"Benji!" The sound of the arrow whistling through the air was bad enough, as was the soft yet firm thwunk of the arrowhead piercing flesh, stopped only by bone. But no sound will ever be as haunting, as awful as the choked little noise Benji makes on his way to the ground. It will stay with them for the rest of their life.

Kurt rushes towards him, heart in their throat, hands trembling as they run over the puppy's defenseless body. He's all tremors, limbs locked and muscles stiff, breath coming ragged through tightly clenched jaws. It doesn't make any sense. It's just an arrow, it shouldn't do this to him.

Unless it's coated in poison. Kurt's gaze flies up towards the unfamiliar voice, the stranger who just shot their mate, leaving him wounded and helpless. He strolls out from past the bushes like it's nothing, laughing, like he didn't just seriously hurt their mate. Even without the bow and arrows, Kurt would've been frightened of him. Something about him, how he sounds, how he moves, isn't right. It's hard to even tell whether he's human or wolf.

"Wh-What did you do to him?" they demand, shoulders tight, eyes stern, even while their stomach is roiling with fear. Their human cowardice insists that they run as fast and far as they can, especially as they realize the stranger came for them. But the wolf in them refuses to abandon their mate, or put their baby at risk by turning their back on a weapon. Kurt will have to be brave for Benji, stern and unyielding, not backing down. "Tell me how t-to cure him."