Broken Boulder fortune, fortune, smiling fate

The air was filled with scents, so many that if Sakina paid attention to them all he'd likely go insane. A particular smell filled his nose, almost choking him as he lifted his head, ears craned forward towards the musk. There, picking its way towards him was a wolf of moonlight, eyes red as fresh blood. 

Instead of running away as many a coyote would when faced with a superior predator, the boy stared her down with a confident gaze. Inside his heart pounded, drowning out all sound for a brief moment. The she-wolf, as her scent told him so, stared him down with tail raised high. He did not budge. 

Back on the farm Sakina had encountered many foes bigger than him, being as small as he was it was rather impossible for him not too. His mother had loved many men, each crueller than the last. One, a massive black-and-tan thing with cropped ears and a vicious smile would take Sakina by the scruff and shake him until a human came running, stick in hand to break up the fight. The coydog had learned something very important from those interactions. If they knew you were afraid, they'd already won. 

For a long time there was silence, every muscle in Sakina's body tense. If the right motivation was behind him, snapping at his tail, he was able to run as fast as a whippet on a good day. Today was not a good day.

"If you have pups nearby I shall leave." Finally, words were spoken. The boy understood, mostly through scent, that it was breeding season. Many she-wolves would be aggressive to outsiders, and although Sakina was too young to feel the flame that engulfed older females he had started to feel a twinge of craving deep inside his core. In another year or so, he would be cursing his mistake of a body, but until then he could enjoy being a juvenile, he could learn.