Is it possible to die from the feeling that consumes me? I had feared for Zeus the day they brought him in, the day I had stared at him in alarm and tried to hide my connection. He was my friend and more than that, didn't they see he was fine? He wasn't a bad wolf. Yet the time had passed slowly and I grew calmer knowing that all was well for now. I would find out what I could but I had to take care of Nike first. He was my obsession, my greatest achievement, and I had him with me almost 24/7, never letting him from beneath my steel gray eyes. It is only the scent of blood and the sounds of a distant struggle that make me stand up with the fur along my spine risen, my teeth flashing in the air as a growl rips from me.

"Stay here, Nike," I demand in a voice that I doubt my son has ever heard from me. It is primal and filled with fear and fury. I dart away from him, already feeling as if my heart will explode being away from my boy but determined to find out what is going on. The scene I stare upon from a distance makes no sense. At first, anyways. I don't get too close, seeing the way the white boy with red and gray paces and grows agitated and other wolves come upon the scene. But I know where that one male lays. Right on my stick.

For a few moments I am sucked back into memory where Zeus asked me to place it. This... hadn't been the plan all along had it? My heart stutters, pauses, and I don't realize that I have begun to sink towards the ground with a whine fresh on my lips. My Zeus would never do such things. Not unless this wolf did something to him first. My instincts snap back, nostrils widening as I catch Zeus's scent and that of blood. He was gone, I half heard them say it, and I leap up and lunge away. Back to my den to collect my son who is probably confused. I don't even stop as I race towards Nike, leaning down to grab him by the scruff. He is getting large and instantly my jaws and neck ache but I will not stop.

I run fast, trying to maintain the trail that my Zeus has left, but he has cleaned it up some. That was good so the bad wolves wouldn't get him. But I know where about he might be and I angle myself towards the the fields, towards a particular area he had been fond of once. Or maybe I was fond of it because I met him there. I don't know. Bounce, bounce, a whine from the pain as I step on a rock and leap away. Poor Nike is probably getting smacked in the face by my swift run through the tall fronds but I don't slow, fear like a cloud at my back.

I slow only as I come to the area I had once seen him, ears perking and I lean down to rather ungently deposit my son. "Zeus?" My voice trembles as I step over Nike in a protective stance, scenting blood nearby but being unable to locate it. "Zeus?"