Dawn and Raven had stayed inside the den for the rest of the day. Evan had fetched them a chunk of ice for water, so the two wouldn't have to trek all of the way to the river and back without being spotted.

When the Hunters returned from their duties, it was halfway between sunhigh and sunset. Raven couldn't tell, since it had been cloudy and snowy all day, but Dawn, being a skilled Hunter, knew how to keep track of time in the bitterest of weather conditions.

As a warning, Evan had stalked into their den moments before the Hunters padded into camp. "They're back," he told the two shes.

Dawn extended her wing. "Raven, hide under here," she said. The black-furred pup dashed over to her, her dark, flightless wings flapping uselessly as she ran. She snuggled up next to Dawn, who folded up her wing to conceal the pup.

Evan set himself down next to Dawn, and wrapped his wing around her. Raven was now sandwiched between the two wolves, but remained quiet.

The adult wolves watched through the den entrance as the wolves walked into camp. Their fur coats hung heavily with wet snow clumps. They didn't carry much prey, but the few that did manage to get a catch or two held small and scrawny kills.

A ginger she-Hunter stalked into the den, staring at Evan and Dawn. "Where were you today?" she barked angrily. "We needed all of the Hunters we could! We were lucky to get just enough for the Pack, but--"

"We're sorry, Head Hunter Blythe," Evan sat up and bowed his head in respect. "Dawn has caught something... a cough."

Dawn let out the best fake cough that she could, helping Evan with his genius excuse.

"I, being a close friend, decided to care for Dawn for the day," he continued. "I know it was wrong of us to skip our Hunting duties, especially at this time of the season."

Blythe stared at the couple as Dawn let out another fake cough. "Please," the white she-wolf silently prayed. "Believe us."

Blythe huffed. "Fine," she said, still mad at the two. "but I expect your Hunting efforts to be twice as large tomorrow to make up for what you've missed today."

Evan bowed his head again, this time in gratitude. "Thank you, Blythe."

With that, the ginger she padded out of the den.

"Good thinking," Dawn praised Evan as soon as Blythe was out of earshot.

"Thanks," Evan replied. "Do you want me to get you something from the prey pile?"

"Are there rabbits? I love rabbit meat!" a muffled voice chirped. Dawn unfolded her wing slightly, causing Raven's head to pop out. "Get a rabbit, Evan! The biggest you can!"

Evan nodded and padded out of the den, only to come back moments later with a thin rabbit. Dawn frowned at its size, but Raven smiled, crawled out from under Dawn's wing, and began to ravenously tear into the prey.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Dawn and Evan were able to keep Raven out of sight from the other Hawk wolves. When the sun went down, the wolves returned to their own dens to sleep. Evan gave Dawn a swift "good night" nose touch, then padded off to his den.

Dawn curled around Raven to keep her warm. The black pup had fallen asleep almost immediately, and it wasn't long before Dawn had done so as well.

---

Dawn opened her eyes to see bloodstained snow. The unsettling sight of crimson against white sent a shiver down her spine. She quickly darted her head in all directions, searching among the tall, bare trees for the source of the blood.

There, just a hundred feet in front of her, was a hawk, twice the size of any wolf she had ever seen. Its wings were bent at odd angles, and it laid sprawled across the ground, dead. Numerous deep gashes in its skin were still oozing blood.

On top of the dead hawk stood a lone wolf, with cream-colored fur and yellowing wings. His blue eyes lit up with success, and a dark smile was on his face.

"What's Rustle doing in my dream?" Dawn thought, her purple eyes stretching wide with fear.

Rustle looked up at Dawn with his demented grin. "Run" was all he said.

"From what?" Dawn called over to him. "I'm not a coward! I'm not afraid of you!"

Rustle said nothing more, but pointed with his bushy tail to a small dark figure: Raven. She was crying for help.

Blood rushed out of the giant hawk's body like dozens of red waterfalls, beginning to flood the forest. Dawn hurriedly flapped her wings, scooped Raven up by her scruff and flew away from the rushing waves of blood. Flashes of blue, black, purple, and brown zoomed around Dawn and Raven. The flying colors collided with Dawn, and she awoke from her dream.

Dawn panted heavily, her heart pounding insanely fast. Raven's sparkling yellow eyes fluttered open and looked up at the frightened she-wolf.

"Dawn?" Raven asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

Fueled by the madness of her nightmare, the white she-wolf stood up, placed Raven onto her back, and padded out of the den.

The clouds were still covering the night sky, concealing the bright stars. The trees surrounding the camp created even darker shadows in the atmosphere.

"Dawn, what's going on?" Raven asked, somewhat scared by Dawn's strange behavior. She placed a black paw onto Dawn's forehead. "Are you sick for real?"

Dawn continued to say nothing and walked straight into Evan's den. Evan was sleeping soundly until Dawn calmly nuzzled him on the shoulder.

"Hm?" Evan groggily opened his tired brown eyes. "Oh hey, Dawn. What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

"Get up, Evan," she ordered. "The winged wolf territories are no longer safe for any of us. We're rounding up the Quads and running away."