Wonderland // ATEEZ

7

The air was pleasant at this time of night. It was getting close to early dawn, so it was still quite dark out, but the sun was slowly showing itself. The cool temperature was pretty nice. It was perfect for a hunt.

The beautiful Alpha effortlessly dashed in between the tall forest trees, leaping over fallen trunks and not letting them slow down his pace. He didn't want to go too far though because he wanted to stay close enough in case anything were to happen to the group he's trying to impress while he's away.

When Hongjoong, the leader, asked him to hunt for the group to prove his loyalty, San knew there was no way he could refuse. He wanted to gain the other Alpha's trust. So ideally he wanted to find a large buck to bring back. That would be more than enough to feed the group of five.

With his senses alert, the Alpha continued to sprint throughout the area. Of course, he passed a few decent sized does and fawns, but they weren't good enough.

Finally, he spotted the perfect one. There it was, standing in the middle of a beautiful clearing, walls of forest all around it. His antlers were magnificent. The tall grass and the violet and yellow wildflowers stood as tall as the buck's legs. The scene was gorgeous a gave off a sense of serenity.

But it would have to be interrupted.

Being as silent as possible, the black speckled wolf crouched down, using the tall grass to his advantage to remain hidden from the deer. He stayed just outside the outskirts of the forest so his dark coat wouldn't be so noticeable.

As the buck slowly trotted in the opposite direction, San carefully crept forward. The fur on the wolf's back was bristling from excitement. It has been so long since San has truly hunted.

Anymore, wolves hardly ever have a need to hunt themselves. Their world is fairly modernized. So San loved the idea of getting to completely let his wolf loose and go back to the basics of hunting. It was absolutely liberating.

While the Alpha inched forward, one paw at a time, he accidentally snapped a tiny twig, which made a slight cracking sound. The buck paused all movement and lifted his head, looking back in the direction of the noise. San ducked down even further, making sure that his breathing was light.

After a moment, the buck concluded that he was safe and turned back around. He shifted his hind legs back, looking like he was a about to run forward into the other side of the clearing.

This was San's chance.

Before the deer could get away, San darted forward, leaping into the air, his fur being pushed back by the wind, and landed on the buck's back, his teeth latching on to it's throat.

Of course, the deer put up a fight, thrashing his head back and forth to toss the wolf off, but San's jaw tightened. He was determined to win. So with one violent whip of his head, he pulled back at the flesh of the large buck, ending the battle.

San looked away as all the life and beauty that was there only a short moment ago, slowly dissipated. This was the hardest part, but it had to happen.

The Alpha took a few minutes to fully scan over his kill. He was proud with the size and the amount of meat that was on the buck's bones. He was one hundred percent sure that Hongjoong would be impressed that he was able to take one down this size by himself. And he had done it so effortlessly.

If the unofficial pack wanted, they could repurpose a decent amount of the fur skin to make into a blanket. Though, he's unsure of what the others need. He doesn't know what their plans are moving forward from where they currently are or what their normal routines are.

As much as Seonghwa doesn't trust him, San's having to put a lot of trust in them too.

He bends his neck down to grab one of the buck's hind legs in his mouth, feeling the heavy weight of the large limb, before dragging the conquered deer behind him, back to the cave where the others would be waiting.