Shy Deer Steppes Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown

When a shape suddenly emerged from the long grass due southeast of their position, Wildfire went rigid and squinted, unsure of what she was seeing. A feeling of horror then swept through her. "Wifi," she heard Magpie say calmly, an edge to her voice, "get behind me now." The pup obediently slunk closer to the yearling, never tearing her amber eyes off the large cat as it prowled nearer.

The young wolf knew nothing about feline body language, though even if she knew what a lowered tail meant, she would never trust a strange predator. When the mountain lion greeted them in a feminine voice, Magpie hunched close to the ground and Wildfire did the same. Were they about to be attacked? Was the cougar only pretending to be nice? Meanwhile, she was a little surprised that she could understand the cat.

"We mean no harm. Please let us leave," Magpie said, which triggered an internal reaction from Wildfire. If they went back to the caldera this quickly and told Peregrine what had happened, he would never let her leave again! She couldn't decide which was more frightening: the idea of being clawed to death by this deadly cat or being chained to the caldera for the rest of her life.

"Is this your territory? We didn't mean to trespass. We'll go over there," she suddenly said, standing up a bit taller as she pointed at the waterfall off in the distance. She kept her golden gaze riveted on the feline's face while she internally summoned up all of her Warrior courage.