Great Wolf Children Book one: New Beginnings

Chapter Four: Natural Enemies

Raven had gotten up about an hour ago, she slept in while the others had already begun the day's work.
The last few weeks had been filled with worry, fearing for Fawna's pups. But Lupus had smiled on them, Fawna]'s body seemed to have healed and her belly continued to grow.
Fawna's mood had brightened significantly since then, she had gotten back to work on the den project, which they had since abandoned.
Raven peered inside the hole and dodged another spray of dirt. "Do you need any help, Fawna?" Raven wagged her tail, even though she hadn't liked the female when they first met, she was excited about the pups' arrival. "No thanks!" her voice echoed from the tunnel, "I just want to expand the den a bit. It's so cramped in here!"
"Alright then, I'll go patrol. Father should be back from hunting soon." Raven raced down the slope and along the creek. She slowed to a trot and dropped her muzzle to sniff the perimeter.
She could scent a fresh coyote track and she followed it a few feet before realizing it was a whole pack. The fur along her pack rose up and she stiffened, there were at least four of them.
She investigated the scents some more, the coyote tracks followed a familiar scent.
They were after Cypress! Raven forgot her fear as she followed the trail.
She quickened her pace as she heard the barking of coyotes and the angry growls of her father.
She finally spotted them on a sandbar, Cypress was standing between the four coyotes and a fresh deer kill.
The coyotes would take turns distracting him by nipping at his heels while another would try to snatch the deer.
Cypress threw a coyote off the carcass and it backed towards it comrades yelping wildly. The other three coyotes launched themselves at Cypress, the brown brute was caught off guard as the coyotes piled on top of him. Raven sprung into action. Splashing through the creek, she dove into the pile of writhing bodies.
She wrestled with one of the coyotes and they rolled towards the water. She snapped at the canine, who didn't have enough time to interpret what was happening. She flung the coyote into the creek and whirled around to collide with another. She jumped up on her hind legs and towered above the poor animal. It attempted to back away but Raven already had it pinned. She snatched it up by its scruff and shook it before letting it scamper away. Cypress had already dealt with the other two, she could see the four of them regrouping on the other side of the creek.
Cypress moved to stand in front of the carcass, snarling at the coyotes. They licked their lips in consideration, glancing between the two wolves and the carcass. Raven barked and darted towards the coyotes making them scatter in a panic. Raven peeled back her lips as she watched them disperse into the woods. Cypress suddenly appeared next to her, making her jump. "Thank you Raven." he pressed his nose into her white neckband. She turned to her father, "Are you okay?"
The brute nodded, "Yes, that could have been a lot worse if you hadn't shown up."

Raven helped by carrying the deer by the back legs while Cypress dragged it by the neck.
"Fawna will be happy, she's been working on the den all day I'm sure she's hungry," Raven said, her voice muffled by the deer leg.
Cypress only nodded in response, he only wanted to get back home. Fawna trotted down the hill to help drag the carcass up, but Cypress waved his mate away with a swish of his tail. Once they made it up to the slope, Cypress dropped the deer and immediately went straight to his nest of dried leaves. Fawna went over to talk to him but was waved off again. "What happened?" Fawna asked Raven worriedly, "There are bites all over him."
Raven smiled reassuringly at her, "Ran into a gang of coyotes but we chased them off. He just needs some rest." Fawna nodded but she still kept her worried expression.
Raven prodded her with a paw, "Eat, Fawna. Don't worry, I'll take some to dad."