Fatty tissue filled my mouth as I struck true, gaining a firm hold just below the seal’s jaw, rendering him unable bite me. Deeper I gnawed my grip into his flesh, tasting blood as it washed into the back of my throat. As my eyes rolled back, I watched as my pack mates fell upon the beast in one last surge of power. Solitaire snapped repeatedly at the face of the beast, offering enough distraction for Frostbite to land a deadly blow to the lower area of the neck. Blood gushed forth and I knew she had struck true, severing a major artery and ensuring our success. Warlow attacked from behind, his weight upon the back of the seal slowing him and Tristan’s firm grip upon a hind fin ceased all forward motion. A roar erupted from the beast’s jaw, and I felt the vibrations through his throat. I dug in harder, hoping to silence him once and for all, just as he shook his head one last time. From this angle I couldn’t see if he’d managed to strike anyone with his fangs, but at that point I knew it didn’t matter too much. Beneath the fangs of my pack mates as well as my own I could feel him growing weaker.

Slowly the fight went out of him, and his body began to slump into the sand. When my hindquarters touched the moist beach I released my hold on the seal’s throat, stepping back and watching as the light faded from his defiant eyes. My tail flung out behind me, waving happily as I danced on light paws around to each of my pack mates, wanting to assure each of them was ok and also to congratulate them and thank them for their efforts. We had done it! We had brought down this beast, this immense meal that would feed the entire pack! The power of Frostbite and Warlow's attacks had surely been predominate, but each and every one of us had played our part in taking down this meal for the pack. I licked at the cut on the corner of my lip absent mindedly as I looked over each wolf in turn, eyes brushing over them. Tristan, Achlys and Warlow all came out without so much as a scratch. Solitaire had a cut over his eye, but it didn’t seem major. When I came to Frostbite, though, my ears pulled back momentarily by way of apology, before they flitted forward once more. I wish there had been something I could have done to prevent such an injury from occurring. “One of the healers should take a look at that,” I said, because she had the fierce look of a warrior in her eyes, and some part of me doubted she would seek help unless it was demanded of her.

Once the celebrations were over I turned back towards the carcass of the seal. We needed to get it away from the shore, further up onto the beach. “Together?” I said, quoting myself from the moment in the hunt that had been the turning point from futile to surety. I grabbed hold of a front flipper and then waited for the others to grasp tail fins and various points on the seal’s body before beginning to heave backwards. As a group we slowly moved the seal’s body away from the waters that had threatened to steal our quarry from us. Even with all of us hauling him, his dead weight was hard to move, and it took a little while to get him far enough up the beach to where the pack could easily get to it and enjoy the feast. Releasing my grasp I panted, licking at the cut on my lip once more before flashing a smile at my pack mates. I cast my muzzle towards the skies, releasing a jubilant howl, hoping my pack mates would join their voices to mine. It invited Eden to come forth and enjoy the spoils of our kill with us, as well as the other members of the pack. This was a grand feast, and the first for our newly risen pack. It was something to be celebrated by all!