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Something in the back of my brain itched. Something...annoying, I was doing something...wrong? Several times it almost came to me but then something bigger would push it into the shadows.

As I lifted my head up toward the sky, a breeze flittered through my hair. I inhaled deeply the crisp earthen scents of autumn and basked in the glory of this wonderful place. I tried to smile, but the twisted movements on my face just made me appear more monstrous. I had never smelled such better...ah...what would you call it? Air? It was more than that. I smelled everything! I smelled the golden, red tipped leaves underfoot and overhead. The dirt was a musky odor. I could seek out one scent from a dozen. With my nostrils flaring, I inhaled till my lungs were on fire. The scent traveled through the chambers of my nose and the scent became a taste. It was grand! A million different flavors exploded and traveled up to my brain. I had nev-...

Something odd floated across my sensitive membranes. Not leaves or dirt or rabbits or rotten logs. It was somehow familiar, but the harder I tried to grasp it the farther it fled me. My nose was sniffing through the air as I turned in circles searching for more of the scent. With my head cocked to one side, I stood perfectly still and tilted my ears toward the direction of the scent. For several seconds my breathing stopped. I was sure I could hear only the thumping of my heart, but then another sound filtered in. It was moving away from me. Leaves were being crunched and twigs snapped underfoot.

I could not have stopped myself if I had wanted to. It was like something snapped inside my body. I sprang toward my target. What was it? Why was it making so much noise? What was this strange new thing close to me? Why did it keep running farther from me? I had to know!

Part of my brain, some hidden instinct, told me to step with just the pads on my toes. This would soften my foot falls and allow me to quietly approach the target. As I trotted toward this strange thing, its scent increased. It was so intoxicating! I thought my whole face would exploded as it filled me up completely. All I could smell was that thrilling fragrance. Sure, I was aware of the other scents. They were just not as dominate. I was no longer trotting behind the thing. I was hurling myself toward it!

Faster and faster my legs moved as the scent became a taste. It was almost sweet. I tried to laugh, but it came out as something all together different.
It vibrated through my chest and burst from the very bottom of my soul. My throat ached from being used in such an unfamiliar manner. The sound was long and carried out across the forest. I waited.

The thing made a strange noise. I shook my head to cease the stabbing in my ears. With my muscles locked in tight coils, I sprang to the right and curved a path around the target. It was heading toward me now. I waited. Any moment it would be in my view. I crouched perfectly still in the shadows of the trees. The thump-thump of my heart echoed through my head. I heard it breaking through limbs and vines. I stopped breathing as it tripped over a huge root. It screamed as some bone cracked in its ankle while it twisted with the roots.

My throat seemed to have an itch. I tried to clear it, but what came out was completely different. It was like a slow rumble starting by my collar bone. It felt as if I had to cough, so I opened my mouth a little. All the while my strange creature was sending piercing shrieks through my ears.

At this point, I'm sure you know I was growling at it. The lips on my muzzle curled up and back to reveal my teeth. I slowly approached it. Slowly my eight foot frame came into the target's view. It blinked several times at me. I was standing right over its shivering shape. It smelled of all sorts of things, but the most dominate one had lead me there.

Fear.

It seemed to roll off the creature like waves lapping at a shore. I forced the thing to roll away from me by bending over it. I sniffed at it. As I was sifting through all the different odors, it looked at me. It met my eyes. Again some distant voice cried in my head that something wasn't right.

Why was it looking at me like that? My ears swiveled back in a threatening pose. It refused to look away. I furrowed my brow. It did not turn its gaze. Instead it screamed in my face.

I felt the scream die on my tongue while its neck broke. Cooper filled my mouth. The fingers of one hand had curled into my thick fur. I shook it off and investigated the creature. It seemed familiar in some way. At the time, I didn't know. Honestly, I didn't know what it was as I ripped it apart. Entrails and gore soaked into my fur as I tore into it.

Only afterwards, when that ******** annoying voice seemed to shout at me did I realize. If it would have just looked away...