Trophy Red Alpha

Barking Red

“It’s good to see you!” Mr. Gudman was hugging Claire with all his might.

“We just saw each other two weeks ago!” Claire laughed at the man’s actions.

Mr. Gudman and his colleagues were the only few that made Claire feel like she belonged in Gudcrest. Despite other upper pack houses outnumbering them, they were able to get approval from the Ceres council.

“How’s your father?” Mr. Gudman patted her on the shoulder.

“The same as two weeks ago.” Claire winced at him. Is two weeks really that long for the elderly?

Rosaline was impressed with the interaction unfolding in front of her. Claire’s maturing phase really changed her from the wild Tasmanian to an actual citizen. She recalls times when Claire would hide under her hoodie and express uncomfort whenever someone tries to start a conversation.

“Rosalina! You shine as bright as the moon!” Mr. Gudman's arms spread wide for a hug.

Not being much of a hugger, Rosaline politely leaned in for a hug. “Thank you, sir.”

“Nigel is there in the bleachers.” He turned to point with his cane.

The boys waved. Rosaline waved back as Claire gave them the finger high in the air while Mr. Gudman was still facing his sons. Claire soon felt a strong and tight grip from Kelisa, giving her a side glare. Fear shot through the redhead.

“Well it was great chatting with you, young ladies.” He turned back to face the girls. “I wish you luck on the hunt.” He left them a smile.

A sudden pain shot up Claire’s neck as soon as Mr. Gudman started walking.

“Scream. I dare you….” Rosaline was furious with Claire’s gesture from earlier. “Be better, Claire!”

“Ok! Ok! OK!” she whispered hastily as she sunk down slowly.

The students were all lined up, side by side. Some were still stretching while others were shaking their limbs loose.

“Remember Claire, you have to act as if this is a tournament,” Rosaline reminded her.

“Right. Clean kill only.” Claire reassured her.

“Alright!” The coach shouted to his class. “Baiters and chasers, prep yourselves!”

Rosaline, along with a few other students, stepped forward and transformed into their wolf forms.

“Remember to stay within yours and your partners' limits! Chaos will result in failure!” The coach warned. “If things go south, killers must stay behind the starting line while their partner leave the hunt zone. The pros in the stands will then know when to step in and go from there. Clear?!”

“Clear!” The students shouted as the wolves barked loudly along.

The coach quickly blew the whistle, causing the transformed student to dash for the woods. The leaves crunched under the rushing paws as they weave their way through the trees. Claire sat on her knees and closed her eyes to keep her hearing focused on Rosaline and the prey.

Not even five minutes in and trouble brews. A wolf is frantically trying to shake a rampant moose off its tail. Everyone assumed it was part of the plan, but the Gudman's noticed that a student at the starting line had a silent heart attack while gripping his head.

“Boys.” Mr. Gudman commanded.

The brothers immediately transformed and bolted to the rescue. The girl continues to dodge the moose's attempts to stomp her life out. She kept trying to get past it, but the loud stomp kept startling her. The moose grunts and snorts, making it difficult for her to focus. It then lets out a cry of pain.

Nigel has hold of it left hind leg. The moose tries to stay balanced and free from Nigel’s teeth. Billy barks and runs past the student for her to follow him to safety. The moose uses more force to try to escape, but Nigel already judged it too angry at them to let it live. He yanks its leg roughly, breaking it before letting go. The moose tumbles to the ground, screaming.

Billy and the student made it safely back to class. After transforming, Billy immediately tends to the student.

“You’re safe now.” Billy smiled while rubbing the panting wolf’s chest. “Focus on catching your breath before transforming. We don’t want you to get nauseous.”

The girl barked as she laid down, still trying to catch her breath.

“We were aiming for a fox,” her partner informed her. “Thank you for stepping in.”

“Next time, try ‘Hey! That’s not a fox!’ versus pulling your hair.” Billy placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.

“R-right.” The boy said nervously.

Nigel's barking catches billy’s attention. He transforms to aid his brother in taking out the moose. He soon links minds to communicate as he runs.

“I thought you crippled it!” Billy linked, confused.

“So did I!” Nigel snapped, trying to go for another leg. “Apparently this one’s a reincarnation of Satan’s helper!”

Billy tries to go for the right hind leg but winds up dodging due to the moose's quick reflexes. It then backs up, ready to take both of them on.

“Great. It’s a handicap champion!” Billy groaned.

“Just make an opening for the ne-“ Nigel is cut off by loud, rage-filled barking.

A black and red wolf stampedes towards the moose and quickly manages to latch on to its neck. The brothers snapped out of their shocked expressions to bite the rage beast’s front legs. It shakes its head, nearly hitting Billy and Nigel with its antlers. The red wolf swings its weight to knock the moose off balance. As soon as the leg lifted, Nigel bit down hard, and yanked it. The creature began tumbling to the ground with a loud snap. The red wolf breaks its neck, causing it to go limp.

“Kill steal!” the coach shouted.

This puzzled the boys. Who was this beastly wolf?

The multi colored hound starts barking viciously towards the forest, ready for its next opponent. A whistle rips through the air. It was their father calling them to return. They were too concerned with the rabid barking from this unknown student. Another whistle, yet more aggressive, demanded them to return. They started to crawl back to their dad’s side, tuning out the barking.

“Who is that?” Nigel linked Billy.

“I don’t know, although they need to chill with that barking.”

“Faster, boys!” Mr. Gudman yelled. “You’re in the way!!” he waved his cane for them to hustle.

A loud bloody roar filled the air as Rosalina ran past the brothers. Their hearts nearly escaped their rib cage when they heard the bear cry and saw their friend race pass them. Then Nigel remembered the other student. He quickly turned only to be amazed.

The student somehow got a polar bear to topple over on its back to the ground. He froze with his mind going blank. He didn’t know how to hand a full-grown polar bear without the oldest brother. Billy bumps into his brother to bring him back to earth.

“Did you hear me?!?!” Billy cried. “What do we do?!”

A loud snap followed by the bear’s painful scream filled the transformed students' ears as most of them flinched. The student managed to break one of the bear's arms. It lunges for the polar bear’s neck but gets a nasty, claw-filled slap. The wolf growls in retaliation and dives in once more.

The other pros that came to scout were all frozen in fear and amazement. The wolf catches the swipe from the still working arm and then yanks it forward. The bear lands on its stomach. The hound then goes for the neck once more and quickly breaks it.

The bear goes limp. The student then lies on top of the bear's body and lets out a victory howl.

“Alright, Claire!” Rosalina cheered loudly as Mr. Gudman follows with a chain of celebratory whistles.

Billy and Nigel became dumbfounded. They could not believe they got outdone by a runt. What’s worse is the news of a runt performing better than two Gudman brothers combined. The eldest brother would scorch them if it wasn’t against the law. The students and other professional hunters applauded Claire's achievements.

Claire transformed to catch her breath by sitting on her knees. The brothers, Rosaline, and other wolves soon turn human as well. Rosaline jogs her way to Claire, passing through the brothers. She does a quick spin to give them the L on the forehead, making them more agitated than they already were. Claire remained on the bear's corpse still trying to catch her breath while panting.

"Great work, girly!" Rosaline patted Claire's furry rump but did not expect a startled reaction.

Claire's pants turned to heavy breaths after Rosaline's changed her expression.

"Claire." Rosaline was now in a scolding state. "Change."

Claire began to whine for mercy as she tried to maintain steady breathing through her snout.