Ravensblood Forest the woods are lovely, dark and deep

I deleted my second reply and included its content in this post instead. I just wanted to note, in case anybody wondered where it went. :)

After the first round of calls, she fell silent and pricked her bat-like ears, eagerly waiting for a response. None came and her face began to fall, only to twist into a strange grimace when an unpleasant scent wafted past her nose. Not a moment later, a shape downriver caught her eye. Osprey's heart began banging in her chest when she saw the huge white cat prowling toward her along the bank. She'd never seen one before but she simply knew that this creature was Trouble, Big Trouble.

Instinctively, the puppy's fur prickled all over her body. She slung herself low to the ground and began to creep backward. She kept her eye on the cougar primarily but cast around for an escape route or, better yet, someplace to hide. But the pale mountain lion was nearly upon her before she could take action, resulting in a volley of sharp, desperate barks meant to give the larger animal pause.

As if summoned magically by her cries for help, three familiar wolves appeared consecutively within seconds. First came Saēna, slinking along heedfully. Thistle and Hawkeye arrived nearly simultaneously, throwing themselves into the fray with decidedly less caution than the pale youngster. Osprey didn't notice her little sister, though her head jerked upward, gigantic ears set quivering at the voices of both her mother figures.

The sight of Hawkeye made Junior momentarily forget all about the cougar. "Mama!" she cried, throwing herself toward the large black she-wolf (and possibly breaking Thistle's heart a bit in the process). She unwittingly put herself right between the enraged cougar and Hawkeye as she attached herself to her dam's foreleg and hugged against her with all her might.