Grouse Thicket We are not pissing on the corpse of Joan Rivers.

Bettahlatethannevahhhhh <3 Your entire post is gold, btw. Already gave you kudos but it's worth mentioning again.

He traipsed through thickets moist with dew, following the lure of downy feathers and odd footprints where the ground was moist to where he knew there would be feathered game. While he enjoyed the thrill of seeking game worthy of a foe, he found his highest success rate stemmed from ambushing and catching smaller prey animals, which could be an effortless experience for the sizeable male. But the real trick of hunting feathered game lay in the approach- and that the game could be lost before it was even begun should he have a botched stalk. 

He flinched and crouched when he heard the sound of frantic, heavy wingbeats- the telltale sign of a flushed bird- followed by a short, dense thud. Had the bird hit a tree? His bourbon gaze was drawn toward the canopy overhead where he saw the silhouette of the bird disappear amongst the shadows, and came to the conclusion that it wasn't the bird that had caused the sound. He paused for a moment, and considered the likely outcome- that perhaps whatever it was that had flushed the bird had caught another, and the thump might've been the sound of it being grabbed and hauled to the ground. He drifted forward a few steps as he instinctively sought any trace of scent, and locked on to one that made his eyes narrow and his tail curl over his haunches. 

Like a child, he bounded forward, tromping through the ferns so that with every bound he was able to peek over the greenery until he saw the dark sheen of her coat. At first his expression was that of glee- thinking she'd caught a pheasant or partridge, and that her hunched posture was merely because she was either killing or devouring her prey- but he noticed in his last few bounds the subtle but aching swell of ribs and hip bones that he hadn't noticed before. She had been trim...But she looked like she'd lost weight since he'd seen her last- and he realized a moment later that she was in pain. 

He huffed as he skidded to a halt not far from her, ears and nose thrust forward to investigate her while maintaining a few metres of distance should she lash out. She was still a non-wolf creature, and her nature- while familiar- still not entirely understood. But he was intrigued nonetheless, and regardless of her exact species, he could feel her pain, and addressed her with a soft, pleading whine. As much as she'd lingered on his thoughts, and as much as he'd hoped to see her again...This wasn't how he'd wanted it to be.