The Hunter's Pack

The Plan

I was drinking my late-night tea on the branch of a tree, watching over the now dark forest. I was mid-sip when loud crashes and shouts of "Alpha!" rang out through the clearing. Coughing out the tea from the wrong pipe, I jumped down, glaring at Jane and Everett. Wait, what? My anger quickly turned to surprise, and I immediately inquired them about why they were here so early. There was still one day left of the reckon mission.

"That's why we're here! Ben paged us yesterday night, and we met up to combine our knowledge. He told us that he overheard that there would be a wedding today, between the young alpha and some girl. Everybody will be drunk, and it will be the perfect time to strike!" Everett exclaimed...excitedly? 

"Everett, why do you seem so happy about this turn of events? Last I checked, you were hating the idea of attacking another pack." I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously, then moved my gaze to Jane. They weren't planning anything, were they? This opportunity seemed too good to be true. 

"I would still be hesitant, but seeing that pack...they're monsters." Everett spit on the ground as emphasis and continued. "The one day I watched them, I could clearly see them abusing a girl who was protecting a small boy, her brother I think. And it wasn't just one or two pack members abusing her, but practically everyone was! That pack is just trash. They killed off their elders and the last alpha-" I interrupted him with a wave of my hand.

"Ah, it's one of those packs. Understood. I suppose that's why Tarragon deemed them dangerous." I calmly sipped my tea as Everett shot me an inquisitive look. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Simply put, if a few pack members are abused, we wouldn't be sent out to annihilate the whole pack, even if everyone was taking part in the abuse. It's the killing of the elders. That's known as a pretty bad crime in the werewolf world, you are aware, correct?" 

Everett nodded with a scowl darkening his features before it drastically changed to that of a pensive face. "What do you mean by 'one of those packs'? You've dealt with this before? Wait, do you guys only kill bad people and packs?" His expression quickly morphed into that of an excited one, and I viewed him dubiously. Was this guy actually the previous beta of his ex-pack? 

"That would be a naive statement. We kill who we need to kill to survive. If that is a 'bad' person or pack, then that's fine too I suppose. I was told that we kill 'dangerous' people, but I have never looked into it more than the basic scouting mission. Ben stayed behind, I imagine?" I looked towards Jane, who was standing there a bit awkwardly, not sure how to join the conversation. She seemed relieved when I finally addressed her.

"Yeah. He said he wanted to make sure that the wedding would go as planned, but would page us if anything happened." She held up her pager and waved it a bit. I nodded in approval. 

"Smart. Also, could you please mind-link the pack and call them all here?"

She gave a curt nod at my order and her eyes glazed over, staring mindlessly at a random point in the forest. I turned towards Everett, who had opened his mouth to say something, but I promptly spoke before he could.

"Everett, everything will be explained during the meeting. Please, be patient for a little." 

He harrumphed, but backed up and leant against a tree. We waited for a few minutes, and the pack members started coming out of the trees, walking towards us. Soon, everyone was here except for Anastasia and Elliot. 

"Anastasia, give me back my pen! It is an important tool, and not meant for simply drawing on your hands! Why would you even do that?" Ah, guess they're here too. 

"Annie, give Elliot back the pen. There is something important we need to discuss today." The brunette girl stuck her tongue out at me, but handed my beta his pen back anyways. He sighed and put it back into his front pocket carefully. I continued. "Anyways, we are attacking the Bloodfang pack tomorrow night." There was a series of collective gasps and murmuring amongst the wolves.

"Wait, why are Jane and Everett back? Where's Ben?" Elliot immediately asked, confused at this turn of events. I quickly explained how since there would be a wedding tomorrow night, it would be the perfect time to strike. I answered the question concerning Ben as well.

"So tomorrow, I want everyone ready by 8 pm sharp. Josh, Max, Dawson - you guys will be on the sniper team, as usual. We'll be using the last of our silver bullets, so use them sparingly.Jane, Anastasia, and I will be party leaders. Tri-attack formation, as usual guys."

"Wait wait. Tri-attack formation?" Everett's loud voice rang out through the crowd, catching everyone's attention. Right...I forgot about the newbie.

"Yes, Tri-attack. We are currently north of their pack house, facing the front straight on. Anastasia will attack northeast, and Jane will attack northwest, while my squad will go around to the south and attack from the back. Jane and the snipers will draw them out, going towards Anastasia. They will eventually meet up and combine forces, attacking the wolves that followed, while my squad and I will be making our way to them from the back. If everything goes to plan, we can kill the cowards hiding in the pack house and then move on to corner the rest of them, meeting up with squad A and J. Oh, right, almost forgot. No survivors this time." As soon as I said that, there was a rumble of discomfort amongst the people in front of me. They all shared looks of weariness and displeasure. I sighed before continuing. 

"If it makes you feel better, this pack abuses two members...presumably the omegas, and killed its' elders and previous alpha." There was a collective sigh of relief among the pack members. I suppose they felt better knowing they didn't have to kill innocent people. Interesting how the value of a human being goes down the more sins they commit. Perhaps religion has something going for it after all.

"Alpha A? Do we have to kill the abused pack members too?" Max asked, others nodding along, wanting to know my response. Before I could reply, Everett's loud voice was heard from the back...again.

"No way! They were abused! It was just a girl protecting her brother. She seemed to be around 17 years old, but her brother looked 10. I'm sure that they didn't take part in the murders at all!"

I didn't even need to respond.
"Everett, while you may be a newer member, please remember to address Miss Alex respectfully. She has given you protection when you were thrown out of your pack, wrongly accused of murder." Elliot smiled politely at young man, but his eyes held a warning glint. "Regarding the two omegas, their fate will depend on how they act when questioned. Our alpha happens to be knowledgeable in human expressions, so we can safely depend on her judgement. If they are proven innocent, then we will offer to take them in, of course."

Everett paused a moment, processing everything he was just told. He then looked up at me and bowed a bit, apologizing. I sighed; El went a bit overboard with the whole "respect" thing. I don't want my pack members to fear me.

"It's fine, Everett. What you did wasn't disrespectful, just speak at a lower volume next time. Elliot is correct about the two children, however. Ah, one more thing. Don't trash the land too much. We're going to live there after all."