Redtail Rise Þief

Masquerade obediently heeded the summons, trailing quietly after her sister. When they arrived, Masque paused to ascertain the gathering, wondering what they were meant to do. Her inquisitive gaze shifted from Avicus to Prophet to Ashlar, then back to the Wealda. She padded to join her mother, the picture of subservience.

When she came to stand at her dam’s flank, she spotted the elk grazing below. Masque stared at them, fascinated, for a long moment. Then she peered at her pack mates again, before her eyes returned to Avicus. Her body tensed as she realized her mother had gathered the pack to hunt.

Unlike her sister, she did not feel remotely ready to hunt large game with the pack. She hadn’t so much as killed a mouse on her own yet. She gulped, torn between her swiftly mounting apprehension and her unwillingness to disobey Avicus’s will.