A Pack of Misfits

Chapter 23

Cecillus

A voice keeps into his mind, quiet and soft as she whispered.

Goodbye, my love.

He froze in fear, a scream stuck in his throat as he slowly felt his beloved's life fade away.

No. No. No no no no no no no. NO! This can't be happening! The wolf thought, digging his claws into the ground beneath him.

A wail of agony could be heard echoing throughout the forest as a wolf lost his mate. He howled in pain, tears streaming down his face as his heart felt like erupting. His very soul was being ripped in half.

He wanted to run. He wanted to run to his mate's side and be there in her final moments. He wanted to find the bastard that dared to touch her, dared to kill her. He would rip them apart, limb from limb.

But he couldn't.

He couldn't get his revenge, at least not yet. His son needed him. The pups needed him. And he would be damned if he ever allowed the hunters to get their filthy hands on them again. He took a deep breath, shaking himself up as he let out a snarl.

He ran, navigating through the darkness as he relied on the pup's scent to find them. Their sweet scent filled his nose, reassuring him that they were unharmed. Though, the smell of blood and bloodlust was alarmingly close to them. And his son scent not being there a worrisome, but at least he was still alive.

Considering all the human scent surrounding him, hunters had taken the forest. But as to why they weren't attacking him, he had no clue. But that didn't matter, it just meant that he could find them quicker.

He recognized the terrain as he followed their scent. He sprinted over the familiar rocks and tree roots. He was heading towards Jacob's favorite place. The meadow he found Mystic in.

He remembered the meadow. It was before he completely lost his eyesight, just after he and Diana had ran away. Weeks before they found Jacob. He remembered when the there weren't as many trees surrounding the meadow. He remembered Jacob spending hours in it, just laying in the flowers and thinking. He remembered Jacob moving on from his parent's death and accepting him as his father. He remembered planting dozens of trees, filling in the spaces after Jacob had been attacked by hunters. He made sure nothing bigger than a pup could pass through the small gaps left. And after Jacob grew too big to pass through, he would climb the trees and jump into the meadow.

He was glad the pups were there. At least they would be safe for a while. The hunters wouldn't even be able to chop down a single tree as this was technically private property. Although pack wolves hate rogues, they hated hunters even more. The council had brought the whole forest, making a trade with the human government.

He didn't know what the trade was, but he didn't care. He had more important things to focus on at the moment. And it was probably either just a shit ton of money or information on their biology.

He felt a rumble going through his throat, noticing the low pitched sound he released as he warned anyone near him not to approach. He stalked through the trees, his fur (quite literally) spiking up here and there as he felt vibrations on the ground other than his own footsteps. He flicked his ears around, listening intently. Through the chirps of birds and squeaking of squirrels, he could hear it. The sobs of a wolf pup in pain.

Panicked, he bolted as fast as he could, his paws making indents in the dirt. He nearly flew at the speed he was going, not even bothering to stop as he sensed the wall of trees in front of him. He climbed up the tree, his claws digging into the bark. Using the strength in his back legs, he pushed himself up before launching himself back down.

He ran to the source of the sobs, inhaling the familiar scent of cake and fruit. He noticed just how weak it was, the delicate scent wavering about. If it weren't for his unusually strong sense of smell, he would've completely missed it.

Mystic.

He let out a snarl, scrunching his face up as he walked towards her. She wasn't in any physical pain from what he could tell, but whatever was ailing her, it was obvious that it was quite painful. His heart broke for her, her cries of agony could only mean one thing.

Her mother was dead.

And her pack bond had been broken.

He rushed to her side, nuzzling at what he guessed was her head. He could feel her ears perk up slightly as she looked up to face him. She let out an even louder sob, her claws(?) grabbing a hold of his fur as she dug her face into his chest. Her claws were trembling.

He licked the tears away before resting his head on her's, listening as her breathing slowed and her sobbing ceasing. He rubbed her head with his, tuning in his ears as he heard small footsteps running towards him.

"Ce Ce! Ce Ce!" Cried out a small voice as he felt another pup grab onto his fur.

Small hands clutched his fur tightly, refusing to let go as they buried their face into his side. He turned to face Eli, licking his hair as he started grooming him. He hushed the small pup, licking away the tears as he also started crying.

He glanced towards the scent of blood and bloodlust, scrunching his nose up as he glared at the source.

Marked.

This wasn't the first time he met a marked, but it certainly was the first time he'd met a marked that had the slight scent of honeysuckles.

The marked is only a pup. An omega pup at that. Probably no older than my son.

He softened his expression. He made a gesture with his head, telling the pup to come closer. From the vibrations in the air, he could tell that the pup was looking around anxiously. After a few seconds of looking around, the pup stalked towards them before stopping themselves behind Mystic.

He didn't force the pup to come closer  he simply nodded his head and turned back to nuzzle the pups glued to his side.

The hunter sure were taking their sweet ass time trying to get the pups. They were either under strict orders not to attack him or they were suffering from a moral dilemma and simply refused to hurt children. It was undoubtedly obvious that it was the first guess. After all, if they weren't ordered to not hurt him, he would've been attacked the moment he smelt them. Maybe even before he was able to. And no way would the hunters suddenly feel bad for hurting the pups after what they've done to them months ago.

He got up, gently shaking the pups away from him as he walked towards the marked pup. He down stared at what he guessed was the pup's eyes, nodding his head. The pup nodded back, understanding what he wanted.

He got up, leaving the pups as he patrolled the perimeter of the meadow, snarling as he felt the vibrations of diesels of footsteps. He could smell them surrounding the meadow. He let out a warning girls before launching himself at them.

~~~~
Red

He stared back at the masked wolf, shaking as the wolf took down hunter after hunter. He gulped before grabbing a hold of Mystic, getting her to shift, and allowing Eli onto his back.

He leapt through the trees, careful not to let Mystic get hit. They were both surprisingly light, which was probably why he was able to carry them with ease.

He ran as fast as he could, ignoring the cheers and shouts from behind him. He started sprinting as he looked behind him, seeing a single hunter chase after them. He ran to a large dead tree, pushing Mystic and Eli into the hollowed out trunk.

He's killed before and he sure as hell would do it again. It was only one hunter. He could easily take them down. After all, he's faced a lot stronger opponents in the arena.

He clenched his back legs, watching the lone hunter come closer before charging at them.