The Fox Who Ran with Wolves

Prologue

   A fox stood outside her den in the tree roots, legs braced and ready to fight. The huge silver wolf gave a crazed bark, foamy slobber flying from his open jaws. He stared down at the red fox with fury and sick delight. The nearly identical cub behind him looked more terrified than anything. The fox almost felt bad for him. But when her own bronze young was mewling in fear just inside the den, she had no sympathy to spare for the wolf cub. However scared he was now, he'd be just as vicious as his father one day. The snarling silver beast would make sure of that.
   "Leave us alone. We've done nothing to you," the vixen growled. It was true. She'd made sure to stay away from wolves as much as she could. The few encounters she had had had usually ended with her running as fast as she could in the opposite direction. She hated fighting.
   "I doubt that. Your kind is nothing but tricksters and liars. Wolves are strong. Wolves are honorable. Foxes are deceitful, sniveling cowards who hide in the dark." His lip curled into a snarl. He was enjoying this too much.
   "Although my kind may have harmed your pack at some point, I personally have done nothing. I have left your kind alone to the best of my ability. If I ever hurt one if them, it was because they attacked me unprovoked. Please just leave us alone!" The vixen's voice grew desperate. Even she realized that she and her daughter couldn't make it out of this unscathed. But they could try.
   Backing into the den, she whispered to the orange cub, "When I stomp, run. Run as fast as you can and don't look back."
   "What, too afraid to fight? As I said," the wolf lowered his voice to a growl, "sniveling cowards."
   "Please," the fox tried one last time, "leave us be. We'll move away to a far part of the forest and never come back. You'll never have to see us again, nor your offspring, or even theirs. Please!"
   For one long, unbearable moment, the fox thought her pleas had worked. But then the silver wolf stepped forward just a little more.
   "Now, you know I can't do that."
   The vixen stomped her hind leg like an angry rabbit just as the beast lunged for her throat. Her daughter surged toward the opening as the vixen swatted the wolf's face. The wolf cub ran after the young fox at his father's command, teeth snapping at the small fox's red-orange brush. It was fortunate, the mother fox thought, that the wolf cub wasn't very fast yet. His size slowed him down enough for the fox cub to outrun him, until...
   Snap. A sickening crunch was followed by a high pitched fox yelp. Then a small howl of victory.
   No! The vixen felt a burst of energy like she never had before. She sunk her teeth so deep into the giant wolf's side that she felt bone, then kept going until he howled in agony, begging her to let go. The bone crunched between her jaws, and she released, leaving the wolf panting and howling. The fox didn't care. He had tried to hurt her and her daughter, and he had paid with a wound that could possibly cost him his rank in the pack.
   The fox cub had gotten her leg stuck in a hole in her desperate escape. It twisted into an unnatural position, causing pain to burst like a tree into flames. The wolf cub growled in satisfaction. "Ha! Got ya. Dad's gonna be so proud. That's why I'm a sun and you're just a fox!" He puffed out his little chest as the tiny fox fainted.
   "He absolutely is not!" The vixen's furious voice startled him from behind. She backed him into a tree, breathing heavily in exhaustion. "You're lucky if your father is still alive to see you in the morning. Go. Don't be like him. You're better than this." Eyes wide with fear, the cub scrambled out of the way. The vixen ran to her own cub the moment he turned around.
   "Moon! Oh, Moon, are you okay? Moon?" the little fox was unconscious, her leg still twisted in the hole. The vixen gently moved the broken leg and tenderly picked up the baby by her scruff. She didn't move. As fast as she could while still protecting her young, the fox trotted into the woods to find a new home far away from the gruesome scene. The only sound in the forest was a tiny howl of fear and a promise of vengeance.