Big Red and the Little Wolf

Chapter 6

Kodiak Pov

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I asked Brady as soon as we stepped out of the truck. The four of us had taken the route Lyle had recommended to us and parked the truck on the south side of the forest.

Brady groaned as he shut the vehicle door. “My answer has not changed from the last twenty times you asked me on the drive over here. I’m more ready than ever to hunt these bastards.”

I raised my hands in surrender. “Alright. Alright.”

“It’s okay, Kodi,” Nathan chimed in. “I’ve seen Brady bounce back faster from worse beatings by my wife.”

He and Brady shared a soft chuckle. There were still times that they were able to make light of the way Catherine had bonded the two of them together, but the feeling of hurt from losing her would never fully go away for either of them.

“Fair enough. Today we’re going to split up into pairs.” I surveyed everyone’s facial expressions and watched them nod. “Nathan and Brady, don’t leave each other's sides. Meanwhile, I’ll be with Zane.”

Since no one made any objections, Zane grabbed our equipment bag from the trunk. Zane had wanted to find other ways to contribute to the team as he has yet to get a kill during our hunts. After hearing him out, I told him that he could be in charge of our hunting tools.

First, he handed us our respective guns as we didn’t carry them on us until we arrived at our hunting spot. Once he gave me mine, I turned off the safety. He then passed out our earpieces and trackers. Since we were splitting up, it helped to know each other’s locations and hear what was going on in the different parts of the woods.

When Zane pulled the next thing out of the bag, Brady scoffed.

“A stun gun? Are you serious?” He shook his head. “We don’t need that s**t. If you’re not man enough to kill, you can stay back at the truck.”

“Let him be.” I put my hand on his chest to keep him back. “Stun guns have their purpose.”

Zane didn’t try to hand out any of the other stun guns he brought, but I did notice he kept one on his person.

“Just remember, kid. None of those furbags will hesitate to go for your throat. So don’t pay them any courtesy.” Brady turned, moving closer to the edge of the woods.

“I guess we’re going westbound,” Nathan shrugged before jogging to catch up with Brady.

“Are you ready?” I asked Zane.

“Let’s go.”

I led him in the opposite direction that Nathan and Brady went. As his older cousin, I felt obligated to talk about what had happened at the truck. “We need you to focus today. Don’t let Brady get in your head.”

“He’s getting worse.”

“Twenty some stitches will do that to a man.”

Zane grumbled. “No matter what I do, he’s going to hate me being a part of our team.”

“Listen, I don’t agree with the way Brady treats you, but he has a point. The other day one of these wolves almost took a chunk out of his shoulder. He acts invincible, but the truth is, any one of us could be injured or killed by these predators. All he wants is for you to be on the top of your game, and he forgets that it will take time and practice to match our years of experience.”

“Thanks for always believing in me, Kodi.”

“Anytime.”

As we entered the forest, I could instantly tell why these parts of the woods received less traffic. The brush was thick and many of the trees were so close together that their roots stuck out of the ground, entwined with each other. As wolves loved to run, there were many obstacles in this area that made it hard to navigate through.

Zane and I made it several meters before we found a spot that was dense with foliage and fallen branches. We paused, covering ourselves in the brush and scouting the area surrounding us.

“Check on their location,” I ordered Zane. He pulled out our tracking device that showed a red blinking dot where Nathan and Brady were stationed about a kilometer away. “Nathan. Brady. Can you hear me? How are things looking over there?”

“Everything is clear so far. We’re trying to get to a higher vantage point to see through the thick foliage,” Nathan responded into my earpiece. If it weren’t for my hyper sensitive hearing, I wouldn’t have been able to hear the rustling of branches in the background.

“Are you climbing a tree?” I asked.

“No.” There was a slight pause that made me furrow my brows. “Brady is.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “What is he thinking?”

“Don’t worry, he’s being careful.”

“That son of a b***h is going to keep getting himself injured.”

“It’s fine-” Nathan started before sounds in the background made it very clear that it would not be fine.

It started with the snap of a branch. I could picture Brady falling from the tree with every groan he made at the contact of hitting branches on the way down. He then hit the ground with the thud, groaning at the impact.

“Access his injuries. We’re on our way over.”

Zane stared at me with his mouth open at the exchange. “At least he can’t possibly have any more brain damage than before.”

“Let’s go.” While Zane had every right to make jabs at Brady, this was no laughing matter. Brady’s stupidity could very well get him killed.

Zane and I hustled through the woods by following the dot on the tracking device. We were approaching it just as Nathan’s voice came in through the earpiece again.

“Brady tore his stitches and has a few cuts that are bleeding. I’m afraid we need to get out of here, and fast.”

Any wolf in these woods would have heard the commotion of Brady falling through the trees. The fact that he started bleeding only meant he would be easier to track.

“Start moving south to the edge of the woods. We’ll follow you out and meet you back at the truck.”

The dot on the tracking device began to move. We sped up our pace to join up with the two of them. I controlled my breathing as we ran, not wanting anything to block the sounds of the woods.

As Zane and I came onto the path Nathan and Brady were making out of the forest, I heard a distinct low growl. Just as I made my way around the wide trunk in front of us, a large brown lunged at me. Before I knew it, I was pinned beneath the beast.

His jaws snapped at me, but I was quick enough to grab a fallen branch that I locked in his jaw to keep his canines back. The wolf clawed at the red hoodie, trying to gain any advantage against me. My arms shook with tension from holding the branch that was soon about to snap.

The wolf snarled and stared at me with crazed eyes. Just as I feared the branch would give, the wolf froze. A brief glance at Zane told me that he had used the stun gun. I pushed the wolf off me and stood.

We could have left the wolf and taken our odds of making it out of the woods in time. But we had come here with a job to do. Before following Nathan and Brady the rest of the way, I pointed my pistol at the incapacitated wolf, ensuring that we would never have to face it again.