Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism

Chapter 26

Chapter 26 Taking Away the Little Wolf Cub

After another forty minutes, Violeta paused on a small hill, gazing into the distance where a red flag marked the finish line.

"See that? The finishing line is just over there. A mere two minutes, and we'll make it!

"That's a relief Kaylee plopped down on the ground, massaging her tired legs.

Meanwhile, Jezebel, seated nearby, heard a soft whimper. Turning, she spotted a furry little pup in the grass

"Look! A puppy!" Little did she know she mistook the wolf cub for a domestic pup.

Eagerly, she lured the cub with her food and water, cradling it in her arms.

The cub's whimpers caught Violeta's attention. "What's that sound? Did you guys hear it?"

Kaylee swiveled around and spotted Jezebel trying to stash the wolf cub in her bag.

"Hey, Jezebel! What on earth are you doing?"

Jezebel hesitated. "I don't know who left this little guy here. I felt sorry for it, so I considered taking it back with me."

Upon hearing Jezebel's harebrained idea, Violeta was on the brink of unleashing a torrent of

curses..

"Are you out of your mind? That's not a puppy! It's a wolf cub! Didn't I warn you? There are wild wolves in the mountains

During the hike, Violeta was on this wild wolf hunt, carefully looking for any traces of those

creatures in the area.

You'd see wild wolves in Mount Wilson from time to time, but not often. People would hike up the mountain regularly to scare them off, so the chances of bumping into them were pretty low for regular folks. But guess what? In Violeta's dream team, Jezebel turned out to be a bit of a scatterbrain. She mistook a wolf cub for a fluffy little puppy! Seriously?

steer clear of wolf territory upon catching a whiff of their distinctive scent. The fact that Jezebel failed to discern the difference is a perplexing twist in

around where wolves have

hand did a shaky dance, causing the wolf cub

grabbed her bag with one hand and said, "Hurry up! We must pick

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Wolf might show up following the scent trail later, the girls didn't

up the rear, giving out a few whimpers before

immediately, "Oh sh*t, Violeta, it's following us. What do we

howl from Mama Wolf sent shivers

heck were you doing back there? Hugging

Why blame me? Violeta's the one who dragged us down this path. It's on her! We wouldn't deal with wolves if

for show? You can't even tell a wolf from a dog, and yet you're blaming Violeta?

T..."

cut off their bickering, "Enough! Let's keep moving!

surrounded by a wolf

to safety, but she

shut their mouths and followed Violeta, hustling to distance themselves

twenty minutes in a rush took them only ten, fueled by adrenaline. They hit the finish line, collapsing onto chairs, letting the tension seep

it and hit the stopwatch, "Wow! Two hours and

and Sonya were going to complain to the instructor about Violeta. Still, before they could say anything, the head instructor

not only are you leading,

record!"

broke the record!?" Jezebel and Sonya exclaimed together, their

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rewards, right? An extra ten grand on top of the original prize

instructor nodded, Exactly too, you're looking at sixty grand and a

spot"

my god!" Kaylee was pumped, too, but she wasn't as over-the-top

Sonya