Phoenix Maplewood You were my courage, my sword and shield

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.