I smell her blood again but this time, it does not still the air nor does it quell the birds. Instead, it comes accompanied by the whimpers of children, new to this world but not to I. I am quick to come to them, to investigate and to provide what little comfort I can to Ehiyeh during such times. I am not alone however, at the mouth of her den; I am accompanied by his wretched scent, a vile intrusion that I am quick to cover up before the children are afflicted by it. I understand this is not my place for now though - it is Ehiyeh's place, her place to settle into or reject as she tends to the whelps. Still, I leave a pheasant by the den's mouth, placed as if it were merely resting atop the mound of dirt and dust.
He runs and yet with every step, he leaves a piece of himself behind; it is these pieces that I follow, snuffing out each piece as I pass over it. His fur in the bark, I dash away into the wind; his footsteps, walked over by my own or dusted away by the breeze that follows me from the shore. Perhaps he thinks he can outrun his inevitable fate, his punishment and yet he is entirely wrong. Like the tide, it always rolls in.
When his scent begins to freshen is when my poise suddenly takes a turn; I lift myself up, feeling my ears rise along with the fur across my body. I feel my blood begin to warm in anticipation, my heart aflutter against the walls of my chest. My gut twists and turns, excited and anxious as I feel myself salivate. It is a strange thing, this anticipation. I have not felt it so keenly before - it is the pinnacle of sixty-something days of thoughts, of watching my daughter grow and the life within her stir. I have counted each day, each tear, each sorrowful look at her own abdomen. I have counted them all and now is the time that I can finally collect on those debts.
I cut around the clearing, encircling him with the scent of the sea and sand. I hear his misery, revel in its tone, my tongue lashing out to lick across my muzzle. However, I compose myself before I step out into the clearing; I allow my face to become more passive despite the anger behind it, my eyes meeting his with a casual ease as my ear gives a flicker.