Snap!

Papa Wolf

The Wolf ran.

Nothing stopped him. Not the steep hills, the jagged terrain, or the raging thunder storm from above. To a normal sized wolf such weather would have slowed him down. He was different. The Wolf was bigger than a horse, taller than a moose. If not for his ginormous size, surely he would have fallen under the rain. The water was like a curtain, obscuring his vision and weighing down his fur. Below him the mud seeped between his paws, jamming itself between his toes. It was gonna take him hours to lick it all away. Still, he kept moving. Through the rain he could smell the hunters. With every stride of his powerful legs he moved further away from them. He needed to get away.

His jaw was getting sore.

He didn't know how far he gone. He kept running until the scent of the hunters from behind disappeared into nothingness. Good. That means the Wolf was safe.

Now he needed to find a warm, dry place to hunker down for the night. He came upon a small cave that once housed a bear. The bear was gone, the smell told the Wolf that. It was dead or moved on to a better place. That was fine. The Wolf didn't need anything fancy for now. He entered the cave. Once inside he paused, letting the water rushed off of him in gallons. He did not shake. If he did he could hurt the precious cargo he held between his teeth. The Wolf trotted in further and slowly lowered his head, opening his mouth and letting the pup roll onto the ground.

His pup.

His pup was on all fours, coughing and gasping for air. His long hair and body was soaked through with rainwater and spit. He moaned in disgust, wiping at his face, gagging. He rolled onto his back, took a shuddering breath and said, "Twi. Listen to me. You're under a curse. You need to-"

The Wolf had no idea what his pup was barking about. Was he hungry? There was nothing the Wolf could do about that now. It was too dark and wet. Maybe his pup was just scared. After all the Wolf rescued him from those horrible hunters back there. The Wolf stepped closer, his nails scrapping against the stone floor of the cave, and nuzzled his snout into his pup's neck. There, there, puppy.

"Stop!" His pup yelped, pushing him away. He groaned as the water dripping off the Wolf's fur splashed in his face.

Ugh, the water was getting bothersome. The Wolf snorted, took two steps back and shook.

His pup cried out in protest as water sprayed him, throwing his hands up to stop it as if he wasn't fully soaked himself. The Wolf shook out his tail, then his paws, grunting with each action. It was tiresome and he could never get as dry as he wanted. When the Wolf was finally done, his fur sat on him uncomfortably and needed to be groomed.

His pup pushed himself up to his legs. He suddenly ran for the entrance to the cave.

He didn't get far. The Wolf grabbed his pup by the scruff of his neck, dragging him back in.

"You're going to rip my Champion tunic!" His pup said.

The Wolf sat, pushing his pup into the warmth of his belly and then curled around him, keeping him there. His pup was much too small to physically push him off. Hopefully now he'll take that as a cue to finally relax and sleep. In the morning the Wolf will go out and hunt something to feed them both.

"Twi..." His pup said quietly, finally giving up. He reached up and ran a hand over the Wolf's cheek. "Can't you understand me?"

The Wolf understood completely. This was his pup. His to protect and feed and to watch over. And if any of those hunters dared come to take him away, the Wolf would not hesitate to tear them into itty-bitty bloody pieces. Eat them up and shit them out. The thought of killing them had the Wolf baring his teeth, and he huffed, calming himself. Now wasn't the time for that.

He laid his head down, closing his eyes. The scent of his pup filled his senses and his tail wagged by the familiarity of it. Sleep puppy, he thought. Sleep.