Madathi
Pup
K.atja rarely hunted alone for obvious reasons. The island they lived on was not that large and there was not only an entire enemy pack that shared the space with them, but the island was also littered with runaways, exiles, and outliers, and seeing as she was the Alphess, it was wise to act as though she constantly had a target on her back. However, the group she travelled with generally went for smaller, weaker kill - the most effecient meal that would be the least taxing on the pack and still give them food - not to mention the winter usually scared away larger game and smaller critters were typically the only ones who wandered. Her ear twitched, swiveling subtly towards Koryn as he seemed to have decided on a large elk. The idea of a challenge as this one was enticing; it had been way too long since she had seen a doe so big.
They were very close to their kill, close enough that one wrong step could draw attention to themselves and startle the elk. For a moment, she was incredibly ready - her body was so close to the ground and her hips began to sway, preparing to take an initial leap - but then something changed. She could sense as Convel took a step that hid him from view, but it was definitely a step in her direction; Koryn and Convel both took to sniffing the air even though their prey was standing right in front of them. Something was wrong. She stiffened, pausing for a beat, her ears swivelling backwards and then forward, and then backwards again, listening intently to the sounds all around now and not to just what was going on in front of her. The Alphess also began sniffing the air but couldn't smell anything that seemed necessarily out of place. What had they noticed that she hadn't? She calmly flicked her tail in Convel's direction to grab his attention, still trying to decipher the scents around her with her nose; what had she missed?
Katja took another cautious step forward, urging the hunting party to continue despite the sudden uneasiness that filled the air. She couldn't smell or hear anything as of that point, so she didn't know why they were both so set off. She waited another beat for them to refocus and realize she was still moving toward the elk standing a few paces in front of them. Once Katja knew they were aware of her, her haunches began to rock once again, and then with one quick thrust of her hind legs, she sent herself sailing through the air.
The elk, which had been casually grazing several meters away from the rest of the herd, abruptly lifted her head at the sound of the wolf's body pushing through the last bit of undergrowth that had kept her hidden and then prepared to leap away. However, Katja's launch had been impressively powerful, and with just that one movement she was close enough to sink her teeth into the animal. The elk reacted quickly and immediately began to race forward away from the canine, so the Alphess' jaws barely missed her flank; in reaction, Katja took a swipe with her giant paw and slid the elk's legs out from underneath her, sending the terrified elk rolling miserably to the ground. She immediately made an effort to escape, leaping back onto her feet in one swift movement hardly a second after her brutal tumble, and Katja had to appreciate her determination.
However, she knew that the elk was as good as dead.