Swiftcurrent Creek pack activity · fight or flight

Haunter was only gone for a moment, but this is my last post.

Haunter scoured the area, eagerly looking for any of the creature's family or companions that would have heard the massive ruckus and come to its aid. But he found nothing. Cougars did not run in packs like wolves, and this had perhaps been its downfall. His blood and testosterone boiled with adrenaline, but he had calmed considerably when he returned to the scene of destruction, and had only now begun to realize his shoulder was bleeding and painful. Most of his pack had already gone, but his yellow eyes immediately went to Jinks (lol) Jinx and Bones.

He lifted his muzzle, scenting past all the blood that had been spilled around them and zeroing in on the area around his pale-furred superior, at least fifty percent of her body stained red. The smell of her miscarriage trumped everything else about her, and Haunter stiffened as a curious sense of rage and loss rippled along his spine and then settled uncomfortably in his gut. Knowing very well how dangerous a mother could be over lost pups, he growled, addressing Bones' attention from the sidelines.

"Leave her," he rumbled, assessing the tense way in which Jinx's large frame jealously guarded the unseen, premature bodies that she was surely covering. Yellow eyes met Bones' body and saw that she was covered in blood, likely from having the dead cougar toppled on her, but he couldn't be sure. "Go clean yourself up and then come help me hunt if you can—our pack will need it." And they were not about to eat that damn cat.

With that he turned and melted off into the long, soft shadows, heading off to lick haphazardly at his shoulder and then start a hunt that he might be on alone. He didn't know (or care) if Bones had heeded his words, or if she was even healthy enough to join him, because either way he would do what needed to be done and would leave the mourning Jinx something to eat, though she would likely not accept anything from anyone for quite some time now.