Our bellies full and our need to move and hunt fulfilled, we began to drag the corpse of the victim of our second hunt back to the den before the third pack had concluded their own. Different from the day before, hauling the mass of flesh wasn’t too difficult. I figured that the pack as a whole had become more accustomed to any growth experienced the day before, so we’d all been better able to leverage our individual strengths as a whole. Regardless of the reason, it was a much shorter hike/trip/chore to get our excess back to the den.

Again, we arrived first in the den, again, without much ado, we dropped our extra food onto the ground, and again, I went to cleanse myself in the dirt bath before settling back into our corner. The bath was just as pleasant as the day before, but I noticed that the dirt began to show signs of blood, dead skin, and other debris from the baths of several dozen filthy spawnlings. It had also begun to stink a bit, and I couldn’t help but feel myself sneer at the dirtiness of the thing that was supposedly what was going to clean us.

Before long, I went back to my pack’s little spot, and realized that the more we grew as individuals and the brood as a whole, the less room there would be. Already, only four days after hatching, I could feel the difference in space around us. The roof of the den was more than large enough, having been dug out to accommodate adult keelish, but the width and breadth of the space was soon going to run out.

Well… if it was so narrow, I had the opportunity to fix that.

“Oncli…”

He turned to me, immediately paying attention.

“We… dig… here.”

“Why?”

“For… room. For… us.”

A quick flare of his frills, and Oncli was with me. A great follower, he was. Before long, all five of my followers and I were digging into the wall behind where we had made our claim. For the first time, I realized how our claws weren’t really built for combat. Sure, they could do the trick in a pinch, but their curvature and shape were optimized for digging, almost as if each of our fingers were tipped by trowels. We made swift work of the wall, quickly tunneling out a space that could fit all six of us comfortably with space for a Toothy Bullfrog’s body in the back.

The excess dirt we excavated was quickly shunted out of our space and into a corner far enough away for us to no longer care about it. The loose dirt took up more space than it had previously been when compacted, and by the end of our digging session, there was a large mound of dirt nearly to the ceiling of the den. We didn’t care, since it wasn’t our space that had been impacted. I supposed it was only polite to do a bit of the compacting before we scurried off to our new home, so we all six tromped up and down the hill until it was no longer loose, and was nearly half the size of what it had been before.

Now pleased with our work, we retreated back to our personal dwelling and set to lounging about, proud of the work we had already completed today, between two hunts and an enjoyable dig to lay claim to our own space.

The peace didn’t last. As we all settled into our little cuddle pile to rest, a member of the brood, not one of our pack, poked their head in. Then another. And another.

Stolen story; please report.

As the fourth disturbed our rest, I hissed threateningly and began to move towards them. They quickly skittered away, but I suspected that it wasn’t over just yet. I was proven correct as one of Tieran’s co-leaders poked her head in.

“Want… get… hurt?”

She remained silent.

“LEAVE!”

Still no response. I could feel my blood rising with my temper, and I knew that [Bloodlust] was getting close to triggering, whether blood had already been spilt or not. As I began to ready myself to teach this whelp to listen to her betters, she spoke.

“Tieran wants… to talk… to you.” Then, she pulled her head out and was gone. Snarling and growling, I began to leave the den. Not a full day had passed since I’d taught him a lesson, and this idiot was going to provoke me once again? I would show him the consequences of his foolhardiness.

My frills already flared with rage, I charged out of my den ready to fight. Tieran, flanked by his two co-leaders and, behind them, the rest of his pack, stood just a couple of body lengths from the entrance to our den. He stood, every bit of his stance communicating pride and bravado, but for the slightest trembling of the tip of his tail that betrayed his nervousness. Then why was he here, if he was scared?

“What… want?”

A slight flick of Tieran’s eyes communicated his need for approval, which I didn’t miss. Again, I realized that this almost certainly wasn’t his own idea, and I locked eyes with the female co-leader that had poked her head into our den. She, noting Tieran’s attention, flared her frills nearly imperceptibly, and Tieran took courage from her reassurance.

“I need… to teach you… a lesson.”

I’d let myself calm a little as I’d entered this situation, but I could feel my hackles and scales all rising in anger.

“What?”

“I… am the best… alpha. You… are below me.”

I snarled and willingly gave in to the [Bloodlust] that spiked within me. This fool was taking his last breath. I would tear out his throat for this, and I would show NO more mercy now.

Rushing, without thought, caution, or worry, I lunged with my jaws at Tieran’s right hand. He pulled it back and swiped at my face with his left hand’s claws. I ducked below his attack and lunged up at his throat, again with my jaws. Tieran saw me coming and pulled his head back and up, out of my range as my jaws snicked shut in the air just a scale’s breadth away from finding purchase in his flesh.

With another snarl of rage, I pressed the attack with bites, wild brandishings of my claws, and absolute fury. I nearly caught Tieran several times, but never was I able to connect with anything other than a glancing blow. My rage continued to build within me, and I didn’t care as my attacks grew more sloppy and frenzied. I just needed to kill this stars forgotten bastard.

My chance came when I finally caught my soon-to-be prey’s hand in both of mine. I went to pull the same move that I had the day before, yanking down the arm and attacking the base of the skull… but Tieran didn’t fall, or even move with my pull. He now was a fair bit larger than me, instead of smaller, and my attempted yank simply pulled me close. Before I could collect myself, Tieran brandished his other hand’s claws at my face, forcing me to disengage his hand or risk being blinded. As I took a step back, Tieran whipped himself around and, with the full force of his body’s momentum and tail’s mass, smashed his tail across my face.

There was an explosion of light in my vision as I took the heavy blow to the head. I stumbled, but not for long, because Tieran seized the base of my skull in his jaws. Despite my initial struggles, I was quickly pressed to the ground, my snout in the dirt and choking on the dust as I continued to pant from the exertions of my battle. Before too long, Tieran’s foot took the place of his jaws, and he crowed to the entire brood in victory.

“I am… the strongest! I am… the best! I am… Tieran!”