Coyote Wolf [MXM]

5 | LOST RABBITS

NAYLAN

I tried my best not to think too much about Mavis in the next couple of weeks, but it was hard. Anytime I wanted the line of the territory he had drawn out while threatening to shoot me, I would remember him fondly, and then remember that he had (nicely) told me that we should see less of each other. Because of that I stopped visiting the storage area and gave command and organization duties to other wolves in my pack. I spent most of my time in the main territory—hosting new wolves and helping sort out disputes between the younger wolves.

I had gone through the process of abiding by Mavis' wishes and giving him space, so imagine my surprise when I got a knock on my door telling me that a couple of coyotes had come to see me. Initially, I hadn't thought it was Mavis. Maybe my wolves had done something and wondered too far into someone else's territory, but as I got out of my cabin and made my way to the front lines of the settlement where the coyotes were waiting, it became clear that it was Mavis with another man who looked to be in his thirties.

There was an urge in me to scream out Mavis' name and ask him what he was doing here, but then I remembered that none of my pack mates knew about him, and that was probably the case with him as his people too.

It was a secret, so I just stared them down and asked them what they were doing here.

"I got called out. Something about you guys wanting to talk?" I surprised myself with how distant I sounded, and even Mavis seems to be taken aback by it too because his eyes widened before they narrowed at me.

"We're here to talk about hunting," the older coyote said, looking from me to the two wolves that were circling us. "We mean to harm. We don't have any weapons on us," he said, raising his hands up and letting the wolves sniff at him. Mavis hesitated a bit, but he raised his hands too, allowing the same thing to be done to him.

When the wolves backed away from them, showing that they were safe, I stepped forward.

"Come on," I said, taking a step to the side. "You'll need to follow me."

They both gave me a quick glance before looking back at the wolves that had been growling at them a few minutes before. They were hesitant, but they walked into the territory. I started walking towards the canopy where I sat around for a few hours every day, and they followed me. When I got to it, I took one of the man's land tic chairs, and they did the same. The older man crossed his legs and Mavis just folded his hands on his lap. They both looked uncomfortable, and I was sure I looked strange too, barely being able to keep my eyes away from Mavis even though I knew I was supposed to be discreet about us knowing each other.