What could he do, but fight? He had nothing. No friends, no family, no one out for him but himself. And the coyotes — the damned, awful things that kept
taking things from him. They'd forced him to stay in Relic Lore and continued to rip everything from him. Not just food, but rest. How could he sleep with their yappy howling and their stench? Vaken made one more remark and Lauraceae viciously snarled in return. The coyote he'd shoved off approached him again, and Laurel watched as the male ran off.
Then he was alone.
If being caught in the middle of too many coyotes could be considered alone. The adrenaline was starting to ebb away, he stopped feeling so fearless. More of the foul canines approached. One finally jumped at him, grabbing the bone and attempting to tug it out of his mouth. Laurel held on for a while, desperate for something to eat. It was barely anything, and by now it felt like the coyotes were only out to make things ten times harder for him.
One of the canines slammed into his side. He saw pairs of eyes and yellow, snarling teeth. He was forced to let go, snapping at another coyote. He could taste blood. A sharp pain in his side as teeth raked across his skin. Angry tears stung his eyes and he quickly backed away from them. The coyote that stole his bone was playing keepaway with its friends. A jaw snapped close right next to his face and Laurel flinched away.
Facing the fact that he had lost, he tucked his tail and ran.
— Exit Laurel
!