Fate Of The Alpha

The male huffed, his red eyes glowing in the night's shadows. His fur was the deepest grays in the universe, almost indistinguishable from black. In the tree line was the faint outline of his build; Muscular, the power of his legs showing with his shifting shoulders. The fangs he possessed were at least three inches long, and were sharp; Serrated to hold struggling prey in a spot where he could go for the windpipe. This bear was anything but normal, but what was normal was the female's fear of him. He was glaring at the cougar, a furrowed position just above those red eyes. He was baring his teeth by that point; Revealing his mouth and the rest of the daggers that would make one intimidating smile. Looking him up and down the female was about to turn tail and run, though before the cougar could even get a step they were grabbed by the back of the neck by that bear. Having no choice at that point the cougar was being carried by the bear like a mother with a disobedient child. Where was he taking her? If he had an exact location he sure as hell didn't tell anyone, so she just had to dangle there with about twenty blades for teeth piercing her flesh.

Serrif was a smaller more lean young cougar. She was a pale cream colored with the regular cougar markings found on her muzzle, ears and tail. Though, she for some unknown reason still had the subtle cub markings from her younger days. She winced in pain, she tried to utter words but just ended up softly whining.

The dark-pelted male was moving quite quickly for his size, which wasn't the best for the one that he had so randomly grabbed by the neck due to his fangs and other teeth being burrowed into the skin. Though it was muffled he was emitting a growling sound; Almost as if he was saying 'Shut up.' To the rightfully terrified cougar. The trees around them were beginning to change, as the normal sounds of life in the forest ceased. To some people that was a big indicator that you were in danger, especially now in this unnatural silence. The only noise that could be heard besides the heavy breathing from the bear were his claws scraping the ground below him every time he lifted his paw back up to move forward. Wherever they were in the woods it could only be assumed that he was the only thing that would come through here.

Serrif could do nothing but stat still as blood trickled down the nape of her neck.

She wondered, why is this bear doing this, what could he possibly want with me? And the pain very slowly became numb as Serrif grew used to it. Her tail was curled and swaying at the end and her ears flung back as she knew better than to not retaliate against some bear of this size.

He came up to some shrubbery, pushing through it and eventually revealing the hidden den that he called his home. Not that he had much to worry about, since really the only thing that could challenge him and win that fight was another bear. He walked over to the second big pile of bedding in this space, dropping Serrif into it, staring down at her whilst standing in her full line of vision.

Serrif's pupils were wide as she looked at this bear she had in front of her. "Wh- why did you bring me here?" She stumbled over her words, then she slightly raised her voice and got confidence that she normally had. " I don't know where i am but you need to show me the way back to the forest..."

Her tail swished round from side to side. Her claws poking out from her large fluffy paws. She had taken up a lowered stance that kept her front paws close to her body, she licked her lips and swallowed as she looked behind the male towards the exit. She growled under neath her breath.

"It's a part of my courtship. To be sure that they won't run away." He replied, his pupils being slits despite the extremely low light with the rest of his body blocking the moonlight. The way he spoke was one that would disturb a good portion of the population. With how raspy and damaged his lungs sounded it was a wonder if he had escaped a forest fire in his time. His fur was adorned with scars and cuts, mainly in the shapes of five claw marks that were raked down his body. He was shifting his shoulders again, his breathing sounding difficult and at times just plain agonizing as he would seemingly gasp for air. Something had happened to him; His lungs had in some way been damaged. The best guess was that he had been through a fire and his body never fully recovered from the damage done by the smoke.

"C-courtship?!" Serrif had just left her mother a few months ago and was just now mature. But she lowered her defenses now that she knew the male had no intention of harming her. She shifted her paws then her ears slowly rose up and to the sides. Her claws now retracted she spoke with a flustered tone, trying not to show it, "How has this worked with other courtships?" She took in all of the scars the male had, it did not bother her nor his voice. She assumed this large male whom had many scars; would have sired many cubs already as she thought male bears and females did not pair for life. Instead the males spreading their genes to different females each season.

"Previous females ran past me and out of the den in the past. It usually ended with a death. There's another group that live outside the borders of my territory. They know to stay s good distance away from me but they are much bigger and that leading male in the group stands at eleven feet at full height. All of them; Nasty temper and no hesitation with injuring each other. They don't tolerate any intruders. That's how most of the majority of female deaths occur. So don't run away from me. I may be scary to you, but that entire group will show you the hell they came from." He said, a growling tone being made whilst discussing the other males. They likely costed him a few cubs carrying his bloodline, so he had a strong disliking for them but was wise enough to not take them on if he could avoid it. He was tense now, his claws forced out fully in annoyance. It would be foolish to do anything when he was like this. He could be suddenly violent if he felt disrespected by the much smaller, younger female that wasn't even his own species, so Serrif would have to choose her words carefully around the bear or it could get ugly very quickly.

Serrif knew now that her tone did not take over well with the bear.

" Eleven feet??"

She stuttered slightly looking up at this dark grey male. " she started to tear up but she told herself- 'Now isn't the time to start this Serrif'

She looked away and stifled a small high pitched sort of squeaking yawn. She was tired and still bleeding from the many teeth marks left on her neck; albeit not much blood. "I get it if that's why you don't want me to l-leave..." The pale cream colored cougar's fur from the dark red blood that trickled down her neck fur. She shifted her shoulders whilst letting out a small sharp inhale through her small yet pointy teeth. Her canines were only about 2 inches long.

The male was moving his weight from one side to the other; A part of the near constant shifting of his shoulders. It looked uncomfortable but it could only be assumed that he had the issue develop over time, it was possible that he was an older male, which probably made this entire thing seen more awkward considering the very possible large age gap between the two. "There has yet to be a female that didn't immediately abandon the area after mating, but if things do progress between us maybe that could change. I do know that you very well could outrun me, so really if you did decide to bolt off I wouldn't be running after you for more than a minute. I'm only keeping you in my den so that other group doesn't get ideas of intruding on my territory to go after you. I'm sure there's at least four of them and I don't know of their hunting strategy." The big, worn and beaten male said, his breathing shifting a bit. "There's a loosely buried pile of fish over there." He then continued, gesturing to a dug out chamber that was also littered with the bones of elk, moose, and other large prey animals. In another pile in said chamber was other meat he had stored. He had stored so much food in the den so he wouldn't have to force a female to go with him everywhere to look for food while trying to court her. He'd only have to take Serrif with him if he was going out of the den for water. Considering how he could just carry her in his mouth in a way that the cougar's mother did, except for his teeth actually breaking her skin because his teeth were so sharp.

Serrif's round sort of fluffy face blushed at the males words. She took them in a kinder way than he had maybe intended. She wasn't sure about the idea of being courted by a large male bear. It wasnt that she thought he was ugly or anything; she just was young and inexperienced with love at all.

"I appreciate you offering.. Me food.." She wrapped her tail around and padded over to the fish. She sniffed it first. And she began to dig one up and eat.

"Uhm. May i ask- wh-why do you shift your shoulders? I dont mean to pry"

"I have had many issues with my legs and shoulders; But the most recent cause was about two or three years ago. A fight with another male over this territory ended with broken ribs on my left side, a cracked bone in my left leg and an injury that later developed in that shoulder. Because I couldn't afford resting due to competition and rivals I have since drove out the bones didn't heal correctly and due to that my muscles in my shoulders and legs are tighter and more stretched out as my body was healing. Yes it was every bit painful as you can imagine." He responded, lowering himself to the ground underneath him. He didn't think that Serrif would try anything but if she did she would greatly regret it. He had a devastating bite force and with his teeth and claws if he was to rake his claws across her body or bite her full force there would be potentially life-threatening injuries left on her. He was confident that she wouldn't mess around and motivate him to actually attack her, so he didn't have much of a problem with laying down while she was around.

Serrif felt more at ease when the male laid down. It was a sign to any animal that the other meant no harm. She licked her pink lips mottled with black tiny spots. Her eyes were a medium shade of blue with amber highlights striking out from her black wide pupils..

" Im sorry you had to endure that.." Serrif was a very empathetic being, she killed only for food; usually running using her great speed with long bounds and leaps, instead of fighting fights she knew she couldn't win. She was very good at climbing and even swimming in need to escape. Although she disliked getting wet very much.

"There isn't much to worry about in my territory. Very few things are crazy enough or stupid enough to fight me and not flee after my warning shot. The lack of regular prey is also keeping most animals out. I'm one of the only things that comes through this area. It makes it a good place to recover after an injury or illness. I don't endure things like those injuries much anymore. I'm at a size and strength where I don't have to worry about much. I'm what most others worry about."

Serrif gave a nod as she retained information from him. "Oh!!" Her young mind came out as she suddenly realized, "What's your name? I didn't get it..." She stood from resting and sort of gave a subtle slow blink although her eyes didnt close, they just shut a quarter of the ways Similar to wincing. Her fur poofed a bit as she got a little overzealous to learn his name. She, when he was laid down -

Still had to look up a bit at him but not a whole lot.

"They call me Nightmare. For reasons you could probably guess. What is yours? What should I call you?" He responded, returning the question. The bear was curious. It was the first time that he wasn't the one to ask first.

"It's Serrif." She gave a smile she was taking in his smell from where she stood. She found it intriguing. "Your-" she yawned in the middle of her speech, "Smell is nice. She looked towards the pile of bedding but didn't want to be rude. She was very different from other cougars. She liked to sleep during the night and dusk bring up at day and dawn.

"It's nice to know your name. The scent you're giving off almost reminds me of honey and sugar water. I'm new to it when it comes to the smell of a female." Nightmare admitted, rubbing his head against a rock lodged into the soil of his den to rid himself of an itch.

She hummed a soft purr as she began to try and clean her beck but she struggled to reach the spot. She was tired and she did not like being dirty. She usually cleaned herself in the waterfall near her territory from the mist. The silence gave her a uneasy feeling but it wasnt that bad. She worried for a second that some other ani als would take over her new found territory that took her one year to establish.

Nightmare was gentle while doing so because of his teeth but he groomed Serrif to the best of his ability since he usually wouldn't clean his own fur. It may feel weird because of his teeth but he was trying. He was having to sit up a bit to do it, but he didn't mind too much. He felt that it was something he could do to make up for the fact he had pretty much kidnapped her from the forest she was used to, since he did acknowledge that Serrif was probably terrified at first.

Serrif started to make a noise that was a mix between a low warbling trill and a purr. It vibrated her throat her eyes widened as she snapped out of her "euphoric" state, "Uh.. T-thank you Nightmare." She laid down and her flank twitched as a breeze found its way to her. She was flustered but she tried to keep her face hidden. She felt heat emanating from Nightmares large body. 'I wish i could get his warmth.. I doubt he would like the idea of me getting closer'

Serrif wrapped her tail around then backed up as she said, "I-Im going to sleep now.. Thanks again for cleaning me." She turned over and curled up her muzzle red with embarrassment.

Nightmare thought for a few moments before laying down next to Serrif, his thick and fluffy fur pressed against Serrif. It was rare for him to do this most of the time, so Serrif was, in his eyes, special. To the best of his ability, due to him not being as flexible as Serrif was, he curled around her unless it began to make his back hurt. He was watching the entrance to the den, keeping watch until he could feel confident that nothing would try to slip in and attack him or Serrif. He trusted that Serrif would be able to fight back on her own, but he wanted to be sure that she would be as safe as possible whilst here in his den.

Serrif gave a sort of "murrp" sound as her eyes widened. Then after a while of her body relaxing she fell asleep.