The part of me that lived in fear, the part that cowed to teachers and hid for hours in the bathroom last night, wanted to disappear into a hole, or at least close my eyes and wait for it all to be over. Instead, I clung to what little strength I had, and craned my neck around to determine the nature of the threat. Along the edge of the clearing I saw two more canines.

They were both much smaller than Alex, close to a whole foot shorter, and not nearly as bulky.

They both had brown fur, although the larger one seemed to have tan highlights in his coat. His eyes were a painfully familiar shade of green.

“Alex, let me up.”

The wolf above me hesitated before stepping forward, allowing me to get to my feet.

Looking at the coyotes from an improved angle didnʼt change my estimation of their size. They were tiny. It was like David and Goliath. What were they thinking?

Of course, I knew what they were thinking. They were thinking that two to one was pretty good odds, no matter how much bigger that one might be. They were thinking they had speed and agility on their side. They were thinking that together they could take Alex down.

I was so not going to let that happen.

“Jase, stop this right now.”

The animal that was my brother yipped at me. It was a sound that seemed to be colored with something closer to surprise or annoyance than a threat. He whipped his head to the side with a whine and looked at me anxiously. I felt a bubble of hysteria as the words, Whatʼs that, Boy? Did Timmy fall down the well? popped into my head.

I wasnʼt doing whatever it was Jase wanted me to do. Charlie gave an agitated snort and moved towards me, causing Alex to let out a threatening snarl.

Faced with an unmistakable adversary, the coyotes abandoned their attempts to communicate with me and focused on the danger Alex represented. They stalked off in opposite directions, moving further into the clearing, and positioned themselves on either side of Alex. The world seemed to slow down as I watched the animals in front of me. They all stood within five yards of one another, each of them tensed for action. Charlie was snarling and growling out the canine equivalent of mother-related comments, his curses capturing Alexʼs attention, but I kept my focus on Jase, knowing he would lead the attack. How many times had the two of them tried this same tactic on me over the years?

Jase shifted his weight and I bolted. We collided inches away from Alex. I felt his claws graze me as I brought my knee up into his soft underbelly, sending him flying.

I saw a flash of fur as Alex leapt past me. He landed short, giving Jase just enough time to regain his footing and bound into the forest. Under normal circumstances, the coyote would have been able to quickly put a sizable distance between himself and the wolf barreling after him, but his gait was uneven, as if one of his front legs had been injured.

Instead of leading Alex deeper into the forest, Jase circled around the clearing, darting between trees and rocks. Alex was practically on top of him when Charlie caught Alexʼs hind leg, dropping him to the ground. I saw blood fly as Alex wrenched himself from Charlieʼs mouth, yet he gave no indication of injury as he rightened himself, never favoring one side over the other.

Once again, the three Shifters found themselves in a triangulated stand-off, tensed for the next attack, an attack I couldnʼt let happen. There would be no winners in this fight. No matter what happened, someone I loved was going to end up hurt.

I didnʼt really have a plan other than stop them. Maybe I would have tried to reason with them. Or maybe I would have yelled and raged. I might have even smacked them all upside the head for being such chauvinistic morons. Instead, I collapsed onto my knees after attempting a single step. A pain, white hot and searing, tore through my stomach, robbing my lungs of oxygen and distorting the world in front of my eyes. The bottom half of my shirt was shredded, strips of cotton glued to my body with a disturbing amount of thick, warm blood.

“Jase.” My voice was choked, full of astonishment, hurt, and fear. I slowly raised my head to meet the gaze of the three Shifters, each forgetting the others as their attentions focused on me. “Oh God, Jase. What did you do?”

The world spun. I heard a yelp. A whine. Then a growl vibrated through my body, spreading dread down to the marrow.

Alex lunged. Jase scampered backwards, but not quickly enough. Alex was on top of him, his massive body easily pinning the smaller animal to the ground. He bared his teeth with an angry snarl before striking at Jaseʼs throat.

Charlie was almost too late, pounding into Alexʼs side just as his teeth sank into the vulnerable skin of Jaseʼs neck. The two went rolling across the clearing from the force of the impact, clawing and snapping as they went. Charlie dug his nails into the dirt, gaining just enough traction to sling his body around, narrowly avoiding plunging over the edge of the cliff.

He flattened himself against the earth as momentum propelled the wolf over him.

The night ripped a sound from my lungs, more piercing than a scream, more anguished than a wail. It echoed off the trees and rocks, amplifying my pain as I hefted myself off the ground and raced into the darkness of the forest. I slid on loose gravel and tripped over exposed roots as I made my way down through the trees, but I kept moving. Limbs smacked against me, leaving cuts and whelps on my face and arms, but I didnʼt care. I was only vaguely aware of the searing heat in my abdomen and the hair-raising sound of howls loud enough to be heard over the roar in my ears.

I stumbled through the dark, frantically seeking the thin stretch of beach, my throat growing raw as I called his name over and over. My chest constricted when I finally saw his body, naked and human, crumbled on the ground.

“Alex!” I fell to my knees beside him, ignoring the tiny stones that bit into my skin.

His breaths were quick and shallow. A ragged shard of wood protruded just below his left shoulder.

“Scout?”

“Shhh... Iʼm here. Youʼre going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.” One of my tears landed on his cheek. I wiped it away, along with some of the blood that had spilled out of his mouth.

He tried to speak, getting out a word with every other gasp of air. “Scout, I--”

“Shhh..” I brushed my thumb across his lips. “I know. You donʼt have to talk. Itʼs okay.” I stroked his face tenderly as I spoke to him. “I love you. I love you so much.” I bent down and pressed my lips to his, but for the first time he didnʼt kiss me back.

I held onto him as the Laodicean moon leeched the warmth from his broken body. I watched his eyes fill with fear as he struggled with his final breaths and laid witness to the emptiness that followed. Even after he was gone, I couldnʼt let go. I curled my body into his, struggling to tell him how much I loved him, how much I would always love him. I bathed him in tears and blood, and when I had none left to give, I finally surrendered to the darkness.