Ah, this one. Kaelos. The one who opened my eyes. Taught me that life could be more than it was. My soulmate.
I didn't exactly come from the most amiable of families. I'd learned that all that mattered was raw strength. You were either someone's meal, or you made someone yours. I saw my runt brother get mauled by my larger sister. He didn't make it. No-one mourned. It never sat right with me, deep down, but it was all I knew.
So when I'd come upon Kaelos, way after I'd split from my pack, I was ready for a fight. Didn't matter he was male. I'd won fights against worse. He was just another animal in my path.
But he didn't, for a second, even think to fight. He just laid there, in the grass, only briefly turned his head to me. "Hey, look at this," he'd said, returning his attention to whatever it was.
For the first time in my adult life, I was caught by surprise. I'd thought I knew how to read anyone, but this wolf? He had me stumped. Didn't know me, only spared me a second before beckoning me to share his view.
I stood, rooted. Glared at him. Searched for that sign of malice I'd been taught everyone had.
He regarded me again for only a moment. Nodded and pointed his ears in the direction of his interest. "Come on, look," he urged. "But be low and quiet."
I went over. Kept a reasonable swatting distance to him. Followed his gaze, upwind, down the rocky slope, across a creek, between the trees.
Even what he observed jumbled my mind.
A bobcat. Her two kittens. And a coyote pup. Natural rivals for one another... and prey for a wolf.
Was he hunting them? Waiting for the mother cat to kill the pup, sparing himself some effort?
No. He was not hunting. And neither was the cat.
The bobcat licked and tended the pup like it was her own. Its stomach plump, like the kittens' were. Remains of a meal laid a little ways from them.
"Incredible, isn't it?" The male had his eyes fixed on them. "She could have killed that pup. He could have been a meal for her and her kits."
"As it should be," I had answered, hackles raised.
A light huff came out his nose. "Why? Prey is abundant. She must have judged there would be enough food for her and her kits, as well as for the pup. She had the power to take him in, so she did."
"Power? Where in this, degeneracy, do you see power?" I scoffed.
He looked up. First time his eyes met mine. Our gazes locked. I still remember the shiver as my body tensed up in alarm. Eye contact meant fight. Adrenaline surged; I had dropped my guard, at some point even sat down, a subconscious act and mistake, and now it was too late to ready for a fight.
But the male never made a move. Just laid there, cocked his head. "It's all over her," he answered, a tinge of surprise. "Raising young takes time, energy, effort... passion.. love.. commitment.. it's no small feat, even I recognize that. Nursing them, feeding them. Tending to their every need, giving them care and comfort. Sometimes through disease or injury. Protecting them from danger, even at your own risk. She could have chosen her two kits were more than enough. But she had the courage and heart for one more, and took the puppy in. Even disregarding his species, because the chances of someone else adopting him were next to none, at best. And bobcats don't even have packs to help. If all that is not power, nothing is."
I'd wanted to counter, but no words came to me in time.
He turned his head again. "Oh. I guess she saw us," his tone light, gentle, pleased. He might as well had been wagging.
I looked. Cats and pup were gone, as had they never been.
The male then rose. I hopped back. Growled. He stretched his legs. Didn't look at me. "Ah well," he yawned. "I was rather thirsty."
He went down the slope, casually. Headed for the creek with no rush. Bent his neck, lapped the water. His back turned to me the whole time. Never looking back to check.
An easy ambush. One less competitor for prey.
Could've killed him.
I chose not.
[USA] Colorado - Elk Mountains
Black-Throated Magpie-Jay
Pupsitter 
Pupsitter