The afternoon sun was nearly set, a dwindling source of light in the evening sky. They had been traveling together for miles to get away from the coast, but they finally made it. They were on the doorstep of the very same mountains that had admired when they had been only a slight obstruction to their horizon. The sky seemed clear, giving the stars a chance to appear early and make it even easier for the boy to navigate through the East. He wanted to take advantage of both the amount of energy he had stored from his rest on the island and of the weather that practically begged him to go out and hunt.

It didn't take him long to adjust to having the smaller canid around, even though it seemed like he ignored her almost all the time. Her idea of "baiting" prey seemed like an interesting one and he could not wait to see the events that would unfold by trying to bring this plan to life.

He was only new to hunting that involved relying on others, as the bear of a wolf had taken kindly to fishing in streams and ambushing smaller prey in the thicker pine forests. He knew how to sustain his own weight so far, and that was a lot for a lone wolf of his size. He was a smart and effective hunter for what he had accomplished on his own, but would that carry over when it came to hunting bigger prey meant to feed many wolves? He wanted to find out if he was capable of doing just as well with the company of others, and the nameless coyote seemed to think the two of them had potential. He wasn't sure if he saw the same thing she did, but he wanted to believe that she was right.

She said they had to pick out something incredibly territorial that would be willing to chase her a good distance away from their herds or dens. The bighorn rams that inhabited the mountains he spent his childhood in came to mind immediately, so that was where he took her. He remembered how quietly she had managed to cling the crags of the island he met her on, so he hoped she could travel across Fenrir's Maw with similar ease. Truth be told, he was excited. Hunting could be challenging and challenges could be fun, he was ready to discover what the day would hold.

The behemoth had spent a whole season away from the mountains now, but his muscle memory did not seem to forget much about which paths to take when climbing the Maw. He did not travel with haste, but he did take her deep within the pines to old pack traveling routes. He would stop to clean up fallen branches that were too big to allow a wolf to run through with easy access, but other than that he remained on course.

When they reached snow, he knew he was far enough to begin their tracking, so immediately his senses searched for any sort of presence in this abandoned kingdom. Whether it was bighorn or not, he wanted to inspect any traces so he knew what they shared the Maw with today. If there were any other wolves or predators, it could also prove to be a hindrance to their hunt.. but luckily, it was the bighorn's scent and trail that he came across first, and not too far from the pines! The titan turned around to the coyote and lowered himself to the ground to inspect the impression of hooves against the dirt.

"They were here, not long ago. They're not that far, probably over the next ridge or two. Think you can handle it from here, and lure one back? I'll be waiting in the pines to the west." His blue gaze drifted back to the shadows the pines were casting in the evening light. It would be the perfect place for him to hide his mass, hopefully, his scent wasn't thick enough to catch too much attention. They needed to act quickly, as long as the wind remained keeping them down from the scent of the bighorn.

Long shadows danced along the arid ground as the coyote female trailed after her large companion. She moved at a smooth trot to keep up with the wolf's longer strides. The tough grass patches that sprouted throughout the rocky terrain had become yellowed and crunchy under paw as autumn settled upon the lands. Her messy coat was already beginning to thicken for the oncoming winter, visibly uneven in places. An ephemeral puff of vapor drifted lazily from her parted muzzle, the tip her her tongue quivering with each step. Her pinprick pupils swiveled towards the wolf.

She was surprised that he'd accepted her proposal, even more so that he hadn't made any attempt on her life. Although her experience with wolves was but one; the brute having torn off most of her tail over a stolen rat. Exxon conceded, it was a deserved result, not that she'd learned from the experience. The coyote figured that a missing tail would offer less to sink one's teeth into. She remained on edge when the dire was near, generally keeping him within eye shot. Deciding it would be best to keep a respectable distance, the scrawny coyote flitted just out of his reach at all times. Occasionally she would disappear from his view to roll in some foul scent concealing stench that caught her fancy, but she'd track him down again pretty easily.

Exxon was inexperienced at hunting large prey, having roamed unaccompanied for most of her life. he typically sough out smaller meals, like hare or fowl. Though she found it easier and less energy consuming to steal. She'd beheld the aggression of rams before, they were huge and generally unafraid of a lone coyote. Of course she'd be skeptical when the stranger claimed he could take one down. Of course Exxon planned to assist were she was able, but having her bones mashed to paste certainly didn't appeal to her. She had just began to notice the chill of snow against her bare pads as the hefty male spoke.

"Pines...Right! Gotcha! If they're as nasty as you say, it should be easy peezy!" The coyote replied, nodding with vigorous enthusiasm, as she turned a swift glance to the evergreens outlined by the setting sun. Throwing her muzzle high, she let the musky ram scent flow into her nostrils with the breeze. "Be ready for 'em, big guy!" Exxon called over her shoulder as she bolted towards the ridge.

She traveled quickly, yet carefully, as she avoided loose stones. Unfamiliar with the area, her spindly legs carried her along lightly. She smelled nothing but ram, but she was prepared for a larger predator to leap on her back. Luckily nothing seemed to be after her hide, not at the moment at least. Before even catching sight of the sheep, the ashen canine heard them. A repeated thud echoed throughout the range as she neared the top of the ridge, finally catching a glimpse of her quarry. It was a small bachelor herd of three rams, with the two youngest sparring as the older male foraged nearby. Their horns had not yet formed the magnificent spirals of their older companion. Exxon kept low on the modest peak, blending with slate chunks as she observed the herd, figuring out her plan of attack.

Kicking a few loose stones down to alert them of her presence, she began her approach. It was important not to spook them with a surprise attack, they'd most likely go scattering off in the opposite direction. No, she was simply a lone coyote passerby of no possible threat to three healthy rams. The bigger male gave a warning bleet when he spotted her, causing his underlings to pause their game to look towards her. With their attention focused on her, Exxon sauntered closer in a seemingly careless manor, snuffing at the ground as though she were scavenging for an easy meal. The alpha ram stood taller, visibly becoming irritated at this lonesome coyote's impudence. He stomped. A single cloven forehoof striking the ground with enough power to vibrate the ground beneath her paws. Everyone of her teeth bared in a nervous grin as she began questioning her life choices.

Of course, the bighorn took her expression as a threat and with no pack in sight, he needed to teach an inexperienced predator some respect. It charged, head low, ready to send her flying. The attack was nimbly charged, which only seemed to piss him off more as he came at her again and again. The small canine let her instincts take hold, her legs carrying her rapidly up the ridge from whence she came. Fortunately, the ram was hot on her tail, without looking back she could feel its hot breath on her haunches. She reached the top up the ridge, huffing from the climb. Pines. Pines. Pines. Her wide eyed gaze swiveled along the lowlands, the sunlight was nearly consumed by the horizon and everything looked unfamiliar in her panic. "There!" She barked, spotting the randevu point.

A sudden shove from behind pulled a yelp from her throat and she was sent tumbling down the steep ridge side. Bighorns seemed much more adept at climbing than she had expected, able to scale the rocky hillside with a surprising amount of speed. But she had no time to marvel, on her paws in an instant, her bruised body and pride were ignored. The female booked it towards the treeline, finding an easier time of avoiding the sheep's hooves as the ground leveled out. Its younger companions had quickly grown bored of the chase, becoming distracted by choice browsing. How favorable. Though she could easily out pace him, she remained a tail's length away to keep his confidence high. Nearing the evergreen forest, with jaws spread as wide as her tendons would allow, the coyote let loose a screeching howl to summon her muscle.

Dominus' studious blue eyes remained locked on the image of the coyote disappearing over the closest ridge of the Maw. He remained silent, but he had doubts that she would ever return. He had his suspicions this whole time that she might have only proposed this hunting team idea as means to buy his trust for as long as it took until an opportunity arose where she could slip away... and this seemed like just the perfect opportunity to do so. His forelimbs could be seen shaking as he wanted to move them, to follow in the echo of her trail and see if she actually began tracking or whether she tried to run away from him and hide her trail. He wanted to move, to follow, but he knew she would catch him from a mile away even if he tried.. so instead, the behemoth turned his square body around and began his descent back into the thicker pines. Plus, he was hungry. His hopes that their plan would actually work outweighed his distrust in her, and he decided... for now, the best thing was to give her the benefit of the doubt.

The evening sky barely offered any light after only a short time. What light it did offer seemed heavily shrouded in the pines, but such was the perfect atmosphere for dark-colored giants to disappear in when they did not want to be seen. Dominus quickly found himself growing less anxious, comforted now that he did not feel so exposed but the forest smelled wet and confused his nose with watered-down scents. He grew up on this mountain, so most only took a bit more time to decipher before he recognized them as scents native to it. Trying to piece unknown scents of the trees and plants back to the ones he remembered when he was a pup here was like trying to pull just the hide away from a dead rabbit and leaving only the meat- it didn't always happen that way. Sometimes, what he pulled out of his memory had attachments and these memories came with small snippets of his childhood. He began to recall memories with his siblings and the other pack members and his mind just took him away to a different place. He missed it. Even with the seasons that had passed so far, he was still scared of the evils in wolves, that evil he had seen in his own father. His father had been an alpha, did that evil trickle down to the other wolves? Were they really created by demons? There were so many questions that he had that made him afraid of other wolves, but was it worth it to live in a state of fear when he felt so alone? His thoughts drifted back to the coyote as he recalled the skittish way she moved and he wondered how she managed to get by living as wild as she did.

He tried to let the thoughts on his mind rest as he found a fallen, rotting pine. The pine's branches had long been dead though were still attached, and the scent was thick enough that the teen felt he could get away with resting beside it. The titan wasn't picky about his placement in the soil, he simply plopped behind what branches seemed the thickest and were closest to the other trees. Sitting around and waiting did nothing to help him keep his unstable mind quiet, and after not long at all, it went right back to playing tricks on him.

'You are never alone, Dominus.' whispered indiscernible voices played by the titan's own mind. There were so many that it frightened him. At first, his muscles froze as his body considered reactively springing up to defend himself against the apparent army of voices that he had just heard- but it seemed he was familiar with these voices. As eerie as they were to hear, he did not react. He had already done enough reacting, he knew his best course of action was to ignore. They weren't real... at least, he never saw anyone attached to the voices... so they couldn't hurt him... right?

The black snake that had been silent throughout his travels, loyally wrapped around the teen's neck finally reminded him firmly of its presence with a gentle squeeze. Dominus ignored the snake at first, though it seemed to grow more and more persistant.. constricting until finally Dominus let out a growl and snapped his giant head up from his paws. His thick fangs were bared as he rolled to sit as upright as possible and outstretch his neck, threatening to throw the snake off as the snarl was clearly meant for it.

The snake began to uncoil, leaving the teen's neck as he protested against the snake's actions. It was not through with its plan, however. The black, oil-slick looking Kingsnake pooled down the behemoth's neck and coiled right at the base of the wolf's chest in the damp soil, between its forelimbs. It made itself a comfortable bed beneath the wolf's heavy neck and chest and Dominus questioned what it was doing. Had it sensed what he was focused on, what he was afraid of... or only that he was afraid? As the storm of rage that had been within him calmed to a slight drizzle, he began to admire how calmly the snake seemed to be looking up at him. When he was a child, he had wanted a companion of his own just like this after witnessing his brother with a cobra; he had one of his own now, didn't he? This snake appeared to be staying, and it even appeared to be... in tune with him, somewhat. His heavy, inky lips smiled when the sound of the screeching coyote pulled him from this bonding moment with his companion and he glared out up the mountain and over the fallen pine. He could not see anything from where they were, and she still seemed distant.. but he wanted to wait to leave until the snake climbed back around his neck again.

The wolf titan stood finally, waiting for the snake to coil up his forelimbs as it usually did when he heard the sound of something else rustling through the branches of the pines further to the west behind him. It was certainly something heavy as he heard the crunching of the autumn forest bed beneath a massive weight. There weren't many things bigger than Dominus, and hearing these sounds made his heart race. This he knew was real, this he knew he had a right to begin panicking over this unlike over the voices... but surprisingly, the boy remained absolutely calm as he thought this over the route he was going to take to get out of the forest undetected. It seemed to be moving in the same direction as he was, toward the screech of the coyote, and that posed to be the biggest problem of getting out.

Dominus held his breath as he attempted to move to the south, which unfortunately led to the end of the forest.. but he would have to come to her call from a different angle and retrace her trail. Hopefully, he could do it at a much quicker speed than whatever it was lumbering through the forest actually managed to make it out of the pines. The animal seemed to be moving rather slow, and that gave him hope- Dominus broke out in a full sprint and began breathing again, focusing hard on his lungs and his limbs as he pushed his body to devour the space between he and the coyote as quickly as possible. He had to be careful, descending the mountain first with incredible speed only until it led him out of the pines, and then he would begin climbing up to the barren parts of the mountainside where the rams lived. Climbing slowed him down, climbing hurt his paws and made his legs burn, climbing absolutely sucked to try and do at a quick rate- but he pushed himself on in the direction that he knew her trail had to be based on where he could remember hearing that screech. He had to focus on keeping his breathing calm, struggling to take in scents on his way upward.. but he did so, and he did it enough that he, fortunately, did manage to catch her scent and the scent of the ram.

A deep breath left him as he refocused his new task now on actually following that scent and catching up to her before whatever was in the forest did. He stopped for a moment to study it and the exact direction she went, his head hanging low and the snake dangling from his outstretched neck. The snake managed to uncoil through the wolf's thick fur and slip to the ground during this moment, then began traveling behind him the wolf but Dominus didn't have time to stop. The snake had already made him hesitate it enough, so he shot it one quick glare before he continued, wondering why it had to abandon him now after what had just happened in the forest. It was probably running in fear from the possibility of getting caught by what was in the pines, and that sort of cowardice made Dominus' lip quiver. Had he really considered that thing his companion? He took off running until the snake was no longer in his sight.

Meanwhile, the snake took larger sweeps than normal across the mountainside.. the ribbons in the soil that its weight left nearly completely hiding the footprints that had once been there. The evident trail of the wolf, the ram, and the coyote were slowly becoming mixed with dead leaves and other autumn forest rubble as the snake continued along their path. It knew something that Dominus did not, that the bear had seen Dominus leave the forest and was instead following the teen's trail, and not aiming for the coyote at all. The snake intended to slow the process as much as possible by hiding which way they went if it could.

Dominus ran along the mountainside through the sparse outer pines of the forest, now able to gauge what direction the coyote and the ram had gone and speed himself and still follow it somewhat accurately. It took him time, but eventually, he did catch up to them. He could see the tailless coyote only somewhat before it disappeared over another ridge of the mountain, but he could see the ass of the ram and the outline of its horns quite well still on his side of the ridge. Dominus did not have time to fully figure out what was going on and whether or not Exxon was ready to turn around and help him attack the ram, but he initiated a fight anyway in a rush. He came up behind the ram quickly, barrelling across the ground with his jowls agape and ready to snap together on the ram's back right leg, just above the knee where it sloped into the ram's thigh. The downhill slope was to Dominus' left and he would force the ram's right leg to cross over it's left as the wolf swung its weight in alliance with gravity. He aimed to completely bring down the ram, to make it lose its footing and tumble down into Dominus' waiting jaws. As he felt the ram struggle while being pulled with the wolf's jaws, he knew it would do exactly that and let go just in time to avoid the ram's first good kick. Dominus slid with his momentum with less control than he would have liked to have, but he did manage to keep himself upright haphazardly and waited as the ram slid down, its back legs still not upright beneath it with one of them injured. Dominus wanted to attack higher this time, at the ram's thighs and focused on the injured right leg as it came closer to him. Jaws latched onto the leg and this time he thrashed, but the ram had his footing and his awareness now, immediately doing its best to assault the wolf with its good back leg and keep itself upright with its forehooves.

Dominus felt the ram kick at his chest as his teeth remained securely set in the ram's thigh, the wolf's breath leaving him for a couple of those hits but he sought his canines deeper and deeper into the ram's hind until he could feel the pressure of blood on his teeth that he was searching for. He'd ruptured the artery that seemed to work for knocking his prey down and knew it would be over for the ram soon. Not soon enough to avoid some good bruising, though. Damn it.

For quite a few strides there was no sign of Dominus, and for a moment she assumed the dire had gotten distracted by a hare. The coyote's tongue lolled from the side of her mouth as she pounded through the woodland, hardly able to hear anything over her own panting. She could tell the ram was after her still, his heavy hoof falls gave tremors to the ground, though the first rule to fleeing was to never look back. But noticing a change, she broke this rule. The sheep was beginning to wane, falling farther behind. Where was he? Her own lungs were just beginning to burn, though she was sure she could keep this pace for another hour at least. Luckily, there was no need, as the great wolf's entrance was impeccable. Seeming to appear from nowhere he had subdued the ram with relative ease. Pivoting on a dime, the stub-tailed coyote swung around immediately to assist the wolf, snapping at its snout in a attempt to keep it from battering the darker male with rock hard hooves. But he didn't seem to need her help, impressing her with his ability to take each kick in stride.

The ram's struggles were weakening drastically, blood soaking the ground beneath his hindquarters as it struggled in futility to stand. The pair sat back to wait for the pitiable creature's end, no use in risking injury to finish off already dying prey. It was a somewhat nostalgic feeling, one she hadn't felt since hunting a doe with her siblings, though they hadn't waited for it do die before digging in. After leaving her birthlands it had been impossible to hunt large prey on her own, the rogue female mostly stole to keep herself fed. Excitement bubbled up within her and Exxon wasn't the sort to hide her emotions. Her stubby black tail wiggled as she stared at weakening ram. She yearned for a bite, but as the one who brought it down, the choice of muscle and organs certainly belonged to Dominus'. She noticed in passing that his serpentine little buddy was no long wrapped around his neck.

A chill suddenly ran down her spine, the messy fur along her shoulders beginning to rise as her wide eyed gaze swiveled about the piney forest. Something was up, it had become eerily quiet other than the dying breaths of the bighorn. With the sun now on the other side of the mountain for the night, katydids and night fowl calls should be ringing out all around them, yet she could only hear them from behind. A trembling grin appeared along her muzzle and she took a few cautious steps forward. A low growl rumbled from her throat before the beast made its way over to the kill with ambling steps. It was a bear, the biggest bear Exxon had ever seen in fact. A solid wall of fur and muscle with a huge hump between his shoulder blades, the boar was clearly of many season cycles. Drawn in by the scent of blood, any canine would recognize this as a beast not to be trifled with.

Any canine, except Exxon apparently. Without paying mind to the reaction of Dominus, the coyote charged forward, snapping her teeth with audible clicks just before the the bear's muzzle. It backed away quickly as expected, more due to surprise rather than fear, in case the strange coyote was mad with disease. The black bears back home would run farther...but she had to make due, the was no time to waste. With the grizzly a good distance away, she sank her teeth into the ram's haunch, lashing her head to tear off a chunk of meat. There was no way she'd actually attempt to rumble with a bear, instead she planned to steal a quick bite to eat and make her escape with or without the wolf.

Mistakes were made. The first of which was assuming Black bears and Grizzly bears shared the same temperament. The ram let out a pained scream, snapping the bear from its stupor and causing it to move at her with speed she hadn't predicted. In her greed, she didn't let go in time. Mind numbing pain spread through her left haunch as the boar tore through flesh and muscle to drag her towards him. Her own cry forced her to release her hold on the prey's tissues, her claws digging into the ground to prevent it from picking her up. Her efforts were quickly proven fruitless, as she was plucked from the ground by her ass, with the ease of a mother carrying a newborn pup. Blood had already began pouring from her limb, dripping from her knee to form dark splatters on the ground.

It placed a heavy paw on one side of her face to stop her struggles, digging in its own claws as her squirming only intensified. Exxon tore her face from its grasp, the boar's claws scoring deep gashes from her forehead, through her eye and all the way down to her chin. Twisting her neck, she bit down onto one of its paw digits, taking the chance to escape when it was forced to release her leg. The coyote moved with surprising speed despite her injuries, leaving a blood trail in her wake, adrenaline forcing her onward. A red spray was left behind where she'd collided. . She smashed blindly into the first first pine that came into her path, her depth perception thoroughly ruined. Exxon writhed on the ground for but a moment, rubbing dirt into her facial wound to stop the bleed. In a state of panic, she couldn't tell whether it had worked. The bear hadn't given chase, uninterested in the bitter meat of a predator, he was alright with letting the scrawny coyote off with a warning.

Exxon crouched for a moment, her nub of a tail against her belly in fear with her rump pressed against the tree bark. She felt cornered, as though the were a wall behind her instead of a single, easily passible pine. One unfocused golden eye stared wildly straight ahead, the other was buried within dripping, shredded flesh, her teeth bared in her typical fear responsive smile. Visibly frenzied, she charged into the bear's haunches, tearing into the back of its leg with her own fangs.

The thick fur surrounding the beast's neck would flounce with the jerky movements of his head as he tried his best to dig the girth of his fangs deeper into the ram's leg, doing his best to create absolute crators where his teeth were and get the ram to bleed out quicker. He had hoped for killing the ram and running off with it before the bear arrived, but he could tell by the sound of a giant shuffling that wasn't himself- they were not alone anymore.

He growled out in warning as the bear approached the corpse of the ram, his teeth still as deep as he kept the ram's ass lifted off the ground rather than allowing it to rest. It required more power from the wolf, but in his youth, he did not seem to take into account his stamina... it wasn't exactly a problem he encountered often anymore. He kept the ram lifted, hoping it would do well to bleed it sooner, and spun himself around to fully face the bear.

The ram finally stopped its struggling just in time for Dominus to release it from his own grasp and fully witness the sight of his hunting buddy getting brutally mauled by the grizzly. Heavy limbs went into motion while his blue eyes stared wide and absolutely attentive to every move the bear made from that point on. He was afraid for the coyote, only as he witnessed the bear's giant paw come down on the poor girl's face did he realize he was actually moving- toward the bear, not away from it! Anger channeled through him and caused his face to contort, wrinkles forming as all of his muscles pulled together around those piercing blue eyes. A snarl split his maw and revealed his teeth completely, right down to the blue of his gums. While a thick growl ripped through his throat, the bear lifted it's right paw from the coyote- just in time to meet the behemoth wolf's already open jaws.

It would pay.

Exactly over the bite wound that Exxon made happened to be where the titan's own bite fell. His canines boxed in the wound she created, though he did not have time to stop and admire such a coincidence. He drove those fangs in as deep as he could as every ounce of his power that he was capable of putting into his jaw muscles clenched and pulled them in. He thrashed once his bite was secure, the sound of his growl loud enough to make one believe in demons as dark blood spilled across the ground just as it had done just seconds prior.

Exxon had already run away, but even if the bear had wanted to chase her, he would be unable to as the dire wolf feverously pulled at the bear's appendage. His weight was aiming to force the bear to awkwardly have to charge him on three legs if he wanted to attack- though Dominus' only continued to pull back and keep himself at a distance. The bear growled out in frustration as it would attempt to tumble toward him for only a moment before lifting himself onto his back legs and smacking the wolf with his free left paw. Dominus felt the sting of the bear's claws only briefly, luckily the thick padding of his coat stopped most of what managed to reach him before he let go.

The bear did not seem interested in fighting back, it's paw wounded and bleeding heavily now that the wolf was done. The grizzly began to take slow steps backward into the pines when the coyote came in at the speed of a bullet. She had collided herself with the bear so suddenly that Dominus' questioned where the fuck she even came from that fast. Her teeth connected with the already retreating bear, though it did not seem to retaliate. The biting and nipping only seemed to make it move faster until at a brisk jog it was escaping the coyote and disappearing back into the pines.

Dominus ran after the pair, attempting to grab onto the frenzied coyote's scruff and put an end to her chase. He wasn't sure what had gotten into her but he wasn't going to allow her to go off and attempt to kill a bear all on her own. Once he was certain she was done attacking the bear, he let go of her gently- doing his best to keep in mind the wounds on her face and ass.

Blue tongue pushed loose fur past his teeth, having collected some of the coyote's missing pelt when he grabbed her. He only just then realized how hard he had been breathing, how much adrenaline and testosterone was coursing through him. He took a moment to recollect himself before looking Exxon over again. Fuck.

"Not going to lie to you, this doesn't look good." He didn't have the first clue on how to heal her, having been fortunate enough not to experience any serious injuries in his life. His chest finally stopped heaving as he looked to the body of the ram. He knew he needed to find her a doctor.. but... hunger. Instincts took over and he moved his way over to the fresh corpse, teeth immediately working to pluck out tender muscles from the ram's thighs. He had no time to eat tactfully, everything was devoured that fit in his mouth. Blue eyes flashed over to the coyote to see if she had any interest in eating now that she was half-dead, but the disgusting look of how her skin was hanging off of her face made him end his feeding finally.

"Stay here and rest in the pines, don't exert yourself. I'll find some help." His mother had been a healer, along with two of his sisters.. but he didn't have the slightest clue about any of that. He needed to find Actaea...