Mother Wolf left her cubs and sprang forward. Her eyes were like two green moons in the darkness, as she looked into the blazing eyes of Shere Khan. "And it is I, Raksha [The Demon], who answers. The man's cub is mine, Lungri - mine! He shall not be killed. He shall live to run with the Pack and to hunt with the Pack. And in the end, you hunter of little naked cubs - you frog-eater - you fish-killer - this man-child will hunt you! Now get away from here, or by the Sambhur that I killed (I don't eat starved cattle), I'll send you back to your mother even more lame than you were when you were born! Go, you burned beast!"

Father Wolf was amazed by this. He had almost forgotten the days when he won Mother Wolf as his mate. He had needed to fight five other wolves for her. In those days, she ran in the Pack and they did not call her The Demon just to be nice to her. Perhaps Shere Khan would have fought Father Wolf, but he could not stand up against Mother Wolf. She was in her own home, and she would fight until one of them was dead. So he backed out of the cave mouth growling, and when he was completely outside he shouted: "Each dog barks when he is in his own home! We will see what the Pack will say about your man-cub. The cub is mine, and in the end I will eat him, you bush-tailed thieves!"

Mother Wolf threw herself down among the cubs. She was breathing hard. Father Wolf said to her in a serious voice: "Shere Khan is right about that. The cub must be shown to the Pack. Do you still want to keep him, Mother?"