Coyotes: Denis

Chapter 13: Heat of the Moment

(A/N: This chapter contains sexual content! In fact, that is the bulk of the chapter. Some important details are written into it, but they will be explained later if you would like to skip.)

   The desert was quiet at night. I needed it, considering the noise that was taking over my brain. Since the festival that morning, I hadn't been able to shake my worries and it robbed me of sleep.

   I was scared of having a bad life, and I was scared of having a good life, too. Mostly, I was afraid of living up to expectations. Having a mate, popping out pups, and then fading into monotony.

   Ever since I was small, I've had big dreams of seeing the world just as my father did. There were a few Field Guides published before the native copy that I possessed, and he died while working on a new one with Benoit's dad.

   The Northeastern Field Guide, as written by my father Leonardo, would never see the light of day. But my dream was to locate it, and finish it. Maybe somehow, I could find his remains and give him a proper burial.

   I covered my face with my hands and cried. Everything felt so impossible, hope felt impossible when every day seemed like it could be the last.

   My tears were abruptly dried as my ears picked up the unmistakable sound of a quiet guitar. Fear took over, realizing I wasn't alone.

   If I could hear them, there was no way they didn't hear me. I wasn't far from the village, and I assumed that maybe it was a musician who had come out to collect their thoughts just as I was doing.

   Nonetheless, I tucked in my ears and my tail and dropped low to my belly, crawling until I could hear the music more clearly. Once it was nearby, and I began to see the light of a fire, I ducked behind a large rock to peek around for a better look.

   I was shocked. My people had tan coats with minimal dappling to blend into the desert. My mother was from a central place in the country, where the land was flat grassy plains, and so her pattern was a light, sandy beige all over. She had passed this on to me.

   This stranger had a pattern I had never seen before. He was speckled with gray and tan, but most of his undercoat was a dark black. He was definitely a Coyote, but where he may have come from was a mystery. We didn't get a lot of foreign visitors to our village.

   He strummed away at his red stained guitar, eyes closed in thought. His camp was small with a pot over a fire, a bed roll, and strange tools like a pickaxe and a shovel next to a large bag that must have held more supplies.

   I felt a heat in my stomach as I watched him. I had never felt the sensation as strong as that before, just a hint of it when I kissed Benoit. The stranger was incredibly handsome to me, but he was still suspicious. I couldn't become distracted.

   His fingers missed a string on the guitar, and he put his nose to the air.

   'Oh shit', I thought, ducking my head back behind the rock. 'He knows I'm here.' I felt embarassed that the sparks in my belly didn't go away despite my fear of being attacked.

   I heard him set the guitar down, and he began to pace the area. The heat was spreading throughout my body rapidly, like a flu was striking me down. But I felt a tingling stir inside of me, unlike any sickness I had before.

   I my limbs started to become heavy, and I struggled to remain stiff and silent. 'What the hell is wrong with me?'

   The sounds of the sand shifting under his paws came extremely close, until it stopped entirely.

   Once I noticed that he had stopped for a suspicious amount of time, I slowly peeked around the rock again to see if he had returned to the fire. But he was nowhere to be seen.