Greatwater Lake I'm cryin' through my fear

Inserting Aliki in here with permission from Heretic.

It had only been a few days, but Aliki felt she was starting to integrate into the pack well. She had already proven her worth and loyalty by assisting Khaba in dealing with the interloper. She was aware that there were young pups in the pack, but had only ever caught whiffs of their scent.

Now, as she happened to be passing through the area, she spotted Khaba's inky form at the entrance of a burrow. Having returned from a recent fishing hunt, her steely fur was disheveled and still damp. Clasped in her jaws, were the remains of success. A partially eaten, large salmon. Pale fish meat clinging to flimsy bones, the head still intact.

She saw the Elk leg and a small pup make a grab for it. Her ears rotated. She saw no sign of a mother. Nor any scent of one. Khaba, their sire, must have been trying to wean them. Pacing to the outermost fringes of the site, where she hoped she would not be perceived as a threat, she crooned low. Then, sure she had been noticed, dropped the remains of her lunch within easy reach of Khaba. An offering. An alternative with freshly chewed flesh, softer bones that snapped easily. And the most prized, the intact brain, rich with nutrients. She had been saving the part for last.

But these pups...their need for nutrition was far greater than her own.