoes from where he was. A chill ran down his spine. He was too close to his former clan. If he pressed farther east he would end up in the MacNamara; farther west would put him in the clan he hated the most, the MacHeath.

He decided against both and headed south towards the volcanoes. From there he would cut across the border of the MacDuncan territory (from howling messages, he found that they weren't doing so well) and head a little further south until he hit the north of the MacDuff territory. He would head west from there. If he spaced it out far enough, which would be a risky move, he would be back at the Myre Society meeting spot in the west by the new moon, which was their time of meeting.

As he began walking and pondering his route, he heard a rustle from the bushes. Immediately, he went into attack mode. He got ready to pounce on whatever was there, but it got to him first. A few seconds later, he realized that he was tussling with another wolf, a she-wolf, and pushed her off, stumbling to his feet and then charging at her. He came around her right side and knocked her over, then immediately stopped as he pinned her to the ground. Her right eye was missing.

"Leave me be!" she cried fiercely.

"Who are you and why do you attack me so suddenly?" asked Brent, though his tone had softened for a very particular reason. She pushed him off and scrambled to her feet.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled, "I don't have to tell you who I am or why I attacked you! Who are you anyways?"

"I'm not saying anything until you answer me," said Brent with a cocky smile. He liked this wolf already. She had very rusty fur and single green eye in her left eye socket. She seemed as thin as he was; this was logical due to the sudden famine. She seemed to hesitate as he stared at her. This was good on Brent's part; unnerving your opponent was often the key to winning a fight. This was especially easy when your opponent was of the opposite gender.

"I… I don't have to tell you anything," she repeated hesitantly. Brent didn't budge. He could tell that she didn't want to fight him.

"I'll ask again," he said, "Who are you?" She finally cracked.

"I am Banja," she admitted, "Wolf of the Watch at the Ring of Sacred Volcanoes." Brent frowned. He knew good and well what Watch wolves were limited to.

"There goes any chances I had with her," he thought to himself jokingly. Then he spoke outward.

"If you are from the Watch, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Not saying anymore," said Banja, "Not until you tell me who you are."

"I guess it's only fair," Brent responded, "I am Brent of the Myre Society of Free Runners." Banja stared at him for ten seconds and then bolted. Brent immediately crashed into a run after her. She was fast, but Brent easily overtook her, and tackled her to the ground again, making sure that she couldn't move.

"You aren't going anywhere with that information," he said. He saw that she was squirming uncomfortably and he figured that it was because he was right on top of her. He moved over so that he still had his paw firmly on her chest.

"Promise me you won't go telling your Watch friends what I just told you," he said smiling. She seemed terrified. As it turned out, she was.

"Okay, okay!" she cried, "Now let me go!" He moved his head closer to hers so that they could feel each other's breath.

"Promise?" he asked. She seemed to realize that he was trying to flirt with her and moved his paw off of her chest, scrambling to her feet again.

"Promise," she said, still with a scared look in her eye. She then dashed off back into the trees. Brent knew for a fact that he could trust her.

"She won't tell anyone," said Brent smiling. He had felt something when he had seen her fully for the first time, something that he hadn't ever felt before. In the many moons he had spent in the Myre Society, he had gone without a mate. Now he had found the perfect match for himself.

"It's just a matter of getting her to like me back," said Brent to himself, "And that won't be hard at all."

A/N: Well, this is just the beginning of the second story in my free runners series. This idea actually came into mind a while back. Who was Maudie's father? I had always wondered that. This is my idea of who he might have been, and how he met Banja. As I said in the summary, I would like to know if I should up the rating to T. This story is not going to contain anything that will push it to M (God forbid that I ever do that), but if my readers think the rating should go up, feel free to tell me.

I do not own Wolves of the Beyond. All characters, ideas, and places belong to Kathryn Lasky.