Fox's Glade lush life

The cat caught her scent and Reggie's heart thumped painfully in her chest. As he rose from the water, she flattened herself beneath the shrub, aware that her attempts to hide were entirely futile. He prowled in her direction, his frighteningly bright eyes scouring the underbrush before pinning on her. She felt her bowels loosen, though she didn't soil herself—yet. When the cougar hissed, her ears disappeared against her skull and her golden eyes narrowed in a grimace. The normally fearless young coyote quivered as he bared his yellowed fangs, his hot breath washing over her.

He did not strike immediately. He spoke a word she didn't know, then demanded to know what had happened to her leg. Still stricken with fear, Reggie glanced at her bleeding stump. If the mountain lion didn't kill and eat her, she would surely die of blood loss or infection at this point. She didn't think about that now; if she had, she might have realized that dying at the mountain lion's paws would be the swiftest, most merciless option. At this moment in time, Regipre was running on instincts, which dictated that she do whatever it took to stay alive.

If the big cat wanted to talk, perhaps there was a remote chance she could stave off an attack, Regipre thought wildly. Her lips parted and for once in her life she did not speak in a cool, flat tone. Her voice shook. "Wolves," she answered, eyes flicking briefly upward. Yet the cat's countenance was so fearsome she immediately dropped her gaze and shrank even more. "They maimed it and I removed it myself," she added almost too quietly to be heard, her mouth having gone dry.