Phoenix Maplewood Doomed or Saved

Saena's ears perk when a summoning howl floods the warm air of the wood. She hoists herself to her feet from her place just outside the entrance of the den, leaving the cubs in Casmir's capable hands, and sets out immediately. The call was breathless and frantic, so the Alpha female picks up her feet so as to make good time. She's loathe to leave her cubs behind, but they're still too young to do much of anything, so she can't take any of them with her. Her brisk march transforms into a canter when the sharp tang of blood hits her senses. Her tongue pokes out anxiously and her heart thrums in her chest, as this means one of two things: one of her subordinates is injured and needs help, or a trespasser has entered the woods and was taken care. Neither bodes well for the Alpha.

She spots Esaro between the trees and wheels, coming to a halt when she sees he's wounded. The mugginess of the air intensifies the scent. She opens her mouth to ask what happened, assuming it's the work of a trespasser or loiterer, when the scent of smoke and the scent of the bitch at the river reaches her suddenly, like a slap across the snout. She sniffs tentatively, hoping she's mistaken, but Esaro smells of their enemies.

"What the hell did you do?" she asks, heart seizing in her chest with fear and anxiety as she silently prays, please say this is a mistake, I must be mistaken, please. Her threats to the Dragon pack were mostly empty and intended to keep the two packs separate, not to start an actual war that the Phoenix wolves are in no position to fight. She knows naught of Esaro's frequent defiance of her rules, so this situation throws her for a loop, and she's desperate to believe there's an explanation that doesn't include breaking Saena's law about going north.