The Heartwood my heart is like a stallion.

The forest was golden from the few rays of the setting sun the were able to shoot through the thick tangle of branches that made the forest's canopy. The usual quiet and serenity the Heartwood normally boasted was interrupted by a rather savage sound. A coyote was feasting in the center of a small clearing. It was a young beast, just under a year from the look of it. Old enough to bring down the elderly mule deer on its own, but not old enough to be wise in keeping its triumph quiet for fear of larger predators hearing and coming to see what there was to be stolen.

Larger predators such as Summer Ostrega.

The coyote was too distracted with consuming its prize to notice the hungry wolf whose gleaming yellow eye was peeking out at it from behind the trunk of a tree. Summer watched silently, waiting for just the right moment to spring. The coyote would not normally have posed a threat to the rather large and well muscled yearling, but his recently accrued injuries gave him pause.

The coyote shifted its position and dug its face deep into the deer's torn belly, giving Summer just the opening he'd been hoping for. Like a panther, he darted silently towards his enemy's vulnerable backside and lunged. The black wolf collided into the side of the coyote who yelped on surprise and pain. It stumbled away from Summer, then turned foolishly to land its gaze upon its attacker. With a snarl, the coyote leaped at the wolf, and the wolf sprang forward with snapping jaws to meet it.