If Scourge ruled the forest and if the Twolegs never came.

Prologue
This was it.

I, Scourge, will rule the forest. My old enemy, Tigerstar, was already well dead. Now I am content.

"Stop, Scourge!" the flame-coloured leader, Firestar, yowled at me. I had killed most of his warriors now.

"Never."

And I clawed him in the belly, making him fall.

"I will rule the forest from now on," I went on, "Anyone who tries to stop me will feel my claws."

The forest cats all hung their heads, defeated. Firestar lay motionless under my paw. I heard some cats yowling.

"No! Firestar!"

My lips twisted into a sneer. "I will create a new warrior code. Rule 1: No one can believe in StarClan."

Anguished yowls spread throughout the forest. I beckoned to my deputy, Bone, and whispered a command.

He nodded and lashed out at a brown tabby tom, killing him with his dog's teeth claws.

"This is how it will be," I warned. "And how it will always be."