Big Red and the Little Wolf

Kodiak Pov An uneasy feeling came over me as I trekked deeper into the woods. Normally, being in the woods never bothered me, especially when I was with my best mates. Even though I spent my time in the woods on a daily basis, this time sent a chill down my spine. We had entered the land my parents were killed on. "There's one over here!" I heard Zane shout from my far right. I ran towards the sound of Zane's voice and judging by the sound of multiple footsteps, so were Nathan and Brady. Leaves crunched under my boots as I sped across the forest floor. The gunshot sounded before I could reach him. "What happened?" Nathan asked. Every one of us had rushed over to be back up for Zane, but now that we were all gathered, there was nothing but the trees surrounding us. "I thought I had him," Zane began, shaking his head in disappointment. "You let another one go?" Brady asked. "I didn't mean to. I could’ve sworn he was in range, but I couldn't hit him." "I bet you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with that gun," Nathan jabbed. "Unless you're just blowing smoke up our asses. This is the second time you've called us and there's been nothing there. Pretty soon we're going to start calling you the boy who cried wolf," Brady added. "Enough guys," I said. Them giving him a hard time didn’t do any good. "Zane is still new. He's bound to make some mistakes so lay off. I think we've been out here long enough for one day. Let's head back to town. We can get some drinks at the pub." "Great. We drove all this way just to go back home empty handed," Brady complained. "It's only a half an hour drive." My comment caused Brady to roll his eyes, but he proceeded back to the truck regardless of his irritation with us. While he and Nate walked ahead, I pulled Zane back to talk with me as we walked. "Don't let what they say get to you, Zane. You did a really good job in training, now you've just got to get some more experience on the field." Zane was a younger cousin of mine. He recently graduated high school, but had taken training from his mother on hunting. When he said he wanted to carry on the family tradition, I had no objections to him joining our team. Both Zane and I were eighth generation werewolf hunters. Our strong family line meant that both of us inherited traits from our parents that allowed us to track werewolves and even the playing field. Our enhanced abilities included a heightened sense of smell and reflexes much faster than the average human. These abilities may not match the same level as an alpha’s power, but that’s where the silver bullets came in. "Thanks, Kodi. I’ve been trying to apply what I learned in training, but it’s just so different when it’s for real. It will take a bit to get the hang of it.” "I totally understand that. I think for now it would be best if I stay with you during our hunts. That way, you can be more confident having someone at your side and your call for us doesn't notify the wolves of our presence." Zane looked down to hide the red tint of his cheeks. "I guess I didn't think about shooting the wolf before shouting for you guys." "It's alright. Let's go catch up with the other lads." The entire truck ride was silent. No one was too happy about missing out on a kill today, especially Nathan and Brady. They tended to be a little more hot headed and became emotional when a hunt didn’t go our way. Though we had all lost someone from the wolves in one way or another, they held their personal vendetta in a closed fist. Nathan and Brady hadn’t known about werewolves all their lives as I had. When Brady became my best friend in high school, I had kept my identity as a hunter from him. Nathan had only joined our friendship when he married Brady’s older sister, Catherine. They didn’t find out about hunting until one night, a small band of wolves came to the area and tore Catherine to pieces. She had been on her way home from visiting a friend when she got a flat tire. As soon as she stepped out of her car, they mercilessly attacked her. The two sought revenge on the beasts, and I offered to show them how to prevent cruel attacks like that from happening again. From that point on, we became a team. Now I couldn’t imagine hunting without them. Though they lacked hunter blood, their strength and vigor went unmatched. When we walked into the local pub, the first person to greet us was Mikey, the owner. Though we couldn’t share what we did for a living with anyone, Mikey knew about our work in the woods as he had been a long time friend of my parents. He’s always looked out for me, even before my parents passed away. Once I was out of school, he offered me a job bartending at the pub. Though the government secretly funded our work to keep the werewolf population down, it wasn’t necessarily the highest source of income. "What can I get for ya, Red?" He asked me. Most people around town called me Red because of the red hoodie that I always wore. It had been my father's before he died, and was now one of the few ways I could keep him close to me. "Just a round of ales for the lads." "Coming right up. Did you get one today?" He would never specify that he was referring to a wolf in the case that someone could overhear us. Mikey always showed interest in the successes of our hunts; he hated the bastards just as much as the rest of us. "Nah. We weren’t so lucky today. There are a lot of them surrounding those woods, though. Their stench is everywhere." "Be careful. I know you're searching the area where your ma and pa were killed." "Don't worry 'bout me, Mikey. I'm one of the best hunters 'round here. Besides, the guys have my back." "I know. Here are your drinks." Mikey set four glasses of ale down on the bar in front of me. I slid him the amount of cash that covered our drinks and his tip. "You've got a shift here tomorrow night, yeah?" "Yeah." "Ok I'll see ya then." I carried the glasses back to our usual booth, where the guys had already sat down. "How long are we going to be hunting in those woods?" Zane asked. Since our small town in the outskirts of Ireland didn't always get much activity, we moved around to forests in different areas to find our wolves. While a lot of what we did was hands-on by searching throughout the woods, there was a good amount of research on the computer that went into the job as well. We often had to scour through news articles and blogs about recent sightings to find out where we were needed most. The amount of time we spent in a particular area varied depending on the amount of wolves spotted. If there were only a few found, we could be there for days or as long as it took to kill them all. When a forest was extremely active, on the other hand, we could be hunting in the same place for weeks on end. "Until we kill all the bastards in them," Nathan responded. "You know it's not as simple as that," I reminded Nathan. It was my goal to protect my younger cousin from being treated too harshly. The boys weren’t going to let Zane’s f**k up go without taking a little bit of their anger out on him first. "Maybe, but if anyone can make damn sure all of those wolves go to hell, it'll be us." "Yeah, we're some of the greatest hunters to ever live," Brady chimed in before taking a once over at Zane. "Well, most of us." "Shut it, Brady. It's a lofty goal to hunt and kill every single one of them. We have no idea how many of them are in that area. All we can do is keep tracking them there until we get a lead," I reasoned. "Kodi’s right. He’s been doing this longer than all of us,” Zane said. Brady rolled his eyes. “You would stand by the side of your big protector.” His comment went ignored by Zane. “Are we going out there tomorrow?" "Brady and I wanted to," Nathan answered. "You can let me know if you need anything,” I said, “But count me out tomorrow. I’ll be bartending here.” Nathan shrugged as it didn’t really matter whether I went with them or not. Nathan and Brady’s connection to Catherine had brought them closer together. Besides, they had gained enough experience to be able to hunt without me. They probably even preferred going without Zane and I. "Zane, I think it would be better if you stayed back like Kodi," Brady told him. I noticed how Zane's hands began to turn whiter as he tightened his grip on his glass. If he didn't stop soon he was going to break it. I sent him a look that said to leave it. Bringing in more conflict was only going to hurt the group. "That's fine. You two have fun,” he said through gritted teeth. We shifted our topic away from hunting to avoid any more tense conversations as we finished our ale. Before the guys could talk me into staying for another round, I stood to leave. After a long day of wandering through the woods, my bed was calling me back home.