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Izrah kept her nose to the ground while moving through the forest. “This new nose of mine is amazing. Leotie, you should really give it a try.”
Leotie followed behind. “Believe me, I’ve already smelled way more than I ever wanted to.” Her four paws ached. The battle had driven the deer far away, and they’d been walking for hours. If I can’t be human again, then what? What man would want to be with a wolf?
“Wait...” Izrah stopped and lifted her head. “There’s definitely a deer up ahead.”
“Finally.” Leotie looked hard into the woods, past several narrow trees.
Something moved up ahead in the clearing. The two crouched low to the ground and managed to get a closer look. Three does and one buck stood together eating some wild flowers and tall grass. Behind them, the clouds continued to darken. A storm would be here soon.
“So what now?” Leotie asked. “It’s not like I can grab my bow.”
“You stay here,” Izrah said. “I’ll go around and scare them your way. Then you can take one of them down.”
“But how?” asked Leotie, bracing for the answer.
“With your mouth, I suppose,” Izrah thought, and bared her teeth. “We have fangs after all.”
“I was hoping for a different way,” Leotie protested, shuddering at the idea of her teeth plunging into a living thing with blood splattering everywhere.
Izrah nudged her with a paw. “Then you go scare them my way, and I’ll take care of it. Hurry now, a storm is coming.”
A hunger pang convinced Leotie not to protest. She slunk low along the ground, giving the deer a wide berth. At the edge of the forest she had to crawl through tall grass until she was behind them. The deer were so busy eating the wild flowers they didn’t notice her, but it wouldn’t last for long.
From this angle, the deer looked so peaceful and innocent with their big brown eyes. She always felt a bit bad when taking down a deer, but hunger overwhelmed those feelings. A distant rumble of thunder caused two of the deer to look up. Their ears switched around as they checked in all directions. At seeing nothing, their heads went back down to nibble on the grass. Leotie wasn’t about to wait for a loud boom to send them scattering.
She took a deep breath and lunged toward them. The deer darted in all directions. One doe crashed into the forest, heading right for Izrah. Up ahead, the brush shook while gray and tan fur struggled together. She ran over, only to find Izrah’s mouth around the deer’s neck. Leotie flinched and backed up, looking away, but still able to hear the sounds of a thrashing animal.
She turned back to them. The deer’s legs kicked in all directions while it’s body twisted. Izrah’s teeth only dug in deeper, and blood oozed out. Part of Leotie wanted her to let the poor thing go, but the other half craved for meat. She tried to ignore it.
Izrah shook her head and snapped the deer’s neck. Its body went limp. She let go and looked up at Leotie, a smear of blood on her muzzle. “Let’s eat.”
Leotie winced. “But we can’t cook it.”
Izrah’s tongue rolled over her chops. “I know it’s crude, but for some reason I like the taste of blood on my lips.” She looked down at the dead deer and bit aggressively into its stomach, shaking her head and growling.
“Izrah!” Leotie thought, urgently. “How can you do that?”
“Eat Leotie, before I eat it all,” Izrah thought while digging into the meat.
“This isn’t going to help us become human again. I really couldn’t even tell you apart from any other wolf right now.”
Another hunger pang made it feel like her stomach was about to devour itself. The smell of blood lingered in the air. Her mouth began to water uncontrollably, and a string of drool spilled out. An irrational fear of Izrah eating it all played at the back of her mind. No, don’t give in. You’ll not only look like a wolf, you’ll also have the mind of one.
Leotie paced in a circle, trying to distract herself, but she couldn’t fight off the hunger anymore. She hurried over and took her first bite, expecting to be horrified. Instead, the tasty flavor drew her in and she no longer cared, eating until she couldn’t eat anymore. It felt all too natural to eat this way.
Leotie stepped back with a full stomach and blood on her lips. The deer was a mangled, bloody mess, which would’ve bothered her normally.
Izrah licked her paw. “I feel much better.”
Leotie stared in disgust, even though her stomach was content. “We just lowered ourselves to eating like animals.”
“If this is what the Great Spirit wants us to do, then we have no choice.”
“This can’t be right. We have to prove we’re worthy to be human again by not giving into things like this,” Leotie thought.
“How else can we eat?” Izrah asked.
“We have to figure out how to do certain things with paws, such as starting a fire.”
Izrah lifted a paw. “Really?”
“Yes, somehow, someway, and I think you like being a wolf.”
“How can I not enjoy this new body? Have you forgotten that I was an old wrinkled little woman before?”
Leotie thought back to Izrah wobbling along, hunched and weak from arthritis. A cane had helped her get along. “Of course I remember.”
“Watch me now,” Izrah thought, and rushed into the field, jumping over the grass with amazing speed. She ran fast, becoming a blur, and came back to Leotie panting. “That was fun.”
Leotie smiled uneasily. She couldn’t help but enjoy seeing Izrah as if she was young again, even as a wolf.
“Why don’t you have a try at it?” Izrah thought with a long panting tongue, her ice blue eyes lit up.
“I don’t know...”
“Leotie, I understand why you don’t want to be a wolf. You were so beautiful and strong. I know you’re in love with Keme too, but what if there’s no choice? You can’t deny it forever.”
Leotie was about to tell her she could deny it forever when a burst of thunder sent rain pouring down on them.
“Now what are we going to do?” Leotie asked.
“I saw a hollow space under a tree back there.”
Izrah led the way, weaving around all the narrow trees, and stopped at a big one with its roots visible above the ground, creating a space big enough for two wolves.
Leotie huddled in with Izrah, impressed with her wolf skills. Outside, the rain poured down hard. The only source of answers might be at their abandoned camp. She thought of Keme’s reaction if he saw her eating that way? Leotie held back a whimper.
