*AN- Alright, it took me way too long to update this. Honestly, I just wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go. I wrote several drafts for this chapter before finally deciding upon a route I thought would work out. I feel like it's a bit short, but I've kept it waiting long enough so I'll try to pump out chapter 25 within the next couple of days. Regarding the most recent review asking whether the story was dying, I would like to hope not. I would love to carry this thing through the events of the first movie at the very least, assuming everyone would be interested in seeing that. Well, anyway, here's the chapter. Enjoy!
*Leon's P.O.V.*
My cry was heard too late. As soon as my ears began to ring I could smell fresh blood, wolf blood. I kicked my body into overdrive, someone was hurt and I needed to help ten seconds ago. I heard a scream seconds later I recognized as Sadie's, Lupa above don't let it be Hutch. I looked back to see Percy still following me.
"Drop the hunters when you see them," I told him. It was important that we get rid of the human threat as fast as we could so I could tend to the wounded.
As Percy and I burst through the forest leading towards Hutch's den the hunters came into view. Time seemed to slow down as I processed all the information. There the hunters were, between myself and Hutch's den, one with his weapon drawn. He had to go down first. I tried to see who had been struck, but the humans blocked my line of sight. In that case, I would just focus on taking down the killer.
I had never fought a human before and had no idea how to take one down. My eyes shot up and down his body looking for any kind of weakness. As it turned out, he was littered with them. He was bipedal, so if I could injure a leg he would surely lose his balance and fall. The backs of his knees would contain tendons that controlled their flexing so I could slice them and stop him from moving. His arms would be the same way, their bending based at the elbows. Finally, I would need a killing blow, naturally the main blood source to his brain would be in his neck so that's where I would strike last.
Immediately I sprung my attack, hoping that Percy would go for the man I wasn't. Just as I had planned I ran up behind him and slashed at the back of his right knee. My claws were the sharpest in the pack, as sharp as volcanic obsidian, so they easily ripped through the man's clothing and flesh. As if I had some form of biological intuition I could tell immediately the tendons in his knee were split in two, ripping the functionality of his leg. Giving the knee a sharp ram from behind it buckled and he was sent falling onto his ass, yelling in pain.
Quickly I whipped around and rushed up to his arm, slashing at the inside of his elbows. Unfortunately, he threw up his arms to defend himself, causing my claws to scrape up and down his forearm. He screamed in protest and threw a sharp jab which caught my jaw. I was sent rolling off him due to the force of the blow, flipping myself over as fast as I could to regain my bearings.
"I'll shoot you too you son of a bitch," he growled as he grabbed the rifle and brought it up to his shoulder, firing as soon as he did. Despite my reflexes, I was unable to roll away to avoid the shot. A horrible pain shot through my rear left hip causing me to yelp in pain. I looked down to see the bullet had passed clean through my leg.
"Leon," Percy shouted in concern as he jumped to my aid, latching onto the hunter before he could fire a second round. I rolled onto my side, hissing at the immense pain that was coursing through my body. I'd never felt anything like this before. My breathing was shallow, my head went light, I could feel my grip on reality slipping away. The pain was trying to drive me into unconsciousness. I needed to find out where the bullet had gone, if it had hit anyone else.
I found out it had just as everything went black.
*Percy's P.O.V.*
I'd barely had time to deal with the second human when I heard the gunshot and Leon's yelp of pain. I didn't know the extent of his injuries, or if he'd even survived the hit long after that. I just knew that I had to take the hunters attention away from my comrade. I leapt onto the humans back and sunk my claws into him, kicking with my back legs and slicing with my front ones to deal as much damage as possible. I was just about to latch down onto his neck when something struck the back of my head, sending me off my target.
"Let's get out of here," I heard the second human shout as he rushed to the others side. Before I had time to react the two hobbled off into the woods, leaving a long trail of blood behind them and firing randomly with a small handgun. I looked beside me to see a large rock with blood on it, clearly what had been thrown at me. Dammit, I'd forgotten about the other human in my haste to save Leon.
I gasped, remembering that he had been shot and rushed over to survey the damage. When I got to Leon's side, he was unconscious, but his wound didn't appear fatal. He had taken the shot straight into his left hip, Lupa only knows how much pain he was in. He needed medical help soon. I immediately turned my attention to the scene we had arrived on. Jason's body was lying on the ground with a large hole in his chest, blood pouring profusely out of it. Beside him lay Sadie, who looked like shed just now also been hit.
Hutch's gaze was blank, like he was in complete disbelief. His body was trembling uncontrollably, though whether it was out of anger or fear I didn't know. Between his legs was a terrified looking pup I'd never seen before. The poor thing was whimpering in fear and looking at Jason with deep concern. Who was this pup? Why was Jason here? First thing was first though, we needed medical assistance. I turned my head back and began to howl for help.
"Percy," Hutch said finally. I looked to him before rushing to his side.
"Don't worry, help is on the way," I said.
"Watch Humphrey. I'm going to go kill those bastards," he growled.
"Hutch wa-" before I could stop him Hutch pushed past me and darted off after the humans, leaving me alone with the frightened pup.
*Dexter's P.O.V.*
As soon as Felix and I heard the gunshots we made our way toward the source as fast as we could. We were practically on the other side of the territory when it happened, so much so that when we were remotely close we heard the distress call. Dread built within me, as I gathered the source of the calls to be coming from my son's den. The howl was coming from Percy, and it was full of fear.
Together we arrived on a gruesome scene. Other alphas had already shown up and were tending to the wounded. I could see the healers tending to a seemingly recently conscious Leon who was helping with his own treatment. Then, there was both Sadie and Jason who looked like they'd been shot as well. Both in the chest. Every healer in the pack was around them, doing everything they could do preserve their lives. Even at a distance I could tell their lives were slipping away.
"Dexter," Percy panted as he rushed up to me.
"What happened here, where's Hutch," I demanded.
"Hunters, Hutch ran off after them," he barely had time to explain when, without question, I nodded and began to follow the trail of blood on the scene. It was humans blood for sure, if Hutch was chasing them down he'd be hot on their trail. I didn't know if I'd be able to catch him before he got himself into trouble. Even an injured hunter was dangerous if they still had a rifle.
'Dammit Hutch, why'd you have to take after Felix so much,' I growled to myself. Felix always was always the vengeful one. But I doubted even he was reckless enough to chase down a pair of hunters. If he was the way Felix was then I doubted even if I did catch him I'd be able to stop him from chasing the humans down. I'd have to damn near knock him out and drag him back.
Don't get me wrong, I could understand why he was upset. But at this point killing the hunters wouldn't help anything. It wouldn't take back the shots that had been fired. It wouldn't save Jason or Sadie. If anything he needed to be by their sides in case of the worst.
"Hutch," I called out finally. "Hutch listen to me, killing them won't solve anything! Get your ass back here right fucking now!"
A howl rang out, followed by screams and gunshots.
Oh Lupa no.
*Unknown P.O.V.*
What I witnessed can be described as pure tragedy. A young lover and his mate about to adopt their first child, a young pup who they would take in and love as their own. But as luck would have it, fate had other ideas. A pair of humans out poaching would of course be the means of tearing this family apart mere seconds after they formed. The young girl was shot in the chest and her life was slipping away. Her lover, was none too pleased about this.
His hearts inner cries of anguish were positively delicious. I could feel the hatred oozing from him, a dark desire to exact revenge in the most brutal way imaginable. He wanted to take more than an eye for an eye, he wanted thousands of eyes for an eye. It was only natural that I was inclined to offer my services to him.
I'd watched the young boy develop into a respectable young beta through many hardships. He'd had my eye since the day his mother died. Nothing makes a wolf more susceptible to my presence that suffering and hatred. I'd only ever seen one wolf in my lifetime fuller of hate, and he'd long since been killed.
Ah but he did try to hide his emotions. Even then as he sat side by side his long-time enemy turned friend I could feel the anger inside of him. He still blamed the other for the loss of his mother, for the disappearance of his father, and even for the deaths of his classmates. This boy was truly something special.
Oh? What's that? Who am I?
Allow me to answer that like. Look deep within yourself, to the darkest cesspit of your mind. Don't lie to yourself and think about the most despicable things that have crossed your mind. Murder, thievery, lies, even acts as despicable as rape. I am the monster who feeds one these thought. The beast who preys on those who are willing to ignore their conscience and commit such crimes. I empower those who are willing to wash away their sense of right and wrong, allowing them to fulfill their darkest desires. And the best part?
Every single one of them asked for my help of their own free will.
That's right, I never forced one of them to do something they didn't want to. When they were weak and helpless I simply offered my services. Offered, not forced. That's how generous I am, giving them a portion of my eternal power to fulfill their desires. They didn't even have to five me anything in return. The loosening of my binds was enough repayment. One day these bindings would break, and I would be free. Today was that day.
Not since my family sought to bind me had I felt so powerful. I was born through my father's own hatred, a being culminated of pure emotion. Even as a pup I was restrained for fear of my power. It was my uncle Jason who'd insisted on keeping me in this bondage for so long. Whenever I would break a paw free he would restrain it before I had time to react. Within the past couple of years my grip on the world was especially weak. As though a part of my soul had been locked away.
But not anymore.
As he passed I could feel my strength regaining, I could hear the cries for my power. I knew then that it was my time. Hutch threw my strength over the edge. I looked to the sky, oh the beautiful blue sky. It seemed like eons since I'd seen this wonderful sight. The sunlight shone through the forest and lit up the lush green landscape so vividly. It was almost like a dream. I flexed my claws, allowing the cool soil to pass between my digits. I never thought I'd be so happy to see dirt again.
The smell of life bombarded my nose. The wonderful scents of grass, wood, and water. For eons, all I'd known was darkness and the wretched stench of death. But now, here I stood in the flesh. I looked down at my fur, oh Lupa my fur. It was every bit as wonderful as I remembered it. Stained red by the fresh blood spilled by my father, the first instance of a wolf killing another.
Sadly, I wasn't able to relish the moment for too long. I was a wolf of my word after-all and I had a job to do. There was a pair of hunters that needed to be dealt with. Finding them was no problem at all. The poor things were covered in fresh wounds and leaving a long trail of blood. As I ran across them hobbling along I almost felt an ounce of sympathy. They were so unsuspecting and weak, it would be like mutilating a squirrel. I let out a haunting howl to announce my presence before pouncing upon the two.
My claws had never been graced with the touch of human flesh before. It was quite the disappointment honestly. It tore so easily, I might as well have been cutting through water. My claws were perfectly designed to cut through things as tough as stone, and here I was having to slice apart these flesh bags. It felt more mundane than it should have. Still, I did what I had to.
I destroyed them. I painted the woods red with their fluids and entrails. Their screams of anguish only fueled the brutalization. They tried shooting me, but it did very little to harm me. Though I must say the look on their faces when their weapons had no effect was quite priceless. A look of horror and shock as they realized their lives couldn't be saved. Oh how I relished in it.
It was over within a minute, finished just in time to meet Hutch. I decided that I would meet this young, naïve fool. I wanted him to see the creature he'd spawned. I wanted him to know that he was responsible for unleashing the most powerful and malevolent being in existence. I wanted him to realize that his anger, had spawned me. Fenrir.