Reyna shouldered her bow and glanced around. She was fairly close to certain it had been a false alarm, but a Pack Leader had to set certain precedents, and not leading a hunt for the pack's most wanted traitor was unforgivable. Besides, this was personal.
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A loud cracking of dry twigs heralded the arrival of Bobby, her young Beta, who stumbled to her side. "Excors." she hissed, not turning her head. Bobby would never make a tracker, and certainly never match her old Beta-she cut her thoughts off. Thoughts of the traitor were thoughts wasted. Bobby shifted position, loud as Hannibal the old elephant in the silence. "Seen anything?" he whispered far too loudly. Reyna mutely shook her head, extraordinary ears re-casting her 'net' over the forest.
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Then she sighed, and relaxed her tensed muscles. Why she was even bothering to search, she still didn't know. Quite apart from the fact that this was clearly a false alarm, she had trained the traitor herself, taught him all she knew and more. He knew how she hunted, what she'd do to find him-and not only that, but he had charmed away the best of her warriors; brave, gifted Frank, shy, powerful Hazel, clever, fearsome Gwen, and so, so many others, leaving her with the dregs of a Pack-oblivious, stupid Bobby, narcissistic Octavian, useless Dakota, tiny Julia, and then elderly, useless ex-warriors. She supposed at least she knew his fighting style, which should have been some consolation, but held none.
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The whole thing was just so unbelievable-why would Jason leave? Reyna was sure she'd never know. She turned to Bobby. "C'mon, kid. There ain't nothin' here.". Bobby nodded solemnly "Okay. How will we-". And then, behind him, a twig cracked. Reyna's eyes widened, and then she grinned. There was something inhuman about her face when she grinned, Bobby thought. Something feral, predatory. A hunter, baring her teeth, readying herself for the chase. Of course, if she hadn't looked like that, it would be far more disconcerting.
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"Change o' plan, kid." she mouthed. "We're going hunting.". And the wolves sprang.
/AN: Okay, so this may take some explaining. It's a Reyna-centred AU, in which she's Alpha of the Lupinus Romani (Roman Wolves) or Lupinus Iovis (Jupiter/Jove's Wolves), who were an influential, fearsome Pack with large territory and members until her Beta/Second, Jason Grace, defected to another pack with the best of Reyna's warriors. She's attempting to find and punish him for betraying them, but she thinks it impossible, especially with the depleted Pack she now has. However, things are about to change with the arrival of a fugitive wolf...
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The word Reyna uses when Bobby comes crashing into the clearing, excors, is Latin and supposedly means idiot. According to my Latin dictionary, at least-if anyone actually speaks Latin and I'm either using itwrong or there's a better word I could use, please feel free to correct in a review or PM. Ditto the Lupinus Romani/Lupinus Iovis thing.
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The paragraph separator is a little wolf :D
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