Devil in Me

The large wolf who wove his way among the stones could have passed for a blood-splashed boulder himself if he'd curled up in the snow, but the male had no intention of trying to hide among the stones, no. He held himself with a flamboyant arrogance, flaunting his handsome body to the world at large with head and tail both held high as he trotted through the snow. The snow was deep enough that he was having trouble keeping that long, sweeping wolf gait that came naturally, but frankly the prancing trot he was forced into as he lifted each paw free of the snow suited him just fine, like a fancy parade horse showing off.

His body gleamed with good health despite being a loner in the depths of winter, a fact that he was quite proud of. He'd been doing quite well for himself, without his brothers' help as they'd wandered off one by one. Whatever. He was the biggest of them all, and cleverer, so taking down prey large enough to sustain him through the winter wasn't a problem. Especially since in most places the snow crust was thick enough now to support his weight, but not large prey, so it was easier to run them down. Easy pickings. Here though, the drifting snow had stayed soft so he couldn't run on top of it, though he wasn't here to hunt anyway.

Coming to a stop, the dark male gathered himself and leaped, easily making the top of the wind-scoured boulder without scrabbling, and stretched out onto the dark surface to enjoy the weak winter sun.