Tiptoe Through the Window

ORWYND
everyone who isn't me is an enemy

The pace in which the injured bull was able to keep asounded the wolf and only intensified his hunger. It was an awkward sight, hind leg dangling helplessly. Orwynd could smell the fear in the urine expelled down the creature’s hocks. The ground was a blur beneath the male as he bolted. The pounding of blood in his ears was deafening as he became weightless across the tundra. His blood branded his muscles in a deep burning stamp as he pushed them to their limit, closing the distance between the prey the wolves were after. Orwynd’s jowls ached with the desire to tear into the flesh of the bull and he could not contain the eager yip that burst from his chest.

The wolf could sense Paradise beside him, the awareness of her presence and the consciousness of leading their hunt nourished his instinctual frenzy. Orwynd did not know how long the chase was, but as he neared, the bull’s frantic pants came out in rolling clouds of steam and were thunderous like roaring waves. Orwynd lunged and grabbed a mouthful of earthy skin and fur on the creature’s haunch. Dirt and blood coated the wolf’s tongue; a barbaric growl ripped from this throat. The large bull struggled to maintain his pace with the wolf hanging onto its side. The wolf could not see his companion but shook his head violently, tumbling beneath the bull’s spindly legs. The beast faltered and began to tumble to the ground.

Orwynd fell with it. Predatory hysteria overcame the male and he ripped violently at the skin and muscle trapped between his teeth. The bull bellowed and thrashed. The wolf will have wished he had paid more attention to where Paradise was positioned when the beast’s life ebbed away, but now the desire to kill was all that filled the forefront of his brain. Hooves flailing, the caribou fought for his life. Eyes rolling, gasping, hair falling in clumps from his skin, blood painting the snow a delectable shade of crimson. Orwynd leaped for the bull’s throat, violently shaking his cranium from side to side, tearing through cartilage and muscle. The male’s snarls matched the maddening bugles of his prey as he finally raised his eyes to Paradise.