She shook her head and did her best to clear it of the mewling voices that had
begged her to stay. It seemed she had been in that human place of illness for
an eternity and she had not been able to carry her cubs out. Still sore and
heavy with milk she had squirmed out of the vets office, trying to convince
herself that her young would be better protected where they were than out here
with her where their pursuers could take them. Still she needed a plan, her
children couldn't remind trapped there indefinitely. She knew that they needed
her protection, to a new mother, the world was full of dangers.

It seemed an ironic confirmation of her fears when she heard the howl. Of
course if she had listened carefully she would have heard the subtle resonances
and timbre. She would have known that it was not the voice of the wolf she
feared, but a stranger. However her mind was full of thoughts of attack and
abduction. Almost unconsciously her legs began to move her with all the speed
she could muster towards the source of the noise.

Arriving in a flurry of snow and raised hackles she looked at the cause of the
sound. Seeing not only a wolf she had not expected and did not recognise, but a
dog from the vet's, she relaxed, but only slightly. Looking over the dog and
his injuries, she turned to the wolf.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Has someone sent you?"

She was a competent fighter it was true, but not as strong as many she had come
across, still if this wolf was here for her cubs then she would use every ounce
of strength, every iota of skill to defeat him.