Big Salmon Lake I got used to living without you

At first, he thought he'd struggled against the water simply out of survival instinct, and out of surprise. It was a natural reaction to flail and try to swim to the surface when submerged, but it just didn't make sense. He continued to pedal helplessly even when the surprise wore off. But why? He'd just made up his mind that this was the only way he could keep his family safe. He was doing the right thing. If his body was found here, or if his trail ran cold, it would all be over. No one would ever think to associate him with any of the wolves he loved. 

But even weakly, his limbs moved, paddling more and more softly. He saw the surface of the water above him ripple and glitter, multi-faceted like a liquid diamond. And it occurred to him then, seeing something that reminded him vaguely of the sparkle in Fennec's eyes, that he was desperate to know what it was that she had tried shouting at him before he'd stepped over the dropoff. He needed to know...

Something blocked the light, and he exhaled a small gasp of bubbles into the new darkness. He lurched when water broke past his clenched throat, and made his chest heavy. He panicked, and thrashed, stirring up mud from the bottom of the lake. It brought him up a few feet- but there was no air left in his lungs. He saw nothing but darkness, and could hear nothing. He felt what he thought was the familiar and reassuring clasp of his mother's teeth at his scruff. He was a pup again- blind, deaf, helpless, and she was just picking him up to carry him somewhere safe. So he stopped his flailing, like a good boy, to let her carry him away.