Blackfoot Forest [m] what does the fox say?

The jowly beast heeded the warning and ground to a halt. Javelina let out a breath, releasing some of her tension, only to stiffen when the strange creature leered at her. Javelina only understood every third word out of her fleshy lips as she eased onto the ground in a distinctly canine gesture of appeasement.

Was she some kind of mutated wolf, then? She was too small to be a coyote or any of the other wild dogs Javelina had come across. As she registered the telltale thump of a tail, an errant thought flitted through her head: could bears mate with wolves? But the longer she stared at the beast, the less she resembled a bear. Could pigs mate with wolves?

What are you? Javelina asked, the question a little pointed but her entire demeanor starting to soften around the edges a bit.