Heartleaf Creek aware, aware you stalk your prey with criminal mentality

Ophelia could not have heard her father's call in the heart of Grizzly Hollow territory as she was out exploring the expanse of the extended forests near Heartleaf Creek. A particularly vexing hunt - of which she was getting particularly skilled at if she did say so herself - had led her all the way out here and she wasn't about to abandon it just because she'd been away from home for a day or so. The deer was exhausted. And sure, maybe she was, too, but she didn't intend on giving up now. She'd come too far for that. Going back for help would only allow her quarry to escape her jaws. She wanted to bring the whole carcass home for all the pups. There were plenty in the pack despite the lives lost and she wanted to help provide for them.

The pale princess panted heavily with her exertion but kept her senses awake and alert despite her heavy eyes that begged her to take a break and nap. But if she was this tired, surely the stag was as well. He had to rest at some point and it was then that she would strike! She just had to keep up until then.

For all her tracking, the pale heir of Grizzly Hollow was caught off guard by the sudden arrival of a strange male in her path. "Hey," she barked, a bit breathless. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

It was only natural for him to travel back towards the last place he'd had a decent fight. Zerxes didn't even have to travel far from Charred Ash Draw territory after cutting ties with them before he stumbled upon a female. Something ugly and delightful churned in his lower gut. Too long had he kept his baser natures on a leash. His smile was wide and toothy as he admired the girl with vulgar appreciation. Devilish eyes wandered slowly from the tips of her ears down to the tip of her long tail. She held her head with regal pride and better yet, smelled of just the wolf he was hunting for.

"Didn't mean to startle you," he said with an obviously fraudulent tone. He lifted his nose and sniffed at her in a grand show as he stepped closer. "I can't help but notice this...aroma about you. I think we may have a mutual friend. A frail little thing. Doesn't say much."

Zerxes moved until he was flush against Ophelia and they were brushing shoulders. Getting into her personal space had exactly the desired effect he hoped for and he laughed delightedly as she snarled. Oh, goodie. He loved a fighter.

Just who the hell did this man think he was?! That he would dare approach and touch her after looking at her as if she were a piece of meat for him to lick! She'd never been so insulted in her life! Normally, Ophelia thrived on having others admire her and her pretty coat and lithe legs, but the way this wolf did it was just disgusting! She couldn't stop herself from snapping at him to send him skittering away. Immediately, she wanted to leap into a river to wash his stink from her coat.

"You dare touch royalty in so familiar a manner?!" she demanded incredulously. "I will have you know that I am the named heir to Grizzly Hollow Pack and daughter to the great Alpha Veho Macieo. If you touch me again, not only will you answer to me, but to him!" He didn't seem all that intimidated, a fact that infuriated her further. "And what the hell do you know about Pip? Even if she keeps questionable company, I couldn't imagine even someone as lowly as you would register to that omega," she spat.

How did Pip even know this man? She was disgusted for the mute. As much as she disliked the Squeaker, the thought of this man around her only fueled the fire of her anger. He was gross and not worth the company of any Grizzly Hollow wolf. When she was leader, she would see to it that wolves like this would never be welcome in Cedarwood Forest!

Zerxes' green gaze sharpened with delight. Oh, even better! Another future queen. Another pack whose future he could alter. He'd set Treyah's course before her. For this one, he would set another. With feign shock, he stepped back and bowed his head. When he spoke, his sarcasm was thick. "Your majesty! Forgive me, I could not ever have guessed. What with how winded you are! I didn't think royals knew how to run!" he goaded, tail flashing up and around in a thrilling invite for her to charge. His head dipped as he eyed her. "You certain you don't want Daddy fighting your battles for you, darling? I think you'll find the real world isn't as soft as your palace."

But the information she offered was interested. Pip. What a quaint and ridiculous name. No doubt called such for that annoying sound she made. Interesting as well to learn that she was otherwise mute. Pity. There would be no one to hear her begging screams when he finally caught up to her. He wondered if that male was still with her. Wouldn't it be lovely to force him to watch her suffer? It seemed fitting vengeance for what they did to him. Tossing him in that pit and leaving him to die as they had was very, very naughty.

Ophelia's temper got the better of her. Her snarl was furious as she rounded on him. "You'll hold your tongue, bastard, or I'll bite it off!" she snapped, full of herself in her righteous anger. Self-preservation was no where in sight, as it had not been the day she challenged that white male who had simply been sitting in the forest where she was passing through. This male had committed a far worse crime with his words. Veiled threats and apparent insults were not something she could just let go without taking a firm stand. If she showed weakness here and now, it would show she would not be fit to one day rule. She refused to be weak. Ophelia was not raised by cowards. She was the princess, heir to Grizzly Hollow, daughter of Veho and Oula, and she would not let some commoner speak to her in such a manner no matter how sharp his teeth looked and how dangerous that smile!

He was a vile, demon of a man and not one should would ever allow near her packmate. Whether she liked Pip or not was far from important in this. She was part of her pack and Ophelia would be damned if she didn't protect it. Grizzly Hollow was her future and no one else's. It was her duty to defend it from all threats, foreign and domestic. Of this, her heart took a firm stance on.

"I don't think so, princess." With no further warning, Zerxes lunged for the pale wolf's throat. It was clear she was inexperienced in battle by the way her pale green eyes flew wider with surprise. But - kudos to her - she didn't back off. Instead, she met him head-on with jaws snapping and snarls thundering. The pair rose onto their hind paws, claws and teeth each searching for purchase into the soft flesh at the underside of each other's neck.

Around them, the woods rang with the sounds of battle. Teeth clacking against each other, growls and yelps and howls mingling until telling one from the other was nigh impossible. Zerxes felt the little bitch snag part of his tongue but ripped away quickly before she could do any more damage than the small puncture.

"Little whore," he thundered, spittle flying as he shook his head in the brief break of battle. "You'll be begging and wish I made you mine by the end of it." Z wasted no more words on her and flew back at her, his weight slamming fully into her chest. Though he felt her jaws clamp around his leg, he continued to advance until his own clamped down hard on her muzzle.

Tears sprang to her eyes and Ophelia yowled in pain as she felt the monster's teeth crunch down on her muzzle. She felt one of his canines puncture through to her nasal cavity and felt the horrifying sensation of finding it difficult to catch her breath. The pale female was forced to breathe through her mouth, panting with pain as much as exhaustion - she was tired before the fight ever started! - as blood poured from her nostrils.

She'd thought she was holding her own. When he'd sprang away that first time after she'd clipped his tongue, Ophelia thought she'd won. That she'd scared him away and that he would run with his tail tucked. Instead, the action had only enraged him further until he was overpowering her. Even biting his leg as hard as she could manage didn't stop him. When he grabbed hold of her face, she was forced to let go of his leg and she writhed in his grasp, desperate to get free.

Ophelia had never known such pain. She was pampered and sheltered. That much she could admit readily in this moment. She knew so little of the world and pretended to know all. She knew better. Especially now.

When she managed to rip away from his crushing grip, her head was woozy from shock. The blood, the pain, the bone-deep weariness from her long hunt...all of it culminated into that moment of disorientation. And the demon took his chance. Ophelia felt herself being knocked clear off her paws and screamed as she felt his fangs burrow into her throat. So, so close to her jugular, her carotid. So close to such major vessels and she feared for her life then. She wished fervently for Daddy to find her. For Mama to come roaring to her rescue. Even for stupid, silent little Pip to rush forward and grab his face as she once had with a moose intent on trampling her brother and herself. But there was no one. There was only herself and this beast.

Z knew the girl was as good as dead. Even if his fangs were a few centimeters off, it was only a matter of time before she writhed his teeth right into her most vulnerable parts. She was terrified and goddamn her fear was intoxicating. He'd missed this. All that time of playing the good ol' boy with a pack not worth a shit and now, finally, he could be himself and let loose. And you bet your ass, Skidrow, he was going to let loose. On all of Relic Lore. They'd know his name. They'd fear him. They'd bow to his whim. And by the time word got back to Charred Ash Draw, Treyah would be its queen and he would take her for his own.

As the girls struggles lessened, Z released his grip and stared down at her weak, prone form. "Poor little princess. Not so big now, are you?" Z lifted his head and laughed. The sound echoed in the woods around them.

So, too, did the strangled end of it. A fatal flaw, he realized. One he'd warned Treyah about. One he'd warned Leotie of time and time again. Don't let down your guard. Don't let it down because when you do, someone will gut you.

Or tear your throat out, as it were.

The conniving little bitch had been faking it. She wasn't bleeding out as he'd thought, but conserving her strength to make one last blow.

Clever. Girl.

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RE: aware, aware you stalk your prey with criminal mentality - Ophelia - Jun 26, 2017

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There was no heady feeling of success when her calculated risk panned out. There was only the vile taste of his blood dripping down her throat and the disgusting twitches the muscles of his neck made against her teeth before she dropped him and backed away. She had no way of knowing if he was alive or dead, for her eyesight had gone white as her head pounded without mercy. She was going...to be...so...unladylike...and...

Ophelia vomited her guts up, the bile stained an ugly pink as Z's blood mixed with the fluid contents of her stomach. She coughed and hacked as some of it was sucked into her lungs. Her face and throat burned where his teeth had touched her, branded like fire. Maybe later, when her head was clearer, she would think how she should have gone over to finish ripping out his tongue as she'd promised. But the thought of approaching him again brought another round of nausea.

Any thoughts of her previous hunt were abandoned. The girl could think only of returning home. She wanted to see her family. Her pack. Wanted to ask if they were proud. Were they ashamed of her? She knew she'd done wrong. But she'd tried so very hard to make it right. Really, she had. Hopefully, they would see it, too. She would ask them. When she made it back. She would make it back.

But not right now. Right now, she was oh so tired. And like the deer, she had to rest.

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