Nathan Esmeray hated the rain. He was cold, wet and feeling rather miserable.
[You wouldn't be cold or wet if you'd ever find an actual shelter.] Nathan's wolf, Axel murmured.
"I know, I know. I don't need your snide comments. If you'd help me find decent prey we could look for shelter."
Nathan could feel Axel's pacing in the back of his mind. [Sigh. Fine, but you need to learn how to hunt on your own too.]
"In case you forgot, we'd only been together for 2 weeks before the incident. I didn't get the chance to learn how to hunt."
Axel's low whimper signaled his regret at the comment. […I know. I miss them too.]
Nathan stood from where he'd been crouched in the bushes and tried to shake off some of the water that matted down his fur coat. It was no use, he was soaked through and until he had a chance to dry off, it was obvious just how thin and underfed he was. At least when his coat was dry he could hide the fact that his ribs and hips stood out.
"So, almighty hunter, where to?"
[About 200 feet downhill, behind that boulder. I'm smelling at least three rabbits.]
Nathan groaned. "Again? Isn't there anything else nearby?"
[No. You're the one who decided that these mountains were a great place to hide. Nothing but rabbits, birds, and chipmunks. No wonder you're always hungry,] Axel muttered that last sentence.
"Ignoring that. We're alive, aren't we? If I fail, will you be able to get at least one of them?"
[Probably. Unless they're right next to their burrow,] Axel paused, deciding whether to make the offer of not. [Want me to take over now? It's been a couple days since we've eaten and your reaction time might be too slow.]
Nathan paused, thought about it and sighed. "As much as I want to say no, I have to agree with you. Even hungry you're a better hunter than I'll ever be."
With that said, Nathan let his consciousness slide back and allow Axel's to take over. He watched while Axel crouched low and slowly crept up on the boulder that hid their prey from view. When he got close enough, Axel paused. Checking that the rabbits hadn't moved from where he'd sensed them, he got ready to pounce. Just as he leaped over the boulder he realized why they hadn't moved at all.
They were bait.
Too late to stop, Axel landed the two of them right in the middle of a trap. Instantly a net wrapped around them and yanked their body off the ground.
Dangling from a tree with no way out, Axel whimpered as he let Nathan take over again, [I'm sorry. I should've realized something was wrong when they hadn't moved at all.]
Nathan felt Axel's regret and couldn't help but feel sympathetic. "It's alright. I wouldn't have noticed at all."
[But it's my job to make sure that you're safe.]
"It is not your job. We keep each other safe and this time we were just too hungry to notice."
[Still…]
"Don't beat yourself over this. We've gone through worse and will figure a way out of this."
[Maybe if you shifted, you'd be able to untie the knots.]
"No! I don't know if whoever set this is nearby. I won't risk being found out. As far as we know, we're the last werewolf on Nerda."