Max and Myles: Chapter 3 - Part 2 - Sophy and Karu
Story by Zinare on SoFurry
Imported from SF2 with no description.
It has been nearly two months since Sophy had got trapped in the semicircle of a forest. If it hadn't been for a large bear named Karu, she wouldn't be alive at this time. Not only did he save her twice from the roaring waters of a river that trapped them both here, but he also caught her fish from a nearby stream for her to eat. That bear even let her have his golden grass bedding at the back of his den to sleep on. Sophy was certain that he had plans of eating her at some point after saving her, but Karu cleared that up in a hurry when he admitted to being a vegetarian.
Six days after she started living with him, they both got to talking about each other's lives. Karu told her that he had no family, that he had been raised by humans most of his life, and frequently broke out of a flimsy pen that they held him in when he was in their captivity. When he finished, it was her turn to talk. She was reluctant to tell him anything, but the warm smile he gave her made the she wolf drop her guard a bit. So Sophy told him about her brother Trav, her packs weird pact with a neighboring rival pack, the disappearance of that same pack, the crumbling of her family, how her older brother tried to put a litter of his sick pups in her, and about how her family turned their backs on her and tried to run her off after she tore up her older brother.
That weight from all of the anger, sadness, and fear she had built up since she ran away from her pack, weighed a lot more on her back even after telling the bear all of it. Old memories ran through her head as she tried to sleep that night. But no matter how hard she tried to push them to the side, they were back on her like a hungry wolf nipping at the haunches of a wounded deer. Sophy was unable to take any more of it and bolted out of the den to be alone. Hours crept by as everything felt like it was crashing down around her. That's when Karu tracked her down and made sure she was okay. All of those feelings she was running away from got lifted from her when that bear held her close to him. Everything in her body was replaced with a feeling of calm and safety as he gave her a big hug.
Since that day, both mammals have been nearly inseparable from one another. They foraged for food together, talked together, played together, groomed each other, and slept side by side on the straw bedding. The past few months have been good on Sophy. She went from looking like a scrawny and rabid wolf, to a sleek looking she wolf with curves that weren't caused by protruding bones. Any other canine that saw the dark grey, light grey and white pawed wolf would drop their jaws. The large cut she got on her left leg from the first time she fell into the river took a while to heal and left a decent sized scar in its place. Sophy thinks the scar made her look tough and kind of sexy, and Karu even said it looked good on her.
Now the pair was heading towards the river to see if its water level had gone down enough for them to cross. The she wolf couldn't help but look around at the world that has started to bloom. Most of the tree's tops were completely covered in a fresh layer of leaves and small patches of wild flowers grew all around the forests floor. Her glancing stopped when she reached a large black bear walking beside her. He had a white scarred and a white crest on his neck under a black band that had a small black box attached to it. When Karu saw the wolf's amber eyes looking at him, his big brown eyes lit up and he smiled at her.
“Have you seen any of those dogs running around here anymore?" Sophy asked the happy bear. For several days straight there had been a large tan and black dog running around the woods barking Myles. She even thought she heard that same dog barking it from one of those metal monsters by the river at one of the human's brick crossovers several days ago. But it has been a few days since she last heard from that one dog.
“I haven't heard or seen anything for a while now," Karu answered with a shake of his head. Then he started looking around as if it would swoop down from the tree tops and attack them. “You think it was looking around for that other dog?"
“I don't know," the she wolf said. There was another grey and white dog that stomped around their patch of woods like it owned the place before this tan and black one showed up. Both Karu and Sophy had to take cover from it several times to keep it from finding and exposing them to its owners. But then it disappeared about the same time the other one started barking up a storm and sniffing around. “Let's just hope that they don't find us before we cross the river and tell them that we are here."
Karu just nodded as they picked up their pace. After a brief trot, both mammals came to the wide river that the bear had fished Sophy out of twice. It used to be filled up to the top of its banks with fast flowing water, but now it has gone quite a bit and reviled beds of gravel on both sides of its water. The river was still a good five or six wolf lengths wide and its flow had slowed itself a bit. The she wolf was the first one to leap down onto the sharp rocks to size up the water. The bottom of the river was visible for about four paw lengths before it drops off into the murky water. She wasn't very confident in her ability to jump across it and make it to the other side. If she came up short, she might not come back up.
“Scared of the water?" Karu asked as he climbed down from the river's bank to join the wolf.
“A little bit," she admitted when he reached her side. “I nearly drowned in a creek once when I was a pup and my last run in with this river doesn't make me want to leap into it again."
“We can always wait a few more days," the bear suggested.
“We can't," the she wolf said as she shook her head. “There isn't enough food for us to stay put here anymore."
They had both nearly depleted every food resource in the area. The biggest meal Sophy had was some rabbits that she broke out of a wire box near a human's den, but that was well over a week ago. The bear taught her how to fish which was plentiful at first, but now she was lucky to scoop out a few minnows or crawfish from local streams. Karu was so big that he had to eat a ton of fruit, vegetables, berries, and nuts just to keep his weight up. Now there were just bare bushes and trees all over the nearly animal free patch of woods. They were both beginning to loss some of the weight they had put on, so it was high time for them to move onto fertile grounds.
“Do you have any ideas on how we might get across?" Sophy asked the bear. He stared at the water and hummed to himself as he pondered up a way to get them across the water.
“I… I could give you a ride to the other side." Karu finally answered.
“How?" The wolf asked as she cocked her head at him.
“On my back." The bear answered with a smile. He didn't get a smile back.
“Wouldn't you be swept away by the current?" She pointed out to the sarcastic bear. It would help if he would give her some better details for this plan of his. Going against the human's metal monsters to cross their stone structures and get to the other side was starting to sound a lot safer than going through the river itself.
“Having you on my back should be more than enough weight to hold me down." Karu answered as he playfully poked her side with his paw. If any other animal made fun of her weight and poked her with their paw, Sophy would pull off their limb and eat it in front of them. That wouldn't really help her weight problem it would however, shut up the teasing party though. But she had to return a smile when she saw the warm one on the bear's snout. “Do you trust me enough to try this out?"
She did trust him. Karu saved her and took care of her even when she was being bull headed and mean to him. She could trust him with her life, but his plan just might take it.
“Do you even know how to swim?" Sophy asked the master stagiest. A shake of his head was all she got for a response. “Well… that makes two of us…"
“But I wouldn't have to swim if the water isn't that deep." Karu pointed out to her. That IF rang louder than anything else. As much as she would like to wait for a better opportunity to cross, there was always the chance that a storm could roll through and strand them there to the point of starvation.
“Let's give it a shot...," Sophy said very unenthusiastically.
“Freedom, here we come!" Karu roared as he flattened himself to the ground. That enthusiasm is something she wished she had.
“…What's the worst that could happen…? She muttered under her breath. Aside from drowning? “How is this going to work?"
“All you need to do is climb up onto my back, tightly wrap your front legs around my neck, and bite down on that thing around my neck to keep yourself from falling off." The crouching bear explained. “I'll start making my way across it and when the water gets deep, I'll stand up on my hind legs and walk the rest of the way across."
With a heavy sigh and no other option, Sophy climbed up onto the large bear. His hide shifted under her paws thanks to his loss skin he got from the weight he lost over the weeks. Sophy shakily slid her front legs around his neck and slowly lowered her rump down. Mildly comfy with her position, the she wolf bit down on that thing around Karu's neck.
“Ready…," she mumbled to him even though it was a lie. Getting the ok, the bear stood up and slowly started into the water. His spur of the moment plan might have been full proof if he had accounted for the drop off. But he didn't. Suddenly, her vision of the back of Karu's head was replaced by murky river water. That same dirty water flowed between her clasped teeth and past her tongue before her head reemerged. She blew hard through her nose to clear out the river from her nostrils and then released her grip on the collar to bark, “what happened to walking across on your hind legs!?"
“I slipped!" Karu roared back up to her. He did his best to keep them both above the water by kicking his legs rapidly underwater. Even though the river's flow looked fast, land passed by the duo at a much slower speed. Sensing that he was struggling with the extra weight on him, Sophy waited until they were half way across the river to stand up. The she wolf squatted down, launched herself towards land, and came to a sliding stop on the sharp gravel ground. Spinning around, she saw a river without a bear in it for a brief second before Karu reemerged from under water.
“Thanks… Sophy…" He gasped as he continued paddling for land. That kick off of hers must have been a bit too powerful.
“Come on bear breath!" Sophy barked as she ran to the water's edge. She waded out to the drop off and slowly followed him as he got washed down river. Without that excess weight on him, Karu was able to move through the water at a much faster pace. The she wolf reached out with her jaws and grabbed that thing around his neck when he reached the drop off point. Claws, teeth, and pure wolf power was enough to help drag the bear out of the water. Both wet mammals drug their tired paws onto the gravel and collapsed there side by side.
“Great… plan…," Sophy panted to the wet bear.
“Hey… it got us across… didn't it…?" Karu panted back. It did, but there was probably an easier way to get across. They both lay there for nearly ten minutes just soaking up the mid afternoon sun. The bear was the first to stir when he asked, “how does it feel to be across the river?"
Sophy looked at him and then back to the ground. It sucks. That was the simplest way she put it. There wasn't a single thing that the wolf wanted with him for the first six days she was staying with him. But she felt like she could trust him completely and never wanted to leave his side after opening up to him. She even postponed trying to find a way across the river just to be with him a bit longer. But wolves and bears don't belong together. Not as friends, not as packmates, and not as anything more than those two things. This was going to be one of the hardest things she will ever have to do. This was goodbye.
“Karu… I-I just want to say thank-" Sophy started as she stood up, but was interrupted by some barking further down river. Both mammals ran nearly twenty wolf lengths down the river's side and came to a scene about another five wolf lengths away. There was a large grey and white dog with a blue collar around its neck waded out in the water just before the drop off. In its jaws was the red collar to a tan and black dog it was trying to pull out of the deep end.
“This is a river, not a creek." Blue collar growled as he hoisted the other drenched dog onto dry land.
“Dogs…," Sophy quietly growled. The fur on her back bristled up as she approached the other canines with Karu at her side. She had encountered several hunting dogs in her travels and found that the best way to avoid being another hide on the side of a shed was to silence the four legged alarm. The grey dog was the first to see the two predators approaching them since it was the only one facing towards them.
“Run!" He barked before storming up the river's bank and taking cover behind some trees. The tan dog spun around to see a not very happy looking duo standing less than a wolf length away from it. The wet dog's brown eyes went wide before it bolted up the river's bank to join the other dog. Their scents and appearances made it clear to Sophy who these two dogs were. They were the ones who have been running around the woods that had once belonged to the bear and wolf. The way they stunk of fear and ran away from Karu and her also made it clear that they weren't hunting dogs. Just pets. But the she wolf didn't want them to go home without an even heavier dose of fear, so she put on one of the meanest face she could and started for where they were hiding.
“Why didn't you tell me that there were wolves and bears out here Myles…?" The tan one whispered to the grey one.
“I didn't know there were any out here Max…" Myles whispered back to him. “I've caught their scents around the area, but I've never been around a bear or wolf, so I thought it was just other dogs running around my woods…"
“Come out, come out, where ever you are." Sophy said singsong like as she climbed up the river's bank. Karu stayed down on the gravel bed just watching the she wolf pick on the frightened dogs. She smiled on the inside when those mutts cowered away when she stepped towards them.
“Sophy," she heard the bear say from behind her, but she was having too much fun scarring the dogs. Than Max and Myles went from looking at her, to looking past her before blue collar tucked himself behind a tree and red collar flattened himself against the ground.
“Sophy!" Karu roared this time. She whipped around to see the large bear stumble a bit before collapsing onto the ground.
“Karu!" Sophy barked as she was about to run for the fallen bear, but was tackled to the ground before she could even take a step. She whipped her head around and saw that Myles was lying on top of her back to keep her pinned down. The position blue collar was in just kept himself out of reach from her snapping jaws.
“Stay quiet…," Max whispered as he crawled beside the struggling canines. “…There are some humans coming…"
Sophy continued to struggle, but she also turned her head back to the lifeless looking bear. There was a small shiny tube with red feathers poking out of the back of it stuck in Karu's neck. Two humans than emerged from the woods and scaled down the river's bank to the bear. Each one had something in their upper paws. The one in grey plaid held a somewhat shiny grid like thing in the air and blue plaid had something made of wood with a long black tube pointed at the downed bear.
“I'm not going to let them get away with this!" Sophy snarled as she threw her head back into Myles snout. He stifled a yelp and lost his hold on her from the resulting head-butt. With a bit space to move, the she wolf rolled onto her back and planted her hind paws onto her captor's chest. It only took one powerful push with her hind legs to toss the grey dog off of her and square on his back. Max was about to take the place of Myles, but a few warning snaps from her rock crushing jaws kept him back.
Free from both pets, Sophy got back on her paws and bolted onto the gravel bed. Grey plaid saw the wolf charging at him, but she body slammed him to the ground before he could react and wrapped her fangs around the first limb she could bite. Those sharp teeth of hers tore effortlessly through his leg coverings and into his calf. Blood ran into her muzzle when she shook her head like she was trying to kill a hare. The downed man let out a painful groan from the wolf's savage bite. He lifted his other leg and began kicking the side of her head, but every blow from his paw barely fazed Sophy. They just made her jaws slide further down his bloodied up leg.
“I got you Bobbie!" Blue plaid barked as he ran up to assist his friend. He swung one of his legs with enough force into the she wolf's ribs to send her rolling and gasping for air. By the time she was back up, the human with the wooden thing was charging at her again. He took another swing at her with his leg, but Sophy side stepped to the right and his kick completely missed her. That left him wide open for a counter strike, so the wolf stepped back and launched herself into him. The human held his ground like a stone wall, but that didn't stop her from chomping down on his left fore arm. He yelped in agony and tried to shake his arm free from her muzzle. A loud poof sound followed by a stinging sensation in the wolf's back left leg made her release her firm grip on him. Both human and wolf stumbled back from one another to assess their wounds. The man's arm cover was completely torn up and blood was beginning to soak through the tattered fabric.
“Crap…," Sophy growled when she looked back at the hind leg with the stinging sensation in it. Stuck to the side of it was one of those tubes with the feathers at the end of it. It must have come out of that long black tube thing during their struggle. There was a clear slit in the side of that small tube and a fluid flowing around in it was visible every time it moved. She quickly leaned in, plucked the thing out of her thigh, and spat the chrome hornet onto the ground.
“I'm going to kill you!" Blue plaid savagely growled at her as he flipped his wooden contraption around and held it by the black tube. Sophy returned a savage snarl, but something odd was going on with her hind leg. It was beginning to tingle before going completely numb where the tube's sharp point struck her and was rapidly spreading. She was also starting to get a light headed feeling as she waited for the clumsy human to make a move. He stood there for several moments growling and making threatening gestures at her with the thing in his paws.
“Come on…," Sophy growled at him as she began to sway back and forth. Finally the human made a move at her by stepping forward and swinging his wooden contraption. She tried to side step out of its way, but her entire hind leg was numb and that loopy feeling made her stumble and take the blow to the left side of her head. That hit flattened her out onto the gravel bed. She attempted to get back up, but another swift kick to her ribs put her down for good. Beaten, winded, and losing feeling all over her body, Sophy could only watch with fading vision as both humans barked angrily over her. Than the ground began to slide past the wolf and the last thing she heard before blacking out was a splash.
Myles sat quietly on the river's gravel ground, soaked to the bone, and just mere feet away from the drenched grey wolf. Max helped him pull her ashore a ways down river from where those mean humans tossed her in. Once she was safely on land, the shepherd ran back to the scene of the struggle and returned with news and the dart that struck the wolf. He told the husky that the humans were dragging the knocked out bear through the woods as they spoke. Than he also added that the wolf didn't get a lot of the sedative in her, so she should be up soon. After he explained those two things, Max told Myles to stay put and watch the wolf while he finds a way to stop the humans. That was nearly half an hour ago.
“Ugh…," the she wolf groaned as she picked her head up from the ground. There was a spot of bloody matted fur behind her left eye she got when the human hit her with his dart thrower. The dazed and confused look in her amber eyes quickly changed to an inferno as she stood up and looked around. “Where is Karu?!"
“The bear?" Myles asked her back. The she wolf shot him such a threatening glare that he stood up himself and took a few steps back to avoid her fury. “They drug the sleeping bear away shortly after they tossed you into the drink."
“He's alive?" The swaying wolf asked him. He gave her a slight nod and she breathed a heavy sigh of relief, but that heated glare was still there. “Good… I'll settle with killing them quickly rather than slowly."
“No," Myles said as he padded in front of the wolf when she tried to stagger down the river. She gave him a weak snarl, but he held his ground. “We need to wait for Max to get back before we get all Gung Ho about saving the bear."
“His name is Karu," she growled at him as she flopped her rump down onto the gravel. “So stop calling him bear… And why are you mutts helping me?"
“We're done helping you, so now we are trying to save the bear… I mean Karu." The husky calmly answered. The wolf was a lot less calm about that response.
“What?" She growled as she stood back up.
“We decided that after we pulled you from the river, we were going to get Karu away from those mean humans." Myles went on to explain, “Max left some time ago to find a way to buy us some time to come up with a plan to save him. Until he gets back, I'm supposed to keep you from running in and sabotaging our rescue efforts."
“You're going to keep me from helping Karu?" She growled back at him.
“If I have to," the husky simply answered before he sat down. The wolf growled some very un-nice things to him before sitting back down herself. Those knockout drugs the humans shot her with were still clearly present in her. It looked like she was beginning to melt in the afternoon sun. Myles had experience with sedatives. His local vet had used them on him to play with his teeth the day before he hung out with Max for the first time. He felt tired, weak, and like his bones were replaced with rope after he woke up from that vet appointment. “I know how you feel."
“Did someone close to you get dragged way?" She snapped at him. Then something in her body language changed after saying that. Her ears flicked like there were flies landing on them and she averted her gaze from the husky. This was something that he also had experience with. It was almost like the way Myles looked when he accidently called Max his mate for the first time when he was tied to the shepherd's rump. Awkward.
“I meant how you feel after waking up from being knocked out by the humans." He cleared up.
“It sucks…," she growled at the ground. Then there was silence between both canines.
“The bear's name is Karu," Myles started which made the wolf lift up her droopy head. “What is your name?"
“Didn't you hear Karu roaring it?" She asked back.
“I would have heard it if there wasn't a wolf trying to kill me." Myles answered. Hearing anything over his pounding heart didn't make things any easier on him at that time.
“I was just trying to scare you guys off." The she wolf admitted to him. There was a brief pause before she let out a heavy sigh. “My name is Sophy."
“My name is-"
“I already caught your name earlier Myles," Sophy interrupted. Then there was another brief pause before the she wolf chuckled to herself. “That bear's bad habits are starting to rub off on me…"
“How so?" Myles asked the odd wolf as he tilted his head at her.
“It took him an entire day to figure out my name," she explained, “and you know my name within minutes of taking to me. I've became too trusting in strangers because of him."
“Sounds like he means a lot to you if he was able to tame you down a bit."
“H-he does, but…," Sophy said before lowering he gaze to the river's gravel bedding. Seconds past by and every fiber of the husky's being screamed out, but what! But he had enough self-control to stay quiet until she lifted her head and continued. “…But wolves and bears don't belong together…"
“Why not?" He simply asked her. Now it was her turn to tilt her head at him.
“Because it isn't normal," she answered. Myles had figured out that there was nothing normal about this world in the three short years he had been on it. The relationship he has with the shepherd isn't normal and how much his mate knows about humans certainly isn't normal.
“If it isn't normal, then why go up against armed humans to save him?" The husky asked her. She looked as though she was about to say something, but a muffled bark from the river's bank stopped her. They both looked over and saw a tan and black German shepherd sliding down onto the gravel ground. Max tiptoed like the rocks hurt his paws, but was able to reach the other two with some shiny things poking out of his muzzle. “What did you do?"
“I stole their keys and cellphones!" He triumphantly barked after he spat the contents of his muzzle onto the ground. Myles looked down at the two cheap rectangular phones and a ring fitted with many keys. Those phone things were still a huge mystery to the husky. Max attempted to explain how they worked to him after their owner took a selfie of them the other day, but he couldn't follow. However, he did know how those keys work. Those mean humans will be dead in the water without them.
“Good work!" Myles barked. Sophy didn't shear the same enthusiasm.
“How are those going to stop them?" She angrily asked as she pointed at the slobbered up human stuff. Before they could answer, she got up and stormed past both of them. “Wasting my time…"
“They can't start their trucks without the keys or call for help without their phones." Max tried to explain when he caught up to the aggravated wolf. Myles stayed behind his mate in case anything went sour and he needed a dog shield to protect himself from her.
“What?!" Sophy barked at him when she stopped stomping away. Wildlife wasn't very good at understanding all of the complicated terms that pets learn, but Myles could possibly interpret what Max meant to her.
“Let me handle this," the husky said to his puzzled mate as he padded up beside him. “Those big and noisy things the humans control down their black trails require one of those things that he stole to start their shiny beast."
“Ok… that stops them from leaving." The she wolf said to herself. Myles was happy that his time spent in the woods wasn't all for nothing. He can speak wild. “What was that last part about them calling for help?"
“A couple of those other things he stole allow them to… howl at other humans with similar… things." The husky attempted to explain and looked over to Max to see if he got that right. The shepherd gave him a nod.
“So their stranded?" She asked both dogs. Max than gave her a nod. “But what about Karu, is he ok?"
“They were still dragging him to their… shiny beast when I passed them with their stuff." The shepherd answered. “I saw a big cage in the back of their beast, so they definitely plan on taking him alive."
“Then we kill the humans and-“
“No," Max said cutting the wolf off.
“No?" She growled back.
“Killing the humans wouldn't be a good idea." He explained, but she just scoffed at him. “You will have a very large target painted on your flank if other humans find out that there is a wolf around here AND it is killing people."
“But they will continue hunting Karu down until they catch him again…" Sophy pointed out to the two dogs as she sat down and then she dropped her ears and lowered her gaze towards the gravel ground. “…Or worse…"
“We won't let that happen," Myles said to try and reassure the wolf.
“When we get the bear out and to safety, I'll take that thing off of his neck that they use to track him." The shepherd added. There was complete silence as the she wolf moved her gaze from the ground to the river and then to the two dogs.
“Come on," the husky gently said to her. “Karu made you more trusting in others and we need you to trust in us right now."
Then there was another brief moment of quiet. The river's flow made more noise than the three canines.
“…What's the plan?" Sophy finally asked them.
“I'll break the bear out-" Max started to explain.
“His name is Karu," she added.
“I'll break Karu out if he is in the cage, but we need to get that tranquilizer away from them first before we get him." The shepherd went on to describe the plan, but he got blank stares when he said tranquilizer. After a second of ear twitches and head tilts, he added, “that long thing that tosses those small things with fluffy ends."
“I know what you mean now." Myles said and Sophy nodded with him.
“We have got to get that away and then Myles needs to watch for any other weapons while the wolf-“
“Her name is Sophy," Myles pointed out to him. A heavy sigh came from the shepherd.
“While Sophy helps me get Karu away from them," Max continued, “once he is safe, I can take that collar off of him and you guys will be free from those mean humans. Sound good?"
“Yep," the husky said with a nod and then both dogs looked at the she wolf for confirmation.
“Alright," Sophy said as she stood up with her tail held high confidently. “Let's go save my bear."
Both dogs nodded and all three of them took off towards the humans.
Max crawled nearly fifty feet from the rusty red truck with Sophy and Myles on both sides of him. There were several sheets of wood leaning up against the tailgate that they have set up as a makeshift ramp. He couldn't tell whether or not Karu was in the cage from this angle, but the way the truck's backend squatted down told him that there was something heavy in there.
The shepherd made a lot of noise as he approached the objective since he had no stealth training in his life. Every dead leaf he stepped on sounded like he was stomping on a hundred bone dry twigs. Sophy and Myles had no such trouble for trained killers, but that was all right for Max. He was the brains of the outfit and they wouldn't have gotten this far without his help.
“Holdup...," Max whispered back to his comrades. They both obeyed and flatten themselves further onto the ground. Behind the truck was the human with the injured arm, kicking around dead leaves along the path they made when they dragged the bear over. Looking for their lost possessions most likely. Max glanced back over to the truck and could see a pair of legs on the other side of it from its undercarriage. One leg was bleeding and the human's feet were pointing away from their ride, but Max couldn't see anybody in the driver seat.
“Have you hotwired it yet?!" Hurt arm barked back at the truck.
“Not yet!" Her leg barked from the inside of the beater-with-a-heater.
“They're trying to hotwire it…," Max whispered to the wolf and husky. They both just cocked their heads at him. “They're going to start the truck in a way that doesn't require keys."
“Then what are we waiting for?" Sophy growled as she stood up.
“No...," Max quietly growled at her. She grumbled something before lying back down. “We need to find the gun first."
“It's on the far back half of the truck...," Myles whispered. Sure enough, the gun's stock was poking slightly off of the tailgate.
“I got it." Sophy said as she quietly stood up and started padding for the vehicle.
“... Sophy…," was all the shepherd could softly wuff at her without drawing attention to them. Her steps were so quiet that a gentle breeze made more noise than she did. Hurt arm kept his back to the wolf the entire time while he continued looking for his things that he will never find. If a swear jar fell from the heavens, he would have to drop in about twenty bucks from as many curse words as he was spitting out. Sophy reached the tailgate and carefully placed her front paws up on the truck and bit down on the firearm. She slowly slid the gun off so it didn't make too much noise and then padded back with it as sly as a fox that had just plucked a hen from a chicken coop.
“Well done girl." Max said to her as she passed by them. Neither human noticed her snatching their weapon from the truck. She dumped the firearm behind a large tree and rejoined the other two dogs on the ground.
“What's next?" Myles asked.
“We need to get the other human out of the pickup's cab," Max started to explain. “So I'll pop open the door on this side to let Sophy in. That will scare the human in it and keep them from starting their truck. Myles, I need you to watch them while I get Karu out."
“He was sound asleep when I grabbed there gun." Sophy added.
“He shouldn't be out much longer given how long ago it was when he got shot." Myles said.
“True," Max said with a head nod. With everything sorted out, the shepherd looked at both Sophy and Myles. “You guys ready?"
All it took was a head nod from both of them and all three canines took off towards the truck. Thanks to the human dull senses, all of them made it to the target without alerting either of the men. Max carefully stood up on his hind legs and placed his well pedicure paws onto the door. The past several years of watching humans open doors and the past few times he's broken into other homes to shack up with females, made him well-equipped to open this old vehicle's door. Max gently bit down onto the rusty handle and pulled back on it until a click sounded and the door swung open. He released the handle and then stepped back to let Sophy do her thing.
“Remember me!?" She snarled as she leapt into the passenger side. A yell and the sound of hurt leg scrambling to freedom was all Max could hear from the other side of the truck. With their ride out of commission, the shepherd padded around back of the vehicle where Myles was carefully watching the two humans.
“Keep a close eye on them," Max said to Myles, “if you see them reaching for anything, you take it from them."
A nod was all he got as a response from the husky, so he quickly climbed up the makeshift ramp to assess the situation. Inside of the cage that took up nearly half of the pickup's bed, was a large black ball of fur. Karu was awake, but he had wide eyes and was clearly still delirious from the drugs. This wasn't a good situation.
“Karu's up, but-" Max started, but a few barks made him stop midway.
“He's awake?!" Sophy barked as she tried to get out of the truck.
“Stay put!" The shepherd barked back. A whine came from the pickup's cab, but she didn't jump out. “He's up, but the state he's in won't make it easy. He would probably even hurt himself if he tried to move around."
“How long until he is a bit more coherent?" A pair of ears at the edge of the tailgate asked.
“I'll give him about five or ten minutes before I opened his cage." Max answered as he sat down. Now it was just a waiting game.
Sophy sat quietly in the human's truck with her head poking out of the large opening to keep an eye on the humans. It is been nearly ten minutes since their ambush and the human with the hurt hind leg sat down, but the human with the injured arm was walking in circles around his partner and kicking debris on the ground. They were yapping back and forth to one another, but she can't understand what they were saying, only Max could. However, he was still in the back of the beast checking on Karu.
“Sophy?!" Someone roared from the back. It wasn't Myles or the tan dog that howled it.
“Karu?!" Sophy barked as she bailed out of the motionless monster and joined Max in the back. The cage Karu was trapped in was now wide open. His head seemed a bit wobbly and he looked like he was on the verge of freaking out, but he appeared to calm down when his wide eyes caught a glimpse of the wolf. “Can you move?"
“I don't know," the lethargic bear mumbled, but he made no effort to move.
“Come on Karu," Sophy said to her downed friend. She gave him a poke with her nose to his muzzle for encouragement. “We need to get far away from here."
“To be together?" He asked the wolf. That caught her off guard. It was more important to get him to safety rather than trying to figure out whether or not she's going to be with him. The she wolf froze up when she tried to think of a response for him. If she said no, he might not want to leave that cage. But she couldn't be with him since they weren't the same species. A snarl and bark snapped Sophy back into reality.
“Knife!" Myles barked. By the time the she wolf reached the side of the beast to see what was going on, the grey dog had already tackled hurt arm down and retrieved a shiny edge with a piece of deer antler at the base of it. The terrified human scrambled back from the knife toting dog and retreated back to hurt leg. Myles wagged his tail triumphantly as he kept the blade poking out of the side of his muzzle with the sharp edge pointing towards the humans.
“Good job Myles!" Max barked from the tailgate. Sophy turned around when she felt the truck rocking back and forth and saw Karu up. He staggered across the beast's bed like a newborn, but stopped when he reached the makeshift ramp.
“Do you need help down?" Max asked the groggy bear. Karu just gave him a wide eyed look.
“Sophy?" He said looking from side to side. The she wolf went over to the other end of the tailgate from Max with her friend in between both of them. There was a complete look of confusion and shock on his muzzle when he found her standing beside him. “Are there dogs helping us?"
“They're nice dogs," Sophy told her nervous friend. That seemed to calm Karu down enough for him to begin making his way down the ramp. Both canines hopped down and anxiously waited for him to reach the bottom. The wooden contraption wasn't that steep, but he still took puppy steps until he reached the ground. “Stay with us, ok?"
Karu just nodded.
“I'll stay back and make sure they don't follow you guys." Myles mumbled with the blade still in his mouth. Sophy abandoned her friend and Max to approach the grey dog.
“Thanks mutt," she said to him before giving him a lick on the side of his muzzle that didn't have a sharp edge poking out of it. His curled tail just patted both sides of his grey hips. “We will be at the spot where you guys pulled me out of the river."
“Got it," was all he mumbled before turning his attention back to the humans. Sophy returned to Max and they both started leading Karu away from the human's truck and back towards the river.
“Is your friend going to be all right on his own?" She asked the tan dog.
“He's tough," Max answered, but she doubted a dog could fight off two humans. All she could do now was look back at the shrinking truck as they put as much distance between it and them.
Karu awoke to the sound of a gentle water flow. He opened his eyes and saw the same river that he swam across earlier and the other side where he was once trap with the wolf. Everything after they had crossed the water and up to this point was just one long blur to him. The last thing he remembered was collapsing onto the gravel ground. When he tried to pick up his head, something put pressure on it to keep it from coming up.
“Hold still...," Someone quietly muttered in his ear. That wasn't very hard for him to do since his whole body felt like it had a boulder sitting atop of it. After a minute of somebody playing with his neck, the weight on his head and body was lifted. The bear rolled over and on to his other side to see that tan and black dog sitting beside the grey and white one near the river's bank. Lying in front of the grey dog's front paws was that thing that has been around Karu's neck his entire life.
“Did you get it off of him Max?" Sophy asked as she slid down the river's bank. The tan dog just gave her a nod when she approached him. “And now they won't be able to track him anymore?"
“Correct," Max said to the she wolf. “They'll most likely try to follow it again, so Myles is going to haul it away from you guys to keep them from finding him again."
“Good," Sophy said with a sigh of relief. Her tail started to wag when she saw that Karu's eyes were open and she bounded over to him with a bark, “you're up!"
“Yeah...," Karu weekly growled as he rolled onto his belly. It took a grunt and some straining for him to lift the front half of his body up. This tired and weak feeling wasn't anything new for him. He felt this way every time he awoke back in that flimsy pen the humans kept him in. But having Sophy there poking all over his muzzle and neck with her nose gave him enough strength to stay sitting up.
“Let me know which way you two are going," Myles started. That made Sophy stop her cold nose assault as both her and Karu faced the grey dog. “And I will take this thing in the opposite direction you guys are heading in to throw them off your trail."
“Does this mean we are going together?" Karu asked the she wolf. His heart raced as he waited for a response, but Sophy just stayed quiet as she looked at everything around her, but the bear. She finally made eye contact with him, but it looked as though someone had sucked the life out of her.
“I'm sorry Karu...," she quietly said to him. It felt like somebody had crushed his chest with the largest rock they can find. Not seeing her every day was going to leave him with an empty void in his lonely life. Karu dropped his head towards the ground and closed his burning eyes. There was an eerie stillness around him that was quickly broken when he felt something soft press up against the top of his head. He reopened his eyes and looked up into a pair of beautiful amber eyes looking back into his. The she wolf's muzzle only ran half the length of his. “... But you're stuck with me now. Like it or not."
She had a wide grin on her muzzle and Karu's heart skipped a beat as he reached out with his front legs and pulled the wolf into a bear hug. He gave her one long lick that ran over the top of her head, her right eye, and across her muzzle to the tip of her nose. That lick would've probably been better if he didn't go against the grain and if she didn't taste like dirty river water. But Sophy just tilted her head up and returned licks to the bottom of Karu's muzzle when he brought his head back up. With a fresh coating of gross wolf slobbers to his chin, the bear rested his cheek on top of the she wolf's head and he held her tighter when she finished giving him a tongue bath. The thought of losing her when they got across the river had kept him up at night for weeks. He even came up with a dumb plan to cross the river just so she might say no and they could be together slightly longer. But now he didn't have to let her go.
“Better than normal, huh?" Myles asked the embracing couple. The bear didn't know what the grey dog meant by that, so he just stayed quiet.
“Much," Sophy simply answered back to him. Karu peeked over at the two pets and saw that Max had scooted closer to Myles and was now resting his head against the grey dog's thick neck. The sound of awwing was coming from the tan dog the whole time he watched the scene before him. It seemed strange to Karu that blue collar was okay with red collar being that close to him. He seemed to enjoy the contact from the other dog almost as much as the bear felt holding Sophy.
“So, where should we go?" Karu asked the she wolf as he released her.
“I'll go anywhere with you." She quietly said to the bear. She paddled over to his side and sat down with her flank pressing up against his. That weak and tired feeling seemed to start fading away with her there with him. It was almost like the she wolf had a healing aurora about her.
“May I make a suggestion?" Myles asked the close pair. They both gave him their undivided attention." This river runs off into a lake a few miles down. Humans stay on the south side of the large body of water in portable dens to pretend like they belong in the wilderness, so your guys best bet would be to go north of the lake and find a spot around a pond or creek in a densely wooded area."
“And hunting isn't allowed anywhere around the lake since it is a state park, so you two will be safe from winding up on somebody's wall." Max added as he removed his head from his friends neck.
“You want to head that way?" Karu asked the she wolf. He wanted to clear it with her since she has more experience surviving out in the wild than he does.
“We can take a look." Sophy answered with a head nod. The bear can almost scoop her up and carry her there.
“Then I'll take this east," Myles said before picking up that collar thing.
“Don't take too long Myles," Max warned as he stood up. “Our owners will be getting home soon and I don't want them figuring out that we are out running around. I'll hang back with these two for a bit before going home to cover for you if it comes down to that."
“I'll hurry," Myles mumbled to the tan dog. Max leaned in towards him and gave him a few tender licks on his muzzle. The grey dog just wagged his tail in response to the tongue. Dogs are odd… Karu thought to himself when the muzzle licking was done. “Goodbye you two and give me a howl if you need anything."
“Bye mutt!" Sophy barked as Myles started trotting upstream with the only thing the humans could use to track Karu.
“There goes your… very close friend," the bear pointed out to the tan dog. Max nodded as he sat down by a small pile of shiny things.
“Hate to see my mate go, but love to watch his husky butt leave." He said almost singsongly in the direction that Myles left in.
“Your mate?!" Sophy barked a little bit shocked. That certainly explained the two dogs' closeness to each other.
“Been going on two days strong now," Max casually answered to the other two mammals. “We were going to find a nice place in the woods to fool around, but being superheroes seemed like a lot better use of our time."
“And we are thankful that you weirdoes decided to help us." The she wolf said as she stood up. “We should get going if you are able to walk."
“I can move," Karu said as he also stood up. Both wolf and bear looked over at Max who was now looking down at the two small rectangles and shiny things around a ring. There had to be a better reason for Max to hang back other than just watching his mate's rump as he left. “What are you thinking?"
“What was around your cage when you were held captive?" The tan dog asked back.
“Other cages were visible through some of the tears and gaps in the cover over my pen," Karu answered.
“Could you see what was in the other cages?" Max asked.
“Some large striped and spotted cats," the bear answered and continued, “spotted dogs with round ears, a cage full of colorful birds, but I could only hear the rest of them. Why? Do you plan on saving them too?"
“Maybe...," Max answered as he looked back down at the humans things. “If this works, then they will go to a better place or even back out to the wild. A small cage is no place for other endangered animals such as yourself."
“Endangered?" Sophy spoke up for Karu.
“This area isn't his natural habitat," the tan dog explained, “his real habitat is over an ocean."
“But I've seen other bears before that looked a lot like me." Karu pointed out to the tan dog. It was his second and third time he broke out of the human's captivity when he saw the other black bears. But they all bolted away when they saw him approaching towards them every time.
“Were they as big as you and had a white crest on their neck?" Max asked the bear. They weren't and they didn't, so Karu just shook his head. “My guess is that those humans who were after you were also in the illegal animal trade. They were probably going to sell you to another human that wanted a Formosan black bear."
“A what black bear?" Sophy asked the hard to understand dog.
“It's a type of bear from Asia," he tried to clear up. It didn't. “I've seen his breed of bear on the television before."
Both wild animals looked at each other and then back to the pet.
“So you are going to help those other fancy animals?" Sophy asked him. It was nice to move on something they might understand.
“If it works," Max answered as he looked back down at the human's possessions. “All I need to do is take their keys and phones-"
“Have your boy explain it later when we find our new home." The she wolf quickly said to interrupt him before he let out any more complicated terms from his muzzle.
“Good idea," the tan dog said as he stood up. “I don't want Myles to beat me home and worry about me doing something stupid. Give husky butt a bark if you guys want to hang out sometime."
“We'll track you guys down after we find a new den site," Karu said to the pet.
“I'll have you guys a nice housewarming gift before then," Max said as he scooped up the human's possessions into his muzzle.
“Thanks for everything Max!" Sophy barked at him when he started climbing up the river's bank. Once he was gone, the she wolf looked up the bear with a gleam in her amber eyes and a smile crossed her muzzle. That warm and healing energy she was emitting made Karu feel like he was surrounded by his golden grass bed. Even his wet fur and the cool spring air around him couldn't keep her new attitude for making him feel warm and fuzzy inside. “What do you say we go find ourselves a new home?"
“Let's go," Karu said back to her with a smile. They both got up and he followed her into the forest and towards their new den site.
Progress on finding a new site for their den has been slower than a hundred year old tortoise. It has been well over a week and all they've run into were dead ends. There were either no resources for Karu to eat or there was evidence of human activity around the area. Sophy didn't have an issue with the resources in the large area. She was the only real predator north of the lake which made it an excellent hunting ground for her.
“What do you make of this place?" Sophy asked the hungry bear. They were both huddled under a large weeping willow tree beside a decent sized pond. Even though the game in the area was plentiful, the she wolf only managed to catch herself a few hares over the past week of their exploring. Karu managed to get himself some wild edibles and found evidence that promised more to come summer and fall.
“It has about everything we need." The bear said to the she wolf lying beside him. It has food, water, but no shelter. “We might have to find a spot to dig our own den."
“How long does that usually take?" She asked the relocation expert.
“I would usually have a big enough hole for me to fit into after several hours of continuous digging on my own," he answered. A distant boom of thunder and the dark grey clouds rolling by much faster thanks to the roaring winds put up spark of energy into both of the tired mammals.
“We had better start looking for a place before this weather turned sour." Sophy growled as they both got up and left the comforts of the droopy tree. The she wolf quickly disappeared into the dense forest tree line, while Karu stayed in the clearing around the pond. One thing he picked up on when he was alone was that hills make great places to build dens. And that's exactly what he found.
At the end of a narrow clearing connected to the pond's clearing was a decently tall hill. The incline at the bottom wasn't as steep as he would like it to be, but a little further up, Karu found a clear level spot. It was about six or seven bear lengths long and wide and the hill steepened as it continued up a short distance before reaching its max elevation. That incline there was perfect for a den to be built into it and the height gave them a clear view of the area around it in case they needed to look for threats or food.
“SOPHY!" Karu roared from the hillside. He could see many birds rapidly flying out of the tree tops that he was level with when he roared.
“WHAT!" Sophy howled back from the other side of the pond.
“COME HERE!" He roared. After a minute of sitting and waiting for her, Sophy reached the level ground with Karu. She was huffing and puffing like she just sprinted several miles straight. “Here's the spot."
“I wish we could have found a den that was already done." The she wolf panted as she sat down beside him.
“Aww, is wolf breath afraid of getting her paws dirty?" The bear teased as he poked her with his paw. A smile crept across her muzzle.
“No," she playfully scoffed and then began rubbing her head and snout on his side. The amount of energy she seems to have these past several days was puzzling to Karu. Nearly every time they were resting during their search for a new den site, he woke up to find her curled up and cleaning herself... for almost an hour straight. He figured it was just her trying to have some alone time, but when he asked if he needed to go someplace else while she played with herself, the she wolf informed him that what she was doing was simple cleaning. Even with all of that cleaning she was doing to herself, it should have at least made that strong scent she had about her a little less potent.
“How about this spot?" Karu asked the very affectionate she wolf, which stopped her rubbing.
“I like it…," she whispered, but she was looking up at the bear rather than the steep hillside.
“Then we should get to it before the rain starts coming down." He said as he stood up to get away from the clingy canine. Karu approach the hillside and lifted a paw to it. When he slid his claws down its surface, it's only left five lined marks in it. The dirt wasn't too soft or easily crumbled away, but it wasn't so hard that it would feel like they were digging through solid rock. It felt soft enough to have a den built into the side of it, but was sturdy enough that it wouldn't cave-in on them when they're digging their new den. He already took one swipe at it. Now he just had a couple thousands of more to go.
After a few good hours of nearly nonstop digging from both Sophy and Karu, they managed to get a hole slightly larger than a bear put into the side of the hill. The black bear just took the wolf's place for the second time and was now scraping out all of the loose dirt he just dug off of the wall. A few booms echoed into their hole which left a ringing in his ears for a few seconds.
“How are things looking out there?!" He roared when his hearing came back to him.
“Not good!" Sophy barked after a brief pause. “It will probably be coming down in a few minutes!"
“Great…," Karu quietly growled to himself as he continued pulling dirt out of their new hole. The she wolf's timing was only off by about half-an-hour. The bear got their hole big enough for Sophy to get in and help before the rain started coming down. All of the rocks and other debris in the dirt took a toll on both of the mammals' paws. After another good hour of digging, a few broken claws, cuts, and scrapes, the pair lay side-by-side in their small den looking out at the wet world.
“The view from up here is very nice," Sophy pointed out the diamond in the rough to him. Karu looked past the wolf's dirty muzzle into her glowing eyes. Even though Karu's front paws were uncomfortably caked in dirt and he was hungry, that she wolf had the power to melt that all away.
“It's a lot nicer with you here," Karu said to her. She patted their den's floor behind them with her tail and gave his dirty cheek a few licks.
“I can't wait for us to get our den a lot bigger." She said after slobbering at the side of his head.
“Me neither...," He whispered as he looked through the droplets of water dripping down from their dens mouth at their new home.
It is been two days since they started digging and both mammals were dirty, hungry, and tired, but Sophie and Karu both sat quietly as they looked at their new den that they had just finished digging. It was a lot longer, wider, and its ceiling was a lot taller than their previous dens' was across the river. All of that rain they got on day one of their excavation made the soil soft enough to be dug out much easier and washed away most of the dirt that was once in the hill.
“It's done," Sophy said to break the silence. The bear just nodded at the muddy canine. They both had mud clinging onto every hair of their front legs and on their snouts up to their ears. But in the end it was all worth it, because they got a place they could call home. “You want to head down to the pond and get cleaned up?"
“Lead the way," the bear said to the she wolf. She stood up, spun around, and slowly slid her bushy tail across the sitting bear as she passed by. Her behavior today has been almost flirtatious ever since he awoke to her tenderly nibbling on him this morning. That new scent she had about her was a lot stronger as well. It seemed to fill the air around her and it lingered in their den even when she left for a few hours yesterday to do some hunting. Everything going on with Sophy certainly was different since they both got over the river, but Karu suspected that it was because she was a lot happier. He sure was.
“Are you coming?" Sophy asked from the hillside. Only her head was visible from the leveled out spot on the hill where the bear was sitting.
“I'm right behind you," Karu said as he stood up. He didn't even realize that he had drifted off into his own the world. The she wolf hopped in a circle when he reached the hillside and she swayed her hips back and forth with her tail held high as they climbed down the hill. She even looked back at him several times with a gleam in her eyes. When they reach the body of water, the she wolf immediately jumped in a shallow part of the pond and a murky cloud formed around her as she waded out into the deeper waters, but only stopped when the water level rose over her back.
“Isn't that water a bit chilly?" Karu asked from land. There was a nip in the air and he suspected that the water would have just as much of a bite to it.
“It's not too bad," Sophy said as she swam in circles. She cleaned off all of the mud from her face after she dipped it into the water a few times. “Are you going to join me or just watch awkwardly from the bank?"
“I figured I would give both of them a shot." he answered before slowly dipping a paw into the pond. It felt as though the water was on the point of freezing when the moisture reached his skin through his thick toe fur. But he still submerged himself into it and waded out to the wolf while dipping his muzzle into the freezing water to wash the dirt off of it. Karu did his best to cover up his chattering teeth caused by the freezing water surrounding him by asking, “how are we supposed to stay warm after this?"
Sophie didn't say one word. Instead, she dipped her head underwater leaving only her dark grey ears visible to him. Little bubbles came up where her muzzle once was before she re-emerged her head from the water like a hippo would. Then she began to swim circles around him like a shark around a shipwreck. On one of her rounds, the she wolf swam up beside the stationary bear.
“Race you to the den," Sophy quietly said in Karu's ear before kicking off of his side and climbing onto dry land. The bear just watch from the water as she quickly shook off and sprinted towards the hill. She stormed up it and disappeared on the level spot where their den was built. After a brief moment of absolute silence, Karu got out of the water himself, shook his coat out, and slowly started for the den himself. Then the sound of a whimpering bark came from the den when he was about halfway up the hill. That put a fire underneath the bear and he ran up the remainder of the incline onto the plateau.
“Sophy?!" He roared just a few bear lengths away from the den. There wasn't any way for him to tell if she was in any trouble or had been hurt until he gets into the den where his eyes could adjust to the darkness. The bear leapt into the large carved out hole, but when his eyes pierced the darkness, he could see that Sophy was neither hurt or in distress. She was just sitting at the back of their den. “Are you okay?"
“I'm fine," she growled as he made his way further into their den. The she wolf immediately got up and bounded over to greet him by poking and nuzzling all over his muzzle and neck. Her damp tail was wagging the entire time.
“Are you sure you're okay, because you have been acting strange these past... several... days...?" Karu's questioning trailed off when the she wolf spun around, flipped her tail to the side, and presented herself to him. Her pooch with a patch of white fur around it, bounced as she perked her rear end up at him just a few paw lengths away from his snout. Now the wolf's behavior and strong scent made sense to the bear. “It's your mating season, isn't it?"
Sophy looked over her side and gave him a quick nod as her heat swollen folds settled down to a quiver. Karu heard about mating season stuff from forest critters and the other animals around him when he was held captive by those humans. But he is never actually seen anything during their heat in his entire life. Until now, so he stepped forward and breathed in her pheromones that begged for her to be bread. That exposed grey skin with a sliver of pink like fresh salmon meat between her puffy lips, bounced with each hot breath that hit it. His species would never go crazy over a wolf in season, but this wolf was the closest thing he had ever been to in his life and he was certainly crazy about her.
“Are you sure that you want to do this?" Karu asked her after a few more deep breaths. He had never figured that Sophy would want to mate with him, so he never imagined what it would be like for him to be very close to her when he had his alone time. But if he gets the ok from her, he would be more than willing to try and cool down her heat that the cold pond failed to do.
Instead of saying anything, the she wolf spun back around and dove in- between his front legs. Only her rump was visible when she slid almost completely underneath him. I guess she is okay with it, Karu thought to himself as Sophy ran her muzzle over his most vulnerable bits. Everything in the bear's mind went blank when he bent his head down to her rump and nosed at the tail that was blocking the part of her that craved him the most. The she wolf was more than happy to flip her tail to the side for him and keep it held there. Karu took one last deep breath of her sweet scent before extending his wide tongue and sliding it over her swollen pooch. An excited yip erupted from under him and Sophy returned fire with a flurry of licks to his sheath.
Karu gave her sweet honey hole a few more good licks before probing it with his long and wide tongue. The she wolf's tail shot straight up and a loud moan echoed through their den as he slowly pushed his licker as deep as it would go into her. With an open mouth that was fully extended to fit every bit of his muzzle's organ into her, the bear held his tongue in place while he waited for Sophy to continue working on him.
She only caught the hint after he pushed his hips forward and poked the squatting wolf somewhere with his exposed tip. When the sudden feeling of heat and slobbers slid down most of his length and stayed there, he realized that Sophy had put her entire muzzle to work. The angle she was in made it nearly impossible to shift her head back and forth over him. It would be as simple as just rocking herself back and forth, but her heat filled body told her to go rigid and refused to move when she was being probed by anything.
But Karu didn't mind the challenge. He withdrew his tongue most of the way and press the tip of his bottom jaw and nose against her rump and gave her a push with his head when he slid his wet organ back into her depths. The force of his shove made her slide down his length and when he withdrew himself again, the she wolf pushed her rump back to be probed once more. Karu let out a grunt every time he slid himself back into her tight hole and he could feel the hide on her back tighten and twitch when he pressed his tongue deep into her again. Both mammals continued filling the den with the sounds of echoes, whimpers, moans, and grunts until the bear humped into the wolf's muzzle a few times on his own. With that pleasant burning sensation of his orgasm building up and having a hard time to keep himself from ridding her face until he climaxed, Karu knew he had to stop if he wanted to pop in the end that needed him the most.
The bear lifted his legs over the stationary wolf, but kept his tongue firmly pressed in Sophy as he stepped around back of her. It wasn't difficult for him to tell that he really has her going. The she wolf's insides clamped strongly around him, she was bucking and grinding her hips back into his snout, and she had her muzzle raised high with her amber eyes closed as she moaned a tone that he didn't want to end. But he didn't want her having all the fun, so he finally retracted his tongue after a few more good shoves with it.
That bear slobbered pooch bounced helplessly as it eagerly awaited something to refill it. Sophy gave her rear end a tantalizing shake as she peeked over her side and gave him a come and get me look. Karu stepped forward and rested his big head on her rump just above her fertile mound. There wasn't any way that the she wolf could possibly hold the large bear up, so he pressed down on her a few times with his head to let her know that he needed her to lower herself down. She squatted down a bit and spread her hind legs apart to accommodate him.
“Oh, yes!" Sophy whined in anticipation as the bear stepped over her. Only her neck and head was visible from in between Karu's front legs when he was fully over the squatting wolf. He wasted no time in trying to find that spot that needs to him the most. It took him a few pokes to find his mark and as soon as his tip piercer her folds, Sophy threw herself back into him. His entire length slid into her with zero resistance which made the bear let out a loud grunt of pleasure and the she wolf drawn in a satisfying gasp. Being surrounded by that heat, those clamping muscles, and his spit and her fluids was a new sensation for the virgin bear.
This was more than Karu could ever imagine and he planned on taking this interment moment with her as slow as Sophy would let him. But when he tried to slowly retract him cock from her, the wolf realized he was trying to take it out of her, so she pushed herself back into him before he could even get halfway out. Sensing that she didn't want slow and steady, the bear quickly retracted himself this time and thrusted his member back into her before she had the chance to throw herself back into it. Karu repeated that thrust time and time again followed by a brief pause. He watched the heat crazed wolf under him lift her head up and bury her muzzle into his scruffy wet neck. She whimpered and moaned loudly as each thrust which made her buck and grind herself desperately back into him.
“Karu…!" Sophy gasped his name when he pushed himself back into her. He could feel her hindquarters tremble when he held himself in place. “I need you to go faster."
Karu done as he was told and thrusted himself back into her, but instead of holding his bearhood in, he immediately pulled his cock back out of her pooch and repeated his thrust. Each powerful push from the wet mountain of fur made the she wolf's head lose contact with his neck. Both mammals trusted and pushed at each other randomly, but it didn't take the two virgins long to synch up their rhythms. When Karu thrusted forward into her, Sophy pushed her rump back into him in unison. The more rapid pace the bear was dishing out meant that his climax with his first female was building up just as quickly. Part of him wanted to pull her close to him and repeatedly pound her until he filled every nook and cranny in her fertile tunnel with his seed. But he was able to somewhat keep his composure even with that pleasant burning sensation escalating in his fuzzy orbs.
Sophy on the other paw made no effort to keep her composure. She let out moans that border on howls and bucked around underneath him like a wild mustang trying to be broke. Karu had to lift one of his front legs to her waist so he could hold her rump still and to keep from accidentally coming out of her sweet hole. Then he dropped his head down to the heat crazed wolf exposed neck and pushed back on it with his muzzle as that burning sensation-that built up into a wildfire-told him to go faster. No longer able to keep his urges and checks, the bear forced himself as hard, as fast, and as deep as he could into her. Most of his slobbers have been squished out and have been replaced by her own fluids which made it slick enough for his cock to easily slide in with each powerful thrust.
Soon, the quicker and harder rhythm made Sophy cease her loud moaning and replaced it with a gasping pant. Each thrust made her gasp even louder, until one more strong shove from the bear sent her into a frenzy. She threw herself back, started barking frantically, and grinded herself back into him as her body began convulsing strongly around his cock. Karu's own climax hit him like a ton of dirt almost in unison with Sophy. He picked up his head from the wolf's neck, pulled her back as tightly as he could, and roared at the top of his lungs as he flooded her heat swollen insides with his seed.
“Oh god!" Sophy moaned as her climax kept on going. Karu gave her a few more short and quick thrust before he started dying down from his own high. His used member then became hypersensitive to anything touching it, but that there was still a WOLF around him trying to squeeze every last drop of cum from him. Not wanting to ruin her orgasm, he gritted his teeth and planted all four paws on the den's floor as he waited for the moaning wolf to ride out her climax. It was almost a solid minute of panting and whimpering and gyrating before she finally settle down.
“That… was… amazing…," Sophy panted as Karu stepped back and out of the she wolf. Her grey mound gave him a wink before it began to leak out their combined fluids onto the ground. Not wanting any of their combined fluids going to waste, the bear leaned his head forward and began lapping at her sensitive skin. The wolf's tail shot straight up and allowed full access to her soaked pooch. “You know what I was thinking?"
“Hmm…?" was all the bear could hum in response so he wouldn't have to abandon his duties.
“We should take another dip in the pond soon," he heard her say. That was enough to make him stop licking her and look up at the wolf peeking over her side with a wide grin and giving him a flirtatious wink. Karu gave her a toothy grin right back before giving her pooch one last hard lick.
“Race you there!" He roared as he bolted past Sophy who was held in place by her own instincts. He was nice enough to wait at the end of the plateau for his wolf to recover. Within excited barked, she reached the bear and they both made their way down their den's hill side by side.
Bobbie sat in the passenger side of the old red pickup and tended to his mauled leg with some old rags he fetched from the floorboard. Paul was lying on his back under the dashboard with his arms raised and hands full of wires. The blue plaid coated man had taken several rags himself and tied them tightly around his wounded forearm.
“This isn't working," Bobbie pointed out to his partner in crime. Paul shot him a glare from the floorboard. Every attempt blue plaid made to breathe life into their old truck didn't work and losing their bear to three mutts, put a bad taste in hurt legs mouth and made him want to get out and limp home.
“I don't see you doing anything." Hurt arm fired back. “Why don't you get off your lazy-"
BARK! BARK!
A few quick barks erupted from the bed of the pickup which interrupted the squabbling rednecks. Paul sat up and Bobbie turned around in his seat and looked out of the back glass. Through a small gap that wasn't blocked by the tarp cover cage, hurt leg could see that pesky German shepherd with its front legs propped up on the cage. Bobbie's eyes went wide when the dog bent its head down and picked up a shiny ring of keys from the top of the cage. Ignoring his massive leg pain, Bobbie opened the truck door, leapt out, and reached for his keys. He ended up empty-handed when the shepherd jumped back to the tailgate. Grey plaid lunged for the key holder once more, but the dog jumped off the tailgate and ran back in the direction that it had come from.
“GOD DAMMIT!" Bobbie shouted at the top of his lungs as he flapped his arms around and stomped his good leg like an angry toddler. “I AM GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A-"
That's when he saw it. Lying on the tailgate was their way out of this awful day. Their keys! He triumphantly scooped them up and limped his way back into the truck. Paul took the slobbered up keys from him and started their ride home without issue as Bobbie leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. They could track the bear later, but right now, he just wanted to take a nap and forget this horrible day ever happened.
Midway through a greasy fast food burger and chugging on a cheap beer that never empties, Bobbie awoke to Paul shoving on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to find that they were home. Their rustic cabin with multicolored lawn chairs and beer cans as lawn decorations and the old red barn's roof was visible over their living quarters. Grey plaid glanced over to the driver who was shaking and as white as the ghost that haunts their barn.
“What's wrong Paul?" He asked blue plaid. Paul just kept glancing back and forth between both side mirrors. Bobbie looked over to the mirror on his side and saw an extremely dreadful site. There were three pairs of red and blue flashing lights behind them. “Oh, sh-“
“PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" One of the squad car's intercoms blared. Several cops wearing black coats and black pants were positioned behind their open doors with guns drawn towards the old truck.
“How did this happen…?" Hurt leg asked in a hushed whisper.
“I don't know…," Paul whispered back as they both lifted their arms out of the truck's windows. “…They just showed up a minuet after I pulled in…"
“DRIVER, SLOWLY EXIT THE VEHICLE!" The intercom blared once more. Blue plaid hesitated, but he did as the police asked and slowly exit the truck with both of his arms held high. “NOW KEEP YOUR BACK TO US AND WALK BACK TO THE SOUND OF MY VOICE!"
Bobbie watched nervously as Paul walked backwards out of view. After thirty tense seconds, the squad car made its ruckus again.
“PASSENGER, SLOWLY EXIT THE VEHICLE!" Bobbie also done as he was told by the cops and slowly exited the truck. He had to keep most of his weight on his good leg just to remain standing there. “NOW KEEP YOUR BACK TO US AND WALK BACK TO THE SOUND OF MY VOICE!"
He kept his arms raised high and slowly limped back until he was seized by a cop.
“What happened to your leg sir?" The cop that was frisking him asked from behind.
“I got mauled by a wolf." Bobbie honestly answered, but the officer kind of chuckled at him. Probably because there hasn't been any wolf sightings in the area for over twenty years. When he was done being felt up, the officer had him plant his palms on the warm hood of a black and white squad car that had SPPD on the side of its door.. Bobbie could see over his shoulder on the other side of the middle cop car that Paul was also resting his palms on the back of a car and being questioned by an officer.
“I found it!" An older bald officer hollered from the side of their pickup. He had his arms stretched down into the bed and lifted up Bobbie's rectangular phone to the remaining officers that weren't walking around the property. He then pulled the lit up phone close to his hair filled ear." You still there hun...? Yep, we found the phone… yep… thank you dear."
The older officer hit the end button on Bobbie's phone and approached the squad car that hurt leg had his hands against. He dropped the phone onto the car's hood as well as a few tranquilizer darts.
“Is there any reason why you have these darts and a large covered cage in your possession?" The older officer asked him with a raised eyebrow. Bobbie just shook his head.
“Probably for that wolf that chewed up his leg." The officer that searched him said. Just then, another cop quickly walked out from behind Paul and Bobbie's cabin towards the older officer.
“Can I have a word with you?" The younger officer wearing a SPPD over his black hair asked the older man. Both of them stepped away until they were just out of earshot and chatted with one another for a minute before returning to Bobbie.
“Go ahead," the bald man said as he motioned for the younger cop to step forward.
“Now, I'm not Fish and Game, but I'm smart enough to know that a bunch of animals that are vibrantly colored, spotted, or striped, don't belong around here." He pointed out to the redneck. Bobbie knew right where this was leading.
“You wouldn't happen to have all of the necessary papers to be in possession of those exotic animals in and around your barn, would ya?" The older cop asked.
“Don't you need a warrant before you can start poking around my property?" Bobbie snapped at them.
“When we receive a 911 call with somebody threatening to kill something," the younger officer started to point out to the growling redneck. “That gives us probable cause to at least look around for anybody that may be hurt or deceased."
“Now I'll ask you again," the bald cop said. “Do you have the paperwork to own those animals?"
Neither Paul nor Bobbie went through the proper channels to get those animals. They ran an illegal animal trading business, not a pet store, so they didn't have any permits to have those exotic animals that were in and around their barn. All Bobbie could do was look down and stay quiet.
“I'll take that as a no than." The older officer said after a brief silence. "Cuff him and put him in a cruiser while I figure out what to do."
Hurt leg had the shiny set of bracelets slapped on him before he was pushed into the cruiser he was just leaning against. After about half an hour of watching cops poke around his property, a green SUV marked as Fish and Game rolled up. About an hour after they showed up and went over to his barn, several large U-Haul like trucks pulled over to the barn and parked on the other side of the house. Even though he couldn't see what they were doing, Bobbie knew exactly what was going on back there. Paul and his livelihood was being caged up and prepared to be hauled away from here. Everything was compromised by a bear and three mutts. And it quickly came to a head for him.
Bobbie began shouting every curse word he knew and a few he just made up as he began beating his head against the cruiser's window. One swing of his head failed to make contact with the window when the door was flung wide open, and he threw himself to the hard ground.
“What the hell are you doing?!" The officer that cuffed him asked. Bobbie looked up at him, called him a few choice words, and then began trying to kick cop with his good leg from his back. The last thing he remembered hearing before he was wrapped in a blanket of pain was the sound of taser clicking.