stories, but she did know this: tired anger radiated from Shade like heat. He was tired of being angry, but he didn’t know any other way to mourn for Kestra. Guilt was fueling that anger, and so he tortured himself inside, thinking he didn’t deserve to make it stop.

          Shaila watched his face. “You miss her, huh?”

          Shade’s frown deepened, but he didn’t look at her. “Miss who?”

          She pushed his paw gently. “You know who.” When she got no response, she dared to say the forbidden word: “Kestra…”

          Shade hunched his shoulders at the name, and Shaila saw him struggle with himself. Finally he took a deep breath, and turned his head until he was staring fiercely at his sister. “Shaila, why are you doing this?”

          “I’m trying to bring you out from under your dark little thundercloud,” Shaila cried, “You’re giving us all grief, Dirt. Mom and Dad are worried, Remus has enough to think about already, and I want you to stop hating yourself for this. It’s done; Kestra’s gone. You can’t change the past, but you can control how you deal with it. And right now you’re not doing anyone any favors, including yourself.”

          “Shaila.”

          She looked up. Shade was staring off into the distance again, but this time his eyes were hard and empty. She went quiet.

          “Shaila, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. But unless you can bring back the dead, you can’t help me.”

          Their conversation was interrupted by a panicked yell. “Help!”

          Shaila looked up to see the rest of the White Storm pack and their Eagle Pass guide stampeding towards them. She and Shade leapt to their feet, and Shade ran out to meet the thundering pack.

          “What happened?” he shouted.

          “Lynx!” the guide yelled, “One of the elders collapsed at the edge of the forest, and a lynx came out of nowhere and attacked him! He has to see a Healer!”

          Shaila’s sharp eyes spied a beaten and bloodied wolf being carried across two wolves’ backs at the center of the mob. Behind them leaked a dark trail of blood which was trampled into the snow by a hundred paws.

          Shade skidded back to the cave entrance and pushed each wolf through. “Go, go, go! Is the lynx gone?” he asked the guide.

          “Yes,” he replied, “The pack fought it off. I need to tell Remus about this!”

          “No,” Shade said, “Make sure the pack gets to the valley. I’ll tell my sister myself.” He looked over his shoulder. “Shaila!”

          “What?” she asked.

          “Try and cover up the trail they left,” he said, and he and the guide disappeared into the cave.

          “What?!” Shaila cried, “But-! I-!” She sighed heavily in exasperation, and resignedly padded out to note the damage done.

          The blood ran on for as far as she could see, and it was smashed with the snow into a nauseating light red. An involuntary shudder skittered down her spine, and she prayed the wolf would be all right. She also prayed Shade and Remus could speak to each other without it becoming a verbal showdown of insults and harsh words. Even with all the blood staining the snow, Shaila sadly had to admit to herself that the former was more likely than the latter.

          She sighed again and muttered aloud, “What am I supposed to do about this?” She tried moving the spattered snow around until it was somewhat less red and wiping it down with her tail, but it soon became clear it would take a snowfall to completely hide the mess.

          Shaila followed the trail to the forest, when her nerves suddenly were on edge. Her gaze darted among the trees, but there was no one there. She shivered, and resumed her work, the quiet beating down on her ears. How long had it been since she had been alone? ‘You’re overreacting,’ she told herself, ‘You’re not used to it being quiet anymore.’ Still, something didn’t feel quite right.

          At a wail from the wind Shaila spun around. Flecks of metal shot through her blood. Again she searched her surroundings, but she found nothing. Thoughts of the hunter made her scalp prickle. She had to get back to Eagle Pass, out of danger. She jumped lightly out of the blood-riddled snow and took a step forward.

          Iron jaws clamped around her paw. She leaped back with a strangled yelp, but the trap dragged its teeth through her skin, pulling her ankle out of joint. Pain choked up on her leg and shot through her in electric flashes. Panic flooded her mind as she frantically pulled to get away, but the teeth dug in deeper with every tug. Her breaths came faster as she tried to comprehend the surprise and the danger.

          Shock rolled up from her leg to crash through the rest of her body. Her ankle throbbed, and Shaila forced herself to freeze, even as panic flew like flames through her mind. She gasped in air, and then bent down to examine the trap. Its metal jaws had sunk deep into her leg. Her white paw was spattered with her own scarlet blood, and she had to force herself to keep her wits even as the sight and smell made her mind and stomach swirl. She tried tugging at the trap itself with her teeth, but all it gave her was a sore mouth.

          She looked around, half-expecting to see some kind of predator lurking behind the trees. When would the others start searching for her? When would they even notice she was missing? How many would be brave enough to risk leaving Eagle Pass? Her hope dimmed as she considered anyone who could possibly save her. Shade – well, Shade had his helpful bursts, but would he care enough to go look for her? Especially if he got into one of his moods. Remus was almost always too busy with the pack leaders’ problems and her own issues to note Shaila’s opinions, never mind her presence. Flint, Aleu, Quicksilver, and Linder would risk anything for her, but she rarely saw them anymore. It could be nightfall before they noticed her absence. Shaila grew cold at the realization that she was stuck.

          Suddenly she was hit by a blast of pure terror, and frantically she began biting, scratching, scrabbling, and pulling at the trap with all her strength. Pain slashed up her leg, but through the agony screamed the thought that blocked her ears to her own whines and whimpers: ‘I have to get free! Have to be free! Free-!’

          The blue-gray sky darkened as the sun slowly rolled towards the west. Shadows stretched to finger the east, and a chill spun through the air on the frigid breath of the north wind.

          Panting, exhausted, Shaila slumped down onto the ground in helpless defeat. Her paw was cut and bruised and wet with blood, and her ankle twinged with dull pain. She had to give up.

          Footsteps crunched softly through the frost, and Shaila sat up. Before her crouched the likes of a nightmare she had only seen once before: a hunter.

          Her whole body trembled. Her first instinct was to try and run, but her legs wouldn’t listen. She could only watch, petrified, as the hunter’s hand reached out towards her. She felt a sharp pain at the base of her neck, and she threw herself back against the trees.

          Then everything began to unravel. Her vision began to cloud, and the image of the hunter drained away along with her fear. Fog swirled over every thought, every feeling inside her brain, and Shaila felt her eyes close and her head hit the ground as the darkness swallowed her whole.

          Gold strands of sunlight seared through Shaila’s eyelids to make circles of yellow light behind her eyes. She moaned groggily, but then memory made her eyes snap open and her brain switch on in horror. She jerked her head up and took in her surroundings.

          She was in the forest, that much was certain. Pine and maple trees reached high above her head until only a patch of gray sky remained between their topmost branches. The hunter from last night’s living nightmare sat a few feet away calmly stoking a small fire. She stiffened, her heart pounding in her ears.