Vaken heard the noise before he fully recognized what it was. A pup? His tail wagged happily, but his step faltered. Where there was a pup, there was an adult. He didn’t want to deal with the inquisition of another adult wolf, especially a pack member. He continued a steady pace forward though, out of curiosity. When he saw the pup standing there, alone, he gave a happy chirp.

“It’s a rainbow."

He glanced quickly up at the sky, not nearly as fascinated as the pup. "Two. That’s special.” He nodded, lowering his body closer to the ground to come across less intimidating. He took a seat on his butt, letting out a little splash of mud. His tail was now soaked in dirt. He was relieved to see a child, but a little nervous. There were coyotes around, and no one to protect the kid. He sniffed the air. "You must be good luck," he added.

He lifted a paw up, scanning the mud. "My names Vaken."

Vaken’s haunches raised and his teeth became bared. His head filled with curses and angry retorts, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to scare the pup, but he was scared. He counted four pairs of glowing eyes and felt a drop in his stomach. He couldn’t protect her from four coyotes. He wasn’t strong enough.

He quickly stepped towards the child, trying to use his paw to push her closer to his protection. If she was a fully grown wolf, he would have run. He couldn’t leave behind a child though, so he took a cautious protective stance around her and growled at the incoming threats.

He didn’t stand a chance. He knew it would be too late to run. He couldn’t carry a child in his mouth and still be quick enough to escape four snapping jaws. They weren’t afraid of him. Every encounter he had with the coyotes lately had ended in a fight, but now he was alone. Worse than alone: he had the liability of a child. "Not friends," he explained. "Bad."

Was this child going to die? He felt his heartbeat quicken. Was he going to die trying to protect a pup that wasn’t his? He let out a furious snarl, spitting saliva into the air, his eyes narrowed to slits. No way. If it came down to it, he’d run. He was hopeful that he could hurt a few of them, and then maybe they’d run away. Maybe the pup’s parents would show up.

When a coyote leapt forward, Vaken took the hit. He tried to use his backleg to push the pup into overgrowth, but was too distracted to see if it landed. He let out a yelp of pain and tried to lock his teeth into the fleshy part of its neck. He knew he was going to be overpowered. He felt another pair of teeth rip into his side, and then his back.

He glanced towards the child apologetically, but there was nothing he could do as his body slammed to the ground. He was being pinned, the four of them working together to immobilize him. "I'm sorry," he whimpered.

Vaken felt the coyote be pushed off him before he registered what was happening. At first, the other female wolf blended in, she was just another body in the crowd. Then he got a better look, peering at her brown fur and light gold eyes. She was a wolf, but not much bigger than he was. They were still outnumbered. The four coyotes still posed too big of a threat for two small wolves. He bowed his head quickly in gratitude, kicking a coyote in the face as he struggled back onto his feet.  

There was a lot of noises. He heard his own growls mixed with the females, the sobs of the pup, and the excited yips of the coyotes. He looked nervously into the distance, tempted to run. The coyotes were distracted now, ignoring him temporarily. Now would be his chance. He took a step forward, but his eyes peered over at the female. She had protected him when he was pinned. He glanced at the pup, listening to her scared whimpers. They were both in danger now. Despite wanting to run, his paws stayed glued to the floor.

The three coyotes were making their way towards the adult female. The fourth was still hidden in the overgrowth, but he heard the rustling of its paw against the ground. He let out a deep sigh, frustrated at the situation and himself. He felt the stinging on his side, an open wound. It wasn’t gashing blood, but there was an injury. He tasted blood on his lips, chunks of coyote fur sticking to his chin.

Then he heard the sound of another pair of footsteps, belonging to the large silver male. Vaken felt a wave of relief. Three against four, they could do that.

He ran towards the stranger, grabbing a coyote by the scruff and using his momentum to knock it off balance. He wished he was stronger, larger, more experienced. He wished he was the type of wolf to fight a group of coyotes singlehandedly. He was not. He had caught the attention of one of them, and that was all he could handle. He led the coyote away, side stepping away from its attacks.

His attention was focused on the one approaching him, teeth bared. When the coyote leapt towards him, Vaken tumbled away and the two rolled around in a ball of blood and fur. Sometimes his teeth would sink into the flesh of the enemy and he’d rip out a chunk of skin, victoriously scuttling away. Despite the wound on his side, Vaken was managing to avoid the deadly bites. Over the whimpers and growls, Vaken heard the snap of bone. He jerked his head over his shoulder in time to see the coyote sprint away, its jaw hanging.

When the strong male came to his aid, Vaken slowly got back onto all fours and lowered his head. He was thankful for the help, but his eyes twitched back towards the overgrowth where he knew the final coyote to be hiding. He stayed very still, worried that a quick move would be interpreted as a threat. He did not want the large silver wolf’s anger to be redirected at him. He was already wounded, and there was so much tension in the air. "One more," he panted desperately. "To your rig-"

Vaken didn’t have time to finish his sentence. From behind the silver wolf, the final hiding coyote appeared. Within a milisecond, Vaken saw his glowing eyes and the muscles in his hind legs spring to jump. He had pounced forward, sensing the vulnerability of the bulky male. There wasn’t enough time to explain. While the silver stranger was distracted with protecting Vaken, he had turned his back on a threat. Vaken jumped forward too, and the two collided in the air- coyote versus wolf.

Vaken wasn’t strong enough. He had reacted instinctively, using himself as a barrier. The coyote’s weight overthrew him, and he fell against his back with a loud cry. Kicking desperately with his back legs, Vaken’s adrenaline was all he had. The muscles in his body were sore and strained. Trying to keep his neck protected, the small wolf was practically defenceless.