Traumatised Tim

Chapter Seventeen

When the gates fell they knew the strength of the wayward pack was too much. It was as if their nerves all pulsed at once. This would be a bloody battle and they were sure it would not end well. Tim had seen the numbers from the forest as they had surrounded the compound. Five joined packs had meant a few hundred warriors all were ready and waiting to defend but they were defending against double their number. And it wasn’t just the growls of wolves he heard but the beating of drums, the thudding footsteps of human feet and the cracking of metal chains being swung to hit the ground with deadly strength. A gun blast went off just behind the gate and from his position Tim could see many, many wolves in human bodies; he assumed each of them would be carrying a gun. They had no armour, no bullet proof vests. Nothing against such fatal pellets.

                They had known guns were in the mix but had thought their wolf forms enough, as the vast number of opponents crept around and circled them, blocked them in, they knew there were going to be too many bullets whizzing in the air. Tranquilizer guns were at the ready in some of the human‘s hand and that scared Tim more than anything else. This was not just a kill mission. They wanted prisoners at the end.

                He looked around at all his rooftop comrades to see their eyes were wide in horror. They looked afraid. Scared. Grown men scared.

“It’s going to be alright.”

“They want slaves.” Tommy called up to him. “They are creating an elite. A new world; one that werewolves rule. They take slaves to build their new empire; once the wolves are dominant they will slaughter the humans one by one and have fun doing it.”

“You knew this?! You hid this detail from us?!”

“I hide many things that are not easy to take in. They want a race of the strongest wolves. The strongest here will be taken back as prisoners; they will test them, breed them, research on them, all to see what makes them the strongest and by that create a breed of wolf that will have no difficulty in wiping out the humans.”

“Why? Why such a grudge against the humans?”

“They are tired of staying secret from them. They are tired of knowing that if humans found us, they would experiment or exterminate us. So they seek to do the same to the humans before it can be done to them.”

                He watched the enemy walk forward, coming too close to the warriors. “What now?” Tim yelled to Tommy. “What now?” They were outnumbered in number and in weapons and with terrifying consequences for the prisoners of war.

“We fight to the death.”

“That’s it?! You get me a business, a pack with numbers I can not even count, you orchestrate a battle then you send my mate to so called safety! You even sent four of your own pack out to certain death. Tommy – what have you got planned?!”

“If I tell you that Tim, it wouldn’t be a good plan now would it?”

“I least we would have some hope.”

                Tommy sank into a deeper crouch, he was about to lurch forward form his position underneath the rooftop that Tim was stood on. His spritely body was slowly uncoiling; his muscles were flexing and twitching. Tim was shocked that such a small body could have such active muscles under his skin. “Tim, I did not lead rogues to you so you could look to me for hope. They are all looking at you. Being a leader is not just planning. It isn’t just running away and building yourself up. Being a leader is knowing that you might be the loneliest person in the world but there was a purpose that put you there and you never forget it. Being a leader Tim, is building a hut with no prior knowledge, it’s confronting rogues who could kill you. It’s leaving behind your family because you hope in doing better. Now, Tim being a leader is putting aside your fear and being the hope to your pack who are terrified at this moment. Don’t look at me for fancy words, I’m fighting.”

                And with that Tommy bounded off jumping through the crowd of frozen warriors towards the fallen gate and finally - right into the middle of the enemy. Tim screamed at such an action. “Oh god no.” Tommy, was right in the middle of the enemy, he needed to help him but they had a set strategy. He couldn’t leave Tommy to fight for himself but everyone was frozen, hopeless in the face of so many opponents. He looked around, he didn’t want to do this but if he didn’t, everything he had done would have been for nothing. There really was no choice.

“Men!” He called, “Women!” He turned in a circle to eye up every single one of them; alpha or not. He looked deep into their eyes and saw the stark fear that he knew had been in his own before making the decision. “We may not be many, and we may not have guns but we have honour and families to protect. It may turn out to be our defeat, but we will make sure we do not fall lightly! We are not defeated yet! We fight! We fight to the death! Think of your families, think of your homes. For a better world, for a peaceful world… We defend!”

                He let the change take him again as he shouted the last word. He let it echo through the changed vocal chords to transform into that of a majestic growl and when he saw the enemy hacking down the last remnants of the gate Tim let out a howl of rage. Let them come. The wolves all around threw back their heads and called out to the blue sky above. The ones in human forms called out a scream of challenge and when the enemy finally broke free, the lines of Myco’s pack sprang into action.