Inhale, exhale...slowly; match the beat of your heart to the rhythm of your breathing.

Bright emerald eyes peered through the tall dune grasses, unblinking as I observed my target. In the early morning hours, my dusky grey pelt blended perfectly with the shadows cast along the sands. Poised lightly upon my paws, I waited for the right moment to present itself. In this (and only this), I could exercise an unusual amount of patience. The giant rodents milled about at the edge of the water, the youngsters splashing about in the surf while their parents attempted to bathe.

The sun slowly lifted further from the horizon, and I knew that if it got too close to midday the sun would reveal me and my labors would be for naught. And yet, I waited. Despite my best efforts, my mind strayed as I waited. My stomach turned as I recalled how, on more than one occasion, I had observed Haziel and his sister in closer proximity than they needed to be. Closer than he'd ever been to me. Though I tried to push the thought from my mind - they were brother and sister, maybe the Angel family was just...closer than normal? (I knew that wasn't true, Mom had been trained by Angels. If anything they tended towards the opposite.) - but the sickening feeling lingered. Nahal had something with him that apparently even a soul mate could not rival. Try as I might, I couldn't help the jealousy that reared its ugly head every time I thought of them together.

Suddenly the capybaras shifted, moving down the beach towards me. My hindquarters coiled, muscles preparing for that moment which I had waited more than an hour for. The youngsters stayed closer to the water, and their parents shielded them from the outside. But that was fine. A pup would be fine if I was only feeding myself, but it was my responsibility to feed the pack. Closer now they came. And then the opportunity I had been waiting for presented itself at long last. A young, bold male strayed further up the beach towards the dunes, keen to show that he was not afraid of the wolves that dominated this landscape. What a foolish little rat.

The maternal barks of the females filled the air, herding their young into a run as I thundered down from higher ground towards them. My attention was fixated upon the bold male, who started and ran after the group. Typical male - all show, no action when it counted. I was like the wind gliding across the beach, my paws seeming to barely touch the sand as I raced after him. When the initial shock of my presence wore off, instinct kicked in for the giant rodents and the inevitable happened. The mothers ushered their young into the water that they had remained close to, but the male had come too far up the beach. As he turned, I was on him. Leaping through the air, I landed on his hindquarters and sent him toppling. Latching on with tooth and claw, I kept him down, biting into flesh and ripping him apart as he continued to struggle towards the safety of the water.

Not today.

Finally his body lay still, and my face and throat were covered in his blood. My sides heaved from the effort as I stood over him, watching the rest of the group swim further down the beach while watching me warily. They had no reason to worry. I had gotten what I came for.