Chapter 11: Executing the Plan
Moving the pack was no longer a part of the plan, it was a losing battle in many ways. Alfa, each time he return ranting about how he was a Guardian, only began to worry his family more and lose their trust in him. Also, as he discovered, his demons still resided there, so the pack was the last place he wanted to be right now. As a result of this and many more issues, a new plan was needed. It took a while, but in the end it came together, deal with the hunters before they struck the pack in under a week's time!
The new plan came together after a few days of thinking and hanging around, the boys never coming to a conclusion. Alfa had his part to play, as did Oscar. It was Alfa's job to continue working in the café and hope they came back for another "meeting" there. Clearly, his boss new the man they were hired by, and according to her, he was a regular customer. So Alfa's task was to patiently wait for him to return, hopefully bringing the hunters with him and then follow them back to wherever it was they were staying or living, letting Oscar know as soon as he does. Oscar in the meantime, his responsibility was to search the web, find any background information on these guys or their employer. When he was bored of that, then to search the borders of the forests for any hunting cabins where they could be staying. He managed to find something about the suited man.
He was a big time holiday architect. Apparently, the guy wants to build some wilderness holiday village in the middle of the forest. But according to news reports and newspaper articles, his permission was denied due to the wolf population of the forest. Four massive packs were held in the forest, and his permission was always going to be denied if they were there. But being the big time person that he is, and this was common sense to figure out, he couldn't go to some extermination company to get rid of them. The bad press he'd get, the scandals, the reports, the crimes! So therefore, he went out in search of rumours and found two of the best game hunters in the state. Everything was confidential, if anyone knew that he was planning this mass extermination, then he'd be jailed for a long time. All he needed was proof that the wolf populations had either moved away to a safe distance or had reduced in numbers to make it safe to build nearby. Until then, he could do nothing.
Two days after their last plan failed, it finally came around. The hunters and the suited man walked in and instantly Alfa took action. He alerted Oscar with a text, who ran to the café and sat in the corner, acting like an ordinary customer, waiting patiently like a wolf stalking its prey. It was a little over an hour that the three left and parted ways once more, only this time, Oscar followed them and continued to even after they drove away in their car. His heightened senses proved very useful, the faint scents of stale blood and gun shells was what he followed for six miles to the outskirts. Even if it wasn't for the smell, you could certainly hear it no matter how far it went. It was a rugged jeep type vehicle. Clearly, not very well maintained. It was dirty, it barely ran, it had multiple problems, why was it even on the road?! As it says, he tracked them for miles out of the town and to the northern outskirts of Jasper Park to a small cabin, a part of the forest he never searched. This was all he needed. So now that they had discovered their location, a plan of action was needed, and it was to be the most fun of all.
They sat up a little straight and peeked over the hedge both Alfa and Oscar was knelt down behind, the cabin of the hunters before them, their jeep there as well and the hunters coming back and forth from the building to it carrying small boxes to loads inside. What was inside them, they'd rather not know; guns, ammo, animal parts?! They had been here, knelt down and concealed for a nearly half an hour now. After discovering their location yesterday, they thought up of some perfect sabotage. But they needed them to leave first. They loaded one fail crate together, taking a moment to get their breath back while sharing a few last minute words before stepping into the jeep, starting it after a few attempts with a push of thick, black puff of smoke and a screech of the tires. They ducked as they drove passed, careful not to be seen. After they were sure they weren't, they peeked back over, watching them drive down the thin, man made drive and towards the town. They weren't in human territory yet, so they had to be extra careful they weren't spotted in this canine form. On their backs, they each had a bag full of things to use. It was the perfect fit to fit this body, even after they changed. It was perfect for them. "Ready for this?" Alfa asked. This was the point of no return. There was no turning back after this.
"I didn't come all this way to not." Oscar grinned excitedly. "Hell yes I am!" So with that, they stepped out, quickly stepping onto human property and therefore a human body was automatically replaced them. The cabin was just a bad as the truck. The windows were covered in a think layer of grease and algae, little light would shine through them and inside. Panels of the walls were cracked; parts of the roof looked unsafe and broken. Oscar found a partly open window, so he called out for Alfa while he struggled to open it, finally doing so with a little help. The pungent smells inside, it was tough to stand it. Not only that, but they failed to notice something very important which they'd regret later on.
"Come on, let's just make this quick so we can get out of here before they come back." Alfa leapt in first, quickly followed by Oscar who vaulted through to the appalling appearance of the place. It was the same on the inside as it was on the outside. Dirty, dark and gloomy, beer cans littered the place, overfull ash trays on a short wooden coffee table. The smells, the sights, how could someone live like this happily? Maybe it was a tem home for them? Maybe they have a few places like this and they stay in different ones depending on where they hunt? The roof leaked, metal pots caught the water that trickled through when it rained, the walls looked rotten. Alfa looked to his right; this long one wall seemed devoted to one specific thing. Heads of caribou, stuffed birds of prey, buck antlers, basically…their poor unfortunates. Spaces were left in some areas, tags in those saying. "Alpha wolf" "Omega wolf" and things like that. Clearly, these places were reserved for their next victims. The victims Alfa was going to be sure they weren't going to get.
"Why do humans do this?" He asked, keeping his eyes on each one.
"It's a way some show their skill in shooting." Oscar answered as he stepped to his side. "Hunters gain respect for doing this from others. It gross really." He continued and nudging Alfa's shoulder. "Come on, let's mess this place up a little."
"How more then it already is?" Beside Oscar, a table with a lamp sat. He simply flicked it and knocked it off, smashing it as it hit the floor.
"Just like that." He grinned devilishly. This wasn't quite the plan, and at first Alfa was a little reluctant to go through with it. But the more he watched Oscar start flipping over the couch and throwing plates and ashtrays around, the more he began to see that this could help. Well, he also didn't have much of a choice, not when Oscar put a chipped plant pot in his hands. So he threw it with a smile, finding this was growing fun.
They removed the heads and stuffed animals from the wall and through them back out the window, trashing the place all the more before they began to next part. They found a good enough piece of wall beside the window and removed their bags. Packed inside them, they each had a few cans of spray paint. If you can add it all together…one now perfect wall plus kids with spray pain equals fun! They painted their own little message Alfa's one standing out the most with big, red, bold writing. "MURDERERS!" That was all he wanted to write, it was clear enough. Well…it should be anyway. He left Oscar to carry on the paint work while Alfa resumed work on ruining the other rooms, going further back into the cabin to find the kitchen. But in here, there was a different smell, a smell he found rather enticing. He followed it to the fridge, and upon opening it he discovered it was stocked full of raw meat. This, compared to everything else, wasn't so bad.
"Huh, caribou meat." Alfa said amusedly and pulling out a chunk. "These guys have good tastes." It was fresh, so it had to have been put in here in the last day or two.
"Hey Alfa! Come on man, we need to hurry!" Oscar called back out. He dropped everything and returned back to the first room, continuing on his work with the wall.
"Is it wrong to be enjoying this?" Alfa wondered as they painted away.
"Dude, while you human, ignore everything you learnt as a wolf. This is a different life so you can be a different you."
"But I still feel the same." Alfa took this moment to stop and Oscar soon did also. "I was taught to always be good, to never break the rules. That was pack life."
"You're not in a pack anymore." Oscar persisted. "In this body, you can live exactly how you want. With me around, I'll teach you the good things of being human." He grinned. Alfa smiled in return, he had a point. Maybe there was a good thing about this curse after all. "Damn, I've run out." Oscar growled and throwing the spray can behind him. "I knew I should've brought more."
"We've done enough." Alfa added and taking a quick look around. "We've been here long enough, let's go." Oscar agreed, they had to be idiots to not see what their message was.
They walked back to the door, Oscar stepping out first and Alfa just behind. It wouldn't have matter what order they stepped out in, it equalled the same thing. Suddenly, Oscar was grabbed from around the door and slammed against the wall as soon as he stepped outside. It hurt, the impact of his face against the wood. Alfa stepped up to help, but he too was also grabbed and slammed against the other side of the door and held there, the person behind both of them quickly grabbing their wrists and holding them behind them.
"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law." A man growled as he handcuffed Oscar and a woman behind Alfa did the same to him. They were cuffed and restrained before they could react. Even with their wolf and human strength mixed together, they weren't strong enough to get out of this one.
"Oh god damn it!" Oscar growled in anger. How did they find them? They were, more or less, in the middle of nowhere, so how did they know? A look up showed something they'd never have thought of. This place maybe pretty bad looking, but the burglar alarm just above the door wasn't. It was a silent alarm, so it didn't make a noise, but it would alert the police of a break in. He growled to himself in annoyance, right before the both of them were quickly yanked and pulled away towards a police car just outside. They were walked to it, far enough away so the boys wouldn't have heard them approach unless they strained their hearing. They were pushed back to lean against the car, the forest was right in front of them., freedom was right there. But they couldn't, not with these beady eyes watching.
"Now what were you boys doing in there?" The man asked.
"Boys just being boys." The red haired female answered for them. Alfa found he was scared, what was going to happen to him? Oscar however, this wasn't the first time for him, he was just annoyed he'd been caught spray painting again.
"I wasn't asking you." He snapped towards her. Fiery temper it seems.
"Do you have boys at home Bob? I don't think so." She replied, calmly but with authority. Both Oscar and Alfa couldn't help but snicker quietly at the amusing situation. "How about you assess the property and I'll contain these two." She then suggested. He wasn't happy, that mush was obvious. So he didn't say a word while he turned around and stormed inside, soon mumbling to himself. "Now boys…" She then continued. "Why on earth would do you this? You realise the deep trouble you're in right?"
"Well…" Alfa started, but soon he found himself wondering. How does he respond? In this time of all moments, he had to think about it now?! In this body, he was a young adult, a seventeen year old teenager. Whereas in his wolf form, he's an adult, capable of already having a family by now even! So how does he answer?
"Hello? You still in there?" Oscar wasn't answering, and neither was Alfa it seems.
"So what happens now?" Oscar then asked. "You contact our families? Lock us up for a night?" He didn't sound so bothered.
"Well, we're going to have to contact your parents, then you'll need to pay for any damage done to the property. Maybe even do some community service if the judge see fit."
"Yeah, good luck with that." Oscar chuckled. She however found it a little less amusing, why was he laughing?
"If you find them, tell them I said "Hi" too." Alfa added, laughing as well.
"What? Think I can't find them?" She asked competitively.
"Well, if you're so sure then you must be a pretty good cop." Oscar then said.
"Claire!" The man then bellowed as he appeared in the doorway. She turned her back on them, giving the boys a moment to do anything to get away. But what? What could they do? "You should see what those boys have done to the place!" Alfa looked down to his feet; a small rock was right beside his foot. Maybe he could…
"Well…file a report and take an inventory of everything. Then we can get out of here." While they shouted back and forth to one another, Alfa leaned over to Oscar.
"Get ready to run into the trees." He whispered. Oscar didn't understand, but he nodded nonetheless. "And get your hands in front of you before you get there." He looked back down and positioned his foot beside the rock. "This had better work." He flicked his foot, kicking and flicking up the rock and into a bush nearby. The woman heard it and faced the direction it came from. "Run Hank!" Alfa suddenly shouted. "Just run and don't stop!" The woman reacted as trained, placing a hand over her pistol and starting her chase in pursue of the imaginary "Hank". It was their opportunity, nobody was watching them.
"Police! Don't run!" She shouted as she jumped into the hedges where she heard the bushes rustle.
"Go, now!" Alfa then added and ushering Oscar in another direction from her. They stopped; they jumped on the spot and swung their arms underneath them to bring their hands in front of them, making changing safer and less painful now.
They ran again, they jumped and changed as they passed that invisible border into. It was a plan Alfa was unsure of. He knew their clothes changed with them, disappearing and reappearing each time they changed. So would the handcuffs do the same? Nope, they didn't. As they landed, they stood still and shook off the cuff. They could now just slide of their thinner wrists and onto the ground. But they couldn't stop, not while the officers still lingered around. They had all the reasons to run like hell. To not go the prison, to not find out if anyone saw them change, to not be shot while in wolf form being the biggest!
"How did you figure that out?!" Oscar laughed as they continued to sprint further and further away.
"Well I didn't see you coming up with anything!" Alfa grinned back. "God that was such a rush!"
"Well our problems aren't over yet." Oscar replied while they slowed down to a brisk walk after they were sure they were far away enough. "Where the heck are we?"
"Wait, you don't know?" Alfa asked. He was hoping Oscar knew.
"I was hoping you would know." Oscar shook his head. "You're the born wolf here; I thought you'd know these forests like the back of your hand. Well…paw." He corrected after seeing that he wouldn't have had hands back then. A shallow stream came across their path, so they had no choice but to wade through it.
"Wait a second…" Alfa stopped them both as they were half way through the stream. "I know this stream." He continued. "I ran up this one just before I first turned. We need to walk the same way if we want to head back to town."
"And you're sure?" Oscar questioned as the stepped to the side of it and began walking along it. "There's got to be hundreds of streams and rivers going through here."
"Even if it's not. All streams join together at some point, this one will still lead us in the right direction."
"What is this? Some wolf survival skills?" He chuckled.
"My dad taught me the basics a long time ago if I ever got lost." Alfa nodded.
Walking along the stream bank, all they could do was talk about their close shave and future plans for the hunters. Looking up at the sky, it was going to be dusk soon enough, it was already turning red and orange. They needed to find a way out of the forest quickly and make it home before Kyle and Todd became worried. Alfa was already under their watching gaze with his lately strange behaviour. They were growing hungry and tired the longer they walked, so maybe it was a sign when a flash of brown darted right passed them in the form of a rabbit after an hour of walking. It made them jump obviously. But even before Oscar could exclaimed in freight, a flash of grey collided into Alfa from behind and knock him to the side along with it back into the stream. Alfa struggled to breath, that collision knocked the wind right out of him. Well, that plus the wind of the grey mass lying over him also prevented him breathing properly. Oscar couldn't help but laugh from the bank. "Aww man, I was so close!" She was grey with a white underside, a near female look-a-like to Humphrey. Alfa guessed she hadn't realised the situation they were in, because she was still lying over him. "Oh, sorry." She then did finally realise and stepping off him. Alfa could finally look up to her, and in an instant his shy nature over came him as he found himself staring at the beautiful she-wolf before him. He couldn't answer, he couldn't speak, everything had gone numb to the point his muzzle lowered back down under the water. "Oh man, not again!" He screamed mentally. Why did this have to happen all the time? He was a nervous wreck around girls! It became even worse when she began to shake dry, her curves, her slenderness. He was shy, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. She stopped before he realised, his muzzle still under the water as she looked back down to him. "It can't be easy to breath under water." She said. He was confused, what was she talking about. It as then he understood as he was on the verge of passing out. He quickly brought his muzzle up and coughed up the water and quickly breathed as he stood up. It made her laugh. "I lost my dinner because of you."
"How's it our fault, you ran into us!" Oscar retaliated but with a smile. She looked back to Alfa, finding him looking down at his paws in the water rather then at her.
"Is something wrong with your friend or is he always like that?" She asked back to Oscar.
"I don't know, most likely." He chuckled again. "So what are you doing anyway other then chasing rabbits?"
"That's it, now I could ask you the same thing." She replied.
"We're kinda lost." He answered. "We're trying to get back to a town north of the park."
"Really? Edmonton by any chance?" She wondered. Alfa's ears perked up to that. Two things didn't sound right in that instant. One, how would she know what a town is? No wolf knows what a town is unless they lived in or right next to the human territories to hear humans. Secondly, she took it a step further by saying the town's name. No wolf would know that. So how would she?
"Yeah, it is actually." Oscar nodded. Clearly he didn't spot them.
"Well firstly, you'll want to head in that direction." She pointed behind her and right of the stream. "Secondly, you won't get there until gone midnight, and this part of the park is usually where hunters come at night. So why don't you stay us for the night and I'll take you to town myself in the morning." Alfa wanted to say "no", Todd and Kyle was already on his back about last time. If only there was a way they could change right now and call them to tell them a lie. They needed to be home, but it may be better if they stayed, no matter how awkward things may get.
"Us?" Alfa wondered, braving it enough to speak up.
"It's my brother and me, Micky." She replied. "Besides, one of you owes us dinner for getting in the way." She giggled while turning to walk in the direction of her den. Oscar was about to walk after her and Alfa stopped him.
"We can't go with her, we hardly know her!" He seethed.
"Dude, I'm hungry and tired. We'll stay with them and go at first light."
"What if she kills us?!"
"Stop with the excuses. Any guy would be thrilled to sleep next a girl." Oscar chuckled and starting to walk. "Hey! Do you bite? My pal here is scared of you." Oscar shouted to her.
"It depends!" She laughed back. "We'll have to see if my brother caught anything!"
"Jerk." Alfa growled towards him.
They walked for another half an hour, following the she-wolf further and further away from the stream. Alfa only grew more and more anxious being around her, being more embarrassed each time he saw Oscar talking to her and he wasn't. The den was in sight. It was under a tree, a hole in the earth that went down before opening into a den. After stepping inside, they found no food lying around. It seems Micky was unsuccessful too. He lay to the side of the den, already asleep on his side. She apologised for it, saying they'll find something easy to catch in the morning. Everyone could wait. She lay down beside him, her back against his chest. This was how they always slept, for body heat and comfort. "Make yourselves at home guys."
"Thanks for this, we really appreciate it." Oscar smiled.
"By the way, I never got your names." She then said before lying her head down.
"Oh, well I'm Oscar, and the quiet one in the corner over there is Alfa." Alfa didn't add anything, he dared not speak. "And come to think of it, you never told us yours." Oscar added as he lay down.
"Well, you already know Mickey here." He snored away, also draping an arm over her side while in his sleep at that moment. "And I'm Misty."
"Misty? What kind of name is that?" He chuckled while laying his head on his paws.
"It's a nickname."
I think someone reading this story is going to be a little shocked now. ;)
The FalconWolf and Bastard From North