Emberwood O the wild charge they made

Saena's eyes swept the dark woods as she advanced, flanked by the wolves of the maplewood, and at long last they flushed out their adversaries. Aaron arrived first, stating the obvious, and soon he was joined by three women, all petite, and one bearing the look of youth, though Saena could never be certain about yearlings. Cocky as she was, the Phoenix leader eyed each of them in turn and was unable to hide the upward turn at the corner of her lip. If this was the force he had amassed—three women, and all of them unlikely more than equal matches for the similarly slender alpha—then they had nothing at all to worry about here. Injuries would be scarce, if it came to that.

"As promised," she told the lead male, her eyes seeking him and meeting his confidently. Whatever authority he thought he had in these woods, thought Saena, was coming to a very swift end. "I promised you death if you didn't leave," she glanced sidelong at Reek on her left, Tavi on her right, and concluded, "and here you stand. Am I to assume you've chosen death for yourself and these ladies?" A shameful, prideful thing to do, thought the lead bitch, but perhaps he felt it necessary to make a point. Perhaps his true forces were hiding deeper in the woods, ready to route the Phoenix Maplewood pack should they advance. All possibilities, and yet she felt confident in their show of force.

The ball was now squarely in Aaron's court. Fight or flight?