Reborn as the Lycan Beta

Chapter 2. Oops, I Miscalculated

Duke POV

The Princess’ pack territory lay in the Northern forested tip of Chrea, in the Blidean Atlas, just by the coast of the capital of Algiers, but our destination was further south, in the heart of Chrea itself.

Lycans, by nature, are quick, and we could’ve covered the trip in an hour. However, with the help of magic technology, the risk of getting sighted by late-night commuters was reduced to a minimum. An hour of running became a mere minute with the help of a disposable warp portal scroll courtesy of the Imperial Magisterium’s magic tools supply. Quite expensive and few and far between, but we were given our fair share of limited supply yearly for major operations like the one we have at the moment.

The heart of Chrea lay quiet. From the intel we received during the briefing, this region, apart from the Northernmost area which was ruled by the Southern Kingdom’s Pack Union, is home to a couple of small Lycan packs and three wolf packs, a barrel of monkey shifters, and a community of avian shifters. One would think this mountain, heavily populated by Mediterranean Cedar trees, was a busy neighborhood and was therefore safe from any underground activities.

Quite the contrary, however. It was the perfect area for our targets to ply their trade: slavery. Because of these different groups of shifters in the region, there was a delicate balance that the local populace needed to maintain.

Tonight, being a new moon would’ve been counterproductive for many shifters. After all, shifters during the new moon have low energy levels according to several scientific studies.

Or at least that was for regular shifters. For Lycans in our pack union and those in the military, we’ve made ways to go about it.

It looked like it was the same for these rogues in the slave trade… or was it?

Standard full stealth, Orion said through our link. Bite those mouthguards if you have to.

Yes, Alpha, many replied. By then, everyone was in position.

Alpha, the voice of a female Lycan called out through our pack link. Shipment will be in ground zero in approximately one minute.

It was Pearl, an omega who doubled as a warrior maid when we weren’t on operations. In our pack, omegas were the same as everyone else. Bloodlines may determine the activities you’re inclined to do, but they don’t dictate your actual worth. Pearl was an exemplary model for that. She was a natural at housekeeping and caregiving, but she was also an exceptional tracker, spy, and assassin.

Alright, thanks Pearl, Ori replied. Everyone, position.

Yes, Alpha.

We already had that forest mapped and thoroughly memorized during our briefing, so we knew where to position ourselves. In tonight’s mission, ground zero meant the slavers’ temporary camp. From the intel report we got, it seemed more than one shipment arrived, and receivers came from different directions. Not surprising, since a few days back our spies reported that several communities, wolf and Lycan packs or otherwise, had fallen victim to raids and rogue incursions for the past week.

Don’t go in yet, I called out to the rest of the squad.

Shall we give these guys some time to settle down? I asked our Alpha. After all, we want them to be caught unaware.

We still have a couple more hours left of scent neutralizer, he linked back. D-time will be in thirty minutes. Until then, have Blaser and Yugo take out peripheral guards.

Roger, I replied as I saw the red spots that Orion marked on his map. I wonder how he did that for a second, before switching my attention to the two Wepawet and giving them specific instructions and coordinates of their targets.

Uhm, Mateo hissed. Incoming guard approaching my spot.

I could feel energy hovering among our squad. These guys were most likely holding back their laughter, even through the link.

But then, such was Mateo — not only was he the youngest, but he also tended to be the unluckiest in our team. Ever since he started joining our operations, 4 out of 5 he has drawn the most unpleasant situations among the squad. Not that we were complaining. After all, our precision and timing seemed to have improved even more since he entered.

Grab him, Mateo, Orion said. But stay low af—

Done, the younger Lycan said.

I looked at Orion and shook my head. He merely shrugged.

—

The main bulk of the operation began earlier than expected. We originally waited for thirty minutes, but fifteen minutes later, the slavers had unloaded their tools and were already beginning to pool the food they hunted. I could feel everyone cringe at the mixed smell of meat and the cesspool stench of these rogues.

These guys pulled out about ten minutes before they reached the drop zone, Pearl said. I thought back then they went back to their rogue hideouts or something.

Based on our intel, this group of rogues had a leader, but there was no rogue king, fortunately. Most likely these guys were locals.

Hold up, Orion said. Don’t attack yet.

And he was right to call off any movement from our side, for a minute later I could smell it — it was only slightly familiar, but it definitely had a certain scent to it that was distinguishable amongst the people of the south.

A noble Southerner.

Sheikh Omar Yasin, I chomped at my protector while I messaged through our squad link. His Highness Khalid’s suspicions were right. These slavers had no ordinary backup. Yasin was one of the richest and most powerful sheik-alphas in the Southern Kingdom. His influence ran deep both in the merchant guilds and assassins’ guilds among the various States of the Southern Kingdom. He was so well-connected, that he nearly married the current Sultana Luna of the South, had she not been the Sultan Alpha’s fated mate.

And most likely, this guy has a backer of an even higher status — maybe even someone from the deep recesses of the Southern Kingdom’s Palace. No wonder the South Kingdom needed our interference.

I once again bit on my protector to keep myself from growling and growing my fangs.

Ori, however, remained impassive.

Get ready, he said. First and second waves, drop in five starting NOW.

There was no need to count. Our squad was trained for this. When it reached zero, the remaining outer periphery became inaccessible from the outside; the first to fall were those hunters already stalked by the first wave. Simultaneously, various rogues fell as our men and Pearl dropped on them.

Avian! I hissed a warning through the link as Ori and I looked at our live map; one had been a sparrowhawk while the other had transformed into a sandpiper.

On it, responded Blaser. In a split second, both “birds” were down and caught by Pearl’s two kukris before they could shout a warning.

The warrior maid, however, did not stop there. The camp had become chaos. Almost. Our Lycans had to switch to either their bipedal dire or their full wolf form. While our Lycan wolves growled, howled, and barked as they fought the rogues, the inevitable noise also kept everyone focused on them. Rogues who attempted to scream were silenced by our men, who had transformed into dire forms before air could even get out of their voice boxes.

The sheik’s escaping! Pearl, who had become a dire herself, roared as she ran after the evil sheik. Behind the corrupted noble was a bulkier guy dressed in all-black.

S**t! Orion growled as he dropped to the ground, still untransformed. As his Beta, I immediately followed him.

Ori and I sprinted as quickly as we could; in a split second, I realized why he cussed.

Ori had one of the sharpest noses, but the black-robed man, apparently some sort of assassin-bodyguard of Omar Yasin, nearly eluded him.

I only realized why Alpha became alarmed as we got closer.

Roll away Pearl and follow Omar! Ori shouted through the squad link.

Yugo and Blaser, follow! I barked. Yugo need not be told; for he was already ahead, attempting an intercept. Blaser, on the other hand, had switched to his dire phase and was preparing something with his “bone weapon,” which reminded me so much of those evil-looking wands those villains had in my nightmare…

Meanwhile, Pearl had ducked as Ori had instructed, then proceeded to chase the corrupted sheik down.

And just as well, for the black-clothed figure that had been Yasin’s bodyguard suddenly ripped his clothes and transformed into something gargantuan, scaly, and green. And enraged.

Motherf***er! I roared as I transformed directly into my dire form.

While Lycans and werewolves have similar physical appearances as werewolves, both in wolf and biped forms, we Lycans are larger. We are also faster, stronger, and tougher compared to them. Plus, we have innate skills that wolves do not normally have.

Yet what really separates us from them is our higher “evolution” form: we could become dire wolves and dire bipeds. When we reach the dire form, our bodies grow bone plates so tough that it rivaled many metals. One would think Lycans are perfect to hunt because of this, but our plates cannot be harvested when we are dead, so too bad for them.

Not only do these plates make us harder to kill, but they also give us a fighting chance against the likes of stronger groups and shifters in TwinWorld, including dragons.

Like the one before us.

Over here! I called out to Ori as he ducked the weredragon’s cedar tree-sized tail. Ori did just that, and just in time, too — I summoned a shield, my innate skill, as he dive-rolled towards and behind me, just as the gigantic lizard pulled back rapidly and suddenly breathed out a huge blast of orange fire.

F**k! I cringed as I deeply breathed in and tried to summon whatever energy I could. As part of our pack, we were trained to know and learn our innate skills. Apparently, mine allowed me to “borrow” energy from my surroundings to form any shield.

D*mn I hate this, Orion grumbled through our link. By the time he had finished rolling and gone behind me, he had completed his dire form.

It’s alright man, I told him. I’m your Beta, remember?

Ori, however, would have none of it. When the dragon had finished breathing out the fire the prince ran full speed — which, by the way, was ten times faster than the fastest Lycan on official records. Don’t tell him about it; he feels it’s a boring skill.

Personally? The way I saw him move, I have a feeling it’s just one percent of his actual innate Lycan ability. After all, his wolf’s name is said to be from an ancient deity. I wouldn’t be surprised if my best friend’s wolf is really a god-incarnate.

Watch out! I shouted as the were-dragon breathed out another fire burst. I was ready; I had my shield up as I ran forward.

Ori, on the other hand, was his usual daring hunter self: suddenly he dove down below, in between the dragon’s legs, then with his bone plate-tough claws, he wedged his talons in between the shifter’s plated armor.

The dragon screeched in protest and tried to look down and reach Ori. He even tried to fly, but Ori’s Lycan strength was no mere shifter’s strength.

I took advantage of the situation as the dragon tried to move about to untangle himself from the Hunter Prince. I ran, as fast as I could, clambered on the back of the dragon all the way to his head, and, using my bony plate-tough claws, gripped in between the scales as I summoned all the energy I could.

The dragon protested as a shield of light wrapped around his head. He tried to breathe another stream of scorching flames, but the tongues of fire bounced back on him instead. That, of course, meant that those fiery, sulfur-littered flesh-cooking noxious gases were going to cook me alive if I didn’t do something about it.

S**t! I growled for I was surely going to be toast, but my body moved on its own by making a second shield that acted like a film around my body. It was a last-ditch effort, so of course it was fr**king hot!

You can just imagine how it looked that night. It was dark, and two Lycans were doing a rodeo ride on a rampaging were-dragon.

“Here horsie lizard, be a good boy now,” I hollered, partly afraid of getting thrown and blasted off, and partly enjoying the wild and wonky ride as I held fast to the raging dragon. Ori, on the other hand, looked like a lone matador trying to direct the angry shifter’s attention toward him.

Whoah boy, Ori muttered through our link. We’re lucky sonuvab***hes that it’s the new moon tonight or we’d have a real headache on this one!

Yeah, but had it been another phase of the moon we’d also be rampaging Lycans, man, I said.

I swear I’m going to study harder about shifters in the future, f**k it! He mind-linked back while growling aloud before he turned semi-dire wolf mode. His head became a full wolf head, which he used, together with his long claws, to tear some of the enemy’s underbelly scales just like one would rip off a band-aid. Ouch.

Err… band-aid? Where did that come from?

I suddenly realized I had my mind go off to somewhere. I shook my head to pull myself back together and concentrate on the shields I made. A sudden idea came into my mind.

I thickened the shield I had wrapped around the dragon’s head. I had a feeling that the shield could block the air. Of course, this was a bit risky, considering that I would also be limiting my oxygen supply, but I think this oversized shifter would most likely run out of air faster than me with the way he kept on spitting fire bursts in trying to break away.

Duke, Ori growled through the link with a warning tone. Don’t overdo that man you’re going to —

Eventually, the dragon transformed back into a naked man, and he was probably thinking both Ori and I would let him go.

Too bad for him, however: sometime after, he would be among his fellow slavers, but in his case, he’d be wrapped in my shield until he got shifter restraining cuffs on him.

Or so I thought.

The world got dimmer. It looked like I was running out of air, too.

I guess I miscalculated.

Darkness overtook me before I could think some more.

—