Chase (Chasing Tails Rewritten)

ThirtyThree - Watched

 There's a nagging sensation at the back of Dresden's mind as he fights off a red-eyed Alpha. Something instinctively tells him that he's being played with. Only two red-eyed Alphas manage to fall into their trap and Dresden is sure there are more of of them out there, somewhere. They might be watching in the shadows, waiting until Dresden has his guard down when his victory has been made. Or they've been watching him a lot closer than he imagined and planned their attacks around this.

Or they know him really, really well.

He notices that though Ollie and his pack are helping, the red-eyed Alphas aren't nearly as interested in them as they are in Dresden. Even his own pack can hardly get their foe's attention before the Alphas turn back towards him and snarl a challenge. They're taunting him, testing him and he knows there's a deeper reason than just the obvious instinctual act.

He snaps the neck of a reckless red-eyed Alpha. His black beast savors the taste of his enemy's blood and Dresden lets him freely act as he pleases. It's not every day that he gets a foe strong enough for him to be reckless and the act of naturally attacking and killing fills him with nostalgia. He remembers when this was an every-day occurrence for him. His brother Darren, would start a game with him, one of the few their father approved of. The two of them together would hunt down a group of rogues. Their father, Dante always considered them as lowly creatures. He taught them that rogues didn't belong in the world if they couldn't completely live with their own wolves. He'd kill them like he had a vendetta against them. First, he'd kill the children, forcing the adults to watch while Dresden and Darren held them down. He'd start off with the little girls and then the little boys. He'd continue up the age pole, always killing females first and saving the desperate, angry males for last.

He was even crueler on pack members. Dresden remembers one pack warrior Dante and he came across. His father didn't just kill him. He tortured him, breaking legs and arms. He'd rip limbs apart or scratch whatever he felt like. Sometimes, he'd create beautiful, bloody designs on his victims - ones that'll scar and stay with them forever. He'd let those ones return, warning his pack of anyone who treaded onto Dante's mountain.

His sons' game was of a similar fashion. They'd find a group of rogues and begin to hunt them, terrifying them. They'd never reveal themselves - wouldn't even attack them. They'd start by instigating fear. They'd kill another, drag his body close after covering it in another's scent and hang them up in a tree over where the rogues made their camp. They'd watch and listen as the traveling creatures would wake up, covered in blood and search for their tormentors. Dresden especially found it fun to watch his victims lose themselves to insanity as they try to find him. Darren and he would take it so far that sometimes, suicide was the answer. Other times, they'd get bored and kill them like little boys who break their toys when they want something better.

Dresden can remember when he was thrilled whenever new rogues show up. But one day, his brother took it too far. He involved their mother.

Elana was different from them. She was meek, quiet, completely submissive to their father's will and even to theirs. She tried to teach them compassion, humility, honor but the boys were too proud to listen and their father felt her teachings were weakening and stupid. Dresden felt the same for a while until he found his mother burying his victims night after night, crying her eyes out. He didn't understand her but she was his mother. He wanted to stop her from crying.

He began listening to her, trying his best to change for her. Slowly, he saw that she was becoming less depressed. Slowly, she was showing how proud she was of him. He quit his brother's game completely and only attacked those who attacked his family, his pack. That's when his brother started tormenting Elana.

Dresden dodges the remaining red-eyed Alpha as he targets his front leg. Dresden wants to keep him alive, to torment him into submission and reveal all of his secrets but he knows that red-eyed Alphas can't be submissive to anyone other than the Alpha of Alphas. While killing him ruins any chance he has of returning home, Dresden has no other option if he wants to make it back to his own mate.