Phoenix Maplewood Out of This World

It was unwise to be out on border duty while getting near to the end of her pregnancy, but Saena no longer had a co-leader to rely on. Being the pack's most dominant wolf, she needed her scent to also be the most dominant, so she spent a few hours every day tending to the borders. It gave her something to do, something to take her mind off her nightmarish thoughts and her fear that the whole pack would follow in Lunar Eclipse's wake, and that was worth a lot to the pregnant alpha.

Normally her border patrols ended without much excitement, so she was surprised to hear a call for her echoing through the rustling forest. She switched gears, departing from the borders and heading inward. She very nearly missed Spring entirely, but swung right around a fallen tree and ended up face-to-face with her subordinate.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, pulling back a step or two while her heart hammered. "I wasn't expecting you there!" she said breathlessly, for once approaching something a little like a nervous giggle. "What's up?"