He was sure that every single animal that wasn't deaf was fleeing from the sheer sound of his stomach growling. Really, he had been such a disgrace to all wolves lately. He was young and strong, a terror of all prey in the flesh. And he'd just had to be careless enough to step into a man-made trap, which had snapped his leg bone clean in half. Healing had taken many hungry days, and he still couldn't completely put his weight on that leg yet.

Fortunately he had spotted a prey that would not run so easily the day before. A young woman with a large red cape. He had tried to talk with her, to lure her closer wearing a human guise, but something had scared her off. This time he'd just wait for her to pass by close enough and pounce.

And there she was, walking along the forest path. She was hurrying along with faster steps than before. The day before she had been singing and stopping to pick flowers.

But that didn't matter. His mouth watered just thinking of all that soft flesh.

He waited in the shadows, leaning one furred hand on a tree for balance. Just a few more steps...

The moment the red-clad figure was close enough he leaped. A little more clumsily than he would have liked, but his hands still closed on...hard muscles?

His golden eyes met a single ice-blue one, its stare as cold as its color. The other was covered with a black eyepatch.

The next instant he was punched on the side of his muzzle and his good leg was kicked out from under him. A heavy boot stomped on his chest painfully as he hit the ground.

It was a human man. One with short sandy brown hair and a leather armor covering his chest and stomach.

"I can't believe this," the human scoffed. "My sister was so scared after seeing a stranger in the forest that I had to dress like this and take food to grandmother in her stead. And all for a scrawny wolf like you?"

He growled in response. It may have been true at the moment, but it still hurt his pride. But the growling stopped instantly as he found himself staring at the barrel of a very menacing-looking gun.

"Shut up," the man only said. "You're annoying."

His features shifted into more human-like, leaving only the wolf ears and tail, and he raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Okay. Okay. Just don't shoot me."

The human glared at him. Then he slowly pulled back the hammer of his gun with his thumb.

He swallowed. Not good.

The sound of gunshot made him cringe and squeeze his eyes shut, but he couldn't feel any of the pain he expected. Carefully he opened his eyes.

A little distance from them a deer fawn lay on the road, a bullet hole in its head.

The human holstered his weapon. "Don't let me catch you anywhere near here again. Or I will truly show you what it feels like to be hunted instead."

He sat up instantly as that boot stopped pressing on his ribcage and the human turned away, his cape twirling around him. That act of charity or whatever had certainly solved his food problem. But it had also sparked a different kind of hunger, one not so easily sated.

He returned his gaze to the departing human. A predatory smirk slowly appeared on his lips.

Oh no, Red. I'm not going anywhere. The hunt is just beginning.

~*~*~

Author's note: Trying to force someone who could end your life with a single bullet to show throat in order to prove you're the strongest male around...Good luck with that.