by Robin Roseau
It was Lara that made the noise. Rebecca had been as silent as I would have been, closing to just over ten yards from the rabbit. It's back had been to us, but it stood up, turned, and bolted. Rebecca set off in pursuit, Lara bounding ahead to try to cut if off.
I flowed to human. "Please help them," I said to Serena. She chuffed and set off at an angle.
The rabbit gave Rebecca a real run. Serena and Lara both had a few opportunities to finish the chase, but they simply cut the rabbit off from escape, and then Rebecca made a good pounce, bringing it down. It was a close thing a few times, the rabbit nearly escaping. That happens sometimes, even for me, and it's an important lesson, but I was glad we wouldn't be teaching it today.
I yipped twice to call the other wolves closer, then stepped forward to find my daughter proudly holding her rabbit. I chuffed happily at her, then shifted into human form. Rebecca shifted too, still holding the rabbit, which was a mistake, and she dropped it, then began trying to spit out the fur in her mouth, whining. Lara offered a wolfy chuckle.
"Oh baby," I said. "I've done that, too."
We waited for her to spit the fur from her mouth. The other wolves arrived before she was done, some of them chuckling. Celeste was plastered against Scarlett's side, watching her rabbit carefully. I smiled.
"All right, Rebecca," I said. "Good hunt, but did you learn something?"
"It ran, Mommy Fox," she said.
"It did," I agreed, "and then it was a wolf style hunt. Do you know why it ran?"
"It heard me."
"No, Darling, it didn't. You were as quiet as a fox."
She cocked her head. Lara knew what had happened and was feigning indifference, but I knew she felt guilty. I let my baby think about it for a minute. Then she turned to Lara.
"It heard Mommy Wolf!"
"Yes, Darling, it did. It's not Mommy Wolf's fault though. She's a big, strong wolf, and she was creeping as quietly as a wolf her size is able. Sometimes, no matter how quiet you are, the rabbits will hear you. Sometimes they run. Sometimes you catch them, sometimes you don't. This time, Serena and Mommy Wolf were able to make sure you catch it, but sometimes they will get away. Now, thank Serena and Mommy Wolf for helping you catch your rabbit."
She did that, first in human, then shifting back to wolf and giving them each a quick lick. Serena accepted her thanks, then there was a shifting around, and I had Serena next to me, letting me know she was back on duty watching over me. I leaned over to her and quietly thanked her. She chuffed at me.
I looked at Lara, then searched around, looking for Elisabeth. "Head enforcer," I said, "Someone needs to carry Rebecca's rabbit while I find a deer."
Elisabeth walked to Portia and bumped her. Portia, in turn, walked over to Rebecca, licked her once, then stood over the rabbit and waited for permission to pick it up. Rebecca didn't understand and pounced on her rabbit, guarding it.
"Rebecca!" I said firmly. "Tell Portia she may carry your rabbit. And pack shares! Pack always shares."
Rebecca immediately rolled onto her back, offering her throat to Portia. The enforcer accepted the offer for a moment, then chuffed and picked up the rabbit.
"All right," I said. I worked my ears. I heard no deer. "This might take a little while. Rebecca and Celeste, you will stay with Portia and Scarlett. Remember to be quiet and behave. You can share your rabbits once we've caught a deer, and then we'll play on the way back home."
They both chuffed. After that, I didn't worry about it, leaving it to Lara and the enforcers to manage everyone else, including the pups. I turned west, shifted back into fox, and moved forward.
No one crowded me, although I had Serena just off my left flank and Lara off my right, just far enough behind me to avoid distracting me. It took me fifteen minutes to find a deer, which was longer than usual. I was going to have to talk to Lara, or perhaps Francesca. We were perhaps depleting the deer faster than we had historically. I fixed on the sound, adjusted our path, and brought us to three hundred yards downwind. I could tell the wolves had the scent, and I drew us to a stop, turning to Lara. I shifted.
"Three hundred yards," I said very quietly. She chuffed.
I lifted my voice just enough. My voice wouldn't carry upwind to deer ears. "Portia and Scarlett, give the rabbits back. Portia, please keep Rebecca safe." I looked for Emanuel. He was watching me. I just glanced at Celeste, and he moved closer to her. He didn't need more than that. Scarlett was watching me, and I gestured her closer.
"You and Angel are leading this hunt," I told her.
She sat down, and I could see she was surprised.
Angel was on a wide protective stance, out of sight. I pointed. "She's there. Go get her, please. This was Lara's idea."
Scarlett didn't wait. She moved quickly but quietly and was back a moment later with her mate. They both stepped up to me, Angel puzzled. I brought Angel up to speed. "It's three hundred yards. I'll get you to one-fifty, but that's as close as I want to take us." My pups were with us, after all.
Angel shifted to skin, and her brow furrowed. "Alpha..."
Lara moved closer and shifted human as well. "Your hunt, Angel. You two are ready."
"I'll get us closer," I said. They could have done it from this distance, but I liked feeling like I was a part of the hunt, and the wolves seemed to enjoy the way I found the deer. We'd experimented several times over the years, trying to decide if which hunting method was faster. Sometimes fox style was faster; sometimes wolf style was. It was nice they let me help.
I shifted back to fox, waited for Angel, then began silently prowling forward, the wolves following me. A few minutes later, I looked over at Angel. Everyone clearly had the scent, except perhaps the pups; their noses would be full of the rabbits they were carrying. I brought us to a stop, chuffed very quietly, then faded back towards my daughters.
It was clear that Angel and Scarlett were nervous. They had never given any of these wolves orders. But Lara nudged Angel, and Elisabeth stepped forward and sat down, waiting.
The wolves had their own communication style while in fur. It was pretty limited, and was based on human gestures. It was actually difficult for the average werewolf to fully understand human gestures while in fur. Some even found it difficult to pay attention to human speech while in fur, and one could have to talk quite firmly to get a furry werewolf to pay attention. We didn't have that probably on the compound.
It was Scarlett who got the conversation started, but she was good about it, setting it up for Angel to take over. Angel glanced at me and the pups and saw we were well protected, and then she gave out the assignments. She sent Rory and Eric around to the far side, kept Lara and Elisabeth closest, and then told everyone to go.
They all disappeared from view.
I used my eyes to keep track of the pups and my ears to track the fight. The pups both cocked their heads, listening, but I knew they would lose the sound until the final rush.
It took a few minutes for everyone to get into position. I think the deer smelled one of the wolves, as it began quietly moving north. But then Rory broke a tree branch, and the deer changed direction and practically walked into Elisabeth's jaws, sensing her after it was too late. It broke to run, but Elisabeth made a leap, bringing it down in a single bound.
A moment later she howled her victory.
I chuffed and began leading the way to the site of the kill, using my ears to make sure the pups were following me. When I looked over my shoulder, both pups were prancing proudly, carrying their rabbits. Emanuel and Portia were watching over them, and Serena moved to my side again. I nudged her with a shoulder, a small thanks for protecting my family.
By the time we arrived, the remaining wolves had clustered around the kill. Lara had her back to the deer, watching for her family, and she visibly relaxed when we stepped into view. I walked to her, sliding my body along hers in passing, then nudged Elisabeth in congratulations for a good kill. She nudged me back; I had found the deer, after all.
; As hunting leaders, Scarlett and Angel could have asked Elisabeth to dress out the kill, but they were working on it themselves. That was perfectly fine as well.
We could have let the pups eat their rabbits themselves, but pack shares. While they were developmentally well ahead of human development, they still tended to guard their kills, and so I never let them get away with it. They were going to share their rabbits. I walked over to Celeste and took the rabbit from her mouth. She resisted me for a moment, but I growled in my throat, and she let go.
It was not my nature to growl; that was a wolf sound. My natural sounds of aggression were to spit and hiss. But the wolves understood a growl, and I could growl.
There were days I was jealous of Lara's growl though. My mate could really growl.
I took the rabbit and carried it to Lara, setting it at her feet. I could eat from the rabbit myself, but my claws weren't sharp like a werewolf's. The pups' claws weren't sharp enough yet, either. So I left it to Lara to portion out one rabbit. Then I turned around and nudged Rebecca before looking at Elisabeth. I thought she might balk, but instead she proudly carried her rabbit to Elisabeth and set it between her feet. Elisabeth gave her a quick lick before setting herself to dissecting the rabbit.
We didn't share the rabbit with everyone. The wolves would rather have venison, anyway. But we passed out enough so the pups understood they were to share, and then we let them have the rest. Scarlett offered me a morsel of the deer as well, a perfectly sized snack for a fox.
We didn't eat the entire deer; we each just got a snack. We'd bring most of it to the compound, and it would show up in our meals for the next few days. I didn't worry about that but left it for the wolves to deal with. Instead, I waited for everyone to finish eating. Lara chuffed at me, and so I stood up, nudging each of my daughters to their feet, and set a path for home.
All was right with the world.
About the Author
A writer by avocation, Robin has a renaissance interest in many areas. A bit of a gypsy, Robin has called a few places home and has traveled widely. A love of the outdoors, animals in general and experimenting with world cuisines, Robin and partner share their home with a menagerie of pets and guests, although sometimes it is difficult to discern who is whom.
As of September 2014, Robin is the author of 20 novels, 3 novellas and a variety of short stories.
Robin can be reached via email as [email protected]. Robin's web site is http://www.robin-roseau.com.
Hunting Pups
Copyright 2014 by Robin Roseau
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.
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