champagne, cocaine, gasoline

Grunts and growls permeated the air of the bay as the titanic male dragged the manatee up the beach. He`d never tasted one of these creatures before, but he was more than willing to give it a try. The sand shifted under his paws every time he tried to get leverage, making it slow work. He couldn`t get the best of grips either, his tusks were getting in the way. Too large to use for added grip, they only made it tricky for him to jam the thick hide into his maw and drag it out of the water. Starry banner flagged out behind the male, whipping to and fro as he fought for balance with the carcass in his jaws.

By the time he felt it was safe to let it go, the massive male was panting heavily. His gut twisted with a pang of hunger, a loud growl sounding from his stomach. Time to tuck in! Ravenously he descended upon the carcass, tearing off massive chunks of flesh and swallowing them down with little time in between for breathing. Prey was shockingly scarce in much of the lands around him, and he was wondering if it had been such a good idea to leave home. At least there he hadn`t had much worry when it came to meals.

A chorus of yipping howls descended from the woodland around the bay. His stomach dropped into the sand beneath his paws. A heavy sigh shuddered from his lungs, eyes sliding shut. Why couldn`t he be left in peace? Gods above, it was like there was a sign above him reading "Please make Deion miserable". Hackles bristling, the beast pivoted until he faced the pack of coyotes that were slinking from the underbrush. It was a relatively small group, a mated pair and their three adolescent pups. Teaching them how best to be a nuisance, it seemed. Deion wanted to keep his hard earned kill at his back, and keep close. No way he was letting these shits get even a bite of it.

**~~fight starts here~~**

Settling himself with paws squared with his shoulders and hips, the male lowered himself until there was a suitable bend to his knees and his centre of gravity was fairly low. Cosmic auds pressed flat against his skull, he tucked his chin against his chest and let his jaws gape open. Tusks flashing in the mid morning sun, he could see the family group tittering with wariness. He wasn`t exactly a normal looking wolf, free game to pester into submission. He tucked his tail tightly between his legs, just in case one of the little shits got it in their head to go for the family jewels. The male narrowed his eyes enough that he could see, but the coyotes couldn`t try and take them out. He then rolled his shoulders forward, bunching up the thick fur and fat around his neck and chest to protect his throat.

Now it was a waiting game. He was far larger than any of them, and far stranger. Growling and bristling, there seemed to be doubt within the ranks at the notion of taking him on. Evidently his luck was going to run out. One of the adolescents lunged forward, jaws gaping. The stink of it read as a male, ready to prove himself strong and virile. The little shit was aiming to take a chunk out of his left shoulder, but the celestial male swung his massive head about to gore him with one of his tusks. The young male was an agile little beast, and missed being disemboweled by a hair. Instead, he twisted out of the way and came away with a thick gash along his flank that began to ooze blood almost right away. The young male slunk away, rejoining the family.

Invigorated by the taste of blood as it dripped down his tusk and into his mouth, the male made his own move on the group. Bursting forward, he singled out the eldest female. The mother of the adolescents. Perhaps with her out of the way, the group would be inclined to abandon their game. Foolish mistake, that was. The whole pack rushed him at once, as soon as he got within striking range. Perhaps that was why they had been sticking close together this whole time. The younger females took a turn apiece burying their teeth into his right flank, forcing him to abandon his assault on the mother. Lucky for him, his thick winter coat was enough of a barrier that they couldn't do any serious damage for the first few seconds. He whipped around and seized the closest female with his jaws. Here, he lacked the pressure to keep a good grip that he`d had with the manatee, and could get his jaws open wide enough to sink both tusks and fangs into the bitch. By the time his tusks had sunk into one flank, his top teeth had a grip on the other side, and he was holding her by the spine. It was a tough grip, but he put all of his energy into biting down as hard as he could. Hot blood flooded his mouth, coppery on his tongue. The young female screamed, and he dropped her. She'd die on the sand, while he returned his focus to the rest of the group.

Incensed by the death of one of their children, the mates came in hot. The male tried for a hold on his right elbow, and only quick reflexes saved Deion from what might have been a crippling bite. Instead, needle-sharp teeth sliced through the meat on the front of his right foreleg, about two inches from his inner elbow. The severity of the wound was obvious from the moment hot blood started to drip onto the sand. The healer in him knew it was going to scar. Fuck. He made the truly terrible decision to let his weight fall onto the now injured forelimb while he used the other one to effectively bitch-slap the female before she could slither into his personal space and grab his throat. He could see it in her beady little eyes- that was her plan. She stumbled away, no doubt concussed by the blow to the head. It hadn't landed very well, more toe than pad colliding with the base of her jaw where it met with her neck. Blood wept from the side of her head where his claws had gouged into her flesh. Pain arced up his leg from his toes to his shoulder, driving the breath from his lungs for a moment.

The coyotes paused their assault to take stock. One of their offspring was dead on the beach, the other was bleeding from a long gash down the length of his flank. The mother was bleeding from a non-life-threatening wound to her head. Apparently that was good enough to be worth another go. At this point, Deion was more than over this. He just wanted to enjoy his meal, damnit. Now he had to go hunt down some herbs to treat his newly acquired wound, and no doubt he'd miss out on the best parts of his kill while he was away. White hot fury tripped down his spine, outraged that these little shits had had the audacity to go and ruin his day like this.

The remaining young female and her sire rushed in on either side, leaving Deion to decide which one he'd strike. The female had decided to assault the same side again, and no doubt she'd go for the same patch of skin she'd marked up earlier. With a growl, he stepped to the left and put himself in the path of the older male. With so little space between them, Deion had the upper hand to sink his teeth into the coyote. By the time the young female got her teeth into his flank, he'd already gotten a grip on the male's neck. Tensing the muscles in his own neck, there was a brutal snap and it was over. The older male dropped limply onto the sand. The starry behemoth whipped around to face the young female, snapping his bloodied jaws shut where her face should have been. All he got was a mouthful of fur, and she escaped with a few bloodied gashes across her cheek.

**~~for those replying to the thread, you can go off of this paragraph~~**

Now missing two members of the family, the coyotes finally backed off. They slunk back into the undergrowth and disappeared. After a few moments, he could hear their mournful chorus of howls. He couldn't be bothered to give a damn. Turning to face his kill, the titan found his appetite gone. As adrenaline began to filter out of his body, he similarly found his energy to stay on his feet waning. With a sigh, he dropped onto the sand with his flank up against the bulky mass of the dead manatee. He wasn't abandoning it, not after he'd fought so hard to keep it. He set about licking the blood away from his wound, ignoring the voice in his head that was screeching about germs. It sounded suspiciously like his mother's.