The Hunted

Catching Up

Elias

I am beyond angry, irritated, impatient, and antsy. Turns out Leon got the wrong flares! So now the original time that we had to wait has been tripled. Doesn't help that the wolves are here, matching my energy. It had been a while since I'd had wolves of all kinds stand by me and have an understanding that we are hunting, together. We might be apart but now that the men that I used to see day to day as a child stand by me and their grand-children brings up old wounds that never healed. I missed them no matter how much I shouldn't.

They are here and feeling what I am feeling because I am still their king deep down. I was and always will be the one they can't forget no matter how much they wish they didn't feel the effects I give. 

I am the alpha. They are my men. It should've been as simple as that, but honestly, this kingdom lost these men long before I started my rule. The last king lost these men when he decided to take away the queen, and therefore himself. That doesn't matter now, what matters is this flare.

Cease the flames. Let us behold Lyra...

I  rolled my eyes at my wolf's words. Forgetting that when he's upset he speaks in his old tongue. Yet I found myself chanting the words alongside my wolf. 

Cease the flames. Let us behold Lyra...

Cease the flames. Let us behold Lyra...

The light suddenly went out after burning for what felt like ages and we took off. All went in the direction of the women but my men and I went in her direction. I pushed myself harder forward once I got past the tents and objects in the way, weaving through trees like a string through a needle. I got to a clearing in the woods and halted at the change of scent. Something happened here with two other women. I sniff the ground and am surprised at the smell of a fight but not between any wolves.

From what I can tell, Lyra bumped into them. From there it seemed she tried to leave before being pulled back into a fight, but I can't tell if she had won or not. There is no smell of blood, just dirt in the air. The footsteps overlap one another to the point where it is difficult to follow the steps she had made during this interaction. Following the scent further, I found out that they went in the same direction, likely without meaning to. 

Tobias steps up next to me and motions that there are wolves not too far away from us with his head. I nod once before continuing onward on the path the queen has made for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun is now setting between the trees with light warming us as the cooling air brushes against our fur. We had been running for what felt like ages, occasionally stopping for water breaks to the river just a mile to the right of us. She made so much distance I wonder what she had done to make such a distance, seeing as how she hadn't been running. Her scent hasn't been heavy like humans normally are when they start exercising for a while.

I slowed when I heard muffled pleas from a girl who had been caught. "Please! Please let me go puppy. Pl-"  Her scream cut her off as I stepped over to see a wolf standing over her as she was clawing away. Her body was covered in blood and her dress in dirt. I couldn't see her face but I knew what was happening. The toxins are making their way through her body. Slowly giving her everything she wasn't born to have. She'll either die from the bite, lose her mind, or she will survive and live with her new soulmate. 

If she is strong enough, which they never are, she will even get a wolf.

I sigh and step away from the scene. My mother would've never wanted this for the innocent women and men who attended the hunt. She would've fought tooth and nail for each of their lives, finding different ways to save lives and heal the supernatural world in the process. She was gentle that way...

I brush off the emotions that always surface when I go for a hunt and begin my way forward once again, catching up with Leon and Tobias as I can tell they've become restless running after one woman. This isn't what I thought would happen when the hunt began, I thought-

Well, I didn't know what I thought. Maybe I felt more confident in this run but now now that we are here, all confidence has run out the window faster than a wolf in the hunt.

I come up to an argument over two girls whose scent I recognized from earlier. Both were beautiful, sure, but nothing compared to my Lyra. One of the women was just as tall if not taller than Lyra. She was an ebony woman with long curly black hair and pitch black eyes that were narrowed. Her short and revealing white dress was covered in dirt, blood, rips, and surprisingly well-wrapped knuckles that had the most blood on them.

The other woman was much smaller but her ball gown took up most of the volume she had. Dirt covered the ends of her ripped dress and it seemed like she had tied the sleeves back around her neck so it wouldn't fall back down. She had little blood on her hands and dress as if the other woman she was arguing with had taken all of the punches beforehand.

Her brown hair was tied in a messy bun. Her eyes were a deep shade of blue, which stood out against her dirtied tan skin.

"I just think her idea was smarter, not yours. Think about it! You've had to fight off six wolves, and three girls to get where we are. She hasn't seen any wolf and the only people she has seen are us. We should follow her lead." The brunette yelled back in response to something the other had said.

"I don't care! If you have a problem with how I run things, follow that Lyra chick. I doubt she is far behind."

Leon steps forward to the point that the brunette sees him and steps away. "Rika, wolves."

The woman whom I'm guessing is Rika looks toward us and sneers. Her eyes became slits as she observes each of us before her eyes rests on Tobias. "Come to have a little taste, pretty boy?" Rika says sarcastically before she puts her hands on her hips and moves them side to side

"Don't mock the wolves! They're bigger than the other ones, and they haven't moved."

"They are watching us. Seeing what we'll do."

I hear Tobias lightly wag his tail for a moment before stopping and glancing over at me with a look in his eye. He wants to do something, something that'll get the girls together. I look over at Tobias and see he's on the same page.

We've finally caught up.