Twist of fate

*Casso*

Casso gave Yurei an encouraging smile as she agreed to help with his plan. It was a pretty straight forward plan and there wasn't much chance of one of the elk running toward her instead of away. Even if she was just one wolf, she was still a wolf and he couldn't imagine the elk wanting to confront her so he felt that she'd be safe in that part of the hunt. He gave her another quick kiss on the cheek and then left her to it so he could begin moving around the herd to get into position for his portion of their hunt. He wanted to try and prep a couple fallen branches or rocks in the path he expected the cow would go to cause a bit of an obstacle. If he could at least get it to stumble that would make his job of bringing it down much easier.

Just as he finished his prep he heard the pounding of hooves begin and he ducked out of the way behind one of the trees, watching from a distance as Yurei got the elk running and got the cow separated from the rest of the herd. A little proud smile pulled across his lips as he watched her. She wasn't a hunter, but she was always so willing to help and she had begun to develop her own skill and confidence in it as well. He waited for the cow to get close enough for him to strike, but his two toned eyes shifted when he caught a movement near Yurei and the smile dropped from his face when he saw the cougar making a beeline right for his mate. They clearly weren't the only ones hunting this cow and the cougar very clearly didn't take kindly to Yurei's presence near it's potential prey.

"Yurei!" he yelled as he jumped up from his hiding place, but it was too late. He started running toward her and the cougar landed on her with sharp claws and teeth on her neck, panic filling him as he watched his mate's blood spill across the snow before he could reach her. The elk she had been chasing was completely forgotten which ended up being his downfall. He darted out in front of the elk's path in his mad dash to get to Yurei and that landed himself under the elk's heavy hooves. It knocked him to the ground and all at once the world was spinning around him as he was kicked and rolled across the ground. One of its hooves connected with his side, sending pain lancing through him as it broke his ribs, making him gasp and snarl in pain.

The elk ran off, leaving him in the snow, and the adrenaline helped him stagger back to his paws as he rushed to help Yurei, every breath painful from the damage the elk caused. He pushed through the pain and latched his teeth onto the cougar's neck, biting down hard through the back of its neck as he yanked the big cat off of Yurei and gave a hard shake to tear his teeth through the muscle and bone of its neck. The cat yowled in pain and as he wrestled with it and forced it to the ground he managed to snap the vertebrae between his jaws, quickly killing the cat so he could toss it to the side. In the struggle and fight with the cat he worsened the wounds he got from the elk, each breath causing a sharp stab in his side and the wheeze they caused telling him one of those broken ribs probably punctured a lung.

He turned to face Yurei and his heart dropped to his stomach with dread. With painful, struggling steps he walked over to her and tried to ignore how dire her wounds looked and sank down to the ground beside her as the metallic tang of his own blood started to fill his mouth. Trembling paws pulled her into his chest and he gently licked the top of her head. There wasn't a way for either of them to call for help. He could barely draw in a breath, much less howl, and by the time he sent one of their companions all the way back to the pack to get someone he knew one or both of them would already be gone. He thought about their children and that pulled tears to his eyes. "I'm sorry," he managed in a soft, raspy voice as he kissed the top of his mate's head again. Sorry to her for getting her in this situation, sorry to their children for not being able to keep his promise of protecting them, sorry to his brother for not being able to stand with him like he said he would. "I love you," were the last words he was able to get out before his lungs fully betrayed him, the world going foggy and blurry in front of his eyes as he began to suffocate, seeing the snow beginning to fall and feeling the cold creeping into his bones right before there was suddenly dark, peace, and nothingness.

"Casso" | Think | "Boris"

Art by CloudyNight

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