Red Sky In The Night

Six.

Amerie's first instinct was to disappear and Katya did the same as they made their way back to the trees before the red off roader roared through the forest and onto the meadow. The shots fired from the guns echoed about the clearing as they chased after the running wolves, one of the pups the first to go down.

“What do we do?”' Katya screamed at Amerie as a dirt bike raced past them, sending them both flying backwards yet Katya never hit the dirt as Amerie hoped she went back to get help or The Elders may be getting their wish of having one less faerie around to cause trouble and she chased after them in a bid to help the wolves, stopping by the fallen pup. 

Derek looked at the tire tracks in the mud by the river. The water hadn't fallen back into the grooves so he knew they were fresh and the bangs that followed told him he was on the right track. He ditched his bike by the forest edge, grabbing his gun and some ammunition, it wasn't long before the four-wheel drive appeared and taking aim, he was quick to line up his shot and took out the back tire followed by a rear sending the vehicle swerving over the gravel and the wolves were long gone back into the sanctuary of the forest, but up into higher ground where no humans ever ventured.

Three men jumped out, scanning the area around them for the mystery shooter while another on the bike soon appeared behind them.

“Pack Leader this is Lone Wolf. Four fugitives, armed near Top Ridge.” Derek mumbled into the satellite phone and tried to slip through the foliage as quietly as he could towards them.

“Lone Wolf, did you need assistance?”

“Negative.” Tucking the phone back into the bag Derek had no doubt he'd be able to take them out. He learnt his lesson the last time and now his senses were even more alert, but as he reached the edge and looked back down the path, nothing prepared him for the sight of Amerie by the dead wolf. Her hands were glowing over the corpse and he wasn't the only one who noticed as the men did too.

“What the fuck?” The driver called out and the group grabbed their weapons, spreading out as they headed towards an unsuspecting Amerie.

“What is that?” Another asked and Derek quickly tried to work out the best way to warn her. In the end he could come up with nothing else but to scream at her to run which turned all the attention to him.

He didn't aim, shooting blindly he was quick to roll across the path as they tried to shoot at him and mistiming his fall landed roughly on the other side as the forest was sprayed with bullets. The bear inside was furious, and he tried to hide the groan as the pain that hit him meant only one thing.

He was about to shift.

“Did we get him?” One of the men called out from nearby.

“He went down, spread out!” The crunch of footsteps helped him identify where they were located and rolling onto his stomach he tried to keep his gasps as quiet as possible as he prayed for it not to happen now. The bear must have heard his prayers and settled, the gasp of an easy breath the sign they were waiting for.

“What was that?” Another called out and taking that as his sign Derek jumped up, firing towards the first one he saw as the white baseball cap stood out from the forest, marking his target.

“Shit!” Echoed around after Derek fired, the white capped man dropping without even raising his weapon and the other three moved like a tornado, frantic to take cover and check on their fallen friend. More confident now he had the poachers spooked, he soon realized the direction they were all running in was back towards Amerie. Picking up his own pace he ran easily through the rough terrain, the bear taking over to guide him Derek managed to jump out with his gun aimed, just as the trio stopped in front of her.