Tane awoke to Baliph, one of the younger hunters, nudging his side, the red-furred wolf clearly agitated. He looked past his shoulder to see Lassel's pretty, pale yellow eyes glaring at the male, her hackles bristing and tail raised in utter irritation.
Tane found himself amused.
She had rejected him again as her mate - and Tane, though not particularly interested, could see why. The younger wolf had a short temper and was recklessly impulsive. He had put Baliph in his place more than once, seeing as he was ranks above him.
Get up up up prey needs catching, Baliph said with his body, pushing Tane into a standing position. If he hadn't have been half-asleep and patient, Tane would've taken Baliph's lower jaw between his fangs and shown him who had authority over who. But Tane was half-asleep and patient, so he allowed Baliph to do so, noticing how he never looked back at Lassel, though the stiff she-wolf kept her eyes on him well after they entered the forest.
He could clearly tell that the male was trying not to grovel back and try again for the position of Lassel's mate.
Tane followed Baliph out into the forest, stretching his maw in a yawn.
The younger wolf's tail swung with each tense step, becoming an easy distraction for Tane as they padded within the undergrowth. Further and further away from the pack.
Sniff scent sniff out prey blood fear
So caught up in staring at Baliph's tail was Tane that he nearly crashed into him when he stopped, ears perked and neck stretched out.
It took only a second for Tane to realize that the other had lead him to the edge of the forest. How they had gotten there so quickly, though, was what Tane did not understand. Surely, he would have scented the change?
And then he saw what had made Baliph halt - through the transparent surface of a shelter, head tilted down and the light fur atop her head pulled back, was the girl.
Tane froze in shock.
He had not expected to see her again. Not this soon, anyways,
She wore not red this time, but instead, a dark blue, like water at night.
It made her no less attention-drawing.
Away get away not food not prey not in home good away good good away away GET HIM AWAY
He pushed at Baliph suddenly, urging him to go back into the forest - to abandon the fresh green grass before them. The red wolf snapped irritably at him, only causing Tane to growl lowly and snap back, insistant that they get to the safety of the shadows behind them.
The shelter opened behind them.
Tane tensed up, barring Baliph from moving forward again, before he glanced back.
Brown eyes stared back at him, the color of mud and soil and tree bark and female alpha Hargon's pelt.
His lips curled back in warning to the girl as Baliph strained to get past him, but with one hard shove, Tane sent them both into the cool shade of the woods.
Where he promptly lunged at Baliph and scoured his claws across the younger's muzzle, huffing at the yelp he gave as he leapt back, glaring fiercely at Tane. He made to move forward again, driven by the instinct that had raised Tane. Prey was prey.
Not the same girl.
A different girl.
Still, Tane had to protect her.
He was strangely disappointed as he forced Baliph deeper into their home, snarling angrily at him when he tried to dart around him.
Again, Tane lashed out at Baliph, this time catching his shoulder beneath his claws. Fur collected against the hard black of their under-surface, blood welling at the tips. A warning blow.
Good good good good get away not same not important.
Baliph finally gave up, shooting Tane a fearsome look that only had the other lifting his lips and showing his fangs, and the two moved off onto an animal's trail instead.
Tane couldn't help but look back, even when the foliage covered the shelter and the two girls from his view.
YOU ARE READING
Feral
Werewolf"He could not hold her hands, as he had ached to do for so long, because while his paws had become fingers, her fingers had become paws. He could not kiss her soft, pink lips, like he had dreamed, because when he traded his muzzle for human, she tr...
