Leo stood frozen at the cave entrance, clutching the shaft of his spear in his fist. The four wolves looked at him, their light-filled eyes like lanterns in the darkness. The air was charged with tension, all the muscles in Leo's body tensed, ready to strike. His mind reeled.
Are they here to catch the cub?
His heart pounded. Would he be able to defend against them if they attacked? Should he even defend against them? His gaze flicked to the cub sitting beside him, its tiny form wedged against his leg. Go to them, he silently commanded. Go to your pack.
The cub remained still.
Instead, it stuck with him, gazing at the wolves the same inquiring way that it had gazed at Leo.
Leo swallowed hard, shifting his position, ready to attack. His mind started to search for solutions. Maybe if I throw the cub at them, they'll just grab it and leave. He hated the idea, but if he was going to live, he wasn't going to be torn apart over a stubborn baby wolf.
But the wolves still did nothing.
Then, after a minute of excruciating silence, they sat down.
Leo scowled, confused. This wasn't the behavior of an attacking pack. His tension eased just enough for him to actually look at them. That's when he noticed the wounds.
Deep gashes scored across their bodies, dried blood into their silver coats. Battle wounds.
Leo's stomach twisted. There was only one animal in the forest that would've done this.
The Blood Claw Ursan.
His grip eased slightly. These wolves weren't here to battle. They were only just holding on. And then, to break the moment of tension, the cub finally woke up. It trotted up to the pack, tail wagging slightly as it approached.
Leo stiffened, expecting they would grab up the cub and take off.
But then something even stranger happened.
One of the larger wolves—apparently the pack leader—pushed the cub back toward Leo.
Leo's eyes went wide. ".Huh?"
The wolf looked up at him, its golden eyes full of something too uncomfortably like understanding. A wordless request. Take care of it.
Leo's body acted before his head could catch up. His feet carried him forward, and his arms reached down to scoop up the small cub. It struggled once before resting against his chest.
Why did I just do that?
But he knew why. The moment he had looked into that wolf's eyes, he'd known they were not enemies.
The wolves lifted their heads to the heavens, their eyes seeing the moon. They stood unmoving, as if aching to howl but knowing the danger was too great.
Leo did not move. He did not know why, but he knew he was privy to something important.
Then—a shift in the shadows.
The wolves bristled.
Leo hardly had a chance to answer before an hulking, lurching form loomed over them.
The Blood Claw Ursan showed up.
Leo's blood was frozen. I didn't catch it. I didn't even sense it. But it made no difference. The beast was there.
The Ursan moved too fast, with an unspeakable speed, its scarlet fur erect as it bolted forward. The wolves only had seconds to react before the monster's huge claws slammed into each other.
The first wolf was torn to pieces immediately.
Leo backed away into the cave, holding the cub close and staring in shock. The remaining three wolves joined the fray, their movements frenzied and desperate as they weaved between the enormous beast.
The Ursan didn't even flinch.
It swiped at the wolves, its claws flashing like knives. A second wolf fell, its body thudding into the earth with a vile sound.
The biggest of the wolves, the one which had left the cub in Leo's charge, growled and leapt forward, its claws tearing up across the Ursan's face. A huge gash opened above its left eye, and the beast let out an outraged roar.
It was the first genuine wound which had ever been delivered by the wolves.
But it wasn't sufficient.
The Ursan whirled, sending its massive paw into the side of the wolf, and it went flying across the earth. The last of the smaller wolves made a dart, trying to find an opening, but the Ursan caught it in mid-air.
Leo turned his face away as the sound of crunching bones filled the air.
When he turned back, only the large wolf remained.
The leader held firm, its puffs of breath short, its flesh torn. But it didn't withdraw.
Leo saw it now—this wasn't a fight to survive. This was revenge.
The wolf was doomed.
It dodged swiftly, barely avoiding the Ursan's strikes by a whisker. But it was tiring. It hadn't been able to strike since the slash across the eye. It was only a question of time.
Then—the Ursan struck.
A massive claw swiped across the wolf's neck.
Leo cringed. He didn't want to see. But he did.
The wolf collapsed.
There was a weighted silence afterwards, one that only the Ursan's wheezing broke.
Leo forced himself to move. He'd already doused the fire, already taken any trail away that would lead back to himself. He'd thought of fighting the Ursan previously.
But now that it had arrived, finally?
He couldn't.
His body did not move.
He could do nothing but remain and watch while the Blood Claw Ursan spun to the mouth of the cave.
The dead wolves' bodies lay in its way, their mangled bodies pouring over the ground. And then, in macabre, deliberate slowness, it began to rip them apart.
Leo ground his teeth. His gut knotted, but he did not move, made no noise.
Except—
A low, angry growl ripped through the silence.
Leo's eyes widened as the cub in his arms squirmed loose and hit the floor.
"No—!"
The cub stamped at him, its little body trembling with rage. Its jaws snapped open, letting out the weakest, loudest snarl Leo had ever heard.
It was almost cute.
But the Ursan didn't see it that way.
The cub snarled once more. Louder.
This time, the Ursan hesitated.
It very slowly turned, its huge bloodied head meeting the eyes of the tiny wolf cub.
Then—it looked away.
Pity.
That was what Leo saw in the face of the beast. It did not see the cub as a threat. It saw him as nothing.
But the cub would not be disregarded.
It charged and bit into the Ursan's leg.
Nothing occurred for a moment.
Then, the Ursan stopped.
Its head turned back around to the cub, slow and deliberate. Its fur stood on end.
Leo's breath was trapped.
It's going to kill it.
The Ursan raised its paw.
Leo's body reacted.