The Fox Who Ran with Wolves

1

   With a yelp, Moon jerked awake. The familiar nightmare had woken her again. Her leg hurt, a pain that was as normal as the weird dream that came almost every other night. It was always the same: shadowy figures, howls, yips, and her mother's voice giving a threat that terrified a small silver thing away from a crumpled Moon. She had no idea what it meant, and who, or even what, the two silver figures were remained a mystery. But it had to be connected to her twisted leg. That much she knew.
   Standing up and looking around the underground den, Moon saw that her mother was already gone. Hunting, most likely, just like every morning. Moon's stomach rumbled. She hoped her mother would bring back a mouse (Moon's favorite) but even a beetle would be fine now.
   Moon paced a bit more until her hurting leg convinced her to stop. There was no use using it more than she had to. Even five months after the three week old her had broken it, her leg had never healed properly and never stopped aching. It was always worse after the dream.
   Her boredom increased to unbearable levels, and Moon sniffed outside before determining it safe. "Never go outside if you smell even a hint of wolf," her mother always said. "A wolf will tear you apart in a moment, no matter how cool you think they are."
   Yeah. And when has that happened to me before? It wasn't as if a wolf had been the one to break her leg; she would have remembered meeting one. Even if one had, she was sure it would never come back for her. Surely they had the heart to leave her alone if they knew she couldn't fight.
   Moon limped through the den's entrance, relishing the feeling of cool air in her fur. She could only stand the claustrophobic den for so long.
   Just as she stepped out, a flash of red fur rushed toward her.
   "Moon, get inside," her mother said urgently around a mouthful of dead rabbit, offering no more explanation.
   "Why? I just got out. I don't smell any wolves nearby." Moon was nudged toward the den anyway, her question ignored.
   The moment they got inside, the red vixen dropped the rabbit, but didn't eat. She only muttered in fear, "He's back. He's back. He's back..."
   "Who's back?" Moon asked. She'd never heard anything about a "he" who would be back for either of them.
   "Nobody. Nobody you would remember. It's nothing. It's fine. We're not going to be attacked. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine."
   Whatever it was, it obviously wasn't going to be fine. Moon had never seen her mother as terrified as now. "What are you so nervous about? You said we'd never made any enemies. So what is it? What's wrong?"