Warnings: Violence, Wounds, Blood, Mild Cursing

Prompt XXIII: Discovery

Yami hit the ground so hard his jaw snapped from pressure. The whimper that left him was nothing short of pitiful. He scrambled for his paws and missed his balance somehow. The second impact made him squeak. The other wolves all swapped looks, as if daring each other to step in. Bakura loomed over him, snarling with dripping fangs. He could see tufts of fur and fresh blood against his canines. And somehow all it did was exhaust him even more.

Yami crouched there, defiant but unwilling to further humiliate himself.

The bloodbath was bad enough.

His jaw was probably broken for all he knew. And he'd snapped Bakura's hip when he'd gotten his teeth in. The blood was still spilling from there.

But he wouldn't kill himself or the gray male just for rank.

You can have it, he spat, moving to tuck his tail and duck his head further. There was blood in his nose from a split in the muscle. Every breath resulted in an awkward sniffle. Fucking take it. I don't want it.

Bakura blinked, startled, and then raised his tail and threw his head back in a victorious howl. Yami flicked an ear and got to his paws. His mouth throbbed and pain made blind spots in his eyes.

Yugi would be disappointed, he was sure. He'd find out and be upset with him for letting Bakura win like this.

The thought made him want to curl up in a ball and sleep until winter was over. But he was too sore and his entire body hurt too much to try. He whimpered when he tried to put pressure on his right forelimb; when had it broken? He couldn't remember. But he could tell it was. It was crooked at his wrist and pain flared through him when he so much as shifted it.

Someone go find Yugi's mom, before Yugi gets back—

"Too fucking late for that."

All of them froze collectively.

Yami flattened his ears against his head and lowered himself to the ground. His leg throbbed and he swallowed an agonized yelp. His tail remained firmly tucked against his belly and he brushed his chin against the ground. His jaw was broken. It was definitely broken. He was trembling when Yugi looked over at him. For a moment he seemed livid. And then his eyes stretched wide and his mouth opened and closed twice.

"Oh shit."

His head snapped around, eyes dilating with rage for a single moment. Bakura flinched and backed away, head down and tail wagging slowly. Yugi stared at him for a long minute, exhaling so roughly it made his frame tremble. And then he turned back.

"You ever lay a paw on him again, Bakura," he said slowly, voice rumbling, "and I'll skin you and hang your body with nails."

The gray wolf flinched and ducked further aside. Yami blinked and looked between them uncertainly; Yugi was glaring at him as if he were to blame for all of it. But Yami had accepted the challenge. He'd thought he could win, but somehow he'd lost his balance halfway through and Bakura had broken his jaw for the effort and—

He yelped when he felt hands grabbing at his underbelly. He squirmed, right leg aching from the sudden movement, and yelped again. His jaw brushed awkwardly against their arm and he wriggled, pain jolting through him.

"Hold still," Yugi snapped, but he sounded breathless and more afraid than upset. Yami couldn't help it when his mouth fell open again, tongue lolling. He was slobbering, the pain finally truly hitting. The adrenaline he'd been riding for the last few minutes was gone and his entire body felt bruised and sore. His chest even hurt where his heart was and his lungs felt oddly strained.

He flattened his ears and whined, Sorry.

Yugi didn't miss a step, forcing the clinic door open without pause. "For what?"

Yami blinked and tried to move his mouth but his jaw burned and wouldn't respond. He squirmed in response, shifting to try to press his mouth shut using Yugi's arm. I lost.

That made Yugi pause. And he heard him breathe in deeply, a snarl leaving him when he exhaled. His grip didn't slacken, however, until he got him to an exam room. From there he lay him down and looked at him with an expression Yami could only describe as being utterly enraged. He was scowling, cheeks slightly dusted red, eyes dilated, jaw set. Yami would have trembled if he'd had the energy anymore.

"You're apologizing," he said slowly, "for not beating Bakura in a rank fight?"

Yami flattened his ears and stared at him in alarm. He was shaking now. I—

Yugi's fist hit the table next to him, making it vibrate. Yami yelped and scrambled for his paws. He ignored the pain and managed to retreat to the other side of the exam table. He hunched and flattened his ears, then ducked his head and folded his paws over his face.

"Fuck, fuck…shit. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I…" Yugi was over on the other side of the table now, stroking the fur along his scruff. "I'm sorry, Yami. I didn't mean to scare you. I… Shit. Okay, um, just give me a second. I need to get my mom and she can stitch you up and…reset your jaw. Fuck."

He wasn't mad anymore. He sounded panicked.

Yami snuck a peek at him from between his paws. Yugi was rubbing at his scruff again, pausing to blink eyes that were oddly shiny. And then he turned on his heel and left the room. Yami could barely hear him telling his mom she needed to go and help him, explaining it had to have been a rank fight because of how terrible it had turned out. Yami saw it when they both came in again, his mom asking for more details while Yugi gestured helplessly and blinked glassy eyes again.

Yami blinked and looked between them for a moment. Oh… He pricked his ears forward. Oh, Yugi wasn't upset with him; he was about to cry. He nearly cringed at himself, feeling stupid and small for a moment. Yugi was pulling at the sleeve of his school jacket, fraying the threads, eyes locked on him as his mom moved around the table to examine him.

"He did a number on you, didn't he?"

Yami looked at Yugi's mother and wagged his tail hesitantly. I think I broke his hip, he bragged, and Yugi snorted but he swore it sounded more like a sob. Yugi's mom blinked and looked at him with a tilted head. Yami folded his ears back again. I definitely didn't win, though.

The noise that left Yugi was enough to make him turn his head with wide eyes. The other boy had his head ducked and one hand tugging at his hair, knuckles white from force.