Caught in the Crosshairs

I.-Run

Luna's POV

My paws dig into the soft underneath my paws, as I lightly jog throughout the meadow that is my home, playing in the snow. A hawk watches from his nest, as I scavenge the grass in search of food. Pieces of frosted grass pop up in some places, and the trees are cloaked in a blanket of snow. The soft snowflakes were still falling to, landing in my white and gray fur, masking my body from outside forces.

Soon I pick up the trail of mouse, and I follow it to a slight hole in the ground. I can sense it sleeping underneath the layers of dirt, and going into hunting mode, I mask my scent, lights pawing at the covered hole.

This little guy was my first chance of food all day. Sometimes I might want to chase the hawk, since he's always there with me, and I'm hungry, but he's my only friend in this place. So, we both just end up watching each other sometimes.

When I was in a good mood a few months ago, I even shared my hunt with him since I had extra. But, now it was winter, and I never really could have enough food. I wish I could just go into hibernation. Sadly though, that cave  I lived in did nothing to keep other predators out, and I'm a wolf, not a bear.

After about five minutes of digging, I started to break through, my paws going numb. In the end, the slight pain was worth it as I saw the small body uncovered to me. I almost let the excitement leak out of me, but I had to keep it together until he had no chance of escape. Yet, like everything else in my life, it started to go wrong. The mouse twitched, a sign of him waking up from his sleep. Oh shit. I dug faster, hoping to get to him before he realized what was happening.

I was too late- dirt hit his body, alerting him to my presence looming above him. Crap... He darted further down the hole trying to escape, but the predator beat the prey in this game of life and death tag as I bite down on his tail, dragged him out, and threw him into the snow, away from the hole, his brown fur stood out in the sheet of white, making him an easy target.

In one swift move, I lunged at him, snapping his neck in my jaw. Satisfaction shot through me as the squeaking came to an end, and the body stilled. Silence greeted me with open arms, and I looked up at my friend in the tree.

The hawk still watched me, with his curious gaze. I looked up to him, giving him a wolffish grin, the dead mouse hanging from the side. I felt the warm blood drip slide down my chin. I dug in, knowing that nothing else would be coming my way in a week. It was finally time for me to move. The deer weren't coming this year. It was my turn to come to them.
*

I trail down the deer path where small plants have been flattened so much that it left an open path to walk. The smell of deer was faint, but it was still enough to catch and trail. The trees were growing thicker, blocking out most of the light, although it was 5 in the morning.

It felt like had traveled for hours before I came upon it. The number of trees dwindled rapidly, revealing what lay ahead. A meadow.

Joy melted my soul, and just for a moment, I let my guard down to enjoy the moment. I had found it. Somewhere where the deer would come. The grass was covered in a light dew, and was still mostly green, which was a rarity in this part of the world. Winter hadn't hit it yet, leaving it as a good feeding ground. Sniffing the ground, I followed the scent that led me there in the first place.

I almost lost my composure completely when I found fresh tracks on the ground.

Excitement bubbled out of me as I let out a happy yip. It was almost never this easy. I thought it would be a few days before I found anything.

My joy stilled, and my face turned serious. Now it was time to hunt.
**

From the top of a boulder on the side of the cliff, I looked down on my prey. But she was not alone.

Two does and their mother chewed lightly on fresh grass. The patch was somewhat small, but you could tell it was clean, and healthy. While they munched, I thought of a game plan. The mother was my target, but how did I single her out from the others without them hearing me? I knew that the children would warn the mother while she fed, but there was no other way. I needed the food.

Leaning back, I prepared to lunge forward to grab her neck first, then twist. It would happen so fast, that they wouldn't be able to warn her. My body strains, tensing with impatience and hunger. The mother lowers her head to the grass- I release my myself.

Springing into action, my front paws are the first to make contact, digging into the flesh of her shoulders, pushing her to the ground with my superior, and sudden weight. She collapses, and before she get even get a sound out, my razor sharp teeth tear at her throat, killing her almost instantly. I look up just in time to see the does running away in the opposite direction, their shifting from side to side as they ran. I looked down at my catch.

The deer was dead, and she would be more than enough meat to fill me for a week. That's when I would start going hunt again. Sighing, I torn at her side, feasting on her, and thanking the moon goddess for her blessing. I tried my best to take to much, and leave them be, but I needed just enough for survival. I always made sure to go for the ones who had little future ahead of them, or ones that had already marked as their next victim.

The deer's corpse was smaller than me, it's head would probably only reach up to my side, I was still a good head taller. A dominant wolf. Dominant wolves are always bigger in presence, their wolves showing more strength by size.

As I finished up my meal, and ate everything I could, I yipped playfully as the hawk swooped down, grabbing a piece that was stuck between the ribs. It flew back up into a nearby pine tree, scarfing down his meal, before watching me.

I huffed. He's always feeding off my hard work, that ungrateful brat. But I love him anyway.

Trotting off, I look for a nice cave that will shelter me for the day. Then, I will go back out at night to look for water.
***
AHHH!!! This is my first book, book. Tell me how you think it looks, and if I have any typos.
Thank you so much for reading.