Enocra Woodland. One of the last areas of the free lands Matthias had yet to explore. The tall trees were alive with a burst of color as the autumn coolness sucked away the life of the trees. Winter was on its way and soon the trees would be bare and the forest a lifeless grove. But for now, the birds sang their songs and the small animals skittered to and fro as they moved to collect as much food as possible. The large wolf had even seen a bear grunting and groaning as it searched for berries, nuts, and other kinds of food to fill its large stomach. Though it was not common, the older wolf had heard stories of the large beasts killing wolves, especially in times of great hunger. The gray wolf was huge but even he was no match for a fully grown bear and so he moved away from the grizzly and remained upwind of him. As he walked, Matthias couldn’t help but see a great lack of other wolves. Unlike the fields, which had harbored several loners, the woods carried very little in the way of canines. It was a little unnerving, to say in the least.

Suddenly, a bush he had been walking next to exploded and a fawn rocketed from it, crossing his path too fast for his bulk to even think about catching. Not that it matter, as his stomach was still full from his last meal. The child would live another day. But something had startled the creature before he had arrived and with ears and eyes on the alert, Matthias gazed around to see who he was sharing the woods with. It didn’t take long for him to find her. It wouldn’t have taken long for anything to find her with the way she screamed. With her location pinpointed, the great wolf trotted towards her in a less than enthusiastic way. She sounded young and Matthias wasn’t the biggest fan of pups. She better hope her leg was caught in the mouth of something much bigger than her…

The scent of blood threw him off a little. It wasn’t a great deal, but enough to litter the air with the sweetly sick smell. Turning the corner, he saw her lying lazily on a log, blood covering her white paws. It was obvious he had been lured into a trap, but what kind he had yet to discover. Rolling his steel eyes, the older brute walked closer to the log and sat on his haunches. “You keep that up and you can bet it won’t just be wolves coming to find you.” he said gruffly. There was so little patience in the old male to be putting up with the shenanigans of the young. “I say let the bears come for you. It will rid the world of another foolish child.” Ears turned back suddenly as he heard the bear roar angrily. It wasn’t close by, but it seemed to be perfectly timed as if to add a real threat to his words. He smirked, waiting to see what the child’s naïve reply would be.