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They were over two hundred yards apart, and while they didn’t share a mindlink to coordinate their attacks, they had created a bond that mirrored the mindlink. He couldn’t communicate directly with her, but he could always sense her in the forest. Shockingly, she’d developed the ability to sense him too.
They’d spotted the great elk by accident on one of their morning runs in their wolf forms. The beast was the stuff of legend, and Blake remembered the giant elk head with humongous antlers that still hung in his den.
It was his father’s most prized kill, and most wolves went their whole lives without even seeing one. Eleanor had wanted to give chase, but Blake had jumped in front of her as quietly as he could. Using head and limb signs, he’d managed to convince her to simply observe the beast with him.
“There’s a reason that beast is the most sought-after in these parts,” he’d explained to her later that day while they sipped coffee together. “It’s the stuff of legend. If you’re ever upwind from it, it will smell you before you cross a hundred yards, and you’ll never see it again.”
Eleanor frowned. “So how are we supposed to catch it?”
“We stake them out,” Blake said simply. “For all their gifts, they are creatures of habit. They’re also fiercely territorial, so chances of you mixing them up are very rare.”
“Explains why you wanted us to watch it,” she said.
“Exactly. We were on the right side of the wind, but I needed us to observe it from a safe enough distance in case the wind changed directions.”
Eleanor frowned again. “I still think we could have taken it down easy enough.”
Blake laughed. “Ifwe had managed to catch it. Needless to add that they are fierce, powerful warriors, and I’ve seen the aftermath of a hasty wolf against one one of them. Ferocious beasts.”
“Now I want to kill it even more,” Eleanor said.
“Me too. Look, we trailed it today. I bet if we check the same place tomorrow, we’ll find it again. Trust me, you don’t want to mess with this beast.”
“Looks like we have a hunt on our hands,” Eleanor said with bright eyes.
They’d found the same great elk again the next day, and the day after that. After a week, they’d gotten its routine on lock. It drank from the brook, grazed on the top of a rock, one eye scanning the forest, and then did its business.
Hunting down the beast was the only activity they were interested in after that. Well, that and their daily tumbles at all hours of the day. Regardless, Blake waited until he was certain before he declared that they were ready for the hunt.
Now, he was two hundred yards away from the brook where the elk drank every morning. He crept forward slowly, closing the distance between himself and his target inch by inch. He was also giving Eleanor time to get into position just below its grazing rock.
Blake was counting on the elk fleeing down a route it was already familiar with. He was upwind, so he knew it was only a matter of time before it noticed him.
He hoped that Eleanor would be in place before that happened. “We have one shot at this. Just one shot,” he’d told her repeatedly, to the point where she’d snapped at him.
He had created markers on the trees the previous day to help him time his distance to perfection. Anything after a hundred yards and he knew the beast would pick up his scent. He needed to be close enough to pounce.
When he was a hundred and ten yards away, he took in a deep breath and got ready to pounce. Everything depended on Eleanor now. He had no option but to trust her to play her part.
He tore into a run as quickly as he could, flying forward like a bullet out of a barrel. He hadn’t run more than ten yards before he heard a scurry of hooves travel through the quiet forest. His target had taken off.Here we go.
Blake’s limbs pumped with power as he closed the distance between him and the beast. He’d caught it completely off guard, and he knew that it was disoriented. If he’d been alone, the elk would have recovered its senses and disappeared into the darkness. But he wasn’t alone.
He crossed the brook in one leap, not wanting to get wet. He was less than fifty yards away, and he could smell the fear of the beast as he passed where it had been.
He could see it now, fleeing with fierce determination toward its rock. Toward Eleanor. Blake howled and the time it took him was enough for the elk to increase the distance between them.
That was Eleanor’s signal to move. Their timing had to be impeccable. They also needed the beast to think it had a chance of escaping Blake. And it did just that.
A few seconds after his howl, he heard a clear bugle. Eleanor. He tore down the path and felt a moment of panic when he smelled fresh blood. When he arrived at the kill zone, he found Eleanor standing beside the dead beast, blood dripping from her muzzle.
He walked slowly toward her, and they rubbed their heads together, brushing their fur against each other. Eleanor stood by and allowed Blake to take the first bite of the kill. It was her blow that had brought down the elk, but he was still an alpha.
Slowly and quietly they ate, filling themselves on the sweet meat of the legendary beast.
***
“Now that’s how you hunt!” Eleanor exclaimed.
