And just a dash of poison

A sarcastic jesting laugh came from the dire brute when his beautiful little blackbird teased him for taking his sweet time getting to her. He flashed her a playful grin from over his shoulder that was all teeth and sabers, topping it off with a wink before finishing his collecting of the wolfsbane. He very suddenly felt the warmth and weight of Tamsyn pressing up into his side, her svelte form melding to his muscles like she'd always meant to be there. As he turned his head to look at her quizzically, Tam dispelled any of his uncertainty with the seductive purr to her words and her fangs nibbling delicately at his chin. A little tremor of euphoria rippled down the gigantic wolf's spine in response to her tender affections and a husky chuckle rumbled deep in his chest. His lover had been insatiable since her heat started—not that he was complaining, of course!—so he had a pretty good idea of what she had in mind for her prize if her actions and sultry words were any indicator.

Kane subtly leaned his well-muscled form back into his girlfriend's while she buried her muzzle in his scruff and he felt her take deep, savoring inhales of his scent. It was quite a turn on to be so desired by one he loved and cherished so much. Tamsyn had truly brought him back to life in ways the senior wolf had never thought he'd feel again, and for that he would always be eternally grateful to the Universe for bringing her to him! Just as he finished gathering up the last of the wolfsbane flowers, Tamsyn inquired into what he was using them for. Kane's hazel eyes lit up with enthusiasm at the notion of getting to share his craft with his beloved once more, and before he stowed away the last flower, he reached a giant paw out to take one of Tamsyn's dainty ones and placed the flower with such grace and care in her paw pads for her to study.

"This flower is called aconite by my tribe," he began to explain, "but it is more commonly known as wolfsbane." As soon as he said the flower's name, he looked to Tamsyn's radiant mint eyes, waiting for that gleam of recognition. Even without any formal training in botany, any wolf would be able to understand why a plant might be called wolfsbane. "Although beautiful to look at and completely scentless, it is a very lethal poison. One flower, when turned into an extract, would be enough to kill a wolf my size in about an hour. There is no cure. Consumption of any amount is almost always fatal. Nasty way to go too. It slows the heart until it stops, and you're aware of it the entire time you're dying." Once Tamsyn had finished looking over the flower, Kane gingerly lifted it from her paw and set it with the others in his satchel. "I'm going to use these to make a poison for my old friend, that dire wolf. I know I cannot kill him by traditional means, so I'll use my strengths to my advantage. Do you remember that knife I've been crafting back home? Its blade is hollowed out to be able to hold a liquid—namely, this poison. All it takes to end the fight is a good jab, deep enough to hit veins, and then break the blade to release the poison. And then..."

Kane made a dramatic show of pantomiming a wolf choking and sputtering before flopping over very clearly dead. He grinned up at Tam as he rolled to his paws again, giving his shaggy fur a shake to smooth it out again. "It's an old trick the hunters in my tribe would use to take down larger predators, such as bears that wandered too close. It's shockingly effective, and all you need is one good strike." Kane turned his head to glance back out over the beautiful vistas of the fjord, gazing across the land. "All I have to do now is track him down again, and I can finally put my past to rest..."

"Kaneonuskatew"