That Askan wanted to fight the coyotes would come as no great surprise to the alpha – but shit, they were fucking alphas now, and everything couldn’t be rough and tumble. The acerbic look was not lost on the older male, but shit. As far as Reyes knew, this was it as far as the coyotes’ courage went; if that were true, he didn’t want to waste his energy. They had so many coming yearlings right now, and that meant a lot of training on their paws. Even with the pair of them splitting up the weight, there were four of them…no, wait. Five of them, now. Risaela was the same age as Hawthorne and Sachiel. And of course, Idris and Pete were coming adults. And—
Too much thinking, not enough howling.
Reyes threw his head further back, his voice low and strained as he tried to raise the volume. His tone had always been harsh, and it didn’t lend itself well to this sort of battle song. Thankfully, Askan joined in despite his misgivings, followed not only by the young Archer, but Sachiel as well.
He might have smirked, if he weren’t still howling.
The four of them produced quite a racket, drowning out the coyotes – the voices seemed to waver and wobble for a moment, and then taper off altogether as the wolves’ cousins seemed to catch the hint. Good.
After a few moments, Reyes let his own calls fall quiet. “Good,” he muttered, his voice hoarse from that much use. “We’ll patrol again later. Make sure these assholes take the fuckin’ hint.”
He cast his gaze back at the youngsters. “And you two – no wanderin’ off alone until they’re well and outta here, comprende?”