The Heartwood The fall

Before he could so much as close his eyes, another scent washed over him, this one much fresher. Abruptly alert, Peregrine rose to his feet, jade eyes plumbing the surrounding woodland. He spotted her at very nearly the same moment she chuffed to announce her presence. She was vaguely familiar, though Peregrine couldn't immediately recall a name, nor why he dimly recognized her.

None of that mattered, though. Despite being far from the caldera, Peregrine had tracked the wounded cow from his home's outskirts and didn't take kindly to another wolf so near his prey. "This is my kill to make," he gruffly warned the black she-wolf, ears thrusting forward and tail stiffening behind him. "I've been tracking her for hours. She belongs to the caldera now."

He hadn't given much thought yet to what he would do after she fell. He would dispatch her, of course, but would he call his wolves to the kill or take as much as he could back to them? There was no way a wolf, even a large one like himself, could drag the carcass back that distance... or could it? His eyes danced with jade fire, daring the onyx female to test him.