The Alpha Instinct

Chapter One: Hunting Season

I ran through the woods as quietly as I could using the shadows that the trees afforded me to cloak myself. My hand was tucked tightly against the wound at my side, "Damn hunters!" I swore under my breath trying to ignore the burning from the silver bullet lodged between two of my ribs. I hadn't been expecting news to travel so quickly that I had been freed but obviously I should have known. Werewolves are a bunch of loud mouth chatty cathy's. My uncle was making it extremely clear that there wasn't any level too low for him to stoop to. He wanted me dead and he had thought when he'd given me over to the Kellan that had been ensured. Yet, here we were two years later. Kellan was dead and I was still alive, wish I could have seen the look on his face when he'd heard that.

I caught the scent of the humans on the soft breeze and held back a groan as I pushed off the tree I had been resting on. I moved swiftly through the shadows keeping my senses alert to anything that might be out of the ordinary. My hearing told me that there was at least four hunters two hundred feet or so behind me, hot on my trail. I clenched my teeth together as I tentatively scanned the surrounding area for any place that I could use for coverage. 

As I searched heard the sound of a bow string being drawn back. I turned my head quickly towards the sound catching sight of moonlight glinting off the silver of the arrowhead . I didn't have time to react even with my acute senses. The arrow was soaring through the air and piercing through the flesh of my forearm as I tried to avoid it. A howl of pain ripped from my chest as I realized that the arrow went in one side and out the other before lodging itself into the tree behind me. Essentially I had been nailed to the tree with the damn arrow. My chest was heaving up and down as I tried to breathe through the pain.

The hunter moved from the shadows and into the light. He was tall and willowy in frame. I wouldn't have considered him much of a threat in hand to hand combat but clearly he hadn't given me much of an opportunity to do that. He wore a smug expression as he brought his fingers to his lips, creating a high pitched whistle. Screw this! I pulled the hand that had been protecting my gunshot wound away and gripped the part of the arrow that was sticking out of my arm. I gritted my teeth and pulled at it, trying to free myself.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The hunter says, "That will do more damage coming back out." I turned my hateful glare towards him and with all the strength I could muster I snapped the end of the arrow off. His eyes widen as I wretched my arm free with a powerful cry. I cradled my wounded arm to my chest as I took a step forward. My legs gave out under the stress my body was under causing my knees to dig into the damp earth. I sensed the other hunters as they approached. I knew I needed to get up off the ground and fight but the silver seemed to be effecting my body more than I wanted to acknowledge.

"Good job son!" A deep voice congratulated. I looked up from the ground panting through the pain. A large man stood next to the willowy hunter, hand on his shoulder. His black hair billowed lightly in the evening breeze and his calculating gaze focused on me as a predator would its prey. There was another young man behind them leaning toward a female who had a blood thirsty look in her eyes. The man moved away from the small group, "You know why wolves gravitate toward each other?" He questions as his eyes seem to be assessing me.

"For protection Sir..." The tall hunter gave a text book answer. At least they were getting a proper education, I thought to myself darkly.

"Very good..." He said as his steps brought him closer to me. I let out a low warning growl hoping he'd back off but he only gave me an amused expression, "They form pack's for protection among other things. It's much harder to take down a whole pack of wolves—they're very clever creatures." He now stood towering over me and I was glaring up at him as I used all my strength to hold my body upright. If I was going to die, I wasn't going to die like a coward. I was an alpha after all, even if I didn't have a pack to lead at the moment.