Phoenix Maplewood What's the time, Mr Wolf

She couldn't take the anxiousness any longer. After waiting two days for Thuringwethil to reappear, Wildfire could no longer sit still. She set out from the empty den, making a beeline toward the nearest borderline before abruptly stopping halfway there. Which direction should she go? There was no way to pick up a distinctive scent trail from anywhere inside or even just outside the territory, what with the concentration of markers there. The Bandrona would have to rely on logic and reason, which weren't exactly her strong points in her current disquieted state.

Where might the Heda go without telling her own mate? The maple forest! Wildfire's mind screamed at her. Without thinking, the yearling began to lope south and west, splashing through the river without a care. Maybe Thur went to hunt down the bear, she thought crazily as she hoisted her wet and shivering body onto the opposite bank and resumed her swift gallop. She ignored the occasional twinge in her thigh, just as she disregarded the threat of danger here. There was no bear for Thuringwethil to find, yet Saena could still be loitering here to finish what she'd started.

When she smelled blood, Wildfire's heart flew into her throat. Maybe the Heda had come here and fought with her mate's disenfranchised sister. After frantically following the smell, the Bandrona arrived to find a strange wolf feeding on a deer carcass. Relief swept over her when she realized there were no dead wolves in the vicinity, though she couldn't hold back from barking rather brusquely at the stranger, "Have you seen a big black she-wolf around here?"