Dog Season (Discontinued)

Part I: Chapter Thirteen

     The loud crack of thunder startled Charity awake. From the cave, she could see fat rain drops pound the dirt in many thousands. She glanced over at Cori, who stayed asleep despite the thunder. His face made her smile again as she carefully got up to her paws, trying not to wake her sleeping Beta.
     Charity stretched her thick muscles and shook off her long, brown and white pelt. She began to trot out of the cave when a groan caught her ear. The Windhound glanced back to see Cori roll onto his side and cover his muzzle with a single paw. She laughed in her head while padding into the cold rain. The freezing liquid woke Charity right up. She stared down at the sloped side of High Rock. Water poured down it like a water fall.
     Seeing the advantage, the Alpha slid down High Rock instead of walking down. Her heart pounded out of her chest. That was fun! She wagged her tail then stopped, feeling hot with embarrassment under the rain. I'm acting like a pup. I hope no one saw that. Charity glanced in every direction but no dog was in sight. Good.
     A bark of laughter made the Alpha jump out of her wet pelt. She gaped up at High Rock to see her Beta laughing while rolling on the ground.
     "You're some dog, Alpha!" He teased. "First ya don't know how a pack works, now you're acting like a three week old pup!" Cori continued to laugh while he crawled onto his paws in the rain.
     "Shut up." Charity mumbled, feeling her cheeks warm. "You try it! It's fun!"
     "Sure thing, Alpha." The Sloughi snickered, then padded to the side edge of High Rock. "So how did ya do that?"
     "Just slide down!" The Windhound yapped over the loud crack of thunder.
     Cori cautiously laid a paw on the watery edge, and scooted his body on the rock slide. Instead of sliding on his pads, the Beta slipped and landed on his tan rump. He glided down ungracefully and face-planted into the mud.
     "Boy, that was smooth!" Charity howled not keeping in a laugh.
     Cori lifted his head out of the mud and tried to crawl onto his paws but slipped. "Yeah, yeah." He grumbled.
     "Need help?" The Alpha smirked.
     The Beta flopped his head into the mud. "Yeah." Charity pitter-pattered in the mud to the Sloughi and dug her neck under his rib cage.
     Right when Cori got to his feet, Charity's back legs slip out from under her and she hurled into her Beta. They both splashed in the mud, Cori flopping onto his Alpha. Charity stared up at him, their eyes met.
     Above the leaders, the last few rain drops fell to the earth. The sun began to creep out from behind the dark clouds, revealing warm beams of light. The rays landed Cori and Charity, who still silently stared deep in each other's dark brown eyes.
     Suddenly, Suzie bursted out of the Hunter's den and interrupted their moment. "Finally! The rain has stopped!"
     Charity quickly rolled onto Cori's paws and he tumbled into the mud next to her. "Yeah it's been going for a while." She quickly jumped to her feet and shook off her mud-heavy pelt. "Suzie, could you start a hunting patrol?"
     The young Mastiff mix stared at her Alpha then the Beta who still laid in the mucky ground. "Sure thing, Alpha..." With a final awkward glance, the female walked back into the Hunter's den.
     As soon as Suzie disappeared, Charity whipped around and stared at Cori. He grinned nervously. "We'll talk later, Beta." Charity snipped.
     Suzie emerged from the den with Kimora and Dash on her tail. They began to slip into the bushes but the Alpha stopped them. "Hold on a sec, Suzie! I'll lead this hunting patrol." She glanced at Cori. "Watch things while I'm gone, okay?"
     The Sloughi nodded. "Of course." Charity licked her Beta's cheek and marched through the bushes with her hunting patrol close. Suzie flanked her on the right and Kimora on the left. Dash tromped close to Suzie, wearing his normal face of adoration.
     "Hey." Kimora quickened her pace to talk to her Leader.
     "Hey." Charity smiled and nuzzled her litter-sister.
     "We haven't talked in a while."
     A pang of guilt pricked the Windhound's heart. She's right. We haven't talked since... "Yeah we haven't. How are things?"
     "Going well."
     "How's Hunter?"
     "Oh Hunter's great." Kimora sighed breathlessly. "I'm sorry to ask this, but are you and Forest not a thing anymore?"
     A growl rose in Charity's throat but she swallowed before it could escape. "No. We're not...together."
     "What happened-"
     "We can't talk about this now. We're suppose to be hunting." Charity interrupted her litter-sister so she could drop the subject. "Suzie, have you found anything?"
     The young Mastiff mix nodded. "Yes. I thought I could smell a deer several dog lengths away."
     "Boy, you're a better tracker than me!" Dash whispered breathlessly, then nuzzled her cheek. Suzie touched her nose to his ear.
     "Alright." Charity inhaled and the stench of fresh deer dung flowed into her nostrils. "Kimora, stay with me. Suzie, Dash, circle around those trees-" Charity pointed her muzzle at a group of tall pine trees that curved around the prairie. "-and wait for my signal."
     "Yes, Alpha." Suzie and Dash's voices were full of respect.
     "Move out." Charity stalked with Kimora, their ears and noses alert for any sign of the deer. The other two dogs began to tip-toe past the pines to their hiding place. The Alpha laid her muddy white paws down lightly on the wet earth, trying not to scare the deer close by.
We don't even know if there is a deer!
     Charity lowered her body so low that her mucky belly fur stroked the few patches of grass that grew from the forest floor. She inhaled through her nostrils again, this time, smelling a deer not its dung. The Windhound narrowed her eyes to see through the trees. On the other side, stood a young doe nibbling on some roots. It chewed hungrily and appeared alone. It's damp pelt shown a dull tan from the previous storm.
     Charity licked her chops quietly and turned to her sister to nod. They began to stalk carefully towards their prey until it stood a couple dog-lengths away. The young sighthound prepared her leg muscles for a long jump by pushing them down like springs.
     Forgetting about her signal for Suzie and Dash, Charity sprung through the trees and missed the deer by a tail-length. With a bellow, the doe kicked out and a hoof smacked Alpha's right eye. Charity yelped in pain and flopped into the mud. Kimora, Dash and Suzie emerged from the trees trying to grab their prey but missed.
     The deer bolted, weaving through the trees. Charity felt her eyelid beginning to swell over her eye, making her blind in one eye.
     "Alpha, are you alright?" Dash yelped concernedly. Charity ignored him. The pain in her eye made her frustrated and it overwhelmed her. "No!" She howled and leaped to her paws chasing after the deer's hoof-prints. Her vision was blurry now that she had only one decent eye.
Up ahead, Charity could make out a moving blob of tan. The deer! With a quick burst of speed, she expanded her strides, catching up to the deer very quickly. I'm not making the same mistake again! Charity promised herself. With a powerful push off her back legs, the Windhound leaped over the doe's hindquarters onto its back. The deer bellowed as she wrapped her paws around its neck and sank her teeth into its throat. The creature's speed began to decline and its strength weakened from blood loss.
Charity burrowed her teeth deeper into the deer's throat flesh and warm blood flowed into her mouth. With a choking breath, the doe collapsed and died. The Windhound panted, taking in gulps of air after her chase.
Behind her, Charity could hear the sound of gasping. She turned to see a white and brown blob, a fawn colored blob, and a black and white blob.
The fawn blob stepped forward. "Wow! Great job, Alpha!" She could barely recognize Suzie out of her one eye.
"Yeah, impressive! Are you alright?" Your eye is swelled shut." The brown and white blob stepped beside Suzie; Charity squinted and could make out her litter-sister, Kimora.
"I'm fine," The one-eyed Alpha responded. "just tired."
"We can carry that for you Alpha." Dash barked and nodded at the deer she still stood on.
"Sure." Charity's world began to spin dizzily. She struggled to stay on her feet and stumbled. The Alpha collapsed and slowly blacked out.