Virals Pack: Reborn

Chapter 102: Attack

Content Warning: Violence, blood, etc. 

We must have startled it. Even with our raucous laughter, the burbling stream must have muffled our approach enough so that it was just as surprised as we were. 

Not everyone saw it at the same time. Hi and Shelton were busy laughing and elbowing each other in the middle of the pack while Ben grumbled from behind them. I was a few steps behind Tory, who was in the lead. She froze as the bear reared up onto its hind legs and loomed above us.

Without thinking, I took several steps forward to stand at Tory's side as the bear eyed us up and opened its jaws to release a horrendous bellowing noise. That certainly got the boys' attention, they all froze in shock as the bear proceeded to slam down its front paws and charge.

Time slowed.

I didn't stop to think, I simply surrendered to the call of my instincts.

I shoved my way in front of Tory, filled with a deep primal urge to Protect, stretched my arms out as wide as they would go, and roared right back at the bear. I threw every ounce of defiance and rage I had ever bottled up into the sound. It skidded to a stop for a moment, right in front of me. It seemed to weigh its options, its dark gaze burned into my soul...I didn't dare look away.

A small, strangled noise sounded from further behind me. The break in silence snapped the bear out of its contemplation, its jaws began to open in a declaration of violence. 

It was going to hurt them. It was going to hurt my friends. I wouldn't allow it. 

The next thing I knew my right foot shot upwards, connecting with the bear's muzzle. Demanding it reconsider its plan to hurt us by forcibly slamming its lower jaw shut.  I felt myself descend into a haze of instinct and adrenaline as I threw myself fists first towards the bear. I willed myself to become a beast of aggression, with the sole purpose to defend my alpha, to defend my pack.

My left fist collided with the bear's wet snout in a spectacular hook. I needed it to fear me, or at least to decide I was too much trouble to fight. But, to my utter dismay, my frontal assault served to enrage it rather than scare it off. It moved fast, with a speed that belied its furry bulk. Its right paw swung out and caught me in the side, left open and vulnerable by my punch. 

Before I could blink I was on the ground, the wind violently knocked out of me. The bear towered over me, I could feel the damp heat of its rank breath on my face. I was done for.

Out of nowhere a stone raced through the air and slammed into the bear's face with a dull thunk. I whipped my head back towards the pack in time to see Ben crouch down to grab another rock from the ground. The bear growled menacingly, and made to move towards him. Another stone arced through the air to collide with the side of its head. It was Hi, who had scrambled to the side in order to further distract the beast. 

I dimly felt a tugging sensation on my arm, and turned to see Tory at my side, a look of sheer terror on her pale face. I hazily realized she was trying to get me up and moving away from the temporarily preoccupied bear. My brain didn't seem to fully grasp what was going on, but my body moved practically on its own, the instinct to survive pulling me away from the danger.

Between the rocky assaults from the three boys, the bear took notice of our departure. It tried to make one last rush at us, but was intercepted by a particularly sandy looking rock right to the eye. With an outraged roar it stopped its advances and pawed angrily at its eyes, before finally turning and racing off into the woods. 

A whoop sounded from far away. Shelton. "Did you see that? I straight up bulls-eyed it!" 

"Bears-eyed it??" Hi shouted back in question.

Tory laughed semi-hysterically at their antics, even Ben cracked a rare and relieved grin before his face shifted back to a more somber expression. He turned towards me as if he was about to say something, and then froze, his tanned skin blanched in an alarming way as his gaze fixated on me. 

I opened my mouth to say something, to ask what was up...and then I feel it. My left side was wet, I must be covered in mud from my fall. I look down, and am startled to see a deep, red liquid staining my shredded shirt. Blood. 

Oh. 

I barely register the sight of my bleeding body as my vision suddenly begins to blur and tilt at an alarming angle.

Oh...