To Kill a Wolf Walker || Klance

black wolf, violet eyes

A/N: Hello! Here's the second chapter, hope you enjoy!

C/W: Language, violence, guns. I think that's it.

Lance was excited, to say the least. He never had the chance to actually hunt a wolf walker, but now he did! He wondered what they looked like as people. Did they look like...people? Or people with fluffy ears, maybe a tail? No one knows, not for sure, anyway. The scientists at the Garrison had only ever been able to study dead ones in their wolf forms.

Lance was smiling the entire ride to the woods, he was going to be the one to capture the wolf walker, he would be able to prove himself, he'd be a hero! The sun was setting, the sky bright orange with wisps of red amount the pink clouds.

The second the party's horses entered the woods, the animals of the forest went silent. Squirrels and chipmunks and birds scattered at the sound of the approaching horses. They needed to slow down almost immediately upon entering the forest, the brush too dense. The town of Altea wasn't able to expand for the villages at the edge of the town because of the wolf walkers. King Alfor learned this early on. Someone goes to clear trees to make room for another house, maybe farmland, a wolf walker's howl pierced the air, warning them death was on the hunt. If people didn't head the warning howls, the wolf walkers would attack, very rarely taking a villager, but definitely harming them. So yes, the brush was too dense as no one had been this far in to clear it.

The hunters slowed their horses to a stop, dismounting them and tying them to some trees in a natural clearing. A few stayed behind to watch them, make sure a wolf walker didn't try something. Lance was one of the hunters to advance further into the woods, looking for tracks. Broken branches, paw prints, maybe some human tools, fur, evidence of a kill, any disturbances that could be caused by a wolf walker on the run.

"Over here!" Lance called to the other hunters, showing them the paw prints and a broken branch with fur on the end. It was fresh, the branch not leaking sap yet, the print still wet. And it was leading deeper into the forest.

They made their way deeper into the woods, following the tracks. Hunk was with them, carrying traps and ammunition along with a few others, and he looked like he was about to puke. Poor guy, he was green as a granny smith, hand over mouth already.

"Hunk, if you puke, Pidge is gonna kill you," Lance whispered sharply at his friend.

"Why?! It's not my fault I'm nervous!"

"Because, you puke, the wolf will smell it and run, and Pidge won't get her live specimen. You know how she is when she doesn't get her way. She's terrifying!" 

Hunk opened his mouth for a retort, but was interrupted by another unit leader, "Oh would you both put a sock in it?! We need to focus!" 

"wE nEeD tO fOcUs," Lance mocked, but kept silent afterward. Each Hunter had a mask to cover their mouths and went up to cover their noses on, the top part covered their hair and forehead, leaving only their eyes exposed. Lance was walking with his gun at the ready, looking through his scope to see further away.

There. Lance stopped and held up a fist, signaling to the others to stop. He pointed to where he was looking, to the black wolf in the stream up ahead. Everyone spread out, moving as quietly as they could, but the critters of the forest went silent wherever the humans went.

The wolf stopped moving, a stillness taking over its body that only an apex predator could achieve. The wolf looked up and out into the deeper woods as another wolf emerged from the trees, visibly relaxing as the second wolf walked into the street beside the black wolf and they rubbed cheeks.

This second wolf was also black, some gray thrown in on his legs and tail, a white patch on his forehead. The two wolves played in the stream, and the units slowly made their way to surrounding them.

The forest was silent except for the sounds of the wolves splashing, but the black wolf abruptly stopped, ears twitching. The second wolf stopped, too, head tilting to the side as he looked at the black wolf. A breeze came out f nowhere, blowing directly to the wolves, and the black wolf lowered his head, a growl echoing throughout the forest.

"Fire!" One of the unit leaders yelled, everyone opening fire on the wolf walkers at once. The wolves bolted from the stream into the trees, a howl piercing the silence of the night. 

Branches snapped, a growl sounded here and there and everywhere. Gunshots boomed, thunder roared. Dark clouds rolled in from the clear sky, blacking out the stars and moon. Rain poured, lightning crackled, people screamed. 

A bolt of lightning struck a tree, a fire breaking out at an impossible rate, leaping from tree to tree. Lance ran.

Magic. The wolf walkers did have magic on their side. 

The fire spread, some unlucky enough to get caught by it, their bodies becoming torches. Lance ran for the stream, abandoning the suffocating heat of his mask. The night was lit up behind him, flames reaching for the heavens, hot as a summer afternoon. The chirping of birds and buzz of insects replaced with the screams of humans. And Lance ran on.

***

The lightning and fire disappeared long ago, but the rain remained. Lance lost his guns somewhere in the stream but kept moving. Where was he? Clouds blocked the stars, moss grew everywhere on trees, and Lance was alone, lost in the woods somewhere.

He found a rock and broke it on another, creating g a sharp edge. He picked up a long, mostly straight stick, and started to sharpen the end into a point, creating a spear. And not a second too soon, a branch snapped to Lance's left, he whirled around, spear pointed in the direction of the sound.

Glowing violet eyes stared back at Lance from the underbrush, what little moonlight that broke through the clouds shone in the wolf's eyes. "C-come out!" Lance stuttered, fear making his body shake as the black wolf poked more of his face out, moonlight illuminating his features.

The wolf moved further out, lifting his head to its full height, Lance tipping his head back in an attempt to keep eye contact. The wolf was huge! It looked down at Lance as he dropped his spear, head tilting to the side, ears perked up.

Lance watched as the wolf shrunk, fur turning into cloths, claws replaced with fingers, muzzle returned to pale skin. Before Lance stood a boy with a vantablack and charcoal mullet. And his eyes. His eyes were vibrant violet, orchid on the litter edges, a starburst of violet surrounding his pupils. He was beautiful.

Mullet tilted his head to the side, eyes roving over Lance head to toe and back again. He bit his bottom lip, working it between his teeth and looking back behind him into the woods. Wolfie turned his head back to Lance, and Lance could clearly see an elongated canine before Pretty Boy stopped messing with his lip.

"Come with me." 

Lance stared, then blinked, then stared some more. "What."

Mullet rolled those beautiful eyes of his, annoyed. "Come. With. Me. That is, unless you want to stay the night here in the woods, lost, alone, cold. Not knowing when something is going to lungs out and make you its dinner. If you don't get warmed up, you'll get hypothermia, your teeth are already chattering together as it is." He crossed his arm and leaned his weight to one leg, the movement making his hip pop out. 

"F-f-fine." Lance managed to get out through, yes, chattering teeth.

"Good, now hop on." Before Lance could ask what the boy meant by that, Mullet had already shifted back into that huge black wolf. 

The average wolf is 2.6-2.8 feet, a little under 3 feet, Lance was about 6 feet, which is 72 inches when the average height for an 18 year old is about 69 inches, or 5 feet and 9 inches. Mullet Head here was about 2 feet taller than Lance, and he wasn't even lifting his head up all the way. 8. Fucking. Feet. And he could still be taller. Holly Mother of all shits.

Mr. Tall Wolf-Dude lowered his head and crouched down in front of Lance. Lance grabbed onto his fur, and with one last look at the woods around them, hefted himself up and swung his leg over like he would a horse.

Lance got situated, gripping the wolf's fur in both hands to hold on as the wolf started to walk. He soon picked up speed, racing through the trees, bounding over rocks and streams. The wind stung Lance's eyes, making them water, he had to duck, face almost flush against the wolf's shoulders to keep from being hit by branches.

Despite the running and jumping and dodging, the ride was comfortable. The wolf's fur was soft and fluffy, if not a little wet from the rain. And Lance was exhausted, the adrenaline high wearing off. His eyes fluttered closed listening to the sound of rain on leaves and the breaths of the wolf beneath him.

And Lance let sleep take him.

Word count: 1552

A/N: Well, that was the second chapter. 

Hope you enjoyed it!

-TJ.