Good ol fashioned stress relief

Once they were both in place and as close to their prey as the terrain would allow, Alastor waited for Manea to give the signal that she was ready. Once he had it, the ebony wolf wasted no time in beginning their hunt. Tightly coiled muscles exploded with tensed energy, and like a bolt of black lightning he sprung out from behind the knoll and raced across the space between the predators and prey animal. Snow burst in clouds of fine mist as massive paws tore across the frozen ground. Obsidian eyes narrowed in deadly focus, mouth agape with heavy breaths and lips turned up in a sinister grin as he advanced on the unsuspecting cow. The buffalo looked up from their grazing to spot the wolves and immediately began to bellow in panic, but they ere large and ungainly creatures; turning to retreat would not be a graceful maneuver for them. But for avid hunters, this would be a cakewalk.

Alastor veered to the right around their chosen target, leaving Manea to maneuver left and cut the buffalo off from the rest of the herd. Darting around to the right side of the cow, Alastor snarled and snapped his jaws to corral the frightened animal around in a circle and prevent it from gaining any momentum in its attempts to flee. He left Manea the task of making sure none of the rest of the herd tried to double back to fight the wolves and save their lost member while he distracted their quarry, zipping side to side so the confused and scared creature had no idea where the attack would come from. But as he made a feint attack to the left and opened up an opportunity to lunge in from the right, Alastor noticed something he hadn't before. Tucked beneath the cow was a cowering newborn calf, bleating in panic.

Alastor hesitated in his attack, dark eyes widening as he jumped to the side to avoid a trampling from the mother's massive hooves. Any other time he would not have second guessed his decision. Any other time he would have gone for the kill and taken the calf and mother at the same time. But in his emotionally fragile state, the last thing the dire brute wanted was to see more children dead—prey or otherwise. The calf's presence was unexpected, but being the keen hunter he was, Alastor knew he could use it to his advantage. The buffalo was only thinking of protecting her child—which meant she wasn't thinking of protecting herself. With a stage snarl, Alastor dodged another trampling of hooves and jolted swiftly to the cow's side, rushing in to lunge and leap onto the giant animal's side. Sharp ruby claws dug into supple flesh, tearing through skin and muscle as he hung from her side, drawing blood and bellows of panic from the buffalo. The calf took the opening to begin fleeing back to the rest of the herd, abandoning its mother to her fate with the wolves.

Alastor grinned triumphantly. Now there would be nothing holding the two hunters back.

"Manea & Alastor Mendacium"