Silver Moraine I have seen sinking ships go down with more grace than you

He's never get the chance to find out if his display would be enough to warm them away, not whether he could've taken the for significantly smaller but similarly vicious creatures on his own. Part of him wanted to be moody about that, but with the kid sheltering beneath him, he supposed he could only be grateful.

A soft sigh of relief escaped him as the coyotes, now uncertain, assessed this new threat and found it untenable. They made their loud, dismissive complaints — the coywolf snarled at an unfamiliar but obviously derogatory hiss of, "Lapdog!"

He assumed the insult had been leveled at him.

"Holy shit, bug, you did it," he said to Foxglove, his relief palpable. His eyes found Mountain Boulder, only just now beginning to look shaken. "They fucked right off."

To the male, he said, "Hey, uh — thanks, man."