River Dean

There was another rustle in the trees ahead and Kon readied himself. He’d been bred for this, trained to protect and nothing was going to cause him to fail. 

A flash of glowing eyes signaled the location of the intruder. The sheep baa’d in fear and Kon lunged forward teeth first.

The predator dashed out of his reach– a small dark coyote– and Kon gave into the instinctive drive to chase away the danger from his flock. 

The coyote yipped at him as it dodged his teeth and claws. It was smaller, so much smaller than him, but fast and wily as it danced through the darkness. 

Instead of running away though, the Coyote seemed to continue to move toward the flock– pissing Kon off more.

The sheep gave another baa of fear, eyes wide as a sliver of moonlight finally broke through the clouds. Kon’s snarls and the coyote's sharp yips continued to rile up the sheep's panic as the fight drew closer in location. 

A lamb cried out and Kon saw red. He snapped forward grabbing the coyote's tail in his jaw and biting hard he yanked it back– ignoring the canine’s scream of pain. Kon tossed the mutt as far as he could back towards the trees. 

The sheep screamed again and Kon spun in panic to see a new threat. A mountain lion had a young ewe in its jaws and was dragging the creature away. 

A fresh wave of adrenaline spiked and Kon dove forward, uncaring that he may be outmatched by this new foe.

He tackled the cat forcing it to let go of his prey as it turned on him with a hiss and swipe of deadly sharp claws. Kon took a full set of claws across the face but his tender side was protected by his thick fur as the large cat focused its attention on him. 

Kon was possibly out matched but he wasn't giving up. He could at least do enough damage so the cat wouldn't think Ma’s sheep were worth it in the future. 

He barrelled forward and was batted aside but dove right back in. Another hard knock made his head swim but he pushed to his feet, refusing to give up. 

He readied himself for another go when a sharp pinch on his tail grabbed his attention.

The coyote was back on its feet with Kon’s fluffy tail in its mouth. Kon wheeled around to knock it away but it yipped and danced out of his range. 

“Wait!!”

Kon froze as the coyote shifted to a young man about Kon's own age. He was mussed and bruised but his hands were up in surrender. “I'm here to help. Trust me.”

The cat gave an ear piercing scream in challenge and Kon barely dodged as it charged for him. He rolled and shifted so he could answer. “Okay what's the plan?”

“I lead it away and you lead the sheep away. I'll lose it by the river and circle back.”

Dumb plan, but Kon shrugged. If the coyote wanted to be eaten that was his problem. “Fine.” Kon slipped back into his fur, leaping over the cat's next swipe. 

He saw it start to follow out of the corner of his eye but the coyote darted in front distracting it as he'd planned. 

Once Kon settled the sheep, he decided wasn't waiting around though and took off in the direction the cat and coyote had gone. 

He found the coyote boy leaned up against a tree, looking a little worse for wear but breathing and in one piece. His blue eyes were sharp as they regarded Kon and his dark ears pinned back against his head. 

Kon shifted, leaving his fluffy white ears and tail in place as he cautiously approached.  He wagged and hoped to appear at least a bit friendly. “So you weren't harassing the sheep?” 

“No, I was investigating the cougar.” The coyote continued to glare, nearly baring his teeth. He was too small to really trigger Kon's predator radar now though. 

“I almost lost my lead thanks to your tail biting!” He pulled said gray tail across his lap, stroking it softly. “That hurt.”

Kon couldn't help but grin as he observed the cute coyote’s pout. “I can aim a little higher next time. You look like you have a biteable butt.”

---

Coyote Tim, my beloved.