I felt the comforting strokes of a mother's tongue lapping against my pelt. Sprinkle had a way of dragging me into the illusion of peace, let me believe for a moment that maybe I was okay.

I growled softly, reminded of where I was. For what felt like moons I'd been confined to the den, unable to leave for more than a few instances to relieve myself or take a quick stretch. Sprinkle was nice, but she wasn't my family. And I couldn't help but feel like a prisoner.

Sometimes the other pups would pop in to look at me, and a few of them would ask to play, but otherwise I haven't lost the sense of being an outcast. I brooded silently about that until I noticed a shadow cross over the entrance.

"Nova," Sprinkle said quietly, retracting in her nest. "It's Slice."

"I know." She smells like death.

I got up slowly, peeking through the entrance. Slice seemed to be waiting for me, so I stepped outside.

What do you want? I didn't dare say it out loud.

Her pale yellow eyes were smiling down at me. "You're about the age pups leave their dens."

I lifted my head. "So I can go home?"

"There's someone I'd like you to meet first."

Slice turned, leading me through the camp. I followed reluctantly. I didn't trust her. Whoever she had to show me couldn't be good. But . . . there was no way I could outrun her or the rest of the pack. I have to get back to my family.

A couple of the other wolves were staring at us as we passed. I couldn't tell what they were thinking except they each bowed slightly when Slice came by. Their respect was littered with fear.

We entered the forest, ducking under the dappled cover of trees. It was dark as night underneath the thick branches, smelling damp with rain and mildew. Mud stuck between the crevices of my paws, my claws scratching deep marks into the ground.

Yeesh. I wrinkled my snout. Slice really stinks like death.

I resisted the urge to ask where we were going, instead waiting until the moment we reached what appeared to be a short cliff face bordering a sinkhole in the ground where a huge tree had been uprooted. The darkness was unimpeded, broken by a couple strands of light. I could hear no stream here, no signs of life from the camp. It reeked with decay.

"You said someone . . ."

"I did. His name is Fang," Slice answered, suddenly coming up behind me. Terror consumed my reflexes. She shoved me over the ledge so forcefully, so without warning, that I didn't realize what had happened until I hit the ground.

The smell was so bad I teared up, choking. I groaned.

It groaned.

Wait, what? Peering through the dim, I recognized the source of the odor to be a large, ragged heap on the ground. Portions of fur were ripped apart around it, scattered across the dirt. Bones, blood, and bits of flesh mingled with the scent of disease.

The heap rumbled, shaking, rising onto its forelegs. His eyes opened, bloodshot. Bubbling drool dripped from his snarling set of fangs.

I had to run. There was no choice.

I knew what this was. Rabies. It was a disease no one could escape. Once bitten, the sickness traveled to the soul, damaging a wolf's ability to recognize others, their sense of being. They became violent, uncontrollable, unstoppable. Worst of all . . . they didn't live very long.

"Oh, don't bother running!" Slice called loftily, chuckling with a breathy evil. "Fang wanted to see you most of all, you know! You wouldn't be wise to disappoint him."

As if on cue, Fang lunged forwards, his body flailing at unnatural angles. I yelped, staggering backwards. My back hit the cliff wall, plant roots catching at my fur. They dug into my skin.

Fang crashed into the side of the cliff too, folding over himself. He howled — an agonizing, ear-splitting cry.

"COME BACK TO ME!" he screeched, tearing at the rocks, his own tail as it fell over his muzzle. "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

I stood frozen to the spot. This wolf . . . he was not only sick, but something was seriously wrong with him. His legs. Oh stars.

Fang's hind legs were completely broken, dangling behind him like a snake attached to its prey. They must have been broken for a while, because they were rotting horribly. A few flies flocked to the parts of him that his hair couldn't cover, though they were shaken off with his every floundering motion.

Slice leaned over the ledge to grin at us, revealing rows of glinting teeth. "Such a touching reunion."

"N-no . . ." My voice caught in my throat. I found myself shrinking, tearing up to the point where I was relying on my ears to catch the sshf, shhff, kkkhhsshff of Fang dragging himself closer. "No . . . M-mother . . . no . . .! Moonlight! Father! No!"

"DON'T LEAVE!" Fang yelled, clawing impulsively towards me. His dribbling jaws clamped down multiple times in my direction.

"N-no! No!" I flung myself back, tumbling to the base of the fallen tree. The shadows wobbled in the evening light. I scrambled for purchase, wildly gripping at the bark. I just have to climb it!

I felt my feet leave the ground the second Fang impacted with the wood, smashing splinters into the air. Aagh! My stomach dropped, the world shaking.

I was going to fall.

Fang was going to bite me.

I would never see my family again.

"P-please . . .! Please, no . . ." I didn't know how much further I could climb. But I made my limbs move, pulling myself up. Up. Away.

The sky appeared above me. I clung to that, doing my best to ignore the angry howls below.

Finally, it seemed the tree jutted over the rest of the forest, no longer in the ditch. The setting sun cast warm swatches of color across the branches and leaves in the distance. Glancing down, I could see Fang lose sight of me, writhing in a sad pit of mud and animal remains.

"Nova! Where do you think you're off to?"

Slice had circled the pit, approaching the area where the dead tree leveled out with the rest of the forest. I had to hurry.

If I was going to survive, I had to hurry.

The ground approached me at a dizzying speed. I crumpled on the grass, gagging as the air left my chest. Move. Move.

I gathered my composure and pelted in the direction opposite the Fernshroud camp. My lungs and muscles burned. I could hear Slice's heavy paws pounding behind me.

I whipped between trees, under bushes, through clumps of nettle that stung my wounds. She would know this area, every crack, every turn. She could call the rest of the wolves running. I would have no chance.

I c-can't run much more . . .! S-stars . . .! Please help me!

I was getting lost. The landscape began repeating itself. Slice was much closer than I would have liked.

"N-no . . ." I whispered, puffing. My tail slid between my legs. No . . . Where am I?

That was when I heard the water.

The river, the ocean, the far off crashing of waves. Was it a sign?

No. It was real.

I could see the ground become rocky up ahead. I used an unexpected burst of energy to dash towards it, leaping into the stream. The water hit me — cold, powerful, an escape.

The current dragged me towards the falls once more, quickly losing my trail. All I would have to do is find a place to get out of the water where Slice couldn't see.

I heard her scream my name a moment later somewhere upstream, having followed my scent. I took the opportunity to beat a path across to the other side, forcing my bogged fur up onto the sandy shore.

This side of the river didn't have many places to hide, but hopefully Slice wouldn't be able to track me here. She was probably smart enough to figure out I used the current to run from her. But she probably underestimated me, too.

There was a large rock sitting beneath a pine tree to the left of me. I bolted towards it, kicking up sand so harshly that my tracks were scattered away. At the base of the rock, I started digging furiously.

Slice could be heard bursting a path in the forest towards me, howling, screeching my name and commands for her pack. More howls echoed in the forest.

I dug faster, disappearing into the dampness of the sandy hole. I tried to cover myself up the best I could from inside, shrouding my vision in near complete darkness. The tree's roots pressed into my hind legs, but I held my breath, waiting.

The commotion outside grew louder, more chaotic. My heart beat relentlessly from exhaustion and fear. Please . . . Stars, please. Please let me live.

I breathed in slowly. The howls were starting to fade, concentrating in the direction of the waterfall. It wouldn't be safe to stay in my hole for the night, but if I left there was a chance I would be spotted.

I waited only a few more breaths longer, daring to take my chances. With a shove, I broke free of the hole.

No one was around me. Good.

And just like that, I took off.