Ravensblood Forest everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Room for a sulky recruit? :3c +

They were leaving. They were leaving Ravensblood Forest and had a whopping two days to prepare. Donovan’s words weighed heavily on Finley’s shoulders as she trekked through the woods that morning, taking extra time to admire the towering sequoias and listen for the birds above. She should have been unphased, after months of wandering on her own, but this time was different. It wasn’t voluntary, not quite. They didn’t stand a chance against the surrounding packs. And of course it’d be stupid for a whole three wolves to face off against several others, it all left a sour taste in Finley’s mouth that not even sap could cure.

Muffled voices snapped her out of her daze. Without thinking Finley had wandered back southward, the same edge of the woods where she’d arrived mere days ago—and she wasn’t alone. She paused, forcing territorial urges down; this wasn’t their land to claim anymore. There were multiple wolves at the forest’s edge; yearlings, give or take. They smelled in part of a pack, the one Finley had rounded with a wide berth on her travels prior. But surely wolves this young weren’t among the leaders who’d confronted Donovan. What the hell were they here for?

The fluttering of a raven above announced her presence. Damn it. She was too comfortable, losing her caution. If these wolves went on the offense she’d be outnumbered. And so Finley stood, head high in renewed alert, ready to dart at the slightest altercation but too stubborn to leave without. Fleeing would wound what pride she had left. Which was unacceptable.