The Lone Alpha - Rebirth

Chapter 4: Encounter with the Rat

Flesh tore and bone crunched as the crouched creature continued to feast on its prey, its expression one of delight in savoring the most delicious type of meat. Its ears twitched, the faint sound of approaching footsteps drifting close. Its black beady eyes narrowed, its head slowly turning to stare at the only open path in the closed alley.

A figure shrouded in darkness stood silently in the dim lighting, his eyes glowing like yellow pin points. The figure inched closer, his face now visible in the night and oh how angry it looked.

The creature snarled in defiance and greed, its own black eyes glaring at the figure. Raising itself on its hind legs, blood dripped from its claws as it rose to defend its meal.

Daniel glared at the over 6ft tall furry figure, the irony of its stance not lost to him. Covered in thick dark brown - might as well be black- fur, the creature looked every bit like an overgrown rat, if said rat was as big as a man and an abomination of nature.

Its large round ears twitched slightly, resting easy on a large head with an elongated snout and inches long whiskers trembled near its nose. Its thick naked tail trailed behind it, nearly as long as it was tall. A pair of bony hands ending in long sharp claws stretched from its furry robust body and its naked clawed feet held its heavy body firm.

Baring its teeth - revealing fangs lining the length of its mouth ending with pointy buck teeth - it snarled at the intruder in warning.

Daniel shifted his eyes from the huge rat to the dead girl beside its feet, an unreadable expression on his face. He let out a dejected sigh and focused his gaze on the rat once more.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?," Daniel said, his face cold as ice while his blood boiled like lava. "Are you purposely trying to draw Hunters here".

The rat stared at him, its expression, if it could make one, unchanged as it snarled in defiance. " I...fear...no...hunter, you...weak" It said in a disjointed raspy voice.

"Is that so?" Daniel said with a slightly raised eyebrow, mirth finding its way into his eyes." I wonder where a rat like you gets such confidence from." He finished with a shake of his head.

"I'll give you one last chance to leave this city, inform your horde to move elsewhere...or I'll be forced to remove every last one of you." Daniel said, his tone stating it as a matter of fact.

The rat let out a stifled wheeze that could only be interpreted as its attempt at laughter. It’s wheezing ended and it shot Daniel a glare, disdain nearly evident in its eyes

."I..fear..no... wolf." It hissed.

Daniel chuckled, slowly cracking his neck. "Good, good I was hoping you won't comply." Daniel said, his canines lengthening into fangs and his nails grew and hardened. "Let me educate you where your alpha didn’t on what power looks like."

Letting out an enraged shriek- a mix between a hiss and a roar- it charged straight at Daniel, and given the length of the alley, it wasn't a very long run. It appeared before Daniel in a flash, its outstretched claws aiming for his face. An ordinary human would have only seen a blur but to Daniel, its speed was...pathetic.

Slightly shifting his body to the right at the last moment, the claw sailed harmlessly past him. Having put the force of its weight into the attack, the huge body of the rat continued on even after missing, no doubt needing a few moments to orient itself, moments Daniel would not give.

Daniel watched as the rat barreled past him, and at the last moment his hand shot out to grab onto its tail. Feeling its smooth skin slick with blood only infuriated him more and with more strength than intended, he smashed it against the wall. The wall caved from the hit, a near-visible shockwave bursting out like a wave.

Clenching tighter onto the tail, he slammed it into the opposite wall and with a finaL heave threw it at the far end of the wall. The wall trembled, small cracks spreading on its surface from the impact.

Dragging itself out of the small dent it made, the rat growled in anger. Shaking off the flecks on stone on its fur, it burst into a charge slightly faster this time. Daniel snorted in disdain, letting it approach.

He leisurely began to weave between the gaps of the dense net of claw attacks aiming to cleave his skull, a nonchalant, nearly bored, expression on his face.

"Is this all you've got?" He mocked, dodging a claw swipe aiming for his head. Having seen enough, he tightly clenched his fist - his nails digging into his flesh- and threw out a heavy punch, carrying all his weight. His fist tore throw the flurry of claw swipes to strike the abdomen of the rat.

The rats eyes widened, blood spewing from its mouth as Daniel’s fist dug into its stomach. The hit knocked it cleanly off its feet and sent it crashing back into the wall.

"Here I was thinking you'd at least put up a decent fight,” Daniel said. He flexed his hand, taking his precious time watching the rat climb out of the wall. “ I guess it's time to end this."

Stretching out his claws, he dashed forward with a speed the rat found hard to follow. Threatened, it twirled and sent its long tail lashing out like a whip. It streaked through the air at an insane speed, the air whistling in strain but it was futile as Daniel easily dodged it.

Quickly closing the distance, Daniel’s claws lashed out and raked across the rat’s chest. The rat reeled back in shock but it wasn’t the only one shocked. Daniel’s claws left its mark on its chest, ripping out its fur coating, but where the skin should have split and bled it only looked mildly bruised.

"What?!" Daniel could hardly contain the surprise on his face, knowing he should have easily drawn blood.

The rat seeing the little damage was reinvigorated, barreling forward at an even faster speed. Its heavy tail whipped out, splitting the air in its path and this time Daniel only came to senses just as it slashed across his chest. The tail struck with a vengeance, knocking him several meters back. His bare chest peeked from beneath his torn shirt, the skin red and raw.

"Now you’ve done it" Daniel’s voice turned a terrifying low seeing his split shirt. His exhale echoed loudly in the small alley, the gush of air concealing a much more terrifying well of rage.

Shrieking in triumph, the rat struck out with its claws but it soon found out rather painfully the wolf was done holding back…much.

Smacking the approaching claw with a flippant backhand, Daniel’s fist briefly merged with the rat’s jaw. It’s clawed feet dug into the earth as it skid back, and hardly had it regained balance when a punch struck its jaw from beneath and knocked it off its feet once more.

In the same moment as the rat sailed through the air Daniel leapt from below, his fist striking out at its chest. The fist knocked air out of its chest, forcefully nailing it to the ground. Spiderweb cracks spread across the ground, sending small pieces of rock and garbage flying.