Hey guys, here's chapter 3 of Leader of the Pack. This chapter takes place during chapter 2, on Lincoln's side. Here we'll find out what really happened to Lincoln. Though, given the title of the story, it's pretty clear what happened. Anyway, here's chapter 3.
Lincoln awoke with a stretch of his arms. Shortly after arriving in the forest, Lincoln had found an empty cave to rest in. Sleeping on dirt wasn't that bad since he had a sleeping bag a pillow to make himself comfortable. The white-haired boy was then made more awaken by his stomach rumbling.
"I guess it's time to get some breakfast" Lincoln said, getting up off his feet.
Dusting himself off, Lincoln retrieved a basket and stone head spear, both of which he had made the day prior. He had learned to make baskets in school, while he had learned to make a spear from one of those survivalists, nature shows. Thank you, Rip Hardcore. He placed the spear in a handmade quiver, strapping the quiver to his back. He took an extra shirt with him to use as a lid.
Lincoln walked out of the cave and took a short stroll over to a nearby stream, the same stream that he drank from. As luck would have it, several fish were swimming through the average-sized body of water. From trout to large mouthed bass. Lincoln raised his spear and quickly plunged it into the water, impaling a bass which he put into the handmade basket. He did the same with the trout. The process of impaling the fish and placing it in the basket was repeated until Lincoln had a basket half full of fish. It was a small basket, so it wasn't really much, but enough to keep him fed.
"Ok, that should be enough food for a while" Lincoln said.
the white-haired boy placed the spear back into the quiver and grabbed the basket of fish, using the extra shirt to cover it up before heading back to his cave. Unfortunately, when he returned to the cave, most of his stuff had been messed up. The reason? There was a black bear rummaging through his stuff.
"Oh, what the hell?" Lincoln questioned. This caught the bear's attention, causing him to freeze.
That's when the bear's perked, having heard something. It sounded like a rattle. Lincoln was surprised when the bear ran in his direction, the boy being trampled as he was knocked to the ground by the beast. The boy groaned as he got back up, propping himself up on his elbows. Lincoln gasped when he saw what was in front of him. In front of his feet was a massasauga rattlesnake, one of the most infamously venomous snakes in the world. The snake hissed, causing Lincoln to scream and bolt away from deadly reptile.
The boy ran in the opposite direction in an attempt to get away from the slithering creature. He had made it a half mile before tripping. The fall had caused him to land in a thorn bush. Lincoln released a small whine of pain. The thorns were long enough to pierce his shirt go through some flesh on his sides, but not deep enough to pierce any vital organs. Lincoln grunted as he struggled to break free. Eventually though, the boy had broken away from the prickly plant… albeit at the cost of his shirt being torn and covered in blood, as well as a few small cuts across his body.
Lincoln ran until he stopped to catch his breath by a large tree. He should really work more on his cardio. He looked at the ground and saw bear tracks which went around and past the tree he was currently up against, signifying that it was here not too long ago. Lincoln's stomach growled. He probably should've grabbed a fish before running. It was times like this where he had wondered if running away was the right decision instead of facing his problems head on. But now it was too late to go back. Now he was lost and hungry. That's when he heard a hiss from behind him.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me…" Lincoln muttered.
Turning to see the same rattlesnake once again in front of him. That must've been on fast snake. He then remembered the weapons he had strapped to his back. He pulled out one of his spears and stabbed the reptile in the head, killing it instantly.
"Why didn't I do that from the beginning?" Lincoln asked himself.
"Well, this didn't go as planned." Lincoln said. "Now what do I do? I'm in the middle of nowhere!" He then hears movement in the trees. "What the hell was that?" He hears more movement in the trees. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
Seconds later the bushes part to reveal a large gray wolf with several scars on its body. The wolf was then followed by several other gray wolves.
Oh, crap..." Lincoln muttered. "Uh, nice doggies. No need come any closer" he told them nervously while backing up, pointing his spear at them. The wolves, however, approached him, growling as they bared their teeth. "C'mon, guys. I taste awful trust me." Lincoln tells them. "Look, please don't hurt me!"
The wolves continue to stalk towards the eleven-year-old when one of the wolves stops. This wolf was a lean female wolf with bright blue eyes. She stared at the boy curiously. He was all alone and scared. And to add to it, he looked like he was no more than a pup himself in a way. She then speeds up and gets in front of her alpha.
"What are you doing, Shatana?" The alpha growled.
Shatana doesn't reply and slowly approached the boy. Once she's close, she took a good look at him. He was definitely young and he was definitely scared. She took a sniff and she could smell the fear on him. That's when her mother instincts kicked in. She approached him and rubbed her head along his cheek. The boy looked at her, shocked.
"What the hell is happening?" Lincoln questioned. He holds out a hand and places it on her head, expecting the wolf to bite. Instead she leaned into his touch. "Whoa. This is weird."
The wolf backs away and turns to her alpha. "We can't hunt this one." Shatana told him.
"What? He's a lowly human. He should be our appetizer" the leader growled, looking at the boy, having secretly watched him by the river the other day.
"He's alone and scared" Shatana countered "If anything, we should protect him" she said.
Santana turned to Lincoln. She leaned in and gave a reassuring, affectionate lick to his cheek. She then nuzzled him once more.
"Wow. You're so friendly." Lincoln said as he began petting. "Unlike my family." He muttered under his breath.
Shatana turned back to the alpha, "Accept him into the pack and I'll raise him myself." Shatana told him.
"But your own litter of pups." The alpha started. "What about them?"
"I'll raise them alongside this human." Shatana said. "Please. Let him join the pack."
To Lincoln, their whole conversation come out as simple barks. The alpha looked at the boy for a few seconds, and then to Shatana.
"Very well. But he's your responsibility. Whatever happens to him is on you" the alpha told her.
"Thank you." Shatana said. "I promise you he will make an excellent member of the pack."
"See that you do." The alpha growled. "Also, he'll never be my son." The alpha turns to the wolves and signals them to follow him. Shatana then looks back at the human.
"Well that was weird." Lincoln said as he stood up. The she-wolf approached him and nuzzled him again. "Wonder what this is all about?" She then walks behind him and nudges him forward. "Easy now. Guess she wants me to go with her. Might as well." He then begins to walk with Shatana beside him as he put his spear back in his quiver.
Lincoln took off his torn, bloody shirt and tossed it to the ground, the shirt landing near the bear tracks. Luckily for him he was holding his spare which he quickly put on.
"You'll definitely be a challenge, human." Shatana said. "But I promise that I'll take care of you. But first, I'll need to teach you to understand me. But that'll be tomorrow."
Alright, that's it for this chapter. Shorter and more rushed than the previous chapter, but I couldn't think of anything else. Anyway, Lincoln got lucky today. He wasn't in much danger with the bear since black bears don't normally attack humans. That rattlesnake… well, I heard snakes are loose cannons, so it probably could've chased Lincoln down if it wanted to (even though snakes aren't that fast when it come to moving around). He actually was in danger when it came to the wolves. Even if he did have his spear, he's still a kid and outnumbered by full grown wolves. Fortunately for him, the female wolf Shatana stepped in and saved him from being eaten (it's always the women). Now that we've seen how our boy's joined the pack, in the future we'll see how he lives with them.
This chapter was co-written with my friend Zachlor16. He's actually the one that came up with the idea for the alpha as well as Shatana (still love that name). So, thanks, buddy.
If you have ideas for the next chapter or future, say it in a review or feel free to message me.
Remember to read, review and favorite/follow.