A Cold Wind Blows (Forgotten series, #3)

Chapter 9

I stalked through the trees quietly. My stomach was empty and rumbling and we wanted to hunt, the urge to kill was still running through our veins thickly. We needed the coppery taste of blood spreading across our tongue. We were in wolf form, running through the trees in the sparse light that was left of the day. The backpack dangled from our mouth. We weren't willing to part with it for a moment, even to hunt. Everything we had collected in our life was in that bag.

I wanted to turn around and lay into the large Alpha who was so demanding. We didn't do orders and we owed him nothing. He had demanded we fight for his entertainment and my wolf and I were disgusted by it. We never fought anyone. We didn't know the meaning of holding back. It was all or nothing. Killing or non-action. There was no in between for us. I just hoped he understood that now.

His wolf had irritated mine, attempting to show dominance and come closer, sniffing our readiness to mate. My wolf had wanted to take a round out of him, to hold his throat between her jaws until he ceased breathing, until his heart stopped pumping. We didn't want any male sniffing around us like he had been. His pheromones had seeped into the air, letting us know of his own receptiveness but we wanted nothing to do with that, not with him.

We had no use for a mate. He was simply an irritating burden for us both. Someone who demanded our time and obedience, who would shackle us like Damascus did. We had no use for that. We simply wanted what we currently had, our bag, a forest and the hunt. I needed nothing more than that, especially not a mate.

We sniffed the air deeply, trying to scent out anything that would fill our belly. We smelled the forest, the crispness of the snow, the sharpness of the evergreens, and the cold of the rock and dirt under our paws. Scents filtered through our nose as I moved through the trees. I inhaled deeply before catching the scent of a deer. It was faint but it was there.

We took off after it, following the scent trail as quietly as we could. We were used to hunting for our own food, deer was the largest prey we had managed to take down on our own. We usually only caught rabbits and other small mammals. They were easy prey and didn't take too much energy to kill. However we weren't one to pass up an opportunity for a hard chase.

We liked the game between predator and prey. It was natural and it felt right. The backpack, however, felt unnatural between our teeth but I held it tighter. I would let it go only when we had a good shot at the prey. We wouldn't lose our gifts for the sake of being comfortable.

We followed the scent quickly, dashing between the trees quickly. The lessening light would be our advantage. The scent was growing stronger and we slowed down, crouching slightly as we moved closer to where we could scent our prey. We slowly slunk forward, the breeze blowing at us as we moved silently. After a few moments we could see the doe from between the trees.

She was skinny, her fur was thin and it was clear the herd had left her behind. The reason was her right front leg, it was twisted from what looked to be an old injury. The winter would kill her if we didn't. We salivated at the thought of a fresh meal as our stomach clenched with hunger. As skinny as she was, she wouldn't provide much food, two or three meals but it was enough for us.

We dropped the backpack at the base of a tree carefully before we moved forward. To take her down it would require all of our combined knowledge and strength. She was weak but she was still a larger prey animal. We needed to do it right if we wanted to eat tonight. We slunk closer, keeping downwind and moving as lightly as we could over the terrain.

Our colouring was usually a hindrance during hunting but with the white snow it gave us an advantage that we used to the fullest extent. We moved so we were less than ten feet from the doe before we sprang from our hiding place. She startled, jumping away but her bad leg crumpled under her on her landing.