The Reincarnated Wolf

First Kill

[REN POV]

For three days, we traveled by foot. Our group hunted for food and camped together every night. And every night as everyone goofed off together around the fire, I kept my eyes locked on that warrior. The hate rooted in my soul grew every moment. It turned into a physical pain like hunger. I felt like I was starving.

This hunger took over on that third night. My body moved on its own. My movements were silent and agile until I reached the spot where the warrior was resting. The snap of a stick under my foot woke the man. Instead of a look of panic, the man looked up to see my cryptic smile before I ran off into the trees, silently.

My footfall created no noise. I moved as though I was weightless through the dense trees. I didn’t need to look behind me to know the warrior was in pursuit. I was surprised but delighted the warrior hadn’t called out to me. He just pursued me like I was the prey. In his eyes, I was a naughty kid playing some sort of game. A wicked smile took form as I watched the warrior look around and sniff.

It was easy to make him lose my trail. I easily scaled up this tree without a sound. I produced no scent of my own, so he spun around in confusion. When I was among the group it was impossible to determine who’s, scent was who’s without approaching each of us, a task that seemed silly. But now he’d have to explain how he lost a recruit just miles from the boot camp.

The confusion on his face was beautiful. I could only smirk as his face turned into panic as he smelled the approach of rogues. I knew there would be rogue wolves around. Rogue wolves are wolves who have been cast out of their packs. Usually, they are criminals in exile. With no pack ties, they slowly lose their humanity, becoming wild beasts.

Rogue wolves are drawn to pack lands and other congregations of wolves. It’s like they still yearn for the connection to a pack. With the boot camp being the largest in this area of the continent, I knew there would be rogues around if I just went far enough away from the path, away from the talismans lining the pathway.

The small hoard of rogue wolves circled the warrior before he could plan an escape. He’d been so distracted in his pursuit he’d missed his window to escape. The rogue wolves began their relentless assault. Even a royal warrior couldn’t do much against a hoard of rogues like this. He had no backup, no plan. He began to cry out for help from our travel party, but one of the rogues bit into his throat, silencing him but not killing him.

No rogues like to play with their food. They don’t just cleanly kill their prey. I swung my legs in delight as I sat on a tree branch watching the c*****e below.

I didn’t allow them to kill the warrior though. They got too noisy too quickly as they fought each other over their meal.

I dropped gracefully from the branch. The rogue wolves all looked up at me, letting out snarls. I felt a slight pressure in my eyes as I smirked at the rogues.

The rogue wolves once snarling at me whimpered softly. I looked in the direction of the camp and the rogue wolves darted off in that direction. I had no idea why they seemed to obey my unspoken command. Nor did I care at that moment. I heard a wet gurgle come from the mangled warrior on the ground at my feet.

I straddled his body and dropped, sitting on his torso. I pulled him up to a sitting position, just like he did to my pack member. I smiled at the agony in his eyes. The movement was causing him immense pain.

“Can I tell you a secret?” I said as I ran my hand over the open wound on his abdomen, where a rogue tore into it. Another wet gargle sounded as blood flowed out of his mouth.

“I can’t hear you.” I teased as I grabbed his hair and forced him to nod. Blood squirted out of the bite wound in his neck. His eyes squeezed shut as another wave of pain surged through his body.

“I’m not from Era,” I said. As his eyes began to close, I frowned, realizing he was too weak to bare the pain. I slapped him so hard I heard a crunching sound followed by another gurgle of blood.

“I’m a moon weaver. I watched you kill my pack. You couldn’t ensure there were no survivors.” I cackled as his eyes widened. He tried to speak but only choked on his blood.

Then a sound interrupted. The rogues must’ve reached the camp and began their assault. I frowned slightly.

“Now everyone will just think you were killed by rogues. Don’t worry though, I will make sure to kill every one of you that killed my pack.” I assured as I pulled his intestines out through the gouge in his stomach.

Then I reached back into the wound and grasped his heart. I felt it pulsating in my hand. I enjoyed one last look of terror passing the warrior's face as he felt my grip tighten.

“Suffer.” I said softly, almost sweetly, before ripping his heart from its cavity.

As if I had no control over my body, I began consuming the lump of flesh in my hand.

I devoured your heart. That demon wolf’s declaration rose from my memory.

When I was floating in the infinite sea of death. That ominous white wolf proudly declared that it feasted on my heart. Now here I was feasting on this man’s heart. Not even in wolf form, I was consuming him in my human form, which should make me retch.

Is that demon wolf really apart of me? I thought grimly before another scream in the distance brought me back to the task at hand.

I wiped the c*****e from my mouth with my sleeve. Then I darted back in the direction of the camp, moving impossibly fast. Even for a werewolf, my speed was unfathomable. Not to mention how silently I moved. It was like I was a ghost.

As I broke through the trees I saw the chaos. The small hoard of rogues was picking apart the camp. Even though we started with fifty boys, this much smaller group of rogues was causing an insane amount of damage. I watched the bulkier kid from earlier begging two rogues that had cornered him.

As much as I wanted to sit back and enjoy the show, I couldn’t let all of them die. After all, I needed to maintain my hidden identity and agenda. Then I saw the leaner male that spoke up for me earlier in our journey. He was covered in blood and holding his own against a fully transformed rogue werewolf.

I decided to hurry over and help him first. However, I had no idea what I could even do. I couldn’t scare them off like I did earlier. Not only was I not sure how I managed to do that, but I also didn’t want to broadcast that kind of ability. I looked around for a weapon.

When we started this journey, they handed each of us small blades to help with bush wacking, but mine was still beside my bedroll. I rummaged through the now-dead warriors’ bags and found his stash of knives and a few other kinds of blades. I grabbed the bag and started tossing the different blades to some of the others who hadn’t bullied me like children. I hoped no one questioned the fact that the rogues seemed to ignore me as I swiftly moved around them, heading toward the leaner guy.

When I reached the taller guy who stood up for me the first day, he was using his bare hands to hold the jaws of a rogue wolf open. The rogue’s teeth had pierced through his hands.

Without thinking, I plunged one of the knives into the top of the head of the rogue. The rogue’s body immediately went limp and slumped over. The tall and lean guy let go, allowing the rogue to drop to the ground. He looked at me surprised, yet there was no trace of fear on his face. I handed him a longer blade, then redirected my attention to the attacking rogues.

My fighting training is minimal compared to most werewolves my age. However, my body seemed to move on instinct. I’d always been more agile than others, but my movements as I fought the small hoard of rogues were as though I was performing an elegant dance.

As I plunged the blade I kept for myself into a rogue’s neck, I watched their form shift back to their human form before their breath ceased. What surprised me was the look on the man’s face when he shifted. A look of release, almost a look of pleasure. A faint smile on his lips.

Thank you master. A gruff voice entered my mind.

Did this rogue just mindlink me? How would that be possible? We have no link formed between us. There is no way. I must’ve imagined it.

“They’re retreating!” A frantic voice brought my attention away from the dead rogue hanging on the end of my blade.

Sure enough, the remaining rogue wolves were running back into the trees. There were only five or so remaining. I watched their retreat in confusion. Their tails were tucked under their bodies in fear.

How is that possible? I couldn’t help but think.

Rogue wolves are incapable of fear. They’re feral beasts that have lost all ties to their humanity. All they know is c*****e. They are known to attack mercilessly until the end. The only way to end a fight with a rogue wolf is to kill them. There is no negotiating with them. Just win or die.

“Why are they running?” a low voice spoke beside me.

I looked over to see the leaner guy watching the retreating rogues. His eyes were filled with confusion and a hint of caution. Rogues weren’t capable of organized attacks. I doubt they were regrouping to strategize. Nor did I believe this could lead to a sneak attack. It was impossible for a rogue to sneak up on someone. Their smell alone was alert enough to a wolf even prior to one’s first shift.

“I don’t know. We should get moving,” I said honestly.

“We need to find Warrior James,” one of the injured boys said.

“We don’t know where to go,” another boy added. His voice was shaking along with his entire body.

“You want to go running into the woods blindly?” the lean guy next to me asked.

As the group frantically argued over what we should do next, I began to rummage through the Warrior, whose name is apparently James, belongings. Luckily, I found a map of the area.

“Anyone good at reading maps?” I asked calmly.

The group of arguing teens looked at me. Before the lean guy stepped forward. He gently took the map from my hands.

“I do. My parents were trackers.” He spoke, but his eyes never left the map.

Were. He used past tense. He must’ve also lost his parents. I couldn’t help but soften my gaze towards him.