Hell Hound

Chapter Five

Chapter Five.

After a buffet style breakfast of mostly protein, all the juveniles split into groups. Dominant and non-dominant. They were then divided up again into smaller groups of around fifteen. Kiara was in the fourth non-dominant group. The twins were in dominant 5. They started the day off, not with drills or games, but with a first aid refresher. Kiara wasn’t sure if they expected injuries during the training camp, or they were just trying to rattle them. First aid should have been a part of every pack’s standard training, but Kiara soon figured out there was more to it than their standard how-to. For instance, she had no idea how to bandage an injured wing before that morning. Nor did she know that if a horse, or other large shifter needed CPR, they literally had to jump on them to get good compression. It was all kind of interesting. Kiara wasn’t the only wolf from her pack in her group, Connor and Beth were there too, but they ignored her. Their group was a mix of different species. Wolves, foxes, bears, deer and most surprisingly, a spider. Spider shifters were extremely rare and solitary creatures. There were rumoured to only be a handful of small packs scattered around the world. They would normally never attend something like a training camp. By the look of it, she was the only spider in attendance. They were pretty easy to spot. Spiders were unique from any other shifter in that they preferred a form half way between human and animal. This spider looked mostly human from the waist up. Her dark hair was cut in a serious bob. Dark red eyes narrow and glaring. Pale arms crossed over a generous chest with fingers tipped in sharp talons. Below her waist was pure spider. An enormous thorax supported with six shiny black legs. Her hard spider body gleamed in the overhead lights of the gym. Black with three red diamonds running down its back. Spiders, Kiara knew, were widely regarded as monsters. Even amongst shifter kind. Kiara felt like she could understand her far better than anyone else at the camp could have. The only difference between the two was that Kiara’s monster wasn’t on display for all to see.

After lunch Nick made his way to the field out the back of the hotel where he was training his first group. They would be running in the woods just behind them. He had dominant 7 and non-dominant 4. He was surprised to see the spider in his group, but didn’t linger on it. He’d been told she would be attending the camp. He was interested to see what she could do. “Alright.” He addressed the group. “We’re going to start with a simple training exercise we call Wolf and Rabbit. No offence meant.” It was usually played by his own wolf pack. “It’s pretty simple. There will be two groups. The rabbits who run and the wolves who chase.” He eyed the group and picked out a few Rabbits from the non-dominants. A red-haired bear, a few deer, a fox and a small dark-haired wolf that was avoiding looking at him at all costs. Nick instantly pegged her as the most submissive of the group. Even the flighty looking bird shifter was at least looking at him while he spoke. “The finish line is a small hill southwest of here. If the rabbits make it there, they win. If the wolves catch all the Rabbits, they win.” A wolf kid put his hand up. Nick raised an eyebrow at him and waited for the question.

“Two legs or Four?” he asked.

“Pick whichever you want.” He waited while the majority of the juveniles stripped off their clothes and shifted. The boy who asked to shift paused just in time to whisper, not so quietly, to the submissive wolf girl.

“Better run fast Rabbit.” He sneered. “Don’t want me to catch you.” He shifted then into a wolf that was an unfortunate shade of brown. He looked like he’d been rolling in mud. Nick remembered to keep an eye on the boy. It was just bad form to bully a weaker member of one’s own pack.

“Ready!” He called before signalling the start of the chase. The Rabbits took off first. Scattering in different directions. “Oh, and watch out for the traps!” He shouted. He and his packmates had set a few basic traps in the woods. Just for fun. He waited 90 whole seconds before signalling the others to chase.

Kiara ran. At first she tried to run slowly like a typical non-dominant might. But as soon as she heard the crashing sound of pursuit, her wolf surged to the surface and begged to play. The thrill of a real challenge was too much for them both. Kiara picked up speed and the forest floor rushed beneath her feet. Her ears sharpened, her nose started picking up more and more scents. The scent of so many wolves permeated the bush. Instinctively, she knew this was another pack's territory and she was following the scent of several of their members. All of which left the path just up ahead of her. She veered left where they had, going around a fallen log instead of leaping over like she normally would have. She paused to look, realising the log had hidden a pit fall of all things. She recalled the last thing she’d heard her trainer yell. “Traps”. She’d have to be more careful. Or? Her eyes wandered upwards.

As fun as her three days in Cold Tea Creek had been, they were nothing compared the game of wolf and rabbit. Kiara ran, climbed, jumped and switched directions so many times that anyone following her trail would be chasing their tail for ages. Every now and then she’d let herself get close to a “wolf” letting them get a glimpse of her before she disappeared again. Kiara had never been chased before. Unless you counted the other children chasing her away from their games. But the pure excitement of knowing they were trying so hard to catch her. She caught sight of Connor. A dark grey wolf covered in big patches of muddy brown, running just ahead of her. With mischievous excitement, Kiara ran up beside him and smacked his flank playfully. He yelped then growled as she darted passed the wolf on her two legs. She laughed and caught up to the bear he had been chasing. “Come on!” Kiara yelled to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her as they cut to the right. The bear didn’t resist, recognising Kiara as a fellow “rabbit”. Connor didn’t have time to turn and barrelled straight into another trap. He yelped as he was swept up in a snare. Connor turned back to holler curses at them as he hung naked by his ankle. The bear laughed.

“Thanks.” She said. They separated again as Kiara was pulling ahead. The red-haired bear was starting to tire. But Kiara still had adrenalin to burn.

Nick waited at the finish line. The juveniles had been running around for the past forty minutes. He had driven ahead to the clearing on the hill. The first of the “wolves” had started arriving. Two dragging a caught “rabbit”. “There are still Rabbits to catch. Better get going.” He told them. “You too.” Just because they had caught someone didn’t mean they couldn’t catch another. Groaning, they all trudged back into the trees. The two deer who had been caught, sat down on the hill to catch their breath. The game was over for them. The next to come through the trees was Terra, the spider. She was carrying the bear and fox on her large spider body. They were tightly wrapped in what looked like thick spider webs. A shiver went through Nick. Better them than him. Yuck! Another broke into the clearing. He was surprised to see the submissive wolf darting out. The spider, startled as well, reached a long black leg towards her. But the wolf spun expertly to dodge and dart around. She came to a stop in front of Nick. Breathing hard, cheeks flushed and smiling. Bright dark eyes met his. For a moment Nick was transfixed by her. She was only a foot away, the last rabbit he would have expected to make it to the hill uncaught. And she had clearly loved the chase. He cracked a small smile; he couldn’t help it. “Congratulations.” He told her. “You win.”

“You b***h!” the sudden yell, finally breaking their eye contact. The muddy wolf charged the girl, shoving her to the ground. “That was a dirty trick you pulled.” He growled. The girl glared up at him, looking like she wanted to sink her claws into him.

“It’s not my fault you walked into that trap.” She spat up at him. He went to strike her again, but Nick got in his way.

“Enough!” He barked. The juvenile instantly backed down in the face of the more dominant wolf. He looked away, down at the ground, showing his submissive nature. As the most dominant wolf present, it was Nick’s job to make sure the juveniles stayed in line. They were at a crucial and difficult stage where their future rank in their own pack was being decided. Add in hormones, and it was a wonder they weren’t trying to rip each other’s throats out. The tension in the group was broken when a bear dragged the last deer “rabbit” into the clearing. “Alright,” Nick said. “You’re all done for the day. Walk back to the hotel and shower before dinner. You all stink.” There was a collective groan.

“Walk?” a girl complained.

“Or run. I don’t care.” Nick turned to the little wolf who’d won the game. She had picked herself up off the ground and was dusting off her clothes. “You won so you can get a lift with me.”

“No thanks.” She said quietly, turning towards the trees. Her flushed smile was gone. Nick felt a strange tug inside his chest. It bothered him to see a non-dominant treated the way she had just been. He watched as she jogged into the trees with the others.

“How about you Terra?” he turned to the spider that was busy unwrapping her prey. At least she was kind enough to release them instead of letting them figure it out on their own. “You did catch two of them.” Terra looked over at his hotel golf cart and raised one thin eyebrow. With her spider body, she was roughly the same size as the cart.