When it rains

Under the moonlight, her silver fur looks translucent. Like a silent ghost as she stalks through the back city streets. She knows each step by heart, each rock and each crevice like she carved them herself. No matter how worn the buildings of the downtown streets, there were hidden treasures if you knew where to look. On this particular night, there is none. Around backlit corners, the dumpsters she inhabited often were empty. The scent of decaying discards of human waste was all that remained. Even as desperate as she was, the risk was not worth it. The she-wolf stalked through the streets, stomach clenching painfully after several days of it being empty. This city was not meant to sustain wolves of her size. Yet, these streets were all that she knew. The longer she searches, the farther from the city center she gets. The further she treads into the wilds. Every wolf like her knew the woods around the city were off-limits. Invisible boundaries that separated the human world from the shifters. A forbidden territory for one born outside of their borders like her. Yet, hunger and desperation outweighed this common sense. She entered the forest tentatively as if something was watching her at all times and she was sure there was. Her ears kept alert, listening for any sounds. Then, an aroma. A delicious scent wafts from deeper in the forest, something alive. Something delicious. Like the beast she is, she follows it, intent on having whatever it was as her next meal. She hears it first. The skittering of its feet across the crunchy leaves and fallen debris. It is not a tree dweller but from a burrow. She hears the thump-thump of its heartbeat. Her mouth waters at the sound. She creeps along the forest floor, her belly barely brushing across the grass and roots, silent as can be as she stalks her prey. But She is not a hunter. She had killed rats before, ones who had feasted upon the same garbage as she. But this was different. This creature did not dwell in the loud city streets where humans roamed. It was not a fat, lazy rat whose meals were always guaranteed. This animal, with its long pointy ears, was used to being hunted. It is alert and aware, it seems that it provides a tasty snake to predators like her. And thus, one wrong move, one wrong slip upon a fallen twig, the snap sounding much louder than any city cars in the peaceful silence of this forest. And it was gone. Its large hind feet pounded off in a hurry, heartbeat fading the farther it got, deeper into the forest. She snarled from deep in her chest, the sound startling even her. Her hindquarters had pounced after it before she had any thought. And the chase was on. It was a fast animal as it tore around the trees. And had the advantage, she could admit, as her clumsy paws were not used to such terrain. Right as she thought she had caught up to the rabbit, it slipped away around a bend once more, her teeth barely missing its coarse fur. Right when it attempted to enter one of the burrows dug into the dirt or trees, she moved to block the path forcing it to change direction once more. Perhaps, they were both too focused. The creature on getting away with its life and she, with capturing the prey, both completely missed the loud and obvious markings on the ring of thicker trees. She did not realize how far from the familiar city she was. The animal realized first, stopping abruptly, its little ears twirling in every angle. Its fur stood on the end like it had heard a monster much fiercer than the one chasing her. She barely had time to stop, mere feet away. She only saw a dark shadow through the trees, golden eyes held on the animals' cowering form. It attempted to run. The shadow was a blur as it burst through the trees, its teeth clamped onto the throat of the animal faster than she could blink. This was a true hunter. It pressed the squealing animals' bodies down with one large paw, teeth still around its neck, and with one jerk of its head, the animals fell silent. Her body shook as the situation she had gotten herself into now presented itself. The moon passed overhead, illuminating the figure of the wolf. The other wolf, large and fearsome, almost twice the size of herself, did not have shadows from where its ribs poked out. Its fur was glossy, not the ragged course she was used to. Its body relaxed, familiar with its movements and the forest around them. This Wolf was not like her at all. Lowering herself to the ground, ears back, she struggled not to make a sound. She backed from the scene slowly, watching in gruesome horror as the wolf devoured its newly caught prey. With how the blood dripped from its teeth, it would not be any more friendly towards trespassers. She made it a few more feet, the smell of blood covering her own scent but it wouldn't last. Soon, the enemy wolf would realize there was another near and then it'd be feasting on herself. There was rustling and she paused in her movements, eyes wide as more wolves joined the first. They tilted heads at one another, not a word to communicate between them. She'd heard rumors before of course, of telepathic links allowing communication. But she never thought she'd see it. Her curiosity temporarily outweighed her fear, watching the enemy wolves. That was a costly mistake. One Wolf sniffed around, and she knew the moment it had caught her scent, head whirling around. Its amber eyes met her own. She ran. She heard the growls and snaps behind her but she wasn't going to look as she hightailed it as fast as she could through the forest. Yet, like with the animal she had almost caught, her undoing was her unfamiliarity. She had no clue which direction she was heading, too busy forcing herself through the thick woods, tearing the ground as she desperately clawed at it to go faster. Her breath came in huffs, exhausted from running after the animal and now the wolves. They were still behind her, she knew. She only hoped she could make it out before they caught her. Luck was not on her side as she heard a howl. It rang through her ears, a language she didn't understand, a code she couldn't decipher. All she knew was that it would bring more wolves. Teeth grazed her back leg and she yelped, leaning left. The wolf behind her snarled, teeth-gnashing as it tried to bite at her side. So distracted was she that one of her paws slipped out from under her. Her eyes widened in panic as her entire body collapsed to the forest floor, hard. The breath was knocked from her lungs, her legs twisting around her torso. The enemy wolves were quick to take advantage of it, crowding around her fallen form. There were three of them, now that she could see them better. One with brown eyes, another with white paws, and the third with black face markings. Their large white teeth were exposed in the darkness, illuminated by the moonlight. Flight had failed. All she had left was to fight.