The wolf ran the deer down quickly and proficiently, taking it from behind and dragging it to the ground, then clamping deadly jaws around its neck. The second deer surprised Mac. Instead of running away as he expected, it turned and ran toward its fallen comrade. Ah ha, Mac thought. Two deer for the price of one. He nocked an arrow in his bow, drew it back and sighted. The deer was in range but was a moving from his right to his left. This was something Mac didn't have much experience with. He led the target a bit and released, hoping to catch it in the neck or shoulder. The arrow glanced off its rear end. The animal performed some kind of acrobatic trick that looked like a ninety degree turn in mid-air. Then it was running away from both Mac and the wolf. Mac nocked a second arrow, but by then the deer had disappeared into the trees. He jogged across the glade to where Celestia was giving her prey a final shake, throwing a fine mist of blood around. Once again he was struck by the fact that this lovely young woman was also a finely-tuned killing machine, an apex predator sitting somewhere near the top of the food chain. “Nice take-down,” he said. He hopped across the stream, tossed his backpack on the ground and sat down on the cool grass, waiting to see what the wolf woman would do with her kill. |