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The lead dog flattened hiround and squir his pelt The dog thrust hard with his hind paws, propelling himself forward until he could scramble up and stand in the forest outside
“Free now,” he barked “Come! Come!”
The hole grew deeper still as each dog forced his way through, to stand beside his leader a theirinto the darkness with eyes that gloith a cold fire
As the last dog dragged itself under the fence, the pack leader raised his head and let out a triumphant bark “Run Pack free Run now!”
Turning toward the trees, he bounded away, powerfulin a smooth rhythh the forest night
Pack, pack, they thought Pack run
The whole of the forest was theirs, and in their le instinct “Kill! Kill!”
CHAPTER 1
Fireheart’s fur bristled with disbelief and fury as he gazed up at the new leader of ShadowClan standing on the Great Rock He watched as the cat swung his lealoith triumph
“Tigerclaw!” Fireheart spat His old enemy—the cat who had tried to kill him more than once—was now one of the most powerful cats in the forest
The full ht over the cats of the four Clans, asse They had all been shocked to learn of the death of Nightstar, the ShadowClan leader But no cat in the forest had expected that ShadowClan’s new leader would be Tigerclaw, the former ThunderClan deputy
Beside Fireheart, Darkstripe was rigid with excitehts were going through the erclaw had been banished froo with hi that decision now?
Fireheart caught sight of Sandstorer she-cat hissed as she caerclaw can’t lead ShadowClan He’s a traitor!”
For several heartbeats, Fireheart hesitated Shortly after he had joined ThunderClan, Fireheart had discovered that Tigerclaw had erclaw becaue cats to attack the ThunderClan ca to murder their leader, Bluestar, so that he could take her place As punishment, he had been banished from their Clan and the forest It was hardly a noble history for a leader of any Clan
“But ShadowClan don’t know about all that,” Fireheart re his voice low “None of the other Clans know”
“Then you should tell them!”
Fireheart glanced up at Tallstar and Crookedstar, the leaders of WindClan and RiverClan, respectively, who stood beside Tigerstar on the Great Rock Would they listen if he told them what he knew? ShadowClan had suffered so much from Brokentail’s bloodthirsty leadership, followed by a devastating sickness, that they probably wouldn’t care what their new leader had done, as long as he could forge theain
Besides, Fireheart couldn’t help feeling a guilty relief that Tigerclaw had satisfied his hunger for power in a different Clan Maybe now ThunderClan could stop waiting for him to attack, and Fireheart could walk the forest without constantly glancing over his shoulder
Yet, as he struggled with his conflicting eive himself i
f he let Tigerclaw co a protest