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 Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:16 am
Although he had no memory of ever smelling it before, Ralastor recognized the scent as soon as he stumbled across it: a female in heat. He at first knew nothing about the source of the smell, for she was certainly not the wild she-wolf he'd stumbled across in days past, nor was she any of the females he could recall meeting as a pup.
He had tracked her, gathering pieces of information about her when not simply intoxicated by the strength of her signal. She was young - maybe around the same age as he was. Ralastor stalked her as he might a fawn, staying just out of range of being sensed and planning, always planning. At times he'd thought, morbidly, that if he'd wanted to kill her he probably could. And though it invigorated him, there was something a little more on his mind. This stranger could give him pups. All he needed to do was convince her a night of romance with him was a good idea.
Knowing he lacked a certain interpersonal charm, the young male followed her for days, waiting for the perfect opportunity, something that might give him the advantage he needed. From where he watched, hungry from going so long without hunting, he knew time was running out before either another male caught wind of her or she went out of estrus. Ralastor forced himself to focus. Patience. He would need patience for this to pay off.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:04 am
Layla had been feeling uncomfortable for days, she wasn't sure why really but she vaguely remembered feeling like it a few times before. It made her edgy and irritable, even more than normal. To work some of her frustration off she'd decided to go hunting and she selected an aged stag, that should be good enough to last her a while, he was even limping which made Layla's mouth water all the more since injured prey usually meant an easy kill.
She stalked the herd for a few days, keeping track of the elderly stag until she felt it was the right time. Cutting the stag out of the herd, she chased it until it was exhausted and standing it's ground it's instincts giving it the strength to fight one last time against the young wolf.
Unfortunately for Layla the stag hadn't reached it's age without learning how to deal with wolves and as she went in for the kill it lowered it's head right at the last minute and Layla crashed right into those honed points. One short one driving into her shoulder before it tossed her. Growling in frustration she charged again, adrenaline making her oblivious to her inury for the moment, despite the blood now marring her light fur. Driving her teeth home into it's neck she pulled and twisted savagely, all her irritation and anger focused on the stag an bringing it down. It took a few minutes but eventually it was down.
Layla panted, looking down on the now dead stag, she took a step towards it and buckled to the ground. "DAMN" she cursed loudly, trying to get back up but the ivory point had driven home deep into muscle, she was lucky that it hadn't severed any major nerves but as it was this would be the last kill she was going to make in a very long while.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:12 am
Ralastor watched, hunting the hunter, and felt himself salivate as he saw the old stag slowly drain of life. He was hungry for more than one thing, but his ambitions would have to win out over his physical needs. Besides, maybe she would share her food if she liked him enough to share her company. It took him to the limit of his adolescent willpower to wait, considering the powerful draw of both enticing smells, but he had to be sure it wouldn't be for nothing.
She fell, and cursed. He licked his lips, paused once, and then moved in.
"Are you okay?" The young male called out, emerging from cover but keeping his distance. "I heard you shout. Is someone hurt?" He looked around, pretending that he didn't know perfectly well she had no pack with her.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:02 pm
"Are you okay?" ..... "I heard you shout. Is someone hurt?"
Layla's lip curled in a silent threat at the voice, she tried to get up but buckled again before looking in the direction the voice had come from. "Don't come closer, my pack will be here soon" she snarled, obviously bluffing to most wolves since there were no pack scents anywhere close by.
Her heart pounded in her chest, she hoped this wasn't a pack. Stubbornly she kept trying to get up, succeeding once, getting closer to the stag. She wanted to try guard it but her shoulder was pretty badly injured. Maybe she could use the possible help but she wouldn't ever admit it, not even to herself.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:15 pm
Interesting. He already knew there wasn't a pack coming to her rescue, but being smug about it would win him no favours. Obeying her request, for the moment, Ralastor remained where he stood. It was with a combination of sadistic pleasure and frustrated dismay that he saw how injured she really was. The buck had gored her thoroughly if she could barely move. If she was just going to die by the next sunrise there was little point in trying to recruit her to his schemes.
Still, if the wound healed it should leave her able to make him children.
Children that would never make as rudimentary a mistake as she just did, he thought to himself, mentally sneering. Out loud, he said,
"I'm not here to take your kill." As if his stomach weren't in painful knots of hunter. "What happened?" As if he hadn't seen the whole thing going down. "Will your pack be here soon to look after you?" As if he didn't know her pack was fictional.
"I'm Ralastor. What's your name?"
As if he cared.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:30 pm
Layla panted a little, she knew she needed help but was too stubborn to accept it, and anyway the voice had been male, she tended to dislike males...it made it easier to keep them away. However ..... "Alright, come closer but make sure it's just the one, i'll howl for the pack if you try anything" she growled, still bluffing.
The stranger swam into focus as she located the sound of his voice, he was a dark male, and very well marked for hiding in the shadows. She purposefully ignored his questions about a pack.
"My name is none of your business" she called back, finally succeeding in her efforts to stand, though it was clear she shouldn't have, her front right leg trailed, the muscle not even allowing her to lift the leg off the ground.
She waited for his response, and to see whether he'd come closer,her nose working to try and test the scents in the air, trying to figure out if he was alone or not.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 3:17 pm
Ralastor trotted several paces nearer, standing out in the open. His head was high but his ears pressed forward with feigned interested and concern. He kept his tail at a medium height - not dominant, but not insecure either. The dark male radiated confidence and, he hoped, concern.
He stopped a safe distance away from her and gave a little whine, nostrils twitching. "I can smell your blood on top of the buck's. You probably shouldn't be standing, if you're wounded." Temptation called to him - a wounded wolf and a free meal. If she weren't in heat, he would have just chased her off and taken her hard-earned food. He forced himself to remember there was more to be gained by taking the more difficult path.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 3:49 pm
Layla panted, the pain in her shoulder was only JUST bearable for the moment but it was an effort of her part to try and keep it from her features, her mind flickered back, into the past...then back to this moment once more as the male emerged, Layla noted the confident way he walked, but carefully kept his tail down a little. This was a wolf that could help her she thought.
She was a little surprised when he stopped, not having expected him to listen. "It's ....it's just a scratch" she said, her voice quavering with her effort to push the pain away but it failed and so did her legs and she tumbled to the ground.
"Just take the kill and leave me alone ... " she sighed, her ears lowering as she lay on her uninjured side. She wasn't convinced about his concern, but even if the male WAS genuine, she's still have thought the same.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:06 pm
He stiffened. Had she seen through his ruse? No, his hunger must have shown in his body language somehow. Sure, it was all a performance, but this young she-wolf hadn't completely penetrated the sham to his true goal. Ralastor forced himself to relax, to fall back into his easy pose of confidence. Making no move towards her, he said,
"I'm not worried about the food. I'm worried about you." After a short, thoughtful pause, he said, "There isn't a pack nearby coming for you, is there?" As if saddened, he dropped his eyes to his paws. "I don't have a pack either. I know what it's like to have nobody to look out for you." Lifting his gaze to stare meaningfully at the "stranger", Ralastor continued: "Don't let your pride be your death."
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:29 pm
Layla lifted her head, he didn't just want the kill? Now that was a surprise for her, especially when he stayed where he was. "worried about ME?!" she said, pulling herself up so she was at least half laying on her stomach, her good paw curled beneath her chest.
She gritted her teeth and looked away from him, "No .... there's no pack" she said, a slight edge of something to her voice that was aside from it's usual harshness, "I don't need anyone to ......" she stopped when he continued. "I.....fine, what do you want?" she snapped, not driving him away but not letting herself show mental 'weakness' either. She was prideful yes, but he was right, there was no use in being proud if you were no longer breathing.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:52 pm
He took a step forward.
"Just let me look at where the old hart wounded you? Maybe I can help somehow." It was tricky playing the nice guy without seeming like a weakling pushover. Hopefully she wasn't the sort who was interested in weaklings - because Ralastor had no intention of acting like one. There was only so far he was willing to lower himself.
He took another step forward, but waited for her permission beyond that. "Just let me look at it."
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 5:11 pm
She tensed as he stepped forwards, causing a bolt of pain shooting through her shoulder this time she didn't quite manage to keep it from showing on her face. "What? are you blind? you need permission to open your eyes?" she snapped "Clearly you can see where i'm hurt, even if your nose doesn't tell you i'm not hiding anything" she grumbled before sighing and laying her head on her paws.
She was feeling sleepy, a feeling that she fought to prevent it from overcoming her, she blinked hard a few times, eyes focusing on the grass slick with blood and not all of from the old stag.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 5:42 pm
Hum. Decisiveness was in order, then. Ralastor asked permission from nobody, for nothing; though sometimes it benefited him to pretend he did. If that was something that would win him no points, then it was time to discard the false submissiveness. He walked right up to her, pausing only about a foot away.
"Hold still," he muttered, eyes darting over her figure. So close. He was so close, and her smell was so strong. Containing himself was much more difficult at this range. "Just let me help," added Ralastor before dipping his head down and sniffing at the wound. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to check her reaction, tongue already half sticking out to tend to the wound, trying to look as harmless as possible.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:08 am
Layla was too tired to care, her head felt very light and she just wanted to sleep. She curled a lip at the male as he came close, relieved when he stopped. If she'd been her usual self, a foot away would have been far too close for Layla, she had a rather large personal space area and she protected it.
Her jaw clenched when he told her to hold still, she didn't like being told to do anything but in her current state, she couldn't really do much else. A low growl sounded in her throat as he dipped his head and she tensed at how close he was, but she forced herself not to move. "Do what you need to....." she trailed, head beginning to loll a little in her current weakness.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:41 pm
Confident that she wouldn't suddenly attack him, Ralastor settled down beside her and gave the wound a good look. "He must have grazed you with his antlers," he mumbled, sniffing at the blood on her shoulder. He cleaned it off until he could see through all the blood to where the skin and muscle had been punctured. "He got you in at least one spot. Maybe more. At least your neck and face are safe. Better than losing an eye or bleeding to death." Seated comfortably, Ralastor began to lick gently around the site. He didn't really know much, if anything, about tending wounds, so he was going off of whatever instinct seemed to be suggesting.
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