A subtle wrinkle and twitch of his muzzle told him that the woman might have belonged to someone (or someones), but that wasn't the most important thing he wanted to know. The boy sat where he stood but soon found his legs beneath him again. Rajan's attention was temporarily fixed on him, even as he was asked what he was looking for. The Prince opened his mouth to speak but before he could even utter a word, they were joined by
the rabble. Tawny coats with grey and red saddles with sand-colored limbs made them unmistakable:
Coyotes. Lowlifes. Parasites.
The woman stated the obvious,
“It seems boys we might have to put this on hold.”
Rajan's muzzle creased back in deep furrows over the bridge of his snout. His posture drew forward and upward and his full tail flew up into the air. He made now sound, the flashing of his teeth his only visual warning apart from his stance. Had he been more paternal, perhaps, he might have prowled closer to the boy to protect him; as it was, he didn't. His body slightly bowed, the muscles in his limbs moving in a way that could have suggest he were made of coiled springs.
The deer corpse the coyotes had discovered on the banks of the Spring had seemingly been nothing interesting to the three wolves - that was, until now - and Rajan wanted nothing to do with it. They bone-eaters could have it all; they didn't need to be so
hostile about it. The more cocky of the band pointedly
yapped at him and the Royal responded with a louder, deeper bark of his own. It was inconsiderate. All the wolves had been doing was minding their own business; they weren't even concerned with the carcass. To assume they were was stepping over some invisible line that Rajan did not appreciate. He wanted them gone, and if the other two wolves were not going to help him, he was just going to make himself scarce...
you're all here indulging your particular vices
& so I've come to indulge mine