Blackfoot Forest not even into another eternity

not a heartbeat after she had so brashly approached did mona recognize her potentially tragic series of errors, and instinct quailed hot in her belly. it was not the mistake of a yearling, but the deliberate misstep of one who should have known better. perturbed, aware the catlike beast could uncoil and strike in the small space, without possibility of missing, mona fought to keep her small paws from shifting against the earth.
his voice unfurled through a growl that brought low her ears, and with it the shrinking-away of her gaze. something done right, the girl scolded herself fiercely. her own tones, try as she might, would not arrive; tonguetip numb, mona felt the endless ebbing of the proper moment. "you caught that ... the rabbit the woman was trying to hunt," she blurted. "i guess i .. i was just surprised to see you, that's all."
and now mona did slink backward, her posture distinctly lacking in the idiocy that had brought her forth, but her gaze remained fascinated, riveted to the features not near the harsh and haloed glow of his own.