This was too much for the little bird to handle. She ran from the caldera in such haste that she didn't particularly keep track of her route; but Dove was out of the forest, out of the company of Peregrine with his accusations, and away from Magpie who was - apparently - the half-sister that Fox had told her about. She was tired of feeling walled in on all sides by their judgmental bullshit, but.. At the same time, this separation made Dove quite lonely. She ran, knowing she couldn't really leave, but a run through the wilderness would have to be enough. It didn't even matter that her fur was getting tangled and her paws muddy. All she wanted was some freedom and room to breathe.

Jaws had not let the white female escape his mind and did not stray too far from the lake. Three days had passed since she had fled from him, and now he returned to where he had found her the first time, determined to pick up her trail and find her once more. He was confident that she had brewed long enough and was now assuredly ready.

He began to track her south away from the lake, settling into a brisk but comfortable pace, one he could maintain for a long period of time, thinking that he may have to track her quite some distance; but that was not the case. Jaws had only been tracking for a couple hours when fresh scent was carried to him on a morning zephyr. It was strong, hot - it was her.

Just thirty minutes later he spotted the shewolf, sending a spray of snow into the air as she ran, which almost concealed her entirely Without a moment's hesitation Jaws broke into a run himself, coming to a sliding stop as he cut her off. Once again his eyes locked on her, and he did not but bend his lips into a ravening smile.

She stumbled across the field without care for who, or what, could hear her. Whatever confidence she had been exuding through the past few days had been sapped from her, and now Dove was fighting through her emotions, having lost herself in them. She felt trapped. Hungry for the attention she thought she deserved, for the respect, but knowing that the caldera held neither of those things for her; yet she could not leave. Her word bonded her to Fox more than her blood.

Her blood - it was on fire. And her legs, the muscles twitched as she threw herself in to the wind. Dove was flying across the hills and through the reeds — feeling the heat inside of her rising to the surface of her skin, just in time for a familiar face to slide in to her view. Cheesy grin and all.

Had this been any other day, Jaws would be in for a barrage of wit; however, today of all days, Dove wasn't feeling like herself at all. The game she played was a dangerous one now - one which could change her fate, for better or worse. But she was too emotional to care right now.

Right now, she just needed to let off some steam.

There were no words exchanged between them, and this time she did not make a move to shrug him off or run from him. Jaws was done playing, he wanted that release he had tried for the last time. Not another thought occupied his mind; he had no reason to hesitate. He was an unaffiliated male and it did not matter who she was, for he would be gone soon after.

Jaws seized the opportunity, moving to her with slow, purposeful steps. He drew his cold nose from her cheek to her neck and left it hanging there, his tail swinging lightly from side to side as he held himself back from going further.

Whatever thoughts she had of her sister, of the children coming in mere days or of the stupidity of her pack-mates, it all evaporated as soon as the dark stranger came close. He wedged his nose against her cheek, and while the sensation was chilling, Dove felt a warmth budding from that point of contact. And when he pulled away, pulled back so that they were standing together, Dove's mind faltered. Her gaze drifted across his face, finding the sunlight warming the darkness there, softening his hard edges. It was her turn to be hungry - to look upon the rogue with a desire often felt by her playthings, but not by herself.

But he would not take her so easily. Whatever his own wants, Dove had her own urges. She yearned for his touch in a manner that was new to her, strange to her, and it was frightening; the game had become something undefinable. So, she did what she came out here to do — she ran. Charging through a pile of snow as she took off again, along the rising hill — but she slowed, canting her head back for a glance to him, inviting, before charging down the other side.

Jaws knew he had her this time. The look in her eyes betrayed her. The coywolf was about to make another move when the white female left his side again, running off a short distance before stopping to entice him to follow. Jaws growled, too low for her to hear it now. He was not keen to chase and frolic having spent so much time already agitated by the tease of it; he wanted to have his way with her now.

When he caught back up to her, Jaws immediately threw his long leg across her shoulder, grasping her as strongly as his heavy paw could. His teeth grazed her ear as he whispered in a thick, lewd voice. "Why don't you stop running now, so I can show you how to deal with those feelings."

She had barely made it down the incline before he was nearby again, quicker than she had anticipated - but she liked it. A part of her was invigorated by his presence, keen on whatever came next. And as he draped a limb over her, adding a bit of weight to her shoulders, Dove felt a new level of wanting. She didn't know what she was doing - not the seriousness of it, it was all a part of the game - but she knew that she needed him close, for whatever reason.

A promise fell from his lips which caught within her ears, made her eager, reacting instinctively and without thought. Dove shifted her weight. She believed she was adjusting to the angle of the hillside and his added weight, but that wasn't so true. The subtle movement placed her in the prime position for him to do as he pleased - and one look from her, heavy-lidded as if by some drug, was all the confirmation he would need.

She did not shy away this time, the fight and play had been consumed by want, by need, and by reckless desire. She was fully giving into herself and into him. Most times, Jaws could enjoy a long, tantalizing session of foreplay, but the two of them were beyond that now. When she shifted herself and cast him a needy look, he seized her.


Jaws dismounted and stepped aside, completely spent and satisfied, saying nothing as he allowed his senses to return to him. He looked upon his conquest quietly.

There had been days before this, days spent toying with the hearts of boys and the bodies of other children. Dove had been known for hiking her proverbial skirt for a look-see, but never satisfying the desires that came forth from such encounters. She played the game of the harlot well; never giving in, never letting anyone do what Jaws was about to do. But in the days since coming to the wilds, a change had occurred. It was a natural change and one she could not fight, nor truly understand. It was this fundamental difference in her biology which made him the victor - leaving her gasping, crippled by their union, and sinking to the grass below.

He knew what he was doing and there were moments, brief and fleeting, where Dove regretted things; however, her emotions were tumultuous. Her blood was pumping from the run, her skin was burning from his touch, and soon there was only a sense of stillness — the realization that the game had come to an end. That this was no boy fit to be her toy, but a man, and she had given herself over to him.

With the deed done, there was no longer a fire to stoke within her. Those emotions ebbed, leaving Dove to recover in the grass, empty but... Not a bad sort of empty. She did not know what would come of this. Being as naive as she was, Dove did not think that their union could result in anything - it was a brief affair. A one-night-stand beneath the spotlight of the sun. And with him dislodged from her, they could go their separate ways. Ships passing in the light.

When her breath returned to a calm pace and her pulse no longer burning through her veins, Dove rose up and turned to regard him - but the look was fleeting, too. She saw the rogue as nothing now. A stranger, as he was meant to be. She had been satisfied and his job was done. Without a word, she began to walk back up the hill.

For Jaws, who was experienced and had danced this dance countless times before, the female had simply been one of many. He did not have the same investment in this affair as her, neither in emotion or thought. The coywolf regarded sex as a pleasurable act and little more. For him there were no moral attachments to it, nor would he think there should be. Why deny a basic instinct, a primal need, a benign enjoyment? Of course, there had never been any consequences for Jaws. He was never left to raise pups that might spring from the tryst, nor face the ire of disapproving packmates. It did not concern him that the reason he was alone was because of that very thing; that is not where he seated his blame.

They both departed without a word. Jaws casually picked his way back toward the lake. On his route to find the female he had crossed a rabbit's warren that promised a meal. Traditional hunger now directed his paws.