Vaken ferociously ate the carcass of a decaying bird. The majority of meat was gone, feasted on by other wildlife. Nothing but feathers and blood remained, tangled up in the grass. He lapped at it shamelessly, burying his muzzle into the dirt to rub his face in. It had taken him three days to travel to Sacred Grove from Lost Lake, and he hadn’t caught a lot of prey. Serpent’s Pass had been horrendous. He was sure he could have made the trip in just two, maybe one and a half without a break, but he liked to take stops and restore his energy. Wasn’t that one of the blessings of being a lone wolf? He got to go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

He sneezed, a puff of dusk expelling from his nostrils. The dirt and feathers were tickling his whiskers and dirt was getting in his nose. He was covered in mud, twigs and other shrubbery. He hadn’t taken a swim at Lost Lake and it showed. He was matted and gross, but happy. He pressed his mouth against one last bone and gnawed. It didn’t have any flavour, but it kept his mouth busy and faked the movement of truly eating.

There were a few birds perched along the ground floor, pecking at berries and plants. He wondered if he’d be able to catch one and enjoy a fresh meal, but he was tired. After sitting in the hot sun the last few days, it felt like heaven to relax beneath trees. He dropped the bone from his mouth and yawned. His eyelids were getting heavy and he didn’t feel like moving at all. Closing his mouth, he rested his head on his front paws and shifted his weight into a sleeping position. Let the coyotes get me, he thought. At this point, he wanted an hour nap more than he wanted safety.

Vaken barely even opened his eyes at the alarmed cries of the male. He was disinterested. Ten coyotes? Ten coyotes was an exceptionally large number. He had seen three, four on occasion. He sniffed, trying to catch a whiff of anything abnormal. It didn’t smell like ten coyotes. The smell of coyote was faint and stale on the breeze. His nose crinkled and he let out a slightly frustrated sigh. What was going on?

The chaos was the most frustrating part. The small wolf had just been trying to take a nap after his meal. Being so rudely awaken, especially for a false alarm, made the wolf’s blood boil. When he was shoved, his upper lip raised in a vicious snarl. The jolt pushed him onto his feet, his tail raising and fur bristling. Vaken was usually fairly calm and conflict avoidant, but not this time. His muscles tensed and his entire body started to shake. The vulnerability of being half-asleep, mixed with the territorial drive to protect his food caused the small male to take a dominant stance. He wanted to snap his teeth in the stranger’s direction and bite, but composed himself enough to stay still. Instead of attacking, he stood territorial over the leftover bones. “There better be ten coyotes on their way,” he shot.

He lowered his head, his ears laying flat and his upper lip twitched once more. “I’ll run from coyotes, but not from you.”    

Vaken was growing more frustrated by the second. When the stranger stepped back, Vaken took another step forward, pushing his chest out. He started to chew the air, clashing his teeth together. Share? A small amount of spit drooled off his chin as he snarled, his fangs desperate to sink into flesh. These were his. He wasn’t a pack wolf for a reason. He didn’t want to share.

It didn’t matter that he was done with them in that moment. It didn’t matter that he had been falling asleep and had no use for the bones. It mattered that he had been nearly tricked, that his cleverness had been insulted and that he was hungry. Vaken was struggling to feed himself. He wasn’t going to give out handouts, especially to a wolf that had tried to trick him. What did he have to gain from that? Nothing. He defensively put his paw over the remaining bone and shifted it closer to him.

The more the boy spoke, the more apparent it was that Vaken was losing his control. He did not speak. Instead he brought his teeth even closer to the stranger and opened his mouth, threatening to chomp down. He was instigating a fight. He lowered his growling muzzle and pushed forward, attempting to push the wolf’s face away. “Fight for it- or leave,” he hissed.

Vaken fell from the impact. He hadn’t been expecting it, despite asking for it. He had expected the yearling to back off and leave him in peace. Everything had happened so quickly. His emotions had taken over and filled him with instinctive self preservation and anger. While Vaken didn’t desire to kill the other wolf, he had meant to dominate him and claim the bones as his. Politeness was lost on him. He had been tired, and grumpy and hungry when the stranger showed up and tried to trick him.

Did that deserve a fight? Maybe not to some wolves, but Vaken wasn’t really the talking type. This was how they were going to solve it. His body hit the ground and rolled against the weight of the other male. Vaken was smart. The young male knew better than to start fights with wolves larger than him. In this case, he knew they were similar in stature due to their circumstances.

When teeth sunk into his scruff the small male went frantic. He dodged his head to the left, tearing away. He was quick enough to avoid breaking skin, but the pain of being grabbed made him wince. Conflict like this was dangerous for lone wolves. Any attack could mean life or death. This motivated Vaken to fight ruthlessly, biting at the air close to the other wolf’s face. He wasn’t particularly strong, but he was filled with adrenaline and rage. He let out an angry bark and used his hind legs to kick at the male, attempting to throw him off. Using any strength he had, he aimed for the wolf’s shoulder.

Vaken acknowledged the howl in the back of his mind, but was too focused on fighting to react. The last thing he needed to think about right now was coyotes. They seemed to show up at the exact moment Vaken was busy, and right now he was very busy. He danced around the other male quickly, avoiding some of the sharp bites. Eventually the teeth grabbed him by the snout and he let out an angry yelp of pain.

The forest floor felt warm on the pads of his feet as he dug them into the dirt. He was holding himself steady. He was determined to not lose his balance again since it gave his component too much leverage. It made him defenceless. He wasn’t as strong as he was quick, being tackled again would be a sure loss. Keeping his eyes narrowed, Vaken swung his head out of range of attack and took a step back. His ears pressed forward in a dominant stance. He was refusing to backdown.  

When the other male jumped for him, he dodged out of the way. Nearly losing his balance, he steadied himself by leaning into his attacker. He tried to grab hold of the wolf’s flank with his sharp fangs, straightening his legs to regain footing.

That was when he saw the coyotes. He had heard them in the distance, but seeing them closer now was a rude awakening. He felt his jaw loosen and his attention shifted from the fight to the emerging vermin. He growled in their direction and stepped away from the fight. “Guess neither of us get the bone,” he hissed.