CHAPTER THREE
1219 Words
As they assembled, Kane's penetrating gaze scanned their faces, a sinking feeling settling in his chest as he noted Amaris's absence among them. "Has anyone seen Amaris?" Kane's asked .
Yet despite his inquiry, the others appeared equally perplexed and unable to provide any answers. Under Kane's piercing gaze, Luka, Amaris's mate, squirmed uneasily, his eyes betraying a flicker of guilt.
On noticing this he addressed Luka directly. "Luka," Kane called out, his tone laced with urgency, "do you know where Amaris is?" Luka hesitated, his words stumbling out in a rush as he struggled to explain.
"She... she seemed upset about something but i dunno what it was," he began, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "I tried to talk to her and calm her down, but she ran off into the woods before I could stop her."
Kane's jaw clenched with frustration at Luka's words, a surge of anger coursing through him. He could sense that there was more to the story than Luka was letting on, but now was not the time for accusations.
“We must find her,” Kane declared, his voice iron-hard beneath the moonlight. “Spread out. Search every inch of this forest. We do not leave our own behind.”
The wolves all howled in agreement and dispersed.
What they did not know was that their howls traveled farther than was intended.
Far beyond the outer ridge, concealed among cedar and shadow, figures shifted.
Rifles were raised.
Night-vision scopes flickered to life.
They had been tracking the pack for weeks mapping patrol routes, counting numbers, studying weaknesses. Patient. Methodical.
Waiting.
And now the wolves had revealed themselves.
A gloved hand lifted slowly.
A silent signal.
Advance.
The hunters moved like ghosts through the undergrowth, boots careful, breathing controlled.
Wolfsbane-coated bullets rested in their chambers dull metal tipped with poison meant to burn from the inside out.
The forest grew still.
Too still.
The forest had gone unnaturally still. No wings fluttering in the canopy. No insects humming in the brush. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
His nostrils flared.
Metal.
Oil.
Humans.
His head snapped toward the eastern ridge
The night tore open.
A muzzle flash burst between the trees.
The c***k of the rifle came a heartbeat later.
One of his wolves jerked violently, collapsing before he could even cry out.
Then the darkness ignited.
Gunfire ripped through the forest in rapid succession, splintering bark, shredding leaves, punching through flesh.
Wolves shifted mid-fall, bones snapping, claws tearing through skin as instinct overrode thought.
Someone screamed.
Someone howled.
And then the forest was no longer silent.
Chaos erupted.
The first wolf shifted mid-stride.
Skin tore.
Bone snapped.
Fur burst through flesh as claws replaced hands.
Then the others followed.
The forest filled with the wet c***k of transformation and the roar of something no longer human.
They charged.
Gunfire answered.
Muzzle flashes split the darkness brief, violent bursts of white. Bullets tore through bark and muscle alike. One wolf slammed into a hunter, jaws locking around his throat before a second shot rang out.
The wolf collapsed mid-stride.
An acrid smell rolled in seconds later.
Kane could smell it clearly now wolfsbane.
The air itself felt contaminated.
Another wolf stumbled, black veins spidering from the wound in his shoulder. He tried to rise. Couldn’t. His body convulsed once before going still.
Screams tangled together human panic, wolf fury.
Blood soaked into pine needles, steaming in the cool night.
Then Kane shifted.
Not like the others.
The change did not rush him it claimed him.
His spine bowed under the surge. Bone split and reformed with a sound like timber snapping in a storm. Muscle thickened. Shoulders widened. Fur tore through skin in dark waves as something ancient forced its way to the surface.
He did not fall into the shift.
He rose into it.
When his forepaws struck the earth, the ground answered a dull, felt impact that silenced even the gunfire for half a breath.
Alpha.
The word did not need to be spoken.
It was felt.
He lifted his head slowly, eyes burning gold through drifting smoke.
And then
He moved.
A hunter barely had time to widen his eyes before Kane struck. The rifle snapped in half. The man followed.
Another tried to fire.
Too slow.
Kane’s claws carved through Kevlar and flesh.
“Hold the line!” he roared, his voice cutting through the chaos.
The pack rallied to him, forming around his presence like iron to a magnet.
But the hunters were disciplined. They repositioned. Advanced in formation. Fired in controlled bursts.
They had done this before.
A young wolf charged too far ahead.
Three shots.
He collapsed mid-lunge.
Kane felt it.
Not just saw it.
Felt it.
Like something inside his chest tearing loose.
Another of his own had fallen.
Grief hit first.
Then the rage that followed. Was not loud or wild.
Kane was experienced and he knew how to channel his rage
With a snarl that shook the canopy, Kane surged forward. The earth split beneath his weight as he tore into the hunter line.
Bodies scattered.
One man lifted off the ground and slammed into a tree hard enough to splinter bark. Another barely had time to scream before Kane’s claws drove him into the soil.
The formation faltered.
Hunters stumbled over one another, their clean angles collapsing into chaos.
The Alpha did not slow.
He carved through them, fury given muscle and fang.
Then
A sharp whistle pierced the air from one of the hunters.
Precise. It was a strategic retreat. They were being overwhelmed
The hunters disengaged with chilling discipline. Cover fire cracked through the trees as they dragged their wounded into the dark, boots pounding against roots and fallen branches.
They did not run blindly.
They withdrew.
Deliberate.
Controlled.
Like men who knew this was only the first strike.
Gunfire faded into the distance.
Smoke drifted between the trees.
And Kane stood in the wreckage.
He shifted back into human form slowly, bones realigning with a sickening restraint, breath dragging in shallow pulls. The metallic scent of blood clung to the air.
Five wolves lay motionless.
Their bodies were scattered across the forest floor fur darkened, limbs twisted, eyes forever fixed on a sky that offered no mercy.
The survivors stood in silence. Some clutched bleeding wounds. Others trembled as wolfsbane burned beneath their skin. Torn flesh. Scorched fur. Bruised ribs rising and falling with labored breaths.
Victory felt hollow.
Kane moved to the nearest fallen wolf and knelt. His hand hovered for a moment before resting gently on cooling fur.
Five.
Five under his watch.
His jaw tightened.
When he rose, grief was there but it did not break him.
“We have lost blood tonight,” he said, his voice low, steady the voice of an Alpha who could not afford to fracture. “And we will mourn them as family.”
His gaze swept over the wounded.
“But this pack still stands.”
A pause.
“Rest. Tend your wounds. At first light, we bury our dead.”
His eyes lifted toward the dark forest beyond.
“And then we find Amaris.”
No howl followed.
Only quiet agreement the kind forged in shared loss.
The pack began to move, carrying their fallen home.
- Writer
