The night's breeze carried myriad scents. Pine, fruits, a rotting carcass of some animal which smelled like it had been dead a while and ignored by the carrion eaters. Even the musky smell of frenzied sex permeated its senses, but the one scent that it searched for, remained just out of reach.

It was clear to the Wolf that it was dealing with no amateur here and for the first time in all of its years wandering the valley, it wondered if it was in over its head.

A slight rustling of leaves to the left caught its attention, and it turned quickly, snarling at the seemingly quaking shrubbery. Eyes narrowed to aid vision, and teeth bared to intimidate, it took a tentative step forward. Who gave them the right to tell it where it could and could not go? The world was free, and it was determined to treat it as such. There seemed to be no more movement from the shrubbery, and it relaxed. Probably just an animal then. Or was it?

It had arrived and set up temporary camp here, a week ago and for the most part had been living it up. In its human form, it was known as Zed. It didn't know why, but it liked the level of anonymity that came with bearing just a first name. It aided its wandering, unaffiliated lifestyle and that was just perfect.

The location had been perfect. It was aware of the clan not too far, and the territory marking smells had indicated what they were meant to indicate - no trespassing. Like they could stop it from going where it wanted. The fact that there was a human settlement close by, only served as an extra incentive. In its current form, it had developed a taste for the thrill that came with hunting, and humans proved to be particularly entertaining game. The desperate attempts to hold on to their feeble existence always excited it. The lengths they were willing to go to. The...favors, they were willing to offer, if only it spared their lives.

It had encountered other wandering shifters during its travels and had even had cause to kill a few who got into his way.

The shrubbery moved again, and it snapped back to attention. Its honed senses had always been a source of pride, and they never failed it, but it was a particularly windy night, and whatever it was that now stalked him, it was determined to remain out of reach, possibly until it was too late.

The dirty grey wolf crouched low and approached the shrubbery. It quivered again, and it growled - a warning, the last whoever it was would get, no doubt. As I watched, however, the bush quivered once more, and a rabbit jumped out. It caught sight of the Wolf and took off in the opposite direction.

Even with its senses on high alert, it recognized the slight need to pursue and make a snack of the little mammal, but it though better of it.

Where was that scent that had given it cause to worry? Or had it just been nothing?

It refused to believe that it wasn't. Whether it was paranoia or simple instinct, it knew there was something out there.

"You're trespassing."

The dirty grey Wolf was instantly at alert and turned briskly, whipping around to gaze at the naked form of a tall, well-built man of seemingly mixed ethnicity. Long, black hair shrouded a strong face, and his eyes were narrowed, and despite the relative brightness of the night, the Wolf couldn't make out the color of his eyes. Not that it mattered really, the one thing that mattered was that this man was a shifter.

With a low growl, the Wolf slowly turned back to its human form.

Zed stood almost a head shorter than the quiet, brooding man who now accosted him. He eyed his stalker from head to toe and tried to ignore the growing apprehension in his gut. He had learned that projecting confidence was always the way to go.

"Just passing through buddy. Is that not allowed?"

"Your kind is not allowed here" the gruff voice responded in a clipped tone.

Well, he was definitely not one to mince words - or skip leg day. Zed couldn't get over how imposing the man was.

The new arrival watched the rogue shifter with unhidden disdain. His kind always annoyed him, and he never hid it. When he had begun to hear news of suspicious disappearances from the human village, he had had his suspicions and decided to investigate. It was not uncommon for rogue shifters to wander the valley and trespass, but they were always easily disbanded. This man, however, didn't seem like he was used to getting told what to do.

"Like I said, mate, just passing through" his attempt at bravado didn't seem to be having its effect, but Zed was determined to keep it up.

"The missing humans, do you have something to do with it?" the other man asked simply, keeping an eye on his dubious quarry.

"Oh. That. Well, there's an explanation for tha..."

"Get out. Get out now."

"What? Just like that? Bossy aren't we?" Zed said, lifting an eyebrow.

"I should kill you. But it's my anniversary."

"Oh? Birthday? Wedding?"

There was no answer.

Zed was now left with a choice. Do as he was asked, and leave, or stand his ground. He picked the latter.

"Didn't ask for permission when I set up camp here mate. Best believe I'll leave when I'm good and ready."

The other shifter seemed to consider this for a while, and then, as Zed watched, he began to shift form.

The resulting Wolf was as large as the man himself, and Zed felt the apprehension rise. Nevertheless, he was already too invested in this, and he shifted form as well.

Both wolves stared at each other for a while, yellow eyes glinting in the wash of moonlight.

Then, with a low growl, Zed attacked.