beauty cat and the bald ape

He was aware as he travelled south the thickening presence of wolf scent. He did not wonder if there was a pack nearby, for he did not question what his nose told him. He was curious, however, and so drew nearer, his heavy paws quick but unhurried. He saw first the same buck the other watched. Its rack was respectable but did not declare it a monarch; the antlers sprouted from its forehead and swept forward into two beams each with three sharp points to threaten any wolf that dared, to say nothing of the splayed hooves that it could wield with just as much power.

With his belly still full from the fallen doe he happened upon earlier, he did not so much as consider the buck. He regarded it only with a passing glance before moving on. On some level, deer, and indeed all prey animals, knew the difference between a hunting predator and one passing by. The buck lifted its head, its raised tail a white flag to warn others of the wolf's presence, but after a moment the returned to grazing without alarm. As Taggarik made his way, the buck now behind him, he spotted the girl among the trees.

She had the subtle stature and curves of a wolf yet growing. He lifted his nose, but the wind moved crosswise and did not relay her scent to him. He regarded her quietly, his ears turned forward and tail idle behind him.