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“Thank you for today, I really had a fantastic time.” Eli stood just beyond her door letting the waves of heat spill over her new partner above the small storefront of an older couple letting her rent the apartment for fairly cheap. Her now gloveless hands fiddled with each other as her tongue flicked and a wide goofy smile graced her lips. Max was about to speak as Eli lashed out and grabbed him by the arms and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Her thin scaled lips sucked the heat from his as his eyes shot wide before fluttering closed like hers and he relaxed in her grasp. Their arms wrapped around each other as their embrace deepend along with their first kiss.

It felt like an eternity to Max as he pulled back, opening his light blue eyes to stare into her own ruby orbs. His breath was labored as he held his new partner close enough to feel her hammering heartbeat. “What was that for?” His arms around her tightened their hold on her waist as he fully embraced his feelings for her. “Not that I’m complaining.”

The chuckle that passed her lips made his heart skip as her head came to rest on his shoulder and cradle his face. Her voice was right in his ear which brought a warm blush to his face. “Can’t a girl kiss her boyfriend?”

Holding her head he pulls her back to look into her eyes once more. “Then I guess I get to kiss you back.” His warm breath washed over her face as their faces met once more in the intimate display before they parted again at the same time. The kiss was just as powerful as the first and Max wished that it would stay that way for however long she would be giving them. “I'm coming tomorrow to cook for you. Unless you have plans.”

“Assertive. I like that and yes that sounds divine.” Eli slunk back beyond the threshold letting her hands fall back to his. “Shame it took you so long to show me this side of you.”

Max chuckled as he let her slide back into the warmth of her home with dopey smiles across both of their faces. “Honestly I'm pretty dense so thank you for taking the first steps. I can handle the rest from here.” Their hands parted as he began to walk backwards down the short hallway. “It’ll be venison, bring your appetite and goodnight Eli.”

“Sounds delicious, see you tomorrow loverboy!” With a wave and blowing a kiss she tried to keep him in sight until the door shut behind her that was quickly followed by the sound of her muffled squeals of excitement. With a warm heart and a wide smile he moved back out into the dark cold night and walked the short distance to his small car.

His feet stopped in place and he ruffled through his pockets searching for a long unused packet of cigarettes and an almost empty lighter. Placing the stale stick between his no longer smiling lips he flashed the bit of flame across the tip and drew a few pulls. The red cherry lit up his stern features as the puff of smoke left his lungs. “Are you going to step out of the shadows or do you want me to pull you out?” Silence followed as Max slowly became more irate. “I have all night. Your choice.”

With another draw of his cigarette he held his ground and leveled his eyes where this stalker was hiding. His boots crunched the thin layer of snow beneath them as he steadied his stance and pulled his sidearm, the cold metal sapping the heat from his hand and steadying his nerves. “How did you know I was here?”

Max’s brow furrowed as an unfamiliar voice struck out into the light breeze. “I can smell and hear just fine. If you breathed any louder then I’d hear you from across the street and it’s kind of hard to miss the smell of a wet mutt.” Max’s face was twisted into a perfect visage of disgust and rage as he leveled the barrel of his pistol on the corner of the building.

“Mutt!?” There was a snarl under his breath as a dark form rounded the corner directly in his crosshairs. The wolf was almost as tall as Trevor along with a similar coloration hued slightly differently in the orange streetlights. “Who the fuck do you think you-” His rage and bluster died in his throat as he saw the human in a deep battle stance with his pistol leveled on his chest. Within moments his eyes went from narrowed and inflamed to wide with fear. “My brother said you were quick to draw but I didn’t think you’d have that itchy of a trigger finger.”

“You can stay right there.” The wolf stopped in his tracks letting the light breeze carry the fresh powder across both of their forms. “I have a few questions. First, why are you following me? I noticed you at the clothing store and the range so I want a damn good reason. I have a theory but I want to hear it from the source.” Another draw from the cigarette hanging from his lips, letting the thin wisps be grabbed by the light breeze to dance in the orange light. “Second, who sent you? I’d assume your brother but I've been wrong before.”

His hands stayed in a defensive position but allowed his shoulders to slump. His dark gray fur brustled in the light breeze as he replied cautiously. “Look man, I'm on your side here. I hate my brother more than most. He’s done nothing but boss me around for years and the first time someone stands up to him-”

“He sends you to keep an eye on me and keep notes?” Max finished for him, which was confirmed with a nod. Letting his brow relax into a more questioning expression before tossing another question his way. “Why get so upset about the mutt thing then? From the little I know about your brother he’s probably called you much worse.” In the back of his mind he recalled a short snippet of both of his sisters berating him.

“Part of the reason I want to make his life a living hell. Never saw an opportunity until you came along. Seriously, you really became a real thorn in his side man.” The large wolf chuckled as he thought back to the recent memory. “Trashed half the ranch in his little fit of rage.”

Max relaxed his stance as he lowered his pistol into a low ready position. “So you want payback?” Another nod met the human causing him to raise his eyebrow. “I can understand that but you should realize that meeting like this makes me…apprehensive to say the least. Do you know the range just outside of town?”

“The one with the shoot houses?” The wolf's stance was fully relaxed as he eased into his question. With a nod from Max he shrugged and continued. “Yeah it’d be kind of hard not to know about it. Why do you ask?”

“There's a shooting competition tomorrow, two and three gun. If you’re serious, meet me there tomorrow. Alone.” Pulling the cigarette from his lips he tossed it to the Wolf’s feet and kept him in his sight as he moved into his small vehicle. Turning the key he slowly rolled the vehicle out of the parking lot and began the slow drive home whilst Calling Eli. “Hey Eli I'm glad you’re still up.”

“Yeah I was about to hop in the shower, did you get home alright?” Her tone was just as sweet as when they parted a short while ago and there was a part of Max that wanted to let her go to sleep with that same joy he saw her with. But his logic won out.

“Just started driving since I had a run in with a wolf. Seems like I kicked a hornet’s nest when it comes to Trevor.” The edge of town approached with the salted roads providing ample traction for the small vehicle before transitioning to the packed ice he was familiar with.

Her tone wavered as worry began to creep into her voice. “Are you alright? What happened?”

“I'm fine Eli, Trevor sent his brother out to follow me and by extension you. Seems like I really threw him off his game when I confronted him.” His white headlights led the way for his car until he slowed down before a freshly disturbed patch of snow that ran across the width of the road. “Hey I’ll be back. Ran into an issue getting home. Don’t worry, I've got this.”

“Oh…Alright. Stay safe Max and call me back. Promise?” His finger hovered above the end call button as he drew his sidearm. That’s when his earlier smile came back with a bit more joy in his voice.

“Cross my heart beautiful.” The call ended along with his warm smile. His eyes darted to the nearby treeline looking for any movement. Nothing but the line of freshly disturbed snow that ran the length of the road and traveled up the hill and down into the valley. With a deep breath he broke the seal of his car door into the now still air. Snow lightly fell from the dark overcast night sky as Max slowly approached the line to inspect what was barely hidden by the fresh snow.

A line of two by fours with thick nails driven through them sat frozen in the cold air. A chill ran down His spine as he began to look through the treeline for any movement and listened for any sound above his car’s engine. “Fuck!” For one moment he kicked the strips seeing that they hadn’t been there long enough to freeze to the ground and the short strips were connected with lines of rope. The next moment there was shuffling next to him as a flurry of snow and dark colors rushed him from the headlights of his car. Two rounds were fired accurately into the form before two massive arms wrapped around him and forced him to the ground on top of the improvised spike strip.

All the air was knocked from his lungs as another few rounds were squeezed from his sidearm causing the form to whimper above him. Max’s ears rang from the explosive sound his firearm produced. More rounds were forced from the barrel causing it to jam on the second to last round from being clogged with cloth and viscera of his assailant. His whimpers grew to wails as he threw himself from Max’s now bleeding body and desperately tried to staunch the flow of blood from his fresh wound. Looking to the man next to him with blurred vision the coyote looked scared, tears flooded his eyes as he screamed looking down to the mix of blood and mincemeat that Max’s hollow point rounds produced. “Calm down.”

His words were strained as he attempted to sit up from the spikes currently sunk into his back and strands of lancing pain arched through his body. Tears stained his eyes and warmed his face like his assailant’s blood warmed his stomach. The nails fell from his body causing new rivers of blood to flow from his shoulders as he finally rose to a seated position. His head started to pound as He rose to his feet and cleared his weapon and limped back to his car digging for his emergency first aid kit. Shuffling back through the snow with the first aid kit under his left arm he dropped the expended magazine and loaded a fresh stack. Dropping down next to the whimpering man he flipped open the kit and began ripping open packs of quikclot gauze and packing them into the fist sized hole in the coyote’s stomach. “Is it just you here?”

The man whimpered and whined under him. “Please…my wife…my daughter…” Max simply rolled his eyes And packed in the gauze with more force causing him to reel in pain and bring him back to the situation at hand.

“ARE YOU ALONE!?” The shock in his eyes was apparent before he shook his head in the negative. Max’s teeth sneered in rage as he turned to scan the treeline for any more forms. There was nothing he saw and in his heightened state he trusted his senses and his instincts as he returned to packing the gauze into the new gaping hole of the man’s lower torso. “Looks like they ran at the first sign of trouble. I’ll get you out of here but ya gotta do something for me.”

“W-what?” Picking up that the man that was currently still holding a gun to his face was trying to save his life reluctantly broached the question.

“If you make it out of this…” His voice trailed off as he opened another pack labeled ‘pressure dressing’ as he started to wrap the man’s body. “You tell me who set you up for this.” The only response he received was a tearful nod as Max continued to wrap the man’s torso as tightly as he could before moving to throwing a torniquete on his upper right arm where the original two rounds landed. “Alright…let's get you to the car.”

-

Max was restless as the young mouse nurse behind him sealed up the patchwork of holes across his back with a thick slathering of super glue. “It took you how long to drive back?”

“Took about six minutes, the other guy passed out on the way over here.” Max winced from the increase in temperature of the superglue setting over the fairly shallow puncture wounds. “Is he doing alright? I did a pretty good number on him.”

The nurse behind him chuckled as she moved to the next hole as she continued to seal up the several wounds across his shoulders. “You’re the last one I would have expected to be worried about him. Seeing as how he almost made you a cripple. Half an inch to the left and you wouldn’t have been able to walk.” Another pinch followed by a hiss from Max as he leaned away from her ministrations. “He’s doing alright as far as we’re concerned. Stable and all that but he will need some pretty intensive surgery to rebuild what you shredded in there. I don't know how he’s still breathing if I'm being-”

“Where is he!?” Max’s eyes were immediately pulled to the door as a new voice interrupted the nurse’s sentence before the door flew open with a very pissed off coyote woman standing in the open frame. “YOU!”

Claws were bared as she lunged at the human below him before the nurse blocked her assault with her own body. “Ma’am calm down!”

“He almost killed my husband!” She thrashed against the mouse that valiantly held her ground while also continuing to scream. “I’m not going to calm down!”

Max sighed as he leaned back before speaking calmly to the woman in front of him. “He rushed me, I don’t know who put him up to it but I didn't have to save his life. Could have just called the marshalls and left it be.” Rolling his shoulders feeling the soreness already beginning to set in. “Get his side of the story too. You'll see I'm not in the wrong.”

Her teeth were exposed as she snarled at the man sitting beneath her. “You’ll see us in court, asshole. I’m going to take EVERYTHING from you!” With that she turned from the door and stomped out leaving a flustered and confused hognose snake in her wake.

Max’s eyebrows shot up as he noticed the very familiar woman standing in the doorway. “Eli! What are you doing here?”

Shaken from her shocked state of mind her eyes fell to her currently shirtless boyfriend. Her eyes went wide as she looked over his body and the faint number of scars across his shoulders, arms and torso. With that image thoroughly burned into her mind she began to worry over the clearly bruised man. “Chelsea and Noah called me, said you were checked in because of a self defense situation.”

Max’s lips pursed together as he nodded in confirmation. “I was going to call you after I was patched up and they let me go…But then again I guess I gotta go speak to the cops and file a report with them.” Eli was close enough from him to reach out and latch onto her hand. “I’m okay but I didn’t think that this situation would escalate so quickly. I’ll need to work fast to get this situation sorted out.”

Letting her fingers interlace together with his she leaned closer to him and winced along with him as the nurse continued to seal up his new patchwork of soon to be scars across his back. “You don’t have to do this alone. I know I’m pretty inexperienced with stuff like this but I think I’ll be able to hold my own if you’re there.”

Max just sat motionless for a moment as her words processed in his mind. Flashes of the ambush with her there wracked his mind. Her being tackled, beaten or mauled made his veins run cold as ice before he shook his head trying to vanish the dark thoughts from the gray matter that sat in his head. “I…don’t want you getting hurt. I care deeply for you already and if something were to happen-”

“You think I'm so helpless? I can hold my own just so you know.” Her needle-like teeth were flashed in a quick sly smile to her boyfriend. Flexing her other arm she used it as a final statement. “Could probably beat you up if it wasn’t so cold outside.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Chuckling along with her he nodded as she slid a little closer. “Jacket not working? You seem a little colder than I remember.”

“The battery died.” Nuzzling his neck her cool scales sapped up every ounce of heat they could from the man next to her. “Plus your heat feels better than the jacket’s.”

Max relaxed as the nurse continued to close up his wounds before kissing her cheek. “I'm going to a gun competition tomorrow. To see if that wolf I met outside your place is trustworthy.” His eyes locked with her as she pondered what he could be implying. “I wouldn’t be against you joining me.”