King Elk Forest the cold earth slept below

The growl was quite effective: Bat froze in her tracks. The stranger was obviously quite cagey about her approach, so the youth took a pointed step backward. Now that she could see more of her face, Bat thought she looked slighter than most other wolves. Something about her—perhaps simply her guarded mannerisms—suddenly reminded her of Camilla.

"Hey, I come in peace," she said after taking several more slow steps backward. Bat stopped to see what the stranger would do now.