She ran, trees all around her becoming nothing but a blur in her frantic dash. She could hear her pursuer close behind and felt a cry rising in her chest. She blinked once and before she could see it a protruding root caught her foot and brought her down. She rolled and shifted all at once, jumping up as a large black wolf. She heard a whistling sound behind her and realized that her pursuer was not alone, but part of a group.

She prayed to Artemis for the protection she knew was just beyond the trees, where she could become human again and be safe if only for the moment. She chanced a glance behind her and saw nothing there. She could still feel the presence of something she couldn’t pinpoint, but slowed anyway. A foolish mistake.

As soon as she felt the string break against her paw, she understood the fear her animal prey had felt before she killed them. She snapped at the mesh net that dropped from above, but it helped nothing. She shifted to woman again, her golden-yellow eyes taking in the sight of her captor.

“You ran for a long time, Fauna. I guess all that time as a predator taught you nothing of being prey.” The speaker, a tall, auburn haired girl looked down on her, her dark fringed green eyes showing nothing but contempt.

“Fuck you, Rinté! I did nothing to you or your people, release me!” Fauna’s voice betrayed no hint of the terror she felt. To her surprise, the net was taken away, but she didn’t dare to move.

“You can run again, feel free, I won’t pursue you. I can’t say the same for my team, but I can assure you that you will not be making it out of this forest alive,” She smiled coldly, “Well, there is one way… You can tell me where to find your pack, or the Jaguar and Panther clans. Just give me that information and you are free.”

Fauna felt a sob catch in her throat. Betray her family? Or the other clans? She would rather die than face the shame of betrayal.

“Not in this life, Rinté. None of-” She was cut off by the sound of a weapon sinking into flesh. Her eyes widened, falling on the silver spike in her chest. She inhaled sharply and fell back, never to rise.

The Huntress rolled her eyes, feeling rage building within her, “Always Death before Dishonor among Wolves,” She kicked the corpse, “Riyin, get someone out here to clean this mess. We’ll have to try again another night.”