Fight or flight; kill or be killed. That was the way of the world at its simplest. Here and now there was no other option than to fight. It was too late to run and to do so would be exactly as the cat would have it. For that was the way of predator and prey. It was no different than it had been between wolf and deer moments ago.
First blood had been drawn and though Cypress had felt the strike of knife-like claws adrenaline had clouded much of the pain. There was no time to second guess; to fear what the cost might be. There was only what needed to be done to survive. It was instinct and a primal anger that drove Cypress’ forward against the mountain lion. A fury of tooth and claw. He did not hope to defeat the large cat. Thinned from a winter of hard hunting and silvering with age, the lion was still a formidable force, but he could prove they were not the easy meal it had been after.
The beast cried out as Cypress felt his teeth pierce flesh as his jaws clamped together and he shook his head violently, pulling side to side away from the cat until his grip was lost. He was left with the taste of blood and a mouth full of coarse hair, but there was no time to see what sort of damage he had inflicted. As he pressed forward again, he felt the blunt force as the feline struck at him again. There was an odd tearing and burning sensation that radiated from his shoulder and chest were the cat had struck, but he full extent of the damage was not yet fully felt. Pain blinded from the adrenaline that had flooded his system.
After stunning the larger male wolf with the blow to his shoulder, the large cat had fled. Cypress following on it’s heels for a few pace. Still ignorant to just how severely his shoulder was injured. The complaints of the torn muscles falling on deaf ears. After a few strides of pursuit the brown wolf halted, panting. He turned, looking back to his mother. ”Are you okay?” he asked, as if there was nothing wrong with him at all. He took a step forward, and then another, but with the cat gone and his mother safe the reality of his own injuries was more than he could ignore anymore and his next step faltered as his shoulder refused to take anymore abuse.
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