Big Red and the Little Wolf

Chapter 5

Kodiak Pov

The scent of blood hit my nose as I wiped down one of the tables in the pub. I surveyed the room, trying to find the source of the smell. No one appeared to be in any danger.

Mikey was chatting away with customers that sat on the barstools while the men at the tables clinked their glasses of ale and shared stories from their glory days. When the faint scent of blood grew stronger, my gaze fell to the door.

Everyone in the pub remained unfazed because the danger wasn’t inside. If I didn’t have the blood of a hunter, I wouldn’t have been able to detect the smell. It had been a quiet night of bartending, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any commotion to occur outside. After a night of drinking, it wasn’t uncommon for brawls to break out inside and in front of the pub.

I returned behind the bar for a split second to toss out the dirty rag. Though Mikey was in the middle of a conversation with two burly men, I was able to catch his eye. I gave him a curt nod as if to say I needed to step out for a second; either for a break or to check something out. He would just have to wait and see.

With his nod of approval, I made my way to the solid wooden door to the pub. It creaked as I pushed it open. The pub had been around as long as anyone could remember. It was rumored to be the first building established by the town’s founder. My father used to meet with his friends at the pub long before Nathan, Brady, and I chose it as our retreat.

At first glance, nothing was out of the ordinary. However, my senses wouldn’t deceive me. Since I didn’t find anything out front, I rounded the building to follow the scent of the blood, now mixed with two other familiar scents.

My two best friends soon came into my line of sight. Nathan stopped pacing as soon as he saw me, but my gaze was drawn to Brady. Not only was he leaning against the side of the pub, but he was holding his shoulder that was soaked with blood.

“What the hell happened?” I asked, though it didn’t take much explanation to figure it out on my own. The two of them had been way in over their heads when they went hunting in those woods by themselves.

“We let more of ‘em get away,” Brady grimaced.

“There were only two out there and we thought we had them until they split up. When Brady went after one, he was attacked from behind by the other,” Nathan explained. “The wolf got him deep in the shoulder, but if I didn’t get a hit on it, we might’ve lost him.”

“I’m glad you were both there to have each other’s back. We couldn’t replace either one of you.”

If Nathan shot one of the werewolves like he said, hunting there was about to become more complicated. They knew we were looking for them, and the next time we went there they would be more prepared.

Brady groaned, reminding us he needed immediate medical attention. I took a quick look at his shoulder wound in the limited outdoor lighting of the pub. It looked like Nathan had used a spare shirt to wrap tightly around his shoulder to reduce the bleeding. This was a good temporary fix, but it wouldn’t hold up for much longer.

“You’re losing a lot of blood, lad.”

“Can we take him in the back to patch him up?”

“No, we can’t go inside. It’s unsanitary and as much as Mikey respects what we’re doing, he doesn’t need his back room turned into an infirmary.”

“Then where can we take him?” Nathan asked.

“Let’s get him into the truck and take him to Lyle. He’ll know the best way to take care of this.”

While Nathan ushered Brady to the truck, I gave Lyle a quick call to give him time to prepare for us. Since we hunted supernatural creatures, hospitals weren’t our first choice for medical attention. It was possible to pass the injuries off as random wolf attacks, but the less questions we received the better. In addition to that, Lyle’s cabin was much closer to hunting areas than any hospitals by being on the outskirts of towns.

Nathan took the driver's seat and I joined Brady in the back. As we rode to the cabin, I used extra fabric from the torn shirt to replace the wrap on Brady’s shoulder. He groaned as I tightened it, but we had to slow the bleeding as much as we could until Lyle could close his wounds.

When we arrived at the cabin, Lyle was already outside waiting for us. Brady groaned as we helped him out of the truck. Though he was in pain, it was much easier to move him since it was only his arm that was injured. Together we led him to the basement of the cabin.

In contrast to the cozy, wooded atmosphere of the cabin, the basement was a cold room surrounded by concrete on every side. The decorations in the basement were our hunting gear. Weapons and silver ammunition adorned the walls that weren’t already covered by maps of our hunting grounds.

When we stepped into the basement, I pulled out a chair for Brady to sit down. Lyle wasted no time as he started unwrapping Brady’s shoulder. Meanwhile, I rummaged through drawers of our medical supplies. Nathan helped me by laying everything on the table for Lyle.

“First, we’re going to disinfect the wound.” Lyle poured rubbing alcohol onto a washcloth before placing it against Brady’s shoulder. Brady hissed through gritted teeth. “You never know what kind of germs those bastards carry.”

The next thing Lyle reached for was the needle and thread. The wound on Brady’s shoulder needed to be stitched up to prevent him from losing even more blood. Nathan and I watched in silence as Lyle stitched each puncture from the teeth of the wolf.

“Now I have something special for you,” Lyle said as he cut the thread. Understanding exactly what he was referring to, I handed him a bottle of ointment. “This concoction comes from our earliest ancestors. Some family members believe it’s the reason our healing process has adapted throughout the generations.”

Brady sighed as Lyle applied the healing mixture to his closed wounds, proving the instant relief it provided. Once Lyle finished with the ointment, he wiped his hands and began wrapping Brady’s shoulder in clean gauze.

“How soon can I go back to those woods?” Brady asked. He made a fist on his injured side, testing out the movement.

“Take it easy,” I advised. “There is no reason for you to rush back into hunting after we just stitched you up.”

Brady shook his head. His passion for hunting often overtook his common sense. “We’re the only ones who can stop those beasts. A couple bite marks are not going to stop me from putting down these giant dogs.”

“No one is stopping you from hunting,” Lyle stepped in to mediate. “Kodi does have a point though. I would recommend you rest for a few days while the injury is still fresh.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“It’s not safe for him to go out there at less than a hundred percent. We have to be on top of our game otherwise injuries like this will keep occurring,” I argued.

“Who put you in charge anyhow?” Brady snickered.

“Should I remind you that I taught you everything you know about hunting?” I rested my hands on the table, ready to lunge at him, his injury be damned. I would show him just how outmatched he was with only one good arm.

“Enough,” Lyle demanded. “I’ve hunted those woods before. I know firsthand that they aren’t for the weak. If you lads are going back there, you can’t be at each other’s throats.”

“Agreed,” Nathan chimed in. “We’ve already had two unsuccessful hunts and there will be more if we aren’t looking out for each other. Lyle, since you know those woods, is there anything you could share that would help us out?”

Lyle nodded and gestured towards the map on the wall. We followed him to take a closer look. This map had names of towns, but its detail lay within the forested areas. Red X’s marked places that were known to have higher populations of wolves. The largest X of all ran through the spot where we had just started hunting.

“Where have you been entering the grounds?” Lyle asked.

“Right here.” I stepped forward to point out the location where we parked the truck.

“You’ve been entering on the east side of the pack’s territory.” Lyle took out a marker and outlined a section of the woods. “This is where I’ve approximated their borders. Do you see how directly below this are two towns that are even smaller than ours?”

The three of us nodded. The towns were almost unheard of as they didn’t have a population large enough to build a pub. There wasn’t even a reason to travel through them as nothing of interest was on either side of them.

“You should start hunting on the south side of the pack. It’s a bit of a farther drive, but they don’t suspect that they will be spotted there and it will be less guarded.”

“Thanks, Lyle. When we get the chance in a couple days,” I glanced at Brady, who didn’t react, “The four of us will take our chances in the south.”

“If you run into any more trouble or need help of any sort, you can always count on me.”

The lads and I shared a smile. “We know.”