Smilodon by Alan Nayes

Author:Alan Nayes [Nayes, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Thriller, Adventure, creature thriller, tracking, mauling, alan nayes, giant cat, smilodon
Publisher: Alan Nayes
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 33

Though the snow eased the throbbing in his right paw, the huge predator’s limp had become more prominent, primarily because the swelling had spread to involve the entire right forelimb. No matter how often he cleansed the wound of necrotic tissue and purulence, within hours the process had to be repeated. The infection was spreading. And because the injury had yet to heal, the carnivore was forced to hunt longer and with less efficiency than if the limb was healthy. Though he usually only killed to eat, in rare circumstances, he would search out and destroy any transgressor he perceived as a threat to his hunting range. And these ranges were not only large, but in a constant state of flux, sometimes covering twenty square miles.

Tonight, the big cat crossed down through the tree line, where he picked up the scent of a moose. He followed it briefly and, deciding the spores were too old, he moved east along the ridge, leaving the protective coloration of the snow pack above him. This caused no concern, as he’d never known true danger, though the recent increase in strange scents and ever stranger activities on the other side of the lake had only increased his state of agitation; that and the infection had left the creature with a savage disposition. And an inordinately ravenous appetite.

In an isolated clearing, he struck down a mule deer buck grazing under the night sky. The deer only partially satiated the hunger pangs so, flexing heavy muscles that rippled beneath his thick hide, the giant pushed through a stand of subalpine firs and down over a craggy bluff to where he’d slaughtered the three hounds.

Finding the concavity beneath the boulder empty of the wounded canine and the entire area reeking of sweet scents, the carnivore hissed and spat before emitting a deep guttural growl. Instinct and past experiences, five times in as many years, told him the sweetly pungent human smell always indicated weak and easy prey.

Dropping his great head over the rim, the predator sprang down the rocky cliff, past the skeletal remains of the slain bighorn ram, and proceeded where the sweet scents led him.

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