There’s someone else in the forest with him. Jiaoqui knows that for a fact. His sharp hearing is picking up someone else, and their scent is wafting to his nose. Delicious.

He stalks closer and closer, careful to not make a sound. Not as they are, snapping every twig underneath heavy footfalls. His motions are light, and are untraceable. He toys with them a little, his tail casually brushing up against a tree, or causing the occasional bush to rustle.

There.

They stand in a clearing, bathed in the setting rays of the sun. Perhaps they’re hopelessly lost, or perhaps they’re the idiotic type to wander unfamiliar lands without heeding the warnings.

Either way; now they’re his.

“Hello, sweetling,” he chuckles, not revealing himself to them just yet. The Lupitoxin settles around them like an invisible fog, the tell-tale signs setting in. Shaking, shivering like they’re freezing. Dilated pupils, and a sudden uptick in their heart rate. It’s all so common, and yet it feels as exhilarating as the first time he witnessed another’s fear.

He steps out into the clearing, his golden eyes gleaming with mischief and a barely-concealed hunger. Confidence exudes from the borisin, as if he’s a hunter who’s already cornered his prize.

“What might a fine morsel like you be doing out all alone? It gets rather dangerous here at night. And there are so many in these woods who would love to devour a sweet little thing.” His canines poke out of his smile, a victorious smirk on his face. Surely this will be a fun little treat to toy with.