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Finally! Callisto breathed in deeply the cool air of the north as she traipsed along the border between its region and the east, her spindly grey legs adding to the distance as she put more of it between herself and home. Ebony had grown stuffy in the wake of the storms, putting her right in the middle of the pack with little to no privacy at all. She was tired of being around them, of having to follow the little girl's direction, of the fact she had no time to pull Max aside and complain to him. She had been biding her time, doing the barest minimum of what was required of her until she had seen a break in the weather, and the moment she had spotted it she ran.

Though not first before stopping by her den. She had shuffled a bit through what was still available to her, what had been left behind as the winds tore through and disarranged the plants she kept tucked away neatly and orderly inside, until she had found something with a pale perfume. Max had dropped the suggestion to her once that wolves from his original pack had used plants to perfume their scents and now she thought to do the same. Anything to try and mask the gross scent of her heat.

Perhaps that was part of the reason she had been feeling as stir crazy as she had at home, but here she felt better, almost comfortable. The cool air stirred around her as she traveled further north, intent upon getting as far as she could without crossing any pack borders. There was one close, she could smell it upon the air defined and warning against intruders, but there was still enough space on this side of the regional border for her to keep going, and to her surprise she actually found something of interest.

It was an opening in the ground, a cavern that seemed to stretch deeply below the surface where she stood. Curiously Callisto peered within, narrowing her silvery blue eyes. On any given day she was normally not the adventurous type, choosing to stick to what her focus was on: plants, healing, and learning how to treat injuries. But today was a free day, the first day that she had finally found to be able to get out of Ebony and away from her pack and its members. Why not do a little useless exploring? Making a spontaneous decision, Callisto glanced about before heading into the earth, following the tunnel further and further into the deep, dark tunnel, eventually turning more to her nose and ears to guide her along rather than turn back right away.

Lel was quite a bit further than he wanted to be at the moment, especially with his sister so clearly pregnant. Still an intoxicating scent had reached him as he searched, one he knew all too well and instinct had kicked in, driving him to seek out the source of the enticing scent. Heavy white paws carried him over unfamiliar land, the scent leading him more than anything else. Finally he stood before a small cavern, all senses telling him his prey had stepped into the hole. With a hungry grin he plunged forwards, diving into the blackness. As he left the light of day behind him Lel became ever aware that he could not rely on his sight here, instead moving forwards with uncharacteristic caution, ears perked and his nose working at a constant rate. The stink of heat hit him full in the face and it finally brought some familiarity with it. The girl he had been looking for, the grey and black bitch was just a bit ahead of him. ?Well,? he began with a purr, ?fancy bumping into you here.? As he emphasised the word Lel jolted forwards, hoping to bump into the girl, moving with some force to where he estimated she would be. Speech,

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It was strangely satisfying being able to set aside her use of sight in favor of her keen sense of smell. She used it more so than her hearing to guide her along, each cautious step taken being first tested by her nose which had lowered to hover above the ground and scent her way. Compared to the northern woods outside of this descent, full of the scents of pines, cool earth, and a hardy strength, the cold cavern smelled stale and dank, lacking the sense of life that was prevalent beyond. Perhaps it should have been a cue that whatever she would find down here would be of no use to her considering healing revolved around living things, but still Callisto continued about her slow descent with her nose leading the way.

It was not her nose but her ears that suggested danger lurked close behind her. What leisurely steps the black and grey wolf had been taking forward slowed as her ears turned upon her head, listening to what sounded like another set of paws traveling in her wake, and immediately she regretted coming down here. Whoever followed might not have been able to see her as even she could not see exactly where it was that she was going, but they could surely smell her there. Was it her scent that had drawn them? Were they looking for her? Not knowing what waited ahead, she was torn between hurrying forward blindly into the dark and staying put to meet whoever came upon her head on.

For a while she tried to hold her place but at the last minute she began traveling forward again. It was too dark for her to try defending herself, especially with not being able to see who it was that she faced. But she had taken too long, and the wolf eventually caught up to her. Her ears, which were already turned back to listen, flattened themselves against her head the moment she heard the voice of her follower, feeling the rest of her tense and a growl to form warningly within her throat. Of all the damn wolves who could have found her, it had to be Lel. He bumped into her the same moment he spoke of it and Callisto's foreleg shot out to catch herself, baring her fangs though he could not see. "Get the hell away from me, you creep," she growled as she made a half turn to face him - or at least face where she assumed him to be in the darkness. She was even more on edge now than during previous encounters with the purple-eyed male, more defensive and ready to hold her own. This time she was much more vulnerable than she had ever been, and suddenly Ebony was seeming less annoying in retrospect.

A satisfied grin rose unseen to his face as he connected with the girl. His guess being correct. A growling command was hurled his way and an ominous chuckle bubbled from his throat. ?Now where?s the fun in that?? He purred, instinct yelling at him to begin walking around her and yet he remained rooted. He had no visible indication of where she was and he wasn?t ready to risk giving away his intentions by failing to land himself perfectly upon his target. He took a few tentative steps to his right, angling ever so slightly forwards and was glad to find he had not yet hit her, though he now had no idea exactly where he was going to have to position himself. ?Especially when you?ve so willingly wandered into such a brilliant location?? He hissed, sliding forwards and to the left slightly, hoping for a response to help him figure out her position. Speech,

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Desperately Callisto's blue eyes sought a shadow, some movement, anything within the blinding pitch around her to give away where it was the white wolf was hiding. But though she had been confident when she turned that she would now be facing him, each second that followed brought with it a growing uncertainty. How could she possibly know when she could not even see the nose at the end of her muzzle? He was a wraith in the darkness, the living, breathing monster who had haunted her steps no matter where she went, and she was blind to him now. But...he was blind to her too.

She wanted to take more comfort from the thought than she did, but it was a hard thing to do. Even as she stilled her growl, letting her own silence mask her position, she knew being sure of either of their locations was going to be a challenge. Her ears strained to hear him and he made it relatively easy, chuckling openly as he moved about in relation to her. Trying to keep her wits about her, Callisto returned to scenting the air, using what information she could gather to create a better layout of where they were next to each other.

It took the male speaking again for her to better pinpoint where he stood. To her left, and a lot closer to her tail than she would have liked. Resisting the urge to hurriedly turn herself away, the shuffling sounds of which would have been much too telling, Calli slowly turned herself in place, aligning her left side once again with her aggressor. No way was she going to let him get the better of her, not in these conditions, not in good conditions. Not ever.

Staying quiet was her new plan. If he could not hear her and she moved around as little as possible, he was less likely to guess exactly where she was within the darkness. Really, it was all much harder than simply that, but in theory it felt sound. Only she had not counted on her temper. Perhaps it was her heat causing her to feel a stronger sense of irritability than normal, or just a sudden burst of recklessness, but she found herself unable to stick to her plan. Unaware of the quiet steps he had taken to draw himself closer to her left side as she stood still, Callisto snarkily remarked, "Shut up, hellspawn, I'm not playing your games today. Go back and tend to your little "pet" before the brainless thing hurts herself. I'm sure she's hopeless without you." She hoped that the dimwitted wolf was still with him and that Lel's opinion of her had not faded. Maybe, just maybe, targeting her would get under the white monster's skin.

Lel had every reason to believe that she would turn to face him, her instincts must be to protect herself after all. Though she remained frustratingly silent and he moved forwards painfully slow. Dammit was she really gonna not take his bait? Then after what felt like a lifetime the girl bit, her voice filled with clear anger and Lel grinned. He pushed forwards again, fronts paws bumping into the side of the cavern and he pressed himself against the wall for a moment, the whole of his right side against the dirt. If his estimation was right her rump would be directly to his left. With one quick movement he rose to his back paws, vaulting forwards. Neck craned and jaws parted to hopefully grab hold of her. He could handle having to readjust his position all he wanted was a grip on her so that she could not run. Speech,

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For a second she thought she heard him, or a part of him, scrape against the earthen walls of the pitch cavern. Her ears strained to hear more even as she fumed, to further deduce where he stood in relation to her own position, but there was nothing. Either he had realized keeping still made him invisible as well or he was already on the move again and knew better than to make those same noises a second time. Her nostrils flared, another few breaths taken in, but the smells were not so defined to be of use to her here. Whatever had possessed her to come down into this cavern anyway?

There was only a slight sound to warn of Lel's movement before she felt him collide with her back. The force of him was unexpected enough to make her stumble beneath him, but it was the sickening feel of him on her, the touch of the single wolf she detested so much, that made her attempt to arch her back away from him even as he managed to grip the very base of her scruff between his jaws.

All sense of reason seemed to leave her then. She was nothing more now than cornered prey, caught within the predatory grasp of a killer that had every intention of playing with his catch before he ended its miserable existence. And she intended to fight for her life. Her voice rose in an uncharacteristically loud snarl, a distinct cry of outrage. Ears pinned, lips curled, she tried to move beneath him - to squirm, to fight, to make it impossible to keep his grip - but his weight made it nearly impossible. "Let go of me!" she screamed, trying to get out of his grasp but to no avail. Her worst nightmare had somehow become reality.

((This post is rated M for the sexy times and possibly triggering content.))

She bucked beneath him, but his grip was strong and judging by the way she moved his aim had been true. She fought him and with each twisting move his blood began to pump faster. The scent of her heat filled his nose and his actions were no longer calculated, his whole being morphing into one of pure instinct. It took all his fleeing self-control to stop himself from shaking his head back and forth, potentially ripping her scruff and losing his grip. With one smooth movement he aimed to pull his front legs around her shoulders. Hoping to hook them under her forelegs. He made no other real moves to adjust his position, only one thing drove him now. -Fade to black- Speech,

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It was useless, pointless. Lel was larger, stronger than she was, more capable of throwing his weight around than she ever would be. She had known that ever since meeting him the first time, having him encroach on her space and consistently force his company on her. And now he was forcing himself. Oh, how much she wanted to take one of his paws in her mouth and bite until she heard something crack. Or to feed him something so toxic that he sputtered, choked, and had the life slowly seep out of him while she watched with a prideful satisfaction. But no, he had the upper hand, he had her, and no matter how she struggled and tried to get away Callisto was ultimately getting nowhere.

"Let me go, stop!" she screamed with fury, still fighting him even as she felt his paws hook around her, even as she felt him settle into the position that he desired. And she knew what was to happen next. She went cold, feeling something like ice creep into her veins and add a sickening shiver that raced down her spine. Fear. Before she could get out another angry cry, before her voice was given a chance to betray her brave front, there was no more chance, there was no more time. She was wholly and completely at his mercy.

-Fade-