Did it end while I was gone? // [Yusei vs. Mutt Day 3]

He barks, and there's anguish in his words. This feeling I'm familiar with, from my training. From my practice kills. I suspect it means he will not go any farther, no matter how much I torment him. No more dancing around. No more playing with my food.

The long claw falls, another piece of debris in the false forest. The wood is treacherous here. It can look soft and good for burrowing, but really be hard as rock. Is he the same? Is this a trick? I take a tentative step forward, and then another. I'm right beneath him by the time I'm ready to attack.

Every bite comes away with a little more blood. He's losing it more and more quickly, coming closer and closer to the end. There's a tiny, fleeting sensation in my stomach that has nothing to do with the fresh meat. A twist, and a sort of heaviness. It's not something I've ever felt before. I don't like it. I don't like it at all.

So I strike.

His breath is labored and hot. I can smell it. I can smell so much of him, from his glands, to his blood, to his organs. They are so close. For the first time, I wonder if he's lost his pack too. I wonder if instead of revenge, he chose something else. Something my wolfie mind can't comprehend.

But then I begin to droll, and all other thoughts flee ahead of my snarl.

She couldn't do it.

There he stood, throat bared, ready.

And she couldn't bring himself to sink her teeth into him again.

She shook her head, her neck, her ribcage. This wasn't like her. Why spare prey, when it could make her strong? Especially when he could have had a hand in destroying her pack? No. None of this stupidity. She would do what she had to do.