Volcanic coiled tightly against his father, his ears pinned back as he looked at the dark silhouettes gathered around them. He wanted his mother and his brother in addition to his father, feeling insecure without them. His father drew him forward and lowered himself to the ground, licking at the downy red fur at his back to soothe him while the red pup pressed close to his chest with a soft whimper. Everyone was going to laugh at him, or call him a baby, he could feel it, and for an instant a bright flame of hate flared in his heart. He knew his mean older sister would be at the meeting and the rest of his jerk older siblings or maybe the mean white girl that had attacked him on the ice that day. He hated all of them just as much as he was sure they hated him, and for a moment he put all of his focus into glaring at his big brother standing beside his father.
