He inhaled once again and he let his nose point him in the direction of the rabbits. He opened his eyes and flattened out his body lower to the ground. He started to move with a purpose and speed toward the scent that Ares had sent him after.
As he moved, he thought about how skittish rabbits and other rodents were. If they detected his scent before he found them, they would scatter. He was sure that doing that was not the point of this exercise. So, he let the scent guide his steps while his mind worked on the problem of approaching a family of rabbits without being noticed. He knew that he could approach downwind from his prey, and they would not be able to smell him while the air currents would push their scent toward him allowing him to approach without difficulty. But there was no wind in this forest so that option was not available.
He thought back to what Ares had done. The werewolf had lessoned his trace scent by moving into the air. The only thing about that was that in doing so he was not going to be able to move as quietly as he would if he was on solid ground. Rabbits had huge ears for a reason and disturbing them with sound was going to startle them just as inevitably as his smell would. He decided to take his chances on the ground. The rabbits weren’t hunting him so the earth record of his passing would not disturb the rabbits as much as sound would. He let his nose and eyes guide him through the trees while he pressed himself lower to the ground, moving faster with every step and staying as quiet as the still air around him.
It took him a lot longer than he had originally thought to catch up to the rabbits. The scent grew stronger but he was amazed at how far away he could smell the critters in the first place. He followed the scent through the forest and even though he was still some distance away he saw, in a little thicket, a family of around fifty rabbits. As he watched the white and brown animals, he saw why he thought he smelled sex. There were no less than five rabbits enthusiastically humping other female rabbits. The sight of rabbits having sex in such a large group repulsed him in a way that he didn’t think was possible. He saw a few very young rabbits that looked like nothing more than white balls of fur. He had trouble even picking out their ears. They were rolling around and being scooted along on the ground by the adults. He watched the scene unfold in front of him. He was careful to stay behind a thick bush of fragrant berries. He was sure that the pretty strong smell of the berries and the green of the bush would be enough to mask his own scent.
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He watched them for a while. He wasn’t hungry and he wasn’t told that he had to kill any of them, even though he knew that he could pounce on the group at any time, take them completely off guard and kill several of them before the others scattered to the winds. He could do it, but he chose not to. Besides, killing without need was something that only humans did. He took one last look at the large family of rabbits and, just as silently as he had approached, he slipped away from the thicket.
He was not as careful to remain quite leaving as he was when was making his approach. Still, he had no intention of disturbing the rabbits unnecessarily. He walked through the woods, following his own light scent trail back to where Ares had left him. He walked for a while but long before he got back to his starting point, he smelled a slight shift in the air around him. He didn’t have to think, all he could do was dive out of the way. He felt more than saw or heard a large object fall from the sky and pound into the ground where he had been walking only moments ago.
He jumped out of his roll to stand on his hind legs. A male werewolf that he didn’t recognize was just raising himself from the ground and the impression that his impact had made. He stood up on his hind legs as well. William was taller than this werewolf but only by an inch or so. The male was black with large swaths of white and brown all over his body. The coloring on this werewolf reminded him of a pedigree German Sheppard.
He stood there studying this newcomer. The other werewolf didn’t move but was content to study him as well. “Who are you?”
The young werewolf moved to his side out of the impression. William mirrored the motion and the two werewolves circled each other. Without warning the werewolf lunged.
William was caught off guard and the werewolf plowed into him knocking him to the ground. William was on his back and his attacker was now straddling him. William had a hard time blocking the barrage of punches that the werewolf was delivering. He felt a pressure build around his mid-section as the werewolf squeezed his legs around him. This werewolf was making William feel like an idiot. As he would protect his face, the werewolf would punch at his neck and chest. If he dropped his arms to protect his chest, then his face would receive a blow. That humiliation, combined with the added pressure of the werewolf’s legs robbing him of oxygen was only serving to add to his anger and frustration.
William let the anger he felt at the skilled attacks he received grow and he felt the knot of emotions and instincts in the back of his mind unfold. He let his instincts take over and his mind was clouded from reason. He closed his eyes, and he received another punch to the face. He had had enough of this. In a blind rage and an explosion of muscle, he thrust his whole body up off the forest floor and gripping his attacker’s arms he rotated and pulled the werewolf down.