Author's Notes: Hey, guys! So...I doubt anyone's really gonna read this. idk how popular the Rhink fandom is. They don't even have a tag here. But I have been shipping them like crazy lately, so I thought - you know what? I'd write a fic. This is actually loosely based on an RP I had going on where Rhett and Link were the alpha males of a werewolf pack. And since it is Halloween season and I love werewolves almost as much as I love zombie apocalypse stories, why not, right? :P Anyway, I hope if anyone reads this, they enjoy it. If not, I'll just keep writing it for myself lol. o/

Most men went out and had one final hurrah before their wedding either by going to a strip club or at least getting completely wasted with friends. Rhett McLaughlin, however, wasn't most men. For one, he was only with his best friend Link Neal and for two, their activity of choice was a little bit of moonlight hunting in the woods of North Carolina. Rhett was decked in full blown camouflage, a rifle in his hands as he carefully wandered through the woods. Dry leaves were crisp under their feet, making stealth all but impossible. It was a tad bit annoying, but at the same time, made things a more complicated challenge. Rhett hadn't hunted since he was a kid, and he was actually pretty good at it back in the day so it would be interesting to see if he still had what it took to sneak up on a deer in spite of their inability to be silent and stealthy.

"I don't think Jessie's gonna appreciate you bringing a big ol' deer carcass to the wedding tomorrow. I might be going out on a limb here when I say that..." Link followed close behind, also holding a gun but looking a little less comfortable with it than his taller counterpart.

"Shh." Rhett put his finger to his lips, his eyes glued on the distance. He stared at the clearing before shaking his head. "I thought I saw movement."

"You probably did. And it was probably a bear. I don't know about you, but if I had to choose between getting mauled by a bear or cracking open a beer - I'm pretty sure I'd go with the beer. Which is what we should do, too."

"Damnit, Link. This is my final day of freedom. Let me spend it being a real man before I have to settle for being Jessie's man."

"Is that what this whole thing is about?" Link regarded Rhett in amusement. "Just 'cause you're getting married doesn't mean you're gonna lose your man-card. You can still go out hunting if you wanted to. Or change a tire or something else to prove your manhood. It just means you get the bonus of opening jars and rubbing that in Jessie's face. As a matter of fact, you can go start that right now by turning back around and going home..."

Rhett rolled his eyes. "Just because you're cold and uncomfortable doesn't mean I'm turning back. I ain't going back until we shoot something."

Link sighed. "Alright, fine. But if we get mauled by a bear, I'm going to totally rub it in your face that I told you so."

Rhett shook his head. Link was always making a bigger deal out of these things than he needed to. Hell, if anything - Link should have been thanking him for initiating him into manhood. Rhett was pretty sure Link had never hunted anything before in his life. And considering how averse he was to blood, Link was probably going to faint if they actually killed a deer. Rhett hoped his back didn't go out when he had to carry the animal and Link back to his house.

The moon was bright in the sky - a gleaming silver medallion illuminating tree-lined paths for them. Rhett ventured further into the woods, walking slowly and carefully. Link, however, didn't even try to hide his footsteps, stamping along behind him much to Rhett's annoyance. He was just about to turn around and yell at Link when he heard the sound of rustling not too far off. Rhett looked at Link, and Link looked back at him wide-eyed - holding his gun in front of himself more like a shield than a weapon. Rhett raised a brow and shook his head before he turned back around, listening carefully.

It was definitely an animal and it was definitely running. Rhett poised his gun, holding it up at ready as he ducked lower to get a better vantage point. When Rhett caught a glimpse of white fluff, he didn't think twice before pulling the trigger. The gun had a bit of a kick as the bullet exploded from the chamber, sailing forward to reach its target. The animal fell into the brush, and Rhett felt a sense of accomplishment.

"I knew I still had it in me." Rhett held up his hand for Link to give him a high five.

Link still hadn't lowered his gun, looking as pale as a ghost. "You shot it. You actually shot it."

"...well, yeah, man. That was the whole point of this. Did you think I was just joking about hunting?" He kept his hand up, still hoping for that high five.

"No, well, I don't know? I thought we'd just wander around for a while and not actually catch anything. I didn't think you'd actually shoot something. Jessie's gonna kill you. You know that, right?"

"She'll have to at least wait until after the wedding. I think the guests would be pretty peeved to be traveling all this way for nothing." Rhett finally dropped his arm against his side. "C'mon, man. Let's go collect our bounty."

"Don't call it bounty. That just sounds creepy. Heck, the whole thing is creepy. Can we just leave it there?"

"No we can't just leave it there. That'd be a waste. A perfectly good deer just gave up its life and you want to just leave it there? You're a waste. You're what's wrong in America today, you know." Rhett teased as he carefully made his in the direction of his kill.

"You were the one who wasted the deer's life. It would've been pretty content to continue living it, I think..." Link sighed.

"Live on the edge a little, Link. This is how they did it back in the old days." Rhett caught a glimpse of his kill and frowned. From what he could tell, it definitely wasn't a deer. As he got closer, he could also tell it was still alive.

Link came up behind him, stepping to his side. "Rhett. That's a wolf. You just shot a goddamned wolf."

"I know..." Rhett stared at it in fascination. "I've never seen one of these this close up. Didn't even realize we had 'em. I thought it was just coyotes and foxes around the area."

"C'mon, man. Haven't you ever seen the movies? Where there's one wolf, there's always way more. We gotta get outta here before we get surrounded..." Link clutched Rhett's arm, attempting to pull him back.

"Don't be stupid. The gunshot probably scared 'em all off. Besides, we can't just leave this one like this. It wouldn't be right to let it suffer..." Rhett lifted his gun, reloading it.

Link let out a small mewl of protest. "You're gonna shoot it again? Right here? Like this? At point blank range? That isn't even giving it a chance."

"It's being merciful. Giving it a quick death rather than what it's suffering right now. You can turn around and close your eyes if you want."

"I'm not sure how I feel about this side of you, Rhett..." Link said in an unreadable tone.

Rhett didn't know whether he was joking or being serious, but that could be addressed later. Instead, Rhett leveled the gun barrel at the wolf's head. It let out a whimper, looking up at him and meeting his eyes. For a moment, Rhett hesitated. There was something behind the animal's expression; something almost pleading, something nearly human. Rhett shook his head. He must have been imagining things. Link put stupid thoughts in his head to prevent him from doing what was right.

"Sorry, little fella." Rhett put his finger on the trigger and went to pull it - only to be slammed to the ground by a rough impact before he could.

He vaguely heard Link screaming his name in shock over the growls of the creature on top of him. Rhett glanced over to see the wolf he had been about to shoot still in its same place while another one had him pinned - teeth bared. Even though the wolf's breath was hot against his neck, a cold chill of fear ran its way down Rhett's spine. It was so easy to say how you would react in a situation until you were actually in it. Rhett was afraid, and instead of taking the offensive against the animal, he shielded himself - attempting to squirm and thrash away. Rhett knew the wolf bit him before he felt it; the white, hot pain seared down his arm and through his body belatedly after the canine grabbed a hold of Rhett's arm in its sharp teeth and clamped down with all of its strength - breaking skin and bone with ease.

Rhett cried out in pain, and he became very much aware of his mortality in that moment. This wolf had the strength to rip him to shreds if it wanted to. There was very little he could do to stop it. Jessie was going to hate him for dying on the night before their wedding. Rhett clenched a hand over the steadily bleeding wound and closed his eyes in resignation.

A gunshot rang out, stopping everyone in their tracks. Rhett opened an eye to see Link standing there with his still-smoking gun pointed up toward the sky. The wolf looked at Link, then back at Rhett before letting out a low growl and releasing Rhett to go to the other fallen wolf. Rhett might have been relieved if he wasn't in the process of rapidly losing his strength.

Link rushed forward, falling to his knees beside Rhett and dropping the gun to the side. By this point, the injured wolf was being dragged off by the other one so at the least, they didn't have to worry about being attacked any longer. Link frowned, assessing the damage. His hands went up into his hair and he pushed it off of his forehead in distress.

"Oh my god. It bit you! Holy shit, Rhett. It totally bit you!" Link put a hand over his mouth, looking queasy.

"Yes, I can see that." There was always time to be snarky. Rhett sat up, clutching the free bleeding wound with his hand. His arm felt like it was on fire.

"What're we gonna do? What am I supposed to do?!"

"Well for starters, just calm down."

"That thing coulda had rabies, man!"

"Link!"

Link stopped.

"Calm down." Rhett said firmly. Once he was sure Link was calm enough, he continued. "Just help me back down to the house. As soon as we're there, we'll get to the hospital."

"Alright...hospital. Alright. They can help you there." Link mumbled, approaching Rhett. He suddenly paled at the sight of the injury up close. "That looks really bad."

"It looks worse than it is." Rhett lied. "Just focus and help me, okay? Don't even look at it."

Rhett reached out his hand, but when his blood covered fingers brushed past Link's, that was all Link could apparently take. Rhett watched as his friend's eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to the ground losing consciousness, kicking up dried leaves just as unceremoniously as he had when he had been stomping through them. Rhett sighed, and in spite of his pain, he scooted forward to nudge his good arm up and under Link's body, helping both of them to their feet. Rhett's vision was starting to cloud and the pain was pretty much unbearable. But it was his stupid decision that got them both into this mess, and he was going to get them out of it. With that mentality, Rhett refused to faint, too. He put one foot in front of the other and began the seemingly endless trek back to his home.

Rhett really should have taken up his friends on their offer to go to the strip club for his bachelor party. But that was the thing about hindsight. It was always 20/20.