Shrieks filled the air. Born of pain and terror, the cries were spread across the knolls on a brisk winter wind. Pausing atop a hill to catch his breath, Valentine stood with one massive paw pressed firmly into the neck of a pinned coyote. Stretched out behind him and disappearing into the distance, was a trail of violence. Crimson flecked the terra, its bright and cheery color contrasting sharply against the stark white snow. The brute himself was painted in shades of red. He panted heavily, his body relaxed, the coyote beneath him seemingly forgotten until it began to whimper. Glancing down at it, Valen absentmindedly reach down and closed his jaws around the base of its skull, permanently silencing it. The coyotes had been circling since he drug the ram's carcass home. They stole in like shadows when he wasn't looking, tearing pieces from the corpse and then making off with the stole meal. Once he'd had enough of their thievery, the brute decided Imperium could benefit from a purging and he began the task shortly after making up his mind. Bodies in various mutilated states lay spread across the plains. He'd been careless with their deaths, inflicting it without thought to suffering or fear. Soot tipped ears flicked to gather the sounds around him. What remained of the little band of scavengers was in hiding, cowering behind or beneath whatever cover they thought would protect them. The knolls were deathly silent. Lifting his chin, Valentine let out a low summons for Cascade. It was time to see what she was made of. "Speaking" "Thinking"

The call had her pricking her ears up in a great deal of interest. The big guy was calling for her, specifically? Intriguing! His low voice rose in the distance like a siren call, and the Saxe girl answered it at a lope. Her ears remained turned to tune in the sound, a faint smile on her face as she listened. My my this felt a bit clandestine meeting the alpha all by her lonesome. The scent of blood as she drew close caught her attention fast, and her brow rose when she nearly stumbled over a mangled coyote corpse, though she managed to dance aside nimbly enough to avoid it. What was this? What were all of those? Her eyes skipped from body to body in a path that led... to the massive form of Valentine. The blood staining him told a very poignant story, and Cascade felt her breath catch. Such... violence. Such... savagery. She could just about swoon in delight. Grinning like a fool she pranced up to the blue boy. Instinctively her body adjusted itself into a more submissive position, natural to her having grown up in a violent family where she herself was the smallest and weakest, though she'd never shown submissiveness to Valen yet and the glee that emanated from her didn't suit the position. Drawing close, her tail wagging, practically vibrating with interest, she brushed her violet-tinted ebony tail along the front of his thigh. "What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time, Valentine?" she spoke teasingly, her voice a husky purr most unlike her usual perkiness \. ""

Quiet footfalls drew his attention away from the horizon. Valentine's gaze fell on the Bellatrix's form just as her tail brushed his leg, sending awareness rushing through him. Her words drew a chuckle from him. "It's not what I've gotten myself into." He nudged the dead coyote at his paws. If they had taken the hint the first time he'd chased them off the knolls wouldn't be littered with their bodies. "Imperium suffers from an infestation of these and I've taken it upon myself to get rid of them." He licked at the blood on his lips, eyes darting away to rove over the terra in the hopes of spying the slinking form of his next victim. His gaze flicked back to Cascade. Amusement twisted up his mouth in a gory smirk. He'd called her because she'd yet to prove herself to him. There'd been no test of skills for her, no show of strength. It was time she proved herself worthy of her rank. "Perhaps you'd like to join me? I don't believe I've seen you in action yet." "Speaking" "Thinking"

Valentine passed that electric gaze over her and Cascade gave a delighted shiver. He was talking eradication of their lesser "cousins" - they may have been smaller, less intelligent but they were still canines, and while killing one might not have been murder exterminating them like this was... cold. Dark. Even a little... dare she say it... evil. It was beautiful. She beamed at the tall young alpha happily. Now, he was beginning down the road to fulfilling his potential! She'd chosen well when she'd decided to follow him. Join him in his killing spree? Not something she'd have chosen to do on a whim, but with Valen standing before her bloodied and gorgeous she didn't even try to resist. "Oh Valen, you do know how to show a girl a good time," she sighed adoringly. "Shall I find more of the beasts for us?" ""

Her response drew a crooked grin from him, the sly wording endearing Cascade to the slate brute. He rumbled a chuckle, gaze once again flitting away to scan their surroundings. ”I have a better idea.” His gaze came back, eyes scanning her features as he hunted for a reaction. Confident in his abilities, with the destruction marring the scape around them as proof, Valentine then threw down a challenge, ”How about we make it a game? Whoever gets the least amount of kills has to do the pack hunting for a week.” He had to organize hunts and make kills routinely while doing various other time consuming things for the pack, so why not use the opportunity to pawn this one task off on someone else? Movement to his left drew the brute's attention away from the Bellatrix. In the distance the furtive form of a coyote blocked the setting sun, sending a long, slinking shadow wavering across the terra. The corners of his mouth drew up in a lopsided smirk, a soft, explosive snort leaving him as he took in the brazen escape attempt. Dead dog walking. He turned a frosty gaze to Cascade, his browspots lifting in a silent question. Was she up for the challenge? "Speaking" "Thinking"

Heat curled through her abdomen at his challenge. A contest between him and her, to see who would end the most lives, bath in the most blood and come out on top. The stakes weren't impossible, but the added thrill of the competition raised her hair in excitement. She pretended to consider, her mouth drawn up in a false pout, as her mismatched eyes darted across the landscape. Valen's own gaze was fixed on something distant, and her eyes captured the sight of one of the very beasts they were to be hunting. "Welllllllllllllll," she hedged in seeming indecision. All in an instant she was leaping forward past the blue boy, her tail flicking at his face as she let out a peal of laughter and she pelted for the coyote. "You're on!" ""

She stood beside him, seemingly indecisive, her expression twisted and her gaze settled somewhere in the distance. The facade didn't last long. As soon as her mind was made, the Bellatrix darted towards the coyote he'd spotted. For a second he was a bit miffed-he'd seen that one first-and then her tail smacked him across the face and forced him into action. He'd give her that one. Pushing off, Valentine made a beeline for a nearby thicket. It seemed like a decent hiding place, a little short for his frame but a potential haven for a coyote. He only hoped they were dumb enough to hide there. Bingo Seeing him coming, a timid coyote fled the safety of the thicket. The massive brute was quick to change course, his pace quickening as he dove towards the fleeing thief. The short legs of the coyote, though propelled by terror, were no match for the titan's superior stride. In a matter of heartbeats he was on its heels, the long hairs of its tail tickling his nose. Valentine's mouth watered and his pupils dilated in anticipation. When the timing was right his jaws parted, head snaking down as he moved to grip the coyote's spine just above its hips. The scent of young filled his nostrils as blood burst across  the inside of his mouth. The coyote screamed, her shrill voice ringing in his ears as he lifted her off the ground. No mercy shattered his heart or slowed his movements, instead, he was empty and blind to her suffering. The coyote writhed in his grip, curling in on herself to sink sharp little teeth into the bridge of his nose. Enraged, Valentine snarled, his stance widening and his head lowering as he readied himself to shake the life from his captive. When the shaking was unsuccessful (evident by the continued shrieking of the coyote) he dropped it and then pounced on it, crushing it to the ground before repeatedly sinking his teeth into it. Silence reined. Pink saliva dripping from his jowls, the brute straightened. The scent of the newly deceased thief weighed heavily on his senses. It was a mother, eh? Coyote cubs would be easy pickings. If he could find the den he could win the challenge with no trouble. Victorious, the brute boomed, "ONE." "Speaking" "Thinking"

When Valen didn't follow her the purple-tinted girl snuck a glance back. Valen had sprung off in a different direction and seemed intent on something else, and the sudden shrill scream as he went out of sight galvanized her. Oh noooo he was going to win! Putting on a burst of speed the leggy Saxe overtook the terrified smaller canine and pounced on it, bouncing like a spring and landing all four paws on the smaller creature's back. Over twice the size of the beast and far heavier, her pounce knocked the coyote to the ground with a shriek and crack of bone. "One" came Valen's triumphant voice as his coyote went silent. "Noooooo" she mock howled back at him before casually leaning over her little toy to chew on the back of his head until her fangs crunched through the struggling wolf-wanna-be's skull into his brain stem and the beast stiffened and convulsed. Yay! The stench of the nasty little creature as it lost control of his bodily functions in death didn't even bother her as she bounced away. "One!" she sang out, already searching for another. She certainly wasn't going to be the one hunting for everyone! ""

Grabbing the coyote around the middle, Valentine hauled its corpse off the ground and carried it to a nearby knoll. Once there he dropped it unceremoniously to the ground, its mangled body contorting into an unnatural position. His prize proudly on display, the brute fled the knoll in search of the coyote den. He moved with his nose to the ground, his head swinging from side to side as he searched for the scent. Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention away from the tracking. Giant, trembling ears stood out from the still leaves surrounding them, drawing the brute's gaze like a beacon. Valentine stilled, whole body tensing as he eyed the distance between himself and the coyote. He could make it. Taking off at a sprint, the brute dove for the hidden prize. He reached it in seconds, the timid creature freezing in fear, and then was on it. With a roar Valentine latched onto its face, a upper canines sinking into its forehead while lower ones moved to scissor into its cheekbone. The coyote didn't even have time to scream. It was dead in a matter of seconds, convulsions rocking its body as life drained from it. Looking it over with grim satisfaction, the brute yelled, "Two!"  "Speaking" "Thinking"

Valentine already called out his second kill while she was searching for her next target. Turning to gape at him, that's when she saw the furtive shadow... on the other side of the alpha from her. Giving an inarticulate battlecry she threw herself at it in the most direct route - over the much taller Valentine. Of course he was much too tall for even the leggy Saxe girl to simply hop over, so she ended up crashing her chest into his shoulders instead, paws scrabbling as they failed to meet the ground on the other side. She giggled wildly at the ridiculousness but the impending loss and subsequent need to hunt for all those freeloaders was enough to bring her back to the ground, figuratively as well as literally as she squirmed and flailed her way over to land in a heap to take off after the little beast who'd realized the jig was up and took off. "Mine, mine! I call it!" she yelled in Valentine's general direction as she sprinted off after the coyote. ""

Between his paws the coyote corpse continued to thrash. Morbid amusement kept his gaze fixed on it, so when Cascade crashed into him it caught him by surprise. The force of her collision combined with his surprise almost toppled him over. Luckily he caught himself, stumbling to the side as she scratched and clawed her way over him. In seconds she was on the ground and readying herself to push away from him. The carcass forgotten, the brute turned quickly to snap teasing jaws at Cascade's fleeing form. He meant no real harm, but her climbing over him like he was a hill deserved some kind of retaliation. It was all in good fun. The maiming and killing of Imperium's vermin had put him in a surprisingly playful mood. "Speaking" "Thinking"

As she hurtled herself at the fleeing vermin, something snapped onto the very end of her tail and tugged sharply on the fur. Valen! Cascade spun on him with a playfully fierce snarl, coyote forgotten. He'd bitten her tail! He couldn't get away with that! A thrill shot to the depths of her stomach, a shivery heat that she'd never felt like this, as she pounced forward and reared up in an attempt to wrap her forelegs around his neck and grapple him. Her jaws snapped toward his right ear, at first in an attempt to deliver the sharp pinch of justice! to the tip of the ear, then softening into nibbles edging down to the base. She felt hot all over, muscles giving little micro tremors and she didn't know what was wrong but wrapping herself around Valen had made it worse and better and oh what was this even. "Bet you can't catch me," she murmured huskily in his dark ear, sliding her muzzle along his to lick at the blood adorning his lips before leaping away with a peal of laughter. She didn't know what this feeling was, the heat burning through her veins was driving her to... something and she didn't know what, but the restlessness was building. ""

OOC: permission to powerplay given by Tea.

His nip drew the desired reaction from the Bellatrix. She spun at him with a snarl and in response the brute dove into a quick play bow, his eyes glittering and daring her to do her worse. Suddenly she was flying at him and he straightened quickly, reaching his full height just as she wrapped her paws around his neck. She snagged his right ear, pinching it painfully and pulling from him a booming growl that quickly devolved into a confused (albeit pleased) hum as her teeth began to work gentler touches. The nibbles stopped and Valentine found himself missing them terribly, their absence leaving him with an almost painful void. Her breath tickled his ear as she whispered a challenge and he went ridged, heat rushing to his ear as if she were breathing fire on him. In an instance she was gone and he was cold, her presence missing from his person as if she had belonged there. Instantly he gave chase, lengthy stride eating up the ground between them. The brute closed it quickly and with a bold leap, managed to wrap his forelimbs around her ribs and halt her escape. Leaning towards her right ear, he murmured, "Gotcha." The coyotes were forgotten. There could have been a clan circling the two of them and Valentine would have been oblivious. Teasing, he whispered, "Now, what should I do with you?" "Speaking" "Thinking"

She hadn't made it far before the taller Valen caught up to her, his weight suddenly pressing upon her and wrapping around her, stopping her in her tracks. A mock snarl issued from her throat as she whipped her head back as though to snap at him, but her indignation quickly turned to molten heat as he whispered in her ear. A shiver ran down her spine. "We both want the same thing, Valentine," she purred. Her eyes flashed back at him, playful but at the same time deadly, deadly serious as she nibbled at his lower jaw. "Fuck me, Valen," she murmured huskily. She sighed in breathy adoration as the dark male moved over her to join them. Fade to black... ""

Selfish need always colored his decisions. Coupled with bloodlust and a willing partner, his ability to reason nearly vanished. Some part of him was aware that it was unwise to sleep with a packmate...but he didn't care. That tiny shred of common sense was stifled beneath a mountain of want. There was no room for clear thinking. Tension ran the length of him, locking him in place. Valentine became aware of the steady rise and fall of Cascade's chest pushing against his forelegs as he held her. He swore he could feel her heartbeat beneath him, feel the source of the heat that radiated up into his chest. "We both want the same thing..." The magic words pushed him into action. Wordlessly he complied to her demand, feeling a rush of adrenaline as his resolve settled. -fade to black- "Speaking" "Thinking"