Ame awoke to loud alarm calls and the dry rustle of beating wings. He rose to his paws silently, muscles tense. He could feel the vibration of many deer pounding against the soft earth. Ame inhaled deeply, sifting through the many scents. He inhaled deeper. There. The smell of excitement and alcohol, arrogance and sweat. Human. He turned his head toward the scent, jaws parted slightly to better taste the air. The man was just a few miles ahead, trampling through the undergrowth. Ame took off, taking a longer path that allowed him to circle around the man undetected. He was closer now, and more scents rolled off of the man. Beef jerky. Metal and smoke.

Ame remained hidden in the shadows, closing the distance between them. He could see the man now. Young and stocky, swaddled by a heavy camouflage coat. The fur along Ame's back bristled. This human was trespassing. In Ame's forest. The low growl in his throat grew stronger. The man paused for a moment, scanning the trees around him. Ame was a coiled spring. The man raised his gun, aiming. Ame lunged, teeth bared. The man stumbled back. Inches separating them. Inches separating life and death.

Ame froze. The pulsing heat of the man's throat. The frenzied hammer of his heart. The terror in his eyes. Eyes that conjured memories of people Ame had once known.

The man pulled the trigger. Ame threw himself sideways, his back leg exploding in pain. He launched himself at the man's arm, teeth sinking through the coat and into soft flesh. The man screamed, desperately backpedaling. Ame released his arm, reaching for the gun. The man tumbled backwards, head hitting the ground. He was out instantly.

Ame stood over him, panting hard. Adrenaline pumped through his veins like liquid nitrogen, dousing the fire in his burning leg. He turned, tail lashing behind him, and slowly began walking away. He paused. He took another look at the man, eyes lingering on the oozing wound on his arm. He looked up at the forest. He looked back at the man. He looked back up at the forest. He looked at the man again. He sighed. Grabbing him by his hood, he awkwardly slung the man over his back. Surely the man had friends nearby. Ame sniffed the air once more. Bingo.

~oOo~

The sun was now low in the sky, and Ame was finding it more and more difficult to keep walking. His leg had stopped bleeding, but it hurt like hell. He found the man's friends camped out along the edge of the forest. Their tent was lit inside like a lantern. Walking into the tent was a bad idea. A really bad idea...for a wolf. Ame inwardly groaned.

~oOo~

Three pairs of wide eyes stared up at the naked man half carrying, half dragging their unconscious friend into the tent.

Ame glared at them, dropping the man at their feet. "Found him in the forest."

The men continued to stare.

Ame reached down, grabbing a crumpled shirt and shorts. "I'm taking these." He walked out of the tent, slipping the clothes on. They were too short and smelled like shit, but hey, he didn't smell like roses either.

His leg was starting to bleed again, and his forest felt so far away. There was a little town not far from here. He staggered down the hill, ignoring the men calling after him. Yes, he would go to town. Watch out, here comes the big bad wolf. Fuck, did he really just say that to himself?

~oOo~

Netflix and leftover Chinese food. She was excited to go home to reruns and cold, greasy noodles. That's what her life had come to. Moving to this sleepy little town definitely hadn't helped her already pathetic social life. At least she couldn't complain about business— well, besides the fact that half of her patients were old chickens with beady little eyes.

She stepped outside and locked the door, closing her veterinary clinic for the night.

"Hey."

She jumped, dropping her keys. She turned to face a tall man with disheveled hair.

"Sorry," he said, reaching for her keys.

She snatched them back a little too quickly from his outstretched hand.

He stared at her.

"Um, er, no problem," she said, sticking her keys into her purse. "Can I help you with, uh, with...something?" Smooth.

"Actually, yeah." He pointed to his leg.

It was then that she noticed the dripping blood. And the short shorts. Yikes. "What happened?"

"Hunting accident," he said, looking up at the Veterinarian sign and chuckling.

She stepped forward to take a closer look at his leg. "We need to get you to the hospital."

"No."

"What, why?" she gestured at his leg with both hands. "You need a doctor!"

He said nothing.

She fished her phone out of her purse. "I'm calling the—"

"You're a doctor, right?"

"An animal doctor."

He gave her a crooked smile. "Good enough for me."

"You can't be serious," she said, eyes narrowed.

He smiled wider.

"This is insane." She raised the phone to her ear.

"Help me." He guided her hand away from her ear. "Please."

Go inside alone with a strange man? She had watched enough murder mysteries to know that was a bad idea. But there was something about this guy...and his big brown puppy eyes.

"Pretty please?" That stupid crooked grin again.

"Fine, okay. I'll see what I can do." Were murderers always this cute? She unlocked the clinic door. At least this patient wasn't a chicken.

~oOo~

He was a wolf. He'd always felt confident about that. But this woman, currently digging a bullet out of his thigh, had him feeling a little unsure. Was it the way the tip of her tongue peeked out between her lips as she concentrated, or the way her hair smelled like daisies and cat fur, lilacs and chicken poop? Something, something he couldn't put a finger (it was nice to have fingers again) on. Something blurry he couldn't bring into focus.

Sharp pain, burning cold. "Fuck."

She triumphantly held up her tweezers, bullet clamped tight. "Got it!"

"Fuck." It still burned.

She wiped away the blood. "I still gotta stitch you up."

Ame grimaced.

"Alright, this is going to sting, but the worst is over." She closed the wound with a practiced hand. "You really lucked out. The bullet just missed your artery."

Ame looked at his leg with wide eyes.

"And that's it! Just give it some time to heal, and you'll be golden." She took his hand, helping him up off of the examining table.

"I can't thank you if I don't know your name," he said, still holding her hand.

"Oh, right." Her cheeks grew pink. "Emi."

"Thank you, Emi."

"No problem, uh…"

"Ame."

"Ame," she repeated.

They continued to stand there, both silent.

Emi pulled her hand back. "So, um, are you from around here?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I just moved here last year." She shrugged. "Gives me a chance to work on my own research, too."

"What kind of research?"

"I study wolves. I'm interested in diseases that dogs transmit to wolves, and vice versa."

Ame smiled. If only she knew...

"You know, I've never seen you in town before."

Ame shifted his weight uncomfortably. "I live in the forest."

"Alone?" She said, eyebrows raised.

Ame nodded.

"Wow. That must get really lonely sometimes."

Ame's face was serious. "Being alone and being lonely are two different things."

"That's what I keep telling myself, but it isn't working." Emi laughed.

Ame smiled. Maybe he just hadn't realized how lonely he was until now.

"Let me ask you another question. It's really serious," she said, pausing.

Ame's body tensed.

"What's with the outfit?"

Ame looked down at his stolen clothing, laughing. "It was either this or nothing at all."

For some reason Ame couldn't understand, Emi turned a deeper shade of pink. "You know, it's uh, it's getting late, but you should, uh, you should, come back to the clinic tomorrow." She looked away, rubbing her arm. "Yeah. Come back tomorrow and I'll check on your...your leg! Yeah, your leg."

She was so flustered and so pink and smelled so nice, and Ame couldn't stop thinking about how cute she was. When had he ever described anything as cute? Wolves didn't care about cute. And yet here he was, not as a wolf, but as a man, standing in front of a woman, marveling at just how cute she was. Damn, he had it bad. He needed to go kill something. Maybe a rabbit.

"Ame?"

He smiled again. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Chapter 2 will be up next week!