Blacktail Deer Plateau It's alive with the beating of young hearts

Xi'nuata fell back suddenly, probably perplexed by his absolute shift in demeanor when juxtaposed to their previous encounter. He slowed and began to jog, glancing over his sable shoulder to see if she would drop out of the running entirely. He nearly decelerated to a walking pace when she apparently decided to play after all. With the abruptness of an explosive volcano, she made chase.

A wolfish smile forced his jaws apart and his tongue to loll free as she charged nearer. He braced his sore forelegs in the snow, the tip of his tail waving enticingly, until she came within a few feet. When she sprang for his haunch, he tried to dodge her, yet she managed to clip the meat of his hip. He felt the brush of her muzzle against his hind legs, which made the long, roach hairs at his nape prickle like porcupine quills.

Still, he grinned. He leaped a few feet to the side, stood still for a split second, then broke into a gallop. Peregrine ran back the way he'd come, his ears flattening to his head and his tail tucking low. Although not a submissive wolf, he did these things to inspire an instinctual response from Xi'nuata; when she saw him fleeing before her, looking like a scared puppy, she wouldn't be able to resist trying to run him down again.