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The part of me that lived in fear, the part that cowed to teachers and hid for hours in the bathrooht, wanted to disappear into a hole, or at least closeto what little strength I had, and cranedthe edge of the clearing I sao more canines

They were both much smaller than Alex, close to a whole foot shorter, and not nearly as bulky

They both had brown fur, although the larger one seehts in his coat His eyes were a painfully fareen

"Alex, letforward, allowingat the coyotes froe my estimation of their size They were tiny It was like David and Goliath What were they thinking?

Of course, I knehat they were thinking They were thinking that two to one was pretty good odds, nothey had speed and agility on their side They were thinking that together they could take Alex down

I was so not going to let that happen

"Jase, stop this right now"

The animal that was my brother yipped atcloser to surprise or annoyance than a threat He whipped his head to the side with a whine and looked at me anxiously I felt a bubble of hysteria as the words, Whatʼs that, Boy? Did Ti whatever it was Jase wanted itated snort andsnarl

Faced with an unmistakable adversary, the coyotes abandoned their atteer Alex represented They stalked off in opposite directions, , and positioned themselves on either side of Alex The world seemed to slon as I watched the animals in front of me They all stood within five yards of one another, each of the out the canine equivalent ofAlexʼs attention, but I kepthe would lead the attack How many times had the two of them tried this saht and I bolted We collided inches away froht

I saw a flash of fur as Alex leapt past ain his footing and bound into the forest Under normal circumstances, the coyote would have been able to quickly put a sizable distance between hiait was uneven, as if one of his front legs had been injured

Instead of leading Alex deeper into the forest, Jase circled around the clearing, darting between trees and rocks Alex was practically on top of hiround I saw blood fly as Alex wrenched hiave no indication of injury as he rightened hiain, the three Shifters found theulated stand-off, tensed for the next attack, an attack I couldnʼt let happen There would be no winners in this fight Noto end up hurt