Beneath a Bloodred Sky (IVORY RIDGE)

Chaos followed his alpha's lead as she entered the labyrinth, tracing that scent through the twining canyons. His ears and tail quivered with the excitement of the chase, but his eyes held a deadly seriousness. Suddenly, they were brought face to face with their quarry. Raba took off after her, Chaos on her heels, but when the much smaller female slipped into a crack Chaos couldn't follow through. With a snarl of frustration, he spun in place and sprinted along the larger passage, looking for a way through the maze that would bring him to where Raba was still chasing the poisoner. He thought Birna was nearby, but when he glanced back she was gone. He had just managed to pick up the trail when Birna's howl drew him back into a sprint. Coming on them he saw blood splashed on Raba's muzzle, and the alpha lying still. "Raba!" he snarled, shock and worry evident on his face. He made as if to follow Maggie's trail to avenge two pack mates now fallen, but hesitated instead. Raba was still alive, her chest rising and falling with breath despite the obvious struggle, and while she still drew breath his first duty was to her. "We need to get her back to the healers," he rumbled. Glancing back along Maggie's trail he added, "but we can't let that creature get away either." He gnashed his teeth fretfully a moment before firming his jaw. The crevasse was much too small for him anyway, and more time would be wasted that Raba might not be able to afford. Instead he crouched his lengthy form down next to Raba to gently lick her scruff. He'd never really noticed before how much his fangs got in the way for this - probably because he had only ever been offered affection, not the other way around. Would he have felt this way for Rhys if he had been given the opportunity to grow up beside his half-sister? He rather thought so. He would rather have had Raba for a sister than Vana, anyway. "Raba, you still with us?" he murmured to her with a pretty decent attempt at humor in his tone. "Did you get a bite in for me?"