Phoenix Maplewood You were my courage, my sword and shield

A dazzling sun hung high over Phoenix Maplewood, but despite its strong light, the air was crisp and cool. Each huff of Saena's breath puffed out in a short-lived curling haze. Even the ground felt ever-so-slightly harder underfoot, and the dead leaves crunched  under her tread, devoid of the dampness from weeks prior. All the signs pointed to winter, and that meant she needed to get her ass in gear, and fast.

She wound through the trees with her body carried low, head level with her shoulders and nose pivoting toward each ambient scent she came across. Had she a tail, it would've been held at half-mast, bobbing but stiff, and would've betrayed her occupation. She was hunting. It was a necessity with the sudden increase in their number. While the gamekeeper could have, and probably should have, delegated tasks to the newcomers, she was all-too stung by the reality that nobody who had joined the maplewood since after its founding had actually stayed. She trusted only herself, Reek, Arion and Citali to scratch out a living here, so she worked double-duty to provide for the core members in addition to those who were yet unproven. Hunting more frequently was a good start.

I hope it's OK to throw her in here for a quick cameo!

She still hadn't found her sister. Regipre grit her teeth. She was equal parts worried and frustrated. She could have howled but feared being overheard. For a long while, the coyote stood in a small clearing near the forest's heart, deliberating what to do. Not only did the maple forest no longer feel like home (if it ever had), it felt downright dangerous. She really couldn't bear to linger here much longer.

The little coyote was thinking about looking for Reek instead. She hadn't wanted to inform anyone of her intentions but maybe if she told him, he wouldn't waste time looking for her or, worse, trying to track her down and drag her back here. Also, he could let Sart know where she had gone. Hopefully he wouldn't lie about it.

She began to sniff around for the Alpha male's scent but instead she found the Alpha female's. Before Reggie could slink off to the other side of the wood, Saena appeared in front of her. Regipre crouched, then froze. Fearing corporal punishment, she blurted, "I'm leaving." Hopefully Saena would be glad about it and let her go unhindered. Maybe she would also inform her sister, though Reggie didn't dare ask for a favor.

Not cantering off every time the scent of coyote crossed her nose was an adjustment. When Saena encountered the smell again on her current trail, her body lurched a few steps forward before she snidely remembered that, ah, yes, we're the pack that unnaturally harbours lesser beasts. What a joke. As if to laugh at her own natural behaviour and how silly it was, she shook her nape out and then abruptly stopped moving when Regipre appeared in front of her.

The coyote was a lot bigger than the last time Saena had seen her. The alpha female's lip threatened to lift, but somehow stayed glued to its lower companion as the youngster announced her intentions. "And why's that?" she wondered coolly. "Are you ungrateful that my well-meaning husband saved your life and helped feed you?" That's what it sounded like to Saena, though she was intentionally making it seem that way in her head. She might've hated the pair of coyotes—although a small part of her, a very tiny part of her, might've eventually grown fond of them enough for her to tolerate them without aggression—but they were Reek's prized little pets.

If one of them went missing, it would be all Saena's fault as far as Reek was concerned, and so in order to keep herself out of trouble, it was of utmost importance to keep Regipre from going anywhere. Making her feel like a shitty little freeloader was probably not the right way to do that, but hell, the same approach would've worked on Saena in Reggie's shoes.

Vega had rounded the borders consistently since her joining -- but it also meant that she had yet to integrate in to the pack fully, meeting its members. Thus far, Citali and Saena were the only ones she knew.. but it was already far more promising than Bearclaw Valley.
 
She cringed slightly at the thought of Scarlett and her brood here, and with ears flattened, she made her way forward, paws crunching upon the fallen leaves that had been bested by the frost thus far. Winter would be upon them soon -- and she wasn't about to let the ivory Beta of her previous pack scare her away from a home that she felt she could truly enjoy.
 
Her senses were alerted to the scent of coyote once more -- this time, however, she heard Saena's voice. Moving forward, the ebony she-wolf emerged from the foliage, her eyes drifting upon her Alpha, and then the coyote baby. Indifference upon her features, Vega allowed her body to slouch lower in deference to Saena's rank.

Hello lol hope you dont mind me throwing Ash in this. Maybe a hunt involved if the coyote ends up leaving? 

"I'm leaving," muttered an unfamiliar voice that Ash chose to ignore and resume her almost nap, but then a more familiar voice was heard and she didn't sound to happy with this persons announcement. Perhaps it was a good thing that she didn't get to nap. She wasn't sure she was up for flashbacks right now. She figured if there were things to be done, then do them. The voice was that of the white alphess known as Saena. 

Yet there was also a voice that belonged to someone she had yet to meet. She hoped she wouldn't be intruding by saying a quick hello. She padded closer and spotted the alpha along with a young coyote and a black wolf she presumed was a fellow packmate. She padded into the small clearing and giving the two wolves a nod in greeting, sure to keep her head low knowing she was ranked lower than both these wolves.  "Saena," she said as she glanced towards a coyote. Hmm. Maybe they are friends? Ash gave the coyote a small nod in greeting as she knew not its name. "Something wrong?" she said glancing between the coyote and Saena. 

She sat down and watched, waiting for the reply of the coyote to Saena's question. Ash wasn't aware that the other alpha had helped the coyote but she was curious what the coyote had to say for itself since it apparently annoyed the Alpha with its previous statement.

Oops, I was shadow-posted! I edited. :)

The coyote expected Saena to delight at this news and encourage her (possibly even with her teeth) to scram. Instead, the Alpha female shot two scathing questions at Reggie. She somewhat believed that Reek was well-meaning but she no longer believed that he had saved her life. He had taken herself and Sart away from their mother and literally brought them into a den of wolves. They weren't liked, they weren't even safe.

As for the latter part, Reggie could safely say, "I only eat what I catch." And that was why she was taller but much skinnier now. She hadn't eaten anything Reek had brought her since the first few weeks of her stay. She only ate what she could procure for herself. "I—" she began to add when another wolf arrived, the one she had spotted conversing with Auntie on the borders recently. Then a third wolf appeared, this one unfamiliar.

She made a split-second decision (or perhaps it was less a decision than an instinctive impulse) and bolted. She was light as a feather as she darted through Phoenix Maplewood, avoiding the various footpaths and crashing through the underbrush instead. It would make it more difficult for them to follow her, in case they gave chase.

You asked for a hunt! :P

"How rude of you to refuse our hard-won food," she murmured just as Vega drew up with the crunching of leaves. Saena turned her head to gaze briefly at the long-legged beauty, and her lips had just pursed to ask what Vega, who seemed unperturbed by Regipre's presence, thought of their coyote friends when Ashka pulled up as well. The red-haired wolf seemed a lot more clueless about what was going on here and voiced the question that both Saena and Vega seemed to have silently answered. Saena couldn't really blame her for it, though. Not all of them were acquainted with the pack's charity cases, for that's what Saena saw them as. Little moochers.

For a very brief instant, nothing happened, and then Regipre turned and slammed her way into the undergrowth. Saena's hackles rippled and with a start, she threw herself forward in pursuit. "Kill her," Saena snarled as she broke away from Vega and Ashka. While her primary reason for trying to keep Reggie around was to prevent herself from being on the end of Reek's ire, there was another reason: Reggie knew their secrets. "She knows too much to leave here alive." And then she surged into a gallop, one that strained her still-healing injuries greatly, but she ignored them.

The coyote proved wily, as was her nature, when she chose to run through the thicker foliage. It would definitely slow the wolves down, and so Saena didn't even attempt it. She chose a well-worn path, somewhat parallel to Regipre, and could only hope that Vega and Ashka had split up in other directions so that by the time they reached the forest's edge, they might have the young coyote in a three-way vice grip.

Saena murmured a response to the coyote's quip -- one that had made Vega bristle slightly. Her gaze would fall to her Alpha's mouth as Saena was about to ask her a question, but the arrival of another interrupted such a thing. Vega's gaze crept to the other she-wolf, one she recognized from the day the intruder had come to the borders, but also one she did not know otherwise. About to reassure her pack mate that nothing seemed to be wrong, Vega's own response was quickly clipped shut when the coyote cub bolted.
 
Vega blinked, and Saena was quick to action. Spouting off something about secrets of the pack, Vega's own eyes widened as she made to catch up to the Alpha -- her own paws thrumming against the autumn foliage as she made to dart through the trees. She could not follow the little scamp, and as Saena veered off another path, Vega did so on the opposite side, hoping they could at least corner the coyote in should it try to steer directions.

The coyote had barely spoken a word before she bolted. Like lightning she ran through the bushes. Quickly glancing at saena she listened as the white alpha explained the coyote couldn't leave here alive. It knew too much. She was immediately on the tail of the the wolves chasing after the coyote. 

Saena and Vega split up and Ash made the decision to follow the black fae instead of the alpha. She only caught glimpses of the coyote as it ran and darted in and out of the brush. Her legs were keeping up with the coyote well though. Turns out the hunting came in handy. She was agile which made great for when chasing foes or prey.

Sorry its short. Yes i did ask for a hunt haha this works :P She's proving herself cuz shes fast.

The fleeing coyote did not hear the Alpha female's malicious words, though the sound of three wolves pursuing her through the forest told her that she had been right about everything. Saena had wanted her dead all along. They all did. Reek surely wouldn't lift a finger to save her from his wife, so Regipre didn't bother calling for him.

But she did shout a breathless, "Sart!" if only to warn her sister of the wolves' treachery. Heart pounding, the fleet-footed prairie wolf sprinted forward as the trees thinned and she approached the borders. She did not think the wolves would stop right away, though once she crossed the invisible line, surely they wouldn't pursue her far. Of course, she didn't realize that Saena would do anything to stop her from escaping.

She broke from the tree line, darting to the side and unknowingly putting herself directly in the black wolf's (Vega's) path. Panic started to give way to hope as she built up even more speed. But quick and lithe and graceful as she was, Reggie didn't notice the invisible trap: a gopher hole underfoot.

She felt something give and the instantaneous snap of her fragile metacarpus. Simultaneously, she pitched forward, nearly biting off her tongue as her chin hit the dirt. Reggie rolled, yanking her broken limb free from the gopher hole. She made to spring back to her feet, though she could feel the ground shaking and hot breath washing over her haunch already as one of the wolves closed in.

She pushed herself harder than she'd pushed herself in days. The trespasser a few days past had not required this much movement; she'd been a bit imbecilic, in the alpha female's mind, and had stood there while the pack closed in. Regipre was smarter, to the coyote's credit, and fleeter of foot than Saena could hope to be in her condition. Her wounds weren't healed enough for full mobility. Slowly but surely, despite her determination, she began to fall behind.

But Vega and Ashka were still in pursuit. It was anyone's game, and she had full confidence one of them would catch the slippery little bitch before she got too far. Saena panted raggedly, screwed up her face through the pain, and broke from the borders with an uneven drumming of her paws. She would need to favour her injured leg soon, and she would fall even further behind then.

Just as she was about to call off the chase, recognizing that the coyote had the advantage on flatter ground, Regipre fell. It was like something out of a cartoon. Had the situation not been so serious, the alpha female would be rolling with laughter, but instead her heart surged with hope and she forced herself to go faster, to try to close that gap and dispatch Reggie before she had the opportunity to tell the world about Phoenix Maplewood and bring war to their doorstep.

Could the coyote do it? Probably not, but the alpha female certainly worried that she could.

Feel free to injure Vega in the process of escape. :) She could use some deep gashes or scars.

The coyote pup ran – slender limbs, pale fur. Vega’s chase was followed by that of the other pack mate she had yet to formally meet – but both wolves paws thundered along the ground as the little creature flew away from them with an impressive speed. The silhouette of the pup reminded her almost that of a wolf pup, and a frown would drift over her ebony features as she felt a lingering discomfort at becoming such a threat to something that could do her no harm.
 
But this was an order from Saena, and coyote’s always grew to be menace’s. If there was a secret the Alpha wished to protect that this imp knew about, Vega would do her best to protect it.
 
And so fate would shine down upon them – the coyote pup tripped, sprawling to the dirt. Her jaws were quick to snap forward – to grasp at the limb closest to her and tug viciously, withholding the coyote pup to place, though her teeth would sink in to flesh more than she had hoped to do so. Blood entered her senses, and with a snarl she made to hold the creature, waiting for further orders – Saena had said to kill, but had she meant it?

Ashka ran heart racing. Following orders from the white Alphess. it seemed as though this coyote knew something Saena did not wish be spoken outside of the borders of the Maplewood and Ash was determined to not let that happen. Her fast legs came into great use on the chase as she was managing to keep good pace with the black female that had joined them. She wasn't sure who the wolf was but seeing as though they had more important things to attend to. She deemed it not a good idea for introductions.

Out of the blue almost as if by fate the Coyote tripped and fell. Ash looked briefly up at the sky then to the black female beside her. Watching as the wolf lunged at the coyote pup grasping onto the closest thing she could. The black wolf had inflicted damage to the young coyote but sure not life threatening. Orders had been to kill but Ashka stopped and watched as the white Alphess approached. 

She let out a low growl. The black fae seemed to have the coyote under control plus she was fairly sure the pup had broken something in the fall. This coyote wasn't going anywhere but Ashka didn't let her alertness faulter just in case. She waited for further orders from the Alpha as a hard gaze remained on the coyote.

Apologies for the late reply Crazy busy. X.x

It wasn't Saena but one of her two unfamiliar henchmen. Before Regipre could register much more than that, teeth closed around her already broken leg, crushing with brutal force and nearly tearing the limb from her body. The coyote couldn't help but unleash a wretched scream. The she-wolf did not release her but because the leg was so badly mangled, it slipped from her hold and fell to the ground in a heap of pulped tissue and bone shards.

Adrenaline kicked into full force. Without even realizing what she was doing—and, mercifully, feeling no pain at the moment—Regipre somehow managed to leap to her three good feet. She began to bound away, her movements awkward and her mutilated leg dragging. If she fell again, she wouldn't get back up. If the wolves caught up to her, she was done for. The coyote didn't look back. Reggie just kept running for her life.

I'm gonna go ahead and wrap this one up since I've let it get so outdated that Vega is gone now. I'll leave it up until Thursday night to allow for final posts if anyone wants to make them. Thanks for participating, guys!

The injuries she'd sustained in the recent past took their toll now. Though she was able to run, the strain on her still healing wounds was greater than expected and her legs began to slow as her hindquarters began to ache. Each wrenched step sent pain shooting through her leg and the place where her tail once was. Saena kept pace enough to see when Vega and Ashka caught up to Regipre and the coyote went down, and she was close enough to smell the burst of blood on the wind when Vega's teeth tore into Regipre's leg, but she wasn't close enough to prevent the coyote from getting up and miraculously fleeing.

The kid must've been tougher than she looked, because Saena would never have managed to run on a leg bleeding that freely. The alpha female snarled and tried to surge after Regipre, but the coyote was too fast even with her injury and the alpha's scars were pulling too tightly now for her to hope to keep up. She eventually drew to a halt, breath ragged, and yelled, "damnit!" at the retreating coyote's back. With her lips pulled back over her teeth, the alpha female turned and headed back to the maplewood, collecting Vega and Ashka on the way.