Phoenix Maplewood and way down we go

He'd noticed the adults weren't around as often, had sensed the tension within the pack as his sister had. Unlike his sister, he saw it as a great opportunity. His excursions were frequent, but he was careful; only when his mother was asleep and the other adults were off moping or whatever did he slip past the borders. Today was one of those treasured occasions, and with it came a surprise.
The young Corten found himself equal parts concerned and excited to have found Kitten wandering outside the borders, same as him; protective instinct stirred within him, but his youth ultimately won out. It was all very exciting, after all. At some point, his sister had caught the scents of Aditya and Dawn— River, being preoccupied, was a bit slower on the uptake.
When he did catch on to the scents' new status as Thing of Interest, he was quick to involve himself fully. Ears pulled forward, nose to the ground, he noticed something strange even before the siblings just sort of, uh, walked right in. Strange scents— and then, oh, look— strange wolves to go with the strange scents! His hair stood on end immediately, the tension in the air hitting him like a ton of bricks. He realized at once that he and his sister had no place there— but when he turned to Kitten, she was already flinging herself in the middle of it.
Kitten! He scrambled after her, deciding to put himself between his sister and the strangers. Fear lifted the hairs along his spine, and he shivered, but found himself frozen. He didn't know what would happen next— what was supposed to happen next. But something would happen, he was sure of it.