I chuffed in amusement. “That’s a wild turkey. Try and follow the scenttrail.”
With her tail high in the air, she trotted off in the direction she thought the smell originated from. I gave the wind a quick whiff to determine if she was right or not, and she was correct. I wasimpressed.
We weaved through the trees as a single unit. Casey was a natural at this. I toyed with the idea of taking her hunting with Jericho next time, so he could help her hone her tracking skills. But for now, I was enjoying this quality time with mydaughter.
Casey suddenly planted her paws and stopped. “I see itnow!”
Her voice was incredibly excited and loud, but thankfully I was the only one who could hear it through our mental connection. Otherwise the prey would all be scaredaway.
I lowered my head and assumed a crouching posture. Casey watched me before doing thesame.
The fat bird dawdled on the downward slope in front of us. It was by itself - an easy kill. It couldn’t run very fast or fly. It would be an excellent first hunt forCasey.
I leaned closer to her. “This one is allyours.”
“What am I supposed to do?” sheasked.
“I’ll go on the other side and cut off its path, just in case. All you have to do is get close enough without being noticed, then pounce on it for thekill.”
She took in this information with a serious nod. Her body lowered closer to the ground and she began stalking towards the bird. As quietly as possible, I took the opposite route so that I could cut the animal off if it noticed Casey and bolted. When I had completed a semicircle around the turkey, I nodded to Casey. I watched in anticipation as she inched towards it. She must have been twenty feet from the turkey, which was still pecking for grubs among the deadleaves.
Casey exploded from herspot.
The wild turkey nearly jumped out of its feathers. Casey barrelled towards the animal gracelessly, but she was fast and hot on its trail. The bird barely had time to turn around and begin to make a break for it before she leapt onto its back and pinned it to the ground. Her instincts must have taken over, because she didn’t bother asking me what to do next. She gave the animal a swift, hard bite to the neck, and then it was allover.
With sparkling eyes, she glanced up at me with the turkey dangling in her jaws. Her tail wagged vigorously. I’d never seen her sohappy.
“Good for you!” I caught up to her and nuzzled her head affectionately. “That was amazing. I can’t believe this is your firsthunt.”
She beamed. “I wanna take this home to daddy and make it fordinner!”
I growled affectionately as I nuzzled her between the ears. “Not so fast. We still haven’t hunted our first buckyet.”
She nearly vibrated with excitement. I swished my tail, beckoning for her to follow. We buried the turkey, but I realized there was something I forgot. I sat primly next to the bird’s body and looked atCasey.
“When we take an animal’s life, we should offer thanks to the Moon,” I toldher.
She tilted her head curiously. “Why?”
“To show respect for the life we cut short, and to appreciate its sacrifice so that we may eat,” Iexplained.
Casey nodded slowly but still looked a little confused. “We didn’t do anything like that at ScarletRidge.”
That didn’t surprise me. If the pack wasn’t even capable of treating its omegas like living beings, I suspected it didn’t treat its prey with any respecteither.
“Scarlet Ridge pack does a lot of things differently, but that doesn’t make them okay,” I explained toher.
Her nod displayed more understanding this time. “Like how they don’t let girls hunt? That’s not okay, isit?”
The fur on the back of my neck stood up. Her words had completely stunned me. I knew Scarlet Ridge was backwards, but this wasridiculous.
“No, that’s definitely not okay,” I growled. “Is that why you’ve never been on a huntbefore?”
Her tail drooped slightly. “Yeah. I wasn’tallowed.”
With a furious growl building in my throat, I curled around my daughter. A fierce sense of protection burned in my blood. I hated what she and Charlie had to endure at their old pack, and I vowed I would never let them hurt like thatagain.
“I’m okay now, daddy,” she piped up, nuzzling my chest with her small snout. “I have you to teachme!”
