ready for combat

Hydrae was neither the largest nor most aggressive of the new batch of babies, but she had one thing going for her: the teeth. Rows of shark teeth, budding in quietly, much like her father's. Hydrae did not yet understand the difference between herself and others, but she would, in time.

The gray-toned pup lay on her side outside her birthing den, and she held a bone between her paws, chewing at it with loud crunching sounds and a determined growl low in her throat. The birds sang above and she was focused on the chew toy, until she smelled--

-- something much like herself?

Hydrae stopped chewing. The young pup was perplexed by the smell that hit her nostrils; it seemed like her own in many ways but was not her own, and it was not Papa or Mama's smell, either. A baby growl began to rumble in her chest, an intrigued burring noise that echoed through her body.