The Lycan Queen

Chapter 10

"How much further!" A female growled, pealing a strip of skin off the the moose carcass and popping it into her mouth.

Khufu rolled his eyes. "All in favor of denying the one who's been dragging their ass the whole way the right to speak, raise a paw." He, Stellar and another lycaness raised a paw, and the one lycaness that had both paws full lifted her tail.

"The paws and tail have it." Stellar chuckled quietly as they continued on.

The lazy female pouted and continued to help the group heave the carcass along in silence. Khufu hissed as a sharp stench hit him. It scented of two lycans, his older brother Kumarr and the main source of his stress; Mortem. He stopped suddenly jaws opened slightly with lips drawn back, his tongue curled at the back of his throat as a growl rose from it.

"What?" Stellar asked, as Khufu snorted, attempting to expel the scent from his nostrils. Khufu didn't answer.

Confused, Stellar scented the air herself. She took a few light sniffs. "Kumarr..." She took another sniff. "And Mortem..." She thought silently becoming excited as she recognised the second scent. She turned to speak to the group. "And Lucifer too. We're close."

"How can you tell?" A young female asked.

Stellar scented the air again. "Borders are only marked by the four top ranking lycans in a pack." She began. "That's Mortem, Udara, Kumarr and the alpha female... I mean, if we had an alpha female." Stellar said modestly blushing at the fact that it just might end up being her one day. "I only scent Mortem and Kumarr's marks here, but Luficer passed by here as well. They must have been border marking earlier today with Luce in tow."

"Wait." The same female began as the trek continued. "If only the four higher ranked wolves mark, and there's no alpha female, doesn't that mean Mortem has to make this exact same trip again with Udara in a few days?"

"At least until he chooses a queen." Another female answered. "Then she can go with the beta female and Mortem will only have to do it once a week with Kumarr."

"It's tough being the king." Stellar huffed as she lifted both ears to the savage growling of her packmates nearby.

Khufu growled. "Can we stop talking about him now?" He snapped at the group. "Jeez, who pissed on your favorite tree today!?" One of the other females retorted, as Stellar motioned for them to drag the carcass into the main terrace.

Once there, Stellar and Khufu surveyed the scene with dropped jaws. Blood and feathers were strewn everywhere, growls and roars were ceaseless. Lamaar and an older female battled over what appeared to be the rib cage of a bird, while Udara and a few other lycans squabbled noisily in a pile not to far away.

Khufu cocked his head to one side, as Stellar alerted the group. "Hey!" She called out, waving a paw. "No need to panic everyone, we're here, and we've got food!" She said with a smile as all five lycans dropped the carcass.

At the mention of food, every lycan became alert and ready. Udara, alongside Lamaar and the other half rogue lycans glared at Stellar and Khufu as they stood in front of the carcass. As the fur along Udara's back raised, so did that of the other lycans. Down on all fours, with a fire in their eyes, they stared; ears pinned backwards against the head, all jaws open and bloody with lips that were pulled back into incredibly ugly snarls. Strings of saliva mixed with blood dripped from each set of teeth.

Khufu stared in horror. What should he do? If he ran, he might set them off. If he didn't they might eat him. And no, that wasn't an exaggeration. Family was always family in Tainted soul terrace, but not when everyone was hungry. "Stellar.." He whispered. "What do we d- " He gasped as he looked to his right. She was gone. Khufu dropped his shoulders and groaned. "Again?!" He growled, before having to bob and weave sharply between the stampede of hungry wolves before he finally came to the end of the group.