Moving Forward

Ambush (16)

On hearing Kyle's mother declaration, those in wolf form began pawing at the ground, the low murmur of human speech gradually becoming louder. Max wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to be doing, but on seeing the River family remain calm and unperturbed, Max followed their lead.

"Quiet please," Amelia's calm command was obeyed almost immediately.

It was slightly odd for Max to see the kind of devotion these wolves had to their... was Amelia alpha? Or was Mr River alpha? Perhaps co-alphas?

Max was brought back into focus when Kyle nudged him. His face didn't say anything, but Max knew he was slightly amused, if not entirely focused on the matter at hand.

Amelia was issuing orders when Max began listening again. "Kyle will lead our enforcers. I want this werewolf found. Carter, you will have a team ready to back Kyle up if need be. Anderson and I will protect the rest of the pack."

With that, Kyle stood and Max moved with him, rather surprised to find at least ten wolves falling into step behind them. The second they reached the border of the forest, the werewolves in human form left to shift, whilst the rest remained with Max. Even Kyle had left to shift. It made sense though. Since Max was his mate, shifting in front of each other wasn't that weird, but shifting in front of the pack was a different matter.

Once all the wolves had rejoined, they were off, Max immediately taking his place in the trees. Normally, he would take this time to enjoy the sensations of this new area of the forest, leave his markings wherever he could, but at the moment, the most he could do was allow the scent markers on his paws to leave a trace of him. There was no time for anymore than that.

He dropped back behind the pack as they went, having learned early on that his style of attack was always much used as an ambush. Not that he couldn't crush skulls with his bite, but Max hated not having the advantage at all times. And at the moment, Max wasn't sure if the side he was on did have the advantage.

They were a good mile or two into the forest before the wolves came across a scent. The way they behaved while they were tracking was strange. It wasn't like how Max caught a scent and then followed it general direction. Kyle seemed to be follow every twist and turn the scent took, trusting the rest of the wolves to keep an eye their surroundings, anxiously yipping and huffing at each other.

While they were at it, Max took a chance on scouting ahead, keeping his body close to the branches and being as silent as he possibly could. Not that it was much of an issue. The forest was dense here, much more so than by his own home or closer to the River mansion, letting Max navigate through difficult paths easily. Having claws designed to hook into things helped too.

Not far from the pack, the forest became still. The birds kept quiet and small animals stayed in their burrows, each of them sensing the present danger, anticipating violence. Even the wind seemed to being reluctant to disturb the scene, with only the gentlest touches stirring Max's fur.

He went back. Tracked his own path to the pack wolves. They weren't where he'd left them, but they were close, and had stopped in a clearing, slightly west of where Max had sensed the danger.

Down on the ground, Max immediately had Kyle's attention. It wasn't hard to convey the danger, or where it had come from. The only problem was that Max hadn't actually seen the rogue werewolves. And that could only mean one thing: the pack was walking into an ambush. But Max didn't know how tell Kyle that. So he told Kyle to wait.

Max went back again, just in a single attempt to try to see where the enemy wolves were lying in wait. In doing so, he came across a clearing. And a very obvious trap to anyone looking from the trees.

With a feline smugness, Max went to the pack, and spent exactly six long minutes shifting into human form, and then returned to view. Nudity wasn't exactly a big issue right now.

"They've set a trap." Max stated, his usually soft voice just firm enough to demand respect from the subordinate werewolves. "There's a main group in the centre of a clearing, and another group waiting on the perimeter, keeping downwind. There's an opening where they expect us to come from. They outnumber us at least two-to-one." Max frowned. "We can call Carter and wait for reinforcements, or we can just head straight in."

Kyle grunted, his irritation clear. Well, clear to Max. Perhaps it was the situation, but Max couldn't help feel slightly dizzy. This wasn't good.

"What do you want to do?" He said, ignoring the sensation.

It was obvious they'd have to split into two groups. One to take on the main force and the other to attack the outliers. It was just a question of numbers at this point.

Kyle nudged Max. And somehow, to Max, the message was clear that he needed to be back in jaguar form. And whilst Max did so, Kyle gave a short, but clear howl. Calling for reinforcements.

But they weren't waiting. The second that Max returned, they split into two groups: Kyle leading the frontal assault, and Max taking ambush attackers. And that was that. It was all Max needed in order to feel another wave of dizziness. His foot slipped from a branch, but he didn't fall - too well hooked onto the wood beneath his other claws. It only took a second to right himself and keep going.

Max lead the five wolves following him around the perimeter of the clearing, far enough away that the Gillespie's wolves wouldn't notice their approach, and hopefully distracted by Kyle's brazen entrance. With a gentle nudge to the first, the wolves fanned out, and Max found a nice comfy position in a tree to wait for his prey whilst just one of his team waited nearby. They were to work in pairs, it seemed.