“We are going to do some training.”Rudie set her hands on her hips and faced Morlie.
“What kind of training?”Morlie folded her arms over her chest.
Wolcott stepped before her and held up the mesh cage with the rabbit.“How hungry are you?”
Morlie’s stomach answered loudly for her.“I had two slices of toast at Lovel’s house before we set out...with a promise that I’d be fed later.It’s way past noon, now.”She shot her friend a glare.
Lovel shrugged not appearing repentant at all.
“Great,” Wolcott cheered.“Then your wolf is more than ready to hunt.”
Morlie’s wolf’s piercing whine and scratching within was proof she agreed with the livestock manager.
“I don’t know the first thing about hunting.”Morlie glanced around at them and hoped someone would offer some training advice.
“You don’t have to.You’re Lupine, it's in your beast’s blood.Let it guide you.”Faolan, who, like always, found something to lean on in the background, was propped against a wide, tall tree as he scanned the land around them, as if searching for something of his own.
“That’s right.”Wolcott walked more than a few paces away, then set the cage down.
“Okay, so if I shift and catch the rabbit, can my wolf eat it?”
“No shifting.And you have to catch the rabbit first if you want to eat.”Wolcott unlatched the small door and pulled out the animal.
Morlie hadn’t realized how big the brown furball with tall ears was, and it was cute.She wasn’t sure if they caught it; she’d want to have it killed for eating.
Her beast growled at her.
Hey, I’m just as hungry as you are, Morlie yelled back.
“This training is about agility and acumen, Morlie.As shifters, we have to not only run as fast, track as fast, but outsmart our enemies as sure as our wolves can.”
“Okay.”Morlie lowered her arms and shook them out, trying to relax.“What if I can’t catch it?Then it’s gone.”
“Lovel and I will hold the perimeter, keep it blocked enough that if it gets away from you, one of us will snatch it up and we’ll begin again.”
Begin again.Tension pulled along Morlie’s spine.She would do her best to get the rabbit the first time.
“Alright,” Morlie set one foot back and leaned her weight forward balancing on the ball of her front foot.“I’m ready.Let it go.”
Wolcott held the rabbit tight in his hands, as the big feet of the animal pumped and kicked as if it sensed danger and was ready to flee.
“One thing about Black-tailed Jackrabbits, Morlie, is that they are the fastest and can outrun most predators.”He lowered the rabbit and opened his hands.
In an instant, there was nothing but a brown blur as the rabbit shot off.
“Good luck,” Wolcott called out.
“Shit!”Morlie took off running after it.
Left.Right.The rabbit had Morlie retracing her steps backwards, then forward, and then sprinting off in another direction again.
Morlie could be honest with herself that she thought it was within reach every time she had the rabbit in her sights.Even with Lovel and Wolcott helping her, her hands slapped together empty time, after time, again.
Yes, she could run much faster with her exceptional Lupine strength, but it took seven times for Lovel or Wolcott to step in and bring them back to the starting area.
Morlie had to admit she’d missed the jackrabbit the seventh time because a fleeting scent caught her attention in the forest.For a moment, she glanced away, trying to decipher what pulled at her senses, but it was gone, and so was the rabbit.
“Focus!”Rudie barked.
