Slight PP to get them where they're going; you have permission for PP for the remainder of the thread, lol. Sticking an M tag on it, too...
Desi did indeed pause to shift onward to her slimmer, more agile lupus form about as soon as she dropped into the bush. Her sides were heaving, and her tongue rolled out in an effort to cool her body. But she was having more fun than she had had in a long time! She was tense, but it was a good tension, the kind that let you know you were ready to make your next move when it came. Perhaps she wanted to be caught, but she was hoping it would be on her terms, and her muscles were prepared to run.
Saluce caught her off guard, however; she was not expecting him to leap into the bush from behind her. She had been peering out and around a tree, and he had just so happened to circle around it the other way and get the jump on her. She crashed out of the hedge, strands of her fur catching and remaining on the plant. Her tail tucked low to keep it out of reach of Saluce's jaws (for that was one sure-fire way to end the game, you see, if he had grabbed her by the feathery plume), Desi ran flat-out, but one more thing served to get in her way.
The merled girl slipped easily between two trees, but she had unwittingly trapped herself. A thicket, hidden in plain sight, stood before her. And behind, at its mouth, was Saluce, blocking the only way out. She approached the male and nuzzled his neck and upwards to his jaw, rubbing her side along his front. She giggled, still wound up with the adrenaline from their race. Trapped! You win, she observed merrily, her head turned to look at his face.