[Warning Blood Ahead]

Running. I’m always running. I don’t know who from or why, and that causes fear to rake through my body without permission. The woods fly past me as I streak towards the creek that signifies the start of our property. Home. The words run through my mind like a beacon to a ship at sea. It draws me towards it. Towards safety. Surely whatever is chasing us will stop. No one dares to come into my pack’s land. I dash through the water and turn to see if the threat is invading. That’s when I realize that my father has stopped halfway in the creek.

A growl works its way up his throat, and he pins his ears flat back on his head. As his daughter I should be with him as he stands up to this monster, but I don’t. How could I? I am only seven. I cower behind a boulder and watch. A wolf twice the size of me comes to a stop at the creek’s edge. The scent of rage emanates off of the foreign wolf, as he stares into my father’s eyes. The wolf has a dark coarse coat that looks oily and matted, scars cover most its face, and is missing half it’s right ear. It is obviously a fighter.

They size up each other. My father’s prominent muscles rippling under his thick tan and white coat. Dominance oozes from his posture, and direct gaze into the stranger’s eyes. I can sense the challenge between them. Mustering up all the courage I have inside me, I walk from behind my hiding spot. Neither wolf responds to my movement, until I let out a bark, of warning to the dark wolf. Standing next to my father I can feel his power seeping into my soul. We bare our teeth and growl together. The wolf opposite holds his ground.

“Well there goes plan A” My father says through our mental link.

“What now?” I ask him. He always has a plan.

“Now,” my father says on the common link that any wolf can hear “I teach him a lesson.”

My father and the other start to circle each other. After a few seconds the dark one leaps and my father jumps a second later. They hit each other square on. My father snaps his jaw at the face of the other and missing, bites an ear instead. This small miscalculation gives the dark wolf a chance to swipe at my father. Sharp claws dig into the flesh of my dad’s face. My father clamps down on the back of the wolf, and it cries out in pain. It shakes furiously to shake my father off. My father refuses to let go. That is until the wolf slams him into a sharp rock.

With a yelp his jaw releases. The dark wolf bares his teeth and grabs my father’s leg in his jaws. I can hear the bones snap with a sickening crunch. My father clenches his jaw and stands. He continues to attack but because of his leg. He is becoming sluggish. He is losing too much blood. The cut on his face is also bleeding profusely.

Blinded by his blood the dark wolf takes a chance and latches onto my father’s throat. I begin to run towards him. I am too late. When I get close enough to see him the life has gone from his eyes. I start to cry. I am so wrapped up in my sadness that I don’t register the wolf coming towards me. His jaw clamps down on my shoulder, and I feel the blood already covering my fur.