The Wolf and the Cat

2---two---2

The little guy won't last long in the woods. He's at a severe disadvantage color-wise. Tabby cats are common in these woods. Orange tabby cats? With big blue eyes? Toast.

Pete knows a lot about cats. He studied them when he was young. Orange cats are rare, but most of them are male. Pete would be surpirsed if the little fella was female. Though, he was quite small. Small enough to be a female.

Pete walks back in the shack, rinsing his hands and digging into the leftover meat from yesterday's hunt. He needs to head back out today.

The cat time is over, now it's time to get back to reality. He's got to live. He shifts forms, instantly hearing a rustling a couple yards away. He hopes it's a wild turkey or a rabbit. Pete stays low, hoping to sneak up on whatever it is.

As he approaches, he notices it's a cat. Not the orange tabby he knew, but a brown one stalking close to a small squirrel. Pete ignores them both, trotting in the opposite direction. Cats never tasted good to Pete. His old pack always killed them. It was a delicacy. Not to Pete.

Pete enjoys rabbit the most. He always ends up catching birds though. He's getting sick of birds. The tabby cat seemed to like it though.

Low and behold, as if an angel brought it down from the sky, a rabbit hops gracefully along a small dirt path. Pete sinks deep in the dead leaves and sticks, his stomach cheering him on.

It takes some time, lots of patience, and a ton of hope, but Pete truimphantly scores himself a rabbit.

Upon getting home, he shifts, preps the food, and starts a fire before night falls. He drinks water while his food cooks, and he spends a lot of time eyeing any peculiar noises from the woods.

Right now, Pete's taking any noises as a wolf. He's spent so much time in hiding for it to be all ruined yesterday.

That fucking cat.

Pete shouldn't have helped him. That cat led the wolf straight to Pete. And now? They know where he is. They could come back and kill him. They could take all the things he spent weeks to find.

Pete smothers the fire and grabs his dinner. He needs to stop intervening. He only did it because he didn't want anyone on his property. Look where it got him.

Pete enjoys the rabbit. He soaks in every second of it. Pete has a feeling his past is going to catch up to him.

That fucking cat.

~~~

Pete wakes up to the sound of rain pounding against the roof of his shack. He sighs and places a bucket beneath a leak in his roof. Pete hasn't fixed that yet. It barely rains, why would he?

He spends the morning rationing the food for the day, mainly since this weather is horrible to hunt in. Rainy days keeps everyone inside, which means only the desperate animals are out, and they're hard to find.

He has enough rabbit to last all day and even into tomorrow if needed. Thunder shakes his shack, and Pete sinks back down on his bed.

He should be happy there's nothing to do, it'd be nice to go back to sleep, rest his legs, and stay safe inside all day. Unfortunately, he's not. Doing nothing makes him anxious. The anxiety results in him standing and surverying the area around his house for every hour.

The wolf has only his territory to protect, and he has reason to need to protect it after he's been found. Protecting something makes him feel happy. It makes him feel useful. It gives him something to do beside stare at the leak in the roof.

On his way back from the tenth check of the day, he's stopped at his door by an orange tabby with big blue eyes.

That fucking cat.