Chapter 7 #3
Vesper and the others ran off to look for another pirarucu that was smaller and easier to manage. If they had all worked on this one, they would be done and could share in the feast.
Stone was trying to bite the fish in the neck, and got a good grip and held on for dear life as the monster fish thrashed, trying to shake him loose.
Rune bit into its tail, trying to hold it still so it wouldn't get loose from Stone, but the fish was truly powerful and whipped her off. A wolf's bite per square inch was normally about 400 PSI, but could go to 1000, and he was sure he was exerting that much pressure now.
A jaguar had one of the most successful bites at 1500 PSI and could crunch through mammal skulls and turtle shells. They could make mincemeat of a pirarucu.
But if one intervened, the wolves would be out of luck, and their meal would be gone. They also had to keep watching for caiman, which might be attracted by the giant fish's struggle in the river.
Still, Stone was holding on for dear life, not wanting to let go in case the pirarucu tried to bite him, Rune, or Lolita. This reminded him of the tug-of-war with the rope and how it would have helped if all the wolves had teamed up.
The fish stopped thrashing for a moment, like it was trying to regain its strength before it fought them again.
Both Lolita and Rune gripped his tail hard.
And then Stone figured this was it. If he didn't sever the spine now, he knew they would have another fight with him and was afraid they would lose him this time.
Stone was wearing out, his mouth tired of holding the scaly beast, and he was sure Rune and Lolita were too.
Stone took a deep breath and bit as hard as he could. As soon as he did, so did Lolita and Rune, and the fish tried to shake them loose, but then went limp.
He'd only done it with the girls' help. He wouldn't have been able to if he'd tried to manage biting him and hadn't had them to keep the fish from getting free.
When Stone finally killed the fish, he was so worn out, and so were Rune and Lolita. For a few minutes, all they did was hold onto the fish so that the current didn't carry it away or sink to the bottom of the river.
Then he started to pull the pirarucu toward the shore, ready to eat the fish.
Rune and Lolita turned into their fae forms and helped him drag it to the shore. It felt like it took forever to reach it. He wondered what the other fae were doing, but he was too busy trying to get the fish to the shore to look. He turned into his fae form.
"You were amazing," Rune told Stone.
"I couldn't have done it without you two," Stone said.
Then they beached the fish, and all three of the fae were breathing heavily.
"Shall we eat it as wolves, or cook it to eat as fae?" Rune asked.
"Wolves," Stone said. "This is our kill, and the others wouldn't help, so once we're done, they can eat the rest, but not until we're done."
"We shouldn't let them have that much because they wouldn't help us," Lolita said.
"Yeah, I agree with Lolita. But we'll treat this like wolves do. And once we're done, they can have the rest of it," Rune said.
Rune brought out her knife to cut off the sandpaper scales. But Stone stopped her and used his sword to slice them off closer to the head. Rune used her sword to take off the scales in the middle of the pirarucu, and Lolita wielded her short sword on the tail of the fish.
They worked until they had cleaned off the scales, so thick and rough that natives used them as sandpaper.
Then they shifted into their wolves and began eating the fish, starving and enjoying the flavor. It was really meaty and not bony.
They only paused to smile at each other. They had done it! Though the others might have already found a fish to take in.
Then they glanced around and saw Iris running toward them. So now she realized they had caught the fish.
The other fae started following her. But when the other wolves came in to eat, Stone took on his fiercest stance, growling and snarling, daring them to come any closer.
Rune and Lolita kept eating, letting him do all the growling.
Rune was happily eating away when Stone began to take his fill again.
Stuffed, she kept eating to ensure she had a sufficient reserve.
Stone ate way more than she did, though pounds of meat were left.
Still, it was their catch, their territory, and so even after he finished eating, he and Rune watched over their treasure, not allowing the others to eat until they said so.
Lolita ate some, not enough to really fill her up, then she sat nearby to see what would happen next.
Finally, Rune shifted into her fae and walked over to a bed of leaves in the jungle, out of sight of the feasting wolves. Not wanting to look like Stone was with Rune, he finally growled one last time at the other wolves, then shifted and took an alternate path to join Rune.
The other wolves immediately began snarling and snapping at each other, trying to show who was more alpha and to back off from the fish until they had their share next.