Edit: Just a table update; made the font bigger. ;)
The sun was slinking across the sky - crawling, Teketa thought, toward the horizon. He barely took stock of it beyond that. He hurt too much to care about much else. He had tried to rest earlier, but it was a disturbed and shallow sleep... so here he was on his paws again, limping westward. He'd go north from here if he was able. If I am able... Teketa refused to be defeated. His left forelimb had been badly bitten into - the bone was undoubtedly bruised, the muscles torn. He didn't put any weight on it - he scarcely moved it - for fear of causing it to bleed heavily again. The blood had eased up earlier that day, but it didn't seem to stop completely yet.
The loner's mouth was open, his pink tongue lolling more from pain than anything. He had likely over-exerted himself as well, but he gasped less from exhaustion and more from his injury. It wasn't a wound that would be fatal to a pack wolf, who could access prey and hunt with friends. Teketa's jaws were still strong, his other limbs in perfect order. But for a loner, a single limb out of commission was a death warrant. Teketa knew that - as did the she-wolf who had marred him. There was no way, he thought, no way she didn't know what she was doing. She had intended to kill him. She had even said as much. Only Artemis's grace had saved him! Puh! He shut his eyes and stopped for a moment as his foreleg cramped. He pressed air through gritted teeth, then inhaled deeply before pressing on warily. He was so tired. He'd lost blood. He hurt. And while he wanted to live, without aid he would surely die before the fortnight.
Teketa was only vaguely aware of the scenery changing around him. The slope seemed less and the trees had since fallen away. He was standing in a meadow. Too tired to even look around, he settled for sniffing a few times at the air before collapsing onto his hindquarters. He hoped he didn't look as defeated as he felt at that moment in his life. He reminded himself: I've seen - done - felt far worse... but that neither eased the pain nor the worry settling into his heart and mind.
if you could only save me...
I'm drowning in the waters of my soul.