Ella's Wild Beasts

CHAPTER 14

The storm raged on for what seemed like forever, but realistically was only a week or so. During that time she spent a lot of time curled up next to Fox. All her pelts were dry and they had been surviving off berries. It seemed all prey was hiding from the storm too as each time Fox came back without meat he seemed frustrated. It was clear they were both going hungry as they each lost some weight. Everytime her stomach growled Fox became distressed and paced the den. She had to dry wood by the fire now as she long since ran out of their prepared stash.

   When she woke up she felt like something was missing. While she sat up rubbing her eyes Ella was sobered up when she realized what it was exactly. There was no longer the constant droning sound of the storm. She quickly launched herself out of the nest to the entrance, waking up Fox in the process. Ella stood outside relishing the fresh air. While it wasn't exactly warm and sunny the storm had finally passed. The mostly cloudy sky hid the area from the suns warmth but she was so excited she didn't even care.

   Fox was outside shortly and was bounding around the clearing happily. He splashed in puddles and sprinted around finally able to burn his energy and stretch his muscles. Infected with his contagious energy she joined him. Soon she was panting as he trotted up to her nuzzling her neck affectionately. Chuckling she gave him a pat before they were interrupted by her stomach. Suddenly serious he herded her back to the burrow entrance before going into the woods. She assumed to hunt.

   After making sure the fire was going and having more wood to dry next to it she set about the next important task, she hadn't bathed this whole time and felt gross. While she was wringing out her clothes after her bath and washing them, she planned to finish their drying by the fire, she felt something warm between her legs. Looking down she saw blood and sighed. Due to her birth control her periods were irregular and she could go months without one. Unfortunately for her that led her to forget them and be blessed with surprises like this. Since she still had a little over a year till her implant was out of her system she would need to see if she leveled back out again after.

  Sighing she gave herself another quick rinse and rushed inside, damp clothes in hand. She sat on large leaves and moss until her clothes dried. Figuring the tshirt was a bit big anyway she cut off a few strips from the bottom to cycle out as makeshift pads since she had nothing else to use. As soon as she cleaned any new and old blood away with some damp moss she placed one of the pieces of cloth and redressed. Sighing again at the inconvenience she cleaned the soiled moss and took it outside. Ella could only be glad she never really cramped and had mild mood swings. She just found the whole thing messy and inconvenient.

   As she was burying her soiled mosses she heard rustling in a nearby bush and assumed it was Fox returning. When Ella glanced up she froze. Not even two meters away was another otherworldly sized beast, but not her beast. Instead there in a semi crouched position was a very large, black leopard. They held eye contact for a few seconds before she screamed. "FOOOOOOX! HEEEEELP!" She really didn't know what to expect but she tried to run back to the burrow anyway. Still calling out for her fox. She only made a few strides before the leopard had her pressed into the wet earth chest down.

   She had to turn her head to breath but then froze. The leopards paw covered her entire upper back and while it wasn't pushing to hard it still restricted her breathing. Panicking she started to hyperventilate as the beast started to sniff her all over letting out small growls and purrs. While sobbing she suddenly felt the weight vanish as she heard a loud crash and the sounds of clashing beast. Fox had tackled the big cat and had his teeth sunk into its shoulder, he savagely shook his head as the cat hissed and howled. It suddenly turned and raked its claws down his side forcing him to let go. Soon they both stood stil, covered in blood, waiting for the other to make their move.

   Her vision was starting to get black spots from not getting enough oxygen and the fear. The last thing she witnessed before collapsing was the cat pouncing and Fox rising to meet the challenge. There was snapping jaws along with yowls of pain. She felt something warm and wet splatter her face then was gone, darkness consuming her.