The Alpha's Second Chance

Chapter 14- The Edge of the Black

Kaelen POV

The east side of the territory is eerily quiet; there is not even a whisper of life coming from the nature surrounding us. I move through the undergrowth with a few of our pack members, each of use holding our breathes as best as we can. Our senses our heightened more in our wolf forms, but even now we cannot hear a thing. It is as if all sounds have been vacuumed out, leaving nothing in their place.

The feeling is making me and my wolf feel sick, after all we rely on all of our senses and with our hearing gone we are off kilter. But then that may be the hunters plan.

Why we are being attacked by hunters is unknown, they have not attacked us for years, since Alpha Silas took up the lead of the pack. He had managed to strike a deal with them, yet tonight they are here and breaking the peace treaty.

I kneel by the creek bed running through a part of our territory, pressing my claws into the soft mud, before looking down and sniffing the ground.

There, in front of me, is a boot print and from the scent it is fresh. Only a few minutes old. The print is deep, clear and obviously from a tactical boot due to the trad left.

"They've split up and appear to be heading into the territory in the direction of the pack house." I send through the mind link, "the print is only a few minutes old, so we are not far behind. Some of you stay here and search the area, the rest come with me. We fan out as we head back to the pack house." I order.

There is a ripple of nods from the other wolves, as they quickly and silently agree the roles between them before splitting into two teams and the smaller one starts to search the area around the creek.

The team that comes with me blurs into the wind, all of us running fast but silently back to the pack house and hoping that we make it back before the hunters reach there. Better yet, we find the hunters and take them down.

We are only a few minutes away from the pack house when we come across the hunters, they are all geared up in their tactical outfits, their movements precise and synchronized. However, they were still easy for us to spot when they moved, plus their scents could not be masked.

"Standard formation," who appears to the leader whispers into his communications, "the target is in the pack house. Extraction in priority one, terminate any fur-bags that get in the..."

The sentence is never finished, before he could give the final command which would wipe out most of my comrades, I launch myself from the shadows, my wolf opening his jaw and clamping down on the man’s neck.

Blood flows from the man and into my wolfs mouth and fur, but this does not stop us. while the metallic taste makes us both feel sick, the thought of pack members being killed because of this man’s order compels us to continue.

My action had alerted the other hunters to our presence and now the scene is one of chaos with muffled screams, guns being fired and knives being unsheathed. But most of the hunters did not get even a second to defend themselves before the warriors with me attacked them.

The group of hunters is small, so they are neutralised within seconds, which makes me feel uneasy.

A sound to my left makes me look up and I see that we missed one hunter, I stalk towards him but stop in my tracks when I see that the hunter is a young boy, who can be no older than seventeen or eighteen. But what makes me fully stop, is that his scent in intoxicating to me and my wolf whimpers in my mind.

I stop and tilt my head slightly, making the young boy laugh aloud for a second before he catches himself. I shift back, grabbing some shorts tied to my ankle so that I am not flashing everything to this stranger.

"Who sent you?! I growl, my wolf stepping forward a bit and flashing in my eyes, "Why are you attacking us?"

"I don't know." The boy responds, his body shaking in fear.

I realise that scaring him may not be the way to go. so instead I crouch down a few feet away from him, my comrades standing behind me in their wolf forms so the boy knowns not to try anything.

"Why don't you know?" I ask, gentler this time.

"I was just told to come along on this mission and be a distraction if needed. I do not know who the target is or what is going on, I thought we were here to save someone but..."

"But?" I ask.

"But what are you? How did a wolf turn into a human? Am I dead?" The boy looks at me, confusion and terror fill his eyes.

I don’t answer him, instead I ask him another question. “How did you get caught up in all of this?”

The boy points to a hunter at his left. One of my warriors nudges the warrior with his snout and the body rolls over to show a woman’s face,

“She is my caretaker.” The boy whispers.

“You mean parent?”

The boy shakes his head. “I am not allowed to call them that, they are my caregivers. I was…” The boy breaks down, unable to finish his explanation.

I sigh, I don’t think we are going to get much more out of him. I mind link to the warriors.

Sir, I do not feel comfortable killing the boy nor putting him into the dungeons. There is some odd feeling towards this boy, as if I want to protect him. Like what I felt earlier when Alpha Silas came home with the lady. One warrior responds, to which the others nod their heads.

I sigh, it is clear that this boy had been deceived in coming here, and there must be more to his story than meets the eye. And with the others mirroring my thoughts and feelings, I decide to step in for the boy.

"Will you do everything I say?" I ask the boy, who quickly nods his head in agreement. "You try anything, and the wolves behind me will tear you to shred. Understand?"

"Yes." The boy says.

I stand up and pull the boy up as well, gripping his arm and trying to hide my surprise when sparks flood my body at our touch.

Mate. My wolf growls.