The Hunter's Pack

The Pack

I loaded the silver bullets into my pistol, slowly, carefully, masterfully.

"Elliot, report please."

"Yes, Ms.Cross. Our current savings are just barely above $1k - the pack of 22 cannot be supported this way. And, waiting for an hour to ask the same question again won't lead to different results, Miss." Elliot carefully adjusted his glasses with his index finger, trying to hide a small smile. Always the respectful type. Well, he's a smart kid; that's just another reason for why he's the perfect beta.

I sighed, mildly annoyed at the report. "Well, it doesn't hurt to ask, just to make sure. We are attacking another pack soon after all. Is everyone prepared?"

"Of course." He paused, as if thinking about what to say next. "Although, Anastasia has been bothering everyone with her bad puns."

I shrugged and smiled, thinking about the rather enthusiastic green-eyed girl. "She's lightening the mood, I suppose. And what of the newest member, Everett? Is he up for the reckon mission at least?"

"Your prediction earlier was spot on. He is not only hesitant of attacking another pack, but disapproves of it completely. However, he did say that he 'understood' why we are doing this, so he has agreed to the reckon mission. I will have Ben and Jane accompany him - if that's ok with you of course, Miss?" Elliot smirked a bit, playing the role of a nervous, but loyal, beta. I smiled a bit–it would be entertaining to play along. I stood up and cocked my gun, aiming at the small bat flying around in the dark night sky. The moon was covered by clouds tonight, the bat barely visible.

"Elliot, you are the beta - you can make decisions like this on your own. And as one of the oldest members of the Cross pack, I trust your judgment on these kinds of things. Also," I followed the bat with my gun for a little more, then put the pistol back into its' holster at my side. Silver bullets were expensive; wasting some on a bat would be foolish. "I have told you many times to stop being so formal with me. A simple 'Alex' would be fine; 'Miss' annoys me." I picked up my already loaded machine gun and strapped it onto my torso, walking past Elliot. I sighed again, already knowing his response.

He cockily smirked and fixed his glasses again, unnecessarily. "I know...Miss."

I shook my head, opting not to reply and simply head to the clearing where the rest of my pack was. There was a shout of "Apha's here!" as soon as I entered, and the 20 wolves dropped whatever they were doing to stand in formation. Everett was the last to scramble into position, but that was fine; he was a new member after all.

"Self-preservation is the main reason anyone does...anything, really. In this case, we need to feed ourselves, supply ourselves. We don't have land, and we don't have homes. All we have is our determination to survive–and Tarragon, of course. And what we can get from completing this mission is money. With money we can survive. Now," I walked from one side of the formation to the other, my hands behind my back, "I know that for some this might be hard," I glanced at Everett, who was looking down at the ground with fists at his sides, "but this is how we, the migrating pack, survive." I stopped, looking over the faces of my pack members. Some looked anxious, others frustrated, while more seemed...ready.

I quickly ducked under a body flying over my shoulders, only to hear an "oomph" as a small girl fell to the floor, not expecting me to dodge.

"Allleeeex, stop doing that! Your speeches are so boring, everyone already heard this before! We know, we know why we do this. You should at least give me a piggy-back ride while you say it - Hey ouch! Elli you can't just hit me like that!"

"Anastasia Blackwell, you cannot address the alpha like that! Also, acting that way during a meeting is highly inappropriate. You should know better, considering you are already 22!"

There were small chuckles coming from the pack, and I myself smiled a bit listening to Elliot chastise my Delta, Anastasia (ah, he was such a hypocrite). But everyone knew that no matter how "disrespectful" Annie was to me, she would never be seriously punished. She was the baby of the pack, simply put. She always acted like a child when it came to us, and everyone accepted it (of course, her short height of 4' 9 didn't encourage anyone to expect her to be more "adult-like.") Anastasia jumped off the ground and faced Elliot, her hands on her hips.

"Elli, stop lecturing me! I'm sure you're just salty because you haven't been laid, even though you're already 19!" I cringed a bit at her word choice; I guess the strange human teens she talked to recently rubbed off on her. She crossed her arms triumphantly, smirking and turning her nose up at him. Once he processed what she had said, Elliot's face turned beet-red and he whacked her with the papers in his hands. She let out a small "Ouch!" but he shouted over whatever she wanted to say.

"Anastasia! There is nothing wrong- why would you even say-" He let out a cry of frustration and threw his papers at her, too flabbergasted to form a smart-alack reply. "One of these days I'll cut off all your precious little hair when you're sleeping! Or maybe I'll just do it now!" Elliot took out a pair of bright orange scissors from his belt (he takes "being prepared" to a whole other level) and immediately started chasing Annie, who had scuttled away screaming by then. I smiled at the scene - they had always had this type of relationship. They weren't blood-related, but they sure acted like siblings.

Turning my back on the havoc behind me, I addressed Ben and Jane, who immediately straightened their backs and listened to my orders intently.

"Ben, Jane, I'm sure Elliot has already informed you of this but you two will be on the reckon mission, along with Everett. Is that fine?"

They gave me polite nods and picked up their already packed bags. I watched them spray a potion onto their black masks before putting them on. After calling for him, Everett quickly ran towards them, imitating their previous movements.

"Is everything ready?" I questioned, sure of their answer but confirming it nonetheless.

"Of course." Ben replied. "We each have a hammock, camera, and binoculars. We also brought pagers to alert us if any part of the mission goes wrong." I nodded, reveling slightly in the pride I felt from knowing that I was the alpha of such capable werewolves.  I chuckled a bit, noticing once again how ironic the fact that I was an alpha of a werewolf pack was. After all, I'm-

"Alpha A?" Jane's voice brought me back to the present, and I smiled awkwardly at her, embarrassed at my blunder.