Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Chapter 1


Cool and crisp, the air rushed through the tops of the trees, littering the ground with the brightly colored leaves of fall. Carefully, so as not to alert any other animal of its presence, a wolf slinked across the ground, feet lightly placed. Triangular ear swiveled at a rustle in the foliage to his side, nose lifting into the air to catch a scent. Once assured there was no threat, the wolf continued forward to stalk his meal of choice.

The wolf's gaze was locked onto a small burrow in the ground no five feet in front of him. Inside was his meal of choice. Earlier an adult rabbit had darted inside, its protruding ribs suggesting an easy kill for the wolf. Now, it was just a matter of catching him unaware.

There was a brief moment where the hare's scent intensified, giving the wolf a split second's notice before a streak of brown shot out from the hole. In one strong push, the wolf was off the ground and on its feet, trailing behind the frantic rabbit. Lunging, teeth bared, the wolf latched onto the hare and stopped its attempted escape in matter of seconds. The kill was made quickly.

The wolf was beginning to lap up the rabbit's blood that had begun to pool out onto the ground when a shift in the wind brought an unwelcome scent to the wolf's sensitive nose. Growling, the wolf turned away from his fresh kill and ran in the opposite direction from where the new smell came.

(-)

Kaoru stomped down the urge to throw her camera at someone or something. As satisfying as it would be to simply demolish it, she opted to save herself the heartache in buying a new camera.

Three times. Three times they managed to find tracks of the wolf and all three times it somehow escaped before they arrived at its projected location. Scowling, she walked around the small clearing, absently kicking at rocks as she headed toward her parked vehicle.

Wolves were notorious for having excellent hearing and a great sense of smell, but this little game of cat and mouse they were playing was getting tiring. All that was needed was a picture. If they were lucky, perhaps tag the creature. However, in order for those events to take place, Kaoru had to first find the animal. It was always long gone before Kaoru and her team stumbled upon its estimated location, making it a much more difficult job than all the other wolves she had tracked in the past. It was by far the smartest she had ever encountered. Intriguing, but none the less a nuisance.

The clearing was devoid of anything spectacular besides a dead rabbit just freshly killed. Kaoru let out a tired sigh as reached the car she arrived in. Pulling open the passenger door with a little more strength than was necessary, she climbed into the warm cab. In hopes of keeping her mind off the ever evasive wolf, Kaoru began to clean every nook and cranny of her ancient camera. It wasn't long before her long time friend and colleague hopped into the driver's seat.

"No luck." The other, slightly younger woman said somberly. "All he left was that dead rabbit." She leaned forward, pressing her head into the firm steering wheel. "The tracks end here! We have no clue which direction he went in!" Lifting her head up, she made a sweeping motion of the area outside.

Making sure to give an appropriate sympathetic sound, Kaoru continued to clean her camera, quite used to her friend's dramatics. "Maybe next time we'll catch him, Misao." She offered, though she doubted that they would ever be given such an opportunity. This wolf was different from the rest. Every couple of days or so he would seemingly drop off the face of the Earth and then traces of him would be found the very next week.

Kaoru brushed some raven bangs out of her eyes before peering into the camera's viewfinder to check for any spots she missed while cleaning. Although it was unfortunate for Misao that this particular wolf was difficult to find, Kaoru didn't feel the need to worry. Even if Misao's job was on the line, as she claimed, Kaoru held the utmost confidence in this team's abilities. It was only a matter of time before they caught up to the wolf and Kaoru planned on being there, taking amazing pictures.

Misao groaned, letting her head fall onto the steering wheel again with a solid thump. "Why is boss-man so obsessed with a stupid dog?" She whined, her voice occupying a pitch that should not have been humanly possible.

"Kaoru! Misao!"

Both women turned in time to see a tall, lean man run up to the driver's side of their vehicle with a huge smile on his face. Misao quickly rolled down her window, letting in some of the autumn cool air. Kaoru shivered and made a signal for him to speak. Quickly.

"We found a track no more than a mile from here." He was grinning madly, the excitement showing in his brown eyes. "The trackers estimate that he's heading toward the river."

Kaoru lifted an eyebrow. "The one Northeast of here?"

The towering man nodded his head excitedly. "The others decided to wait and see if they found other tracks before we came and told you." He paused as a rather boyish grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I know you two aren't the sort that sits around idly, though."

Kaoru stared at her camera silently for a moment before looking up and asking, "How fresh are the tracks?"

"Just minutes old."

She nodded her head and moved to open the passenger door. "We will go on foot." Kaoru stated as she stepped out of the care while looping her camera's strap over her shoulder. "Our vehicles may be fast, but he can hear them before we are anywhere near his vicinity." Glancing up at the sway of the trees, she felt hope swell in her chest when she noticed he would be up wind from them and wouldn't be able to catch their scents very easily. Silence followed her statement. Kaoru turned back around to look at her comrades. "What?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.

Misao gave a sheepish grin before replying. "Um… I didn't wear my hiking boots, Kao." She stated simply, using Kaoru's loathed nickname in hopes of lightening the situation.

"Nice." Kaoru felt her eyes rolling before she could stop them. She faced the man. "What's your excuse, Sanosuke?"

His back straightened slightly, uncomfortable no that Kaoru's attention was directed solely on him. "I… Uh… Well, Megumi wanted me home by five."

Kaoru's eyes flicked down to her wristwatch. "It's three. We should have more than enough time to get there and get a picture. What's the problem? She asked pointedly, daring him to try and weasel his way around her logic.

Sanosuke lowered his head, avoiding eye contact. His embarrassment was evident by the small blush that crept across his cheeks. "She doesn't want me to go out into the forest at this time of night." He raised his voice a bit more when he saw Misao start to snicker. "You don't know how many times she's given me lectures on vicious animal attacks…" He said, trying to defend his pride.

Fully aware of the effects Megumi's little mind games could have on someone, Kaoru sighed and waved her hand dismissively. "Fine. I'll go by myself." She said before stepping into the line of shade cast by the forest.

"Jou-chan!" Sano's voice stopped her short of fully stepping into the tree line. "Let's just wait to get it tomorrow." He suggested.

Ignoring him completely, Kaoru ducked under some branches, climbing into the darkness. "Call in a search party if I'm not back within three hours!" She shouted over her shoulder as she headed in the direction she prayed the wolf was still in. She was going to get a picture of that wolf come Hell or high water.

Twigs snapped underneath Kaoru's boots as she moved swiftly in between trees and logs, almost running to the location of her wolf. She'd stop every so often to check the small compass she had in her pocket, making sure she was headed in the right direction. Minutes flew by, and Kaoru didn't have to look down at her watch to know that she had been in the forest for more than an hour. With her intended destination quickly approaching, Kaoru began to become restless. As she climbed over yet another fallen tree, a howl to her distant left pierced through the quiet peace of the forest.

Turning her head in the direction she estimated the howl had originated from, she let out a small chuckle. 'That was too perfect. Almost exactly like it is in the movies…' she caught herself thinking right before her toe caught the jutting end of the root of a tree, sending her lurching forward to hit the ground shoulder first.

Kaoru felt the wind get knocked out of her before her shoulder began to throb mercilessly, which elicited a sharp, pained gasp. She let out a small moan, not moving on the ground. "What luck…" she growled before pushing herself up with the arm that protested the least when she moved it, gasping in pain as began to stand. She looked down and winced. Her knees were pretty torn up, the full extent of damage done was covered by what was left of her now bloody jeans.

With the intent of cataloging all the injuries she had just sustained, Kaoru moved towards the large roots she had just tripped on. She both and heard something crunch beneath her boot as she took a step. Lifting her foot up tentatively, Kaoru sighed at the poor sight below her. Her compass, her main method of retracing her steps was completely destroyed. She frowned. "You sure know how to make the worst out of a fall, Kamiya," she berated herself while limping the rest of the distance toward the tree.

Slowly she reached down and unlaced her boots and used her feet to them off one at a time. Then, cringing as some of her clothes stuck to a few of her cuts, Kaoru began to pull down her pants, not entirely surprised by the bloody mess that had been hidden beneath. Her compass, completely ruined now, had ever so thoughtfully sent one lone glass shard into the tender flesh of her hip. How she hadn't felt it while she had been getting up or was bending over to undo her boots was beyond Kaoru. Clamping her mouth shut, she pulled out the bloodied glass, flinging it away from her with a disgusted look. Pain worked quickly to replace the glass.

"Ouch." Kaoru grit her teeth, kicking off the rest of her pants as gently as possible. Various cuts, scrapes, and forming bruises marked up her legs. Her left leg was much worse than the right as it had been the side she fell on. "No compass, no friends…." She listed, her mood souring as the shadows of the forest seemed to grow thicker by the second. "No light," she snapped, blue eyes sparking in fury at the roots she currently was sitting on. "I blame my situation on you. Entirely," she growled, leaning over to pick up her fallen jeans, pulling them on and valiantly trying to ignore the pain the motion brought.

Just as Kaoru had buttoned on her jeans and was getting up off the tree, a loud, angry growl sounded directly behind her. She stilled, stomach falling to her feet. She didn't dare turn around, afraid that she would see the wolf's white teeth just before they clamped onto her throat and ended her life. Kaoru took a deep breath to calm herself. The beast let out a deep, but sharp, warning bark when she shifted her weight in preparation to run. Kaoru obliged, standing as still as she could on her injured legs.

The bushes behind her rustled as something moved through them and then all noise ceased and an eerie silence settled over the area. Closing her eyes, Kaoru sent out a small thankful prayer for whichever deity had decided to let her live another day. This was a wolf she wished to never cross paths with again if she was ever given the option.

When her eyes opened, there before her, a massive bulk of dark fur and claws sat, eyes as golden as the sun holding her navy ones captive. He was gorgeous. Kaoru felt her eyes widening in awe, her situation very nearly forgotten at the sight of him. His fur was pure ebony except for his first front paws, which were a light gray. His external beauty was only part of what held Kaoru in an awe-inspiring stupor. He radiated and air of complete confidence and total dominance over this land. The land that she had the misfortune of being on at that moment.

"Beautiful…" The word fell from her lips before she could monitor herself.

Golden eyes flashed, and the wolf stood up, baring his teeth at her. He barked once and then followed up with a low, resonating growl.

Kaoru smiled a bit nervously, and held up her palms in a placating manner. "I get it. I'm leaving." She inclined her head in the direction by she intended to leave. Slowly, ever so slowly, she inched her way from the tree, eyes locked with the wolf's. He made no further movement towards her, but if he was to jump at her, Kaoru was far enough that she might have some chance of escaping. Her hand reached out to steady herself on a tree, and Kaoru felt her odds of survival increasing exponentially.

The wolf watched silently, his growling having stopped moments after Kaoru moved away from the tree by which he had first caught her.

'He's letting me leave!' she thought, her eyes watering as one of her scratched knees hit the side of the tree trunk in her hasty attempt of a retreat.

His body was moving before Kaoru could even blink, forcing her backwards, making her head smash into the tree. Stars danced in her vision, floating around the wolf and moving up and down in dizzying patterns. 'Oh, geez… Let's see how many ways Kaoru can hurt herself today…' she mentally shouted out every obscenity she knew at the wolf, momentarily forgetting about the precarious situation she was in. "What the hell was that for?" she shouted at the wolf, a hand reaching up to rub the back of her sore head.

Golden eyes stared coolly back at her.

"If you're going to kill me, can you just do it already?" Kaoru snapped, her temper flaring. "I'm so fed up of playing this game of freeze tag with you!" she snarled, pushing away from the tree, glaring as she walked past the wolf that was vocalizing his displeasure in a steady thrum of growls. "Do you know how much crap I've gone through just to find you?" she asked him, ignoring the way he tilted his head in confusion.

'A bed would be so nice right now…' she thought absently, picking at leaves and other objects that had stuck themselves to her shirt as she walked farther away from the wolf, once again ducking her head to avoid the occasional low branch.

The wolf ran up beside her, barking, demanding her attention.

Kaoru's patience snapped. "What do you want?" she shrieked, spinning towards the wolf. He remained silent, just observing the frazzled woman as he continued to keep his pace even with hers. "First you don't want me to move, and then you want me to leave." She knew she was growing hysterical but didn't care. She could honestly not find it in herself to remain calm like one should always do in such situations.

"What do you want, damn it?" she repeated her earlier question, shoving aside bushes as she stormed to whichever direction she was heading. Kaoru was sorely missing her compass.

The wolf paused in his trek, as if to do something, but a bright spot light fell upon both of them. Kaoru shut her eyes, trying to block out the light that only aggravated her preexisting headache. Voices shouted out from a large vehicle that was parked several yards away. Her friends. Relief flooded through Kaoru's weary body, and her knees almost gave up then and there at the thought of not spending the night in the forest trying to fend for herself. Her blue eyes flickered to where the wolf was, or rather had been. Without so much as a print the wolf had simply vanished.

"Must've ran off…" she murmured, making her way over to her waiting friends.

'They had better have something warm in the car with them, or they would have to face a very angry, and cold, Kaoru.'

(-)

The wolf waited until he could no longer hear the humans' vehicles. Only then did he move out from the bush he took cover in. Snorting, he walked back to his camp, tongue lolling out in a wolf smile. That had been fun. Not many humans yelled at him whenever he confronted them. It was quite refreshing, actually. Then again, the female had misunderstood his barks, taking them as mixed signals. She certainly had a short temper…

Coming into the small clearing he had found earlier that week, the wolf plopped down on a worn spot of grass and closed his eyes, the female's scent tickling his memory.

Jasmine with and undertone of orchids…


Author's Note (07/24/10): I only just recently noticed took out my scene breaker-upper-things when I put up my stories. I am just now addressing the problem. Wewt.

Luv,

K