Whitebark Stream its been too long

Fuck that cunt of a bear, Saena thought venomously for the fifteenth time in the last few days. The three wolves who had rallied against the bear had somehow failed to deter it in spite of their best efforts, and now Citali's garden and several caches were destroyed. The bear had rampaged for a full day while the injured trio fought to contain themselves and nurse their injuries, but eventually the maplewood went quiet again. Arion was sent on a thorough search of the forest and had reported back that there were no signs of the bear in their interior. That wasn't good enough, though; the alpha soon insisted on checking out the surroundings. After much grumbling and groaning on the part of Saena, who insisted she was still an alpha and had to keep up with her responsibilities, she permitted Citali to join her in order to keep an eye on her injuries.

Secretly the pied wolf was glad for her company, but admitting her limitations was hard for her. She could walk only a fraction of her usual pace thanks to the ache and pull of scabs where her tail was wrenched free and the prominent limp in her left hind leg. The bear had done the most damage there, cutting deeply with its nails, though Saena missed her tail far more than a chunk of flesh from her limb. Though the wound on her leg was hot and stung almost all the time, her missing tail was like a phantom limb and every time she tried to lift it and remembered it wasn't there brought tears to her eyes.

Those eyes were hardened now as the pair trekked slowly and laboriously across the chilly taiga. She was so focused on finding that god damned bear that she didn't even notice that the wound on her leg was wet again until Citali pointed it out. "Fucking thing," Saena hissed as she slowed down and gave the healer access to it. She wanted to declare that if it got infected she would kill someone, but she knew better than that; it would be an insult to the healers in the pack to assume that would happen at all. Citali knew what she was doing, perhaps even moreso than Reek did.

While Citali examined her leg, Saena lifted her head to survey the landscape to the southwest and grew rigid when she caught sight of another wolf traipsing along. It was unaccompanied, and from this distance, Saena couldn't tell if it was male or female, loner or pack wolf. Taking a chance on normal wolves' kinder attitudes and knowing Citali could hold her own against any wolf foolish enough to take on two, Saena sucked in a deep breath and called out, "hoy!"