He was very close to Maheegun before she was conscious that he was near.

The Mother-smell was warm in his nose now; it filled him with a great joy; and yet--he was afraid.
But it was not a physical fear.

Flattened on the ground, with his head between his fore-paws, he whined.
Like a flash the she-wolf turned, her fangs bared the length of her jaws and her bloodshot eyes aglow with menace and suspicion.

Miki had no time to make a move or another sound.

With the suddenness of a cat the outcast creature was upon him.