A Tainted Love

Chapter Three

Garret's POV

We hunted all day until the sun started setting behind the mountains. Before long it became dark. I howled, signaling everyone to gather around. Soon all my pack was around me.

"We need to head back. Grab your kill and start dragging it back." I tell them. They nod their heads and sink their teeth into their kills. One great benefit of being a wolf was we were stronger than normal people.

I grabbed my kill, a buck, and followed after my pack. We were almost to our home when I smelled it. It was a strange scent; a werewolf scent. I growled and Reese stopped just ahead of me. He stuck his head in the air and scented it too. He looked back to me.

"We'll take these to our camp and then go investigate. Make it quick." I told all the guys. The nodded and picked up their pace. All were hoping to get to go after the intruder. We had no way of knowing how many there were. A snow storm was coming in and we needed to hurry.

We arrived at the camp five minutes later. We dropped off our kills at Roger's tent and I went to talk to Reese. "We need to bring fresher men. I'm not sure how many there are and I don't want to take any chances. Go gather us some men, maybe about five." I told Reese. He nodded and ran off.

I looked back toward the forest and missed the footsteps approaching me. "We're ready to go, boss." Reese's voice rang out in the silent night. I turned and nodded. I scanned over the men he brought. Harry, Larry, and Anthony were some of our best trackers and fighters. Reese and I brought up the numbers to five. I nodded and we took off.

As soon as we hit the woods we spread out, trying to recover the scent. The wind blew my fur and made me tense with excitement. I hadn't fought against someone in a long while.

Anthony was the first to catch the scent and howled his success. I howled back and my pack gathered around. "Listen up," I said, waiting for them to be quiet. "We don't know how many of these wolves there are, but we need a sneak attack. We'll box them in and take them out. Leave no one alive unless I say. We need to teach these intruders a lesson they aren't soon to forget." The wolves gave howls of approval before taking off in the direction of the scent. I raced after them, easily taking the lead.

It took us ten minutes to find the camp. There was a small fire lit and the ashes were floating to the sky. I smelled the strong scent of wolf and saw two people. I could tell one was male, but I couldn't tell for sure what the other one was. They had their back to me and a hood over their head. I flicked my ears, signaling everyone to get in their positions. They nodded and we waited.

The male laid out a blanket and the other one sat down on it, resting their legs. They seemed tired, but I still couldn't figure out if they were male or female. I stared harder, determined to find out.

The male put a rabbit on the fire and started cooking it. I could hear them talking, but couldn't make out what they were saying. They were talking to quietly. The male gave the food to the other before tearing into it. The other one took smaller bites, the hood hiding it as they ate. The jacket looked to be to big for them; possibly a hand-me-down from the male.

We waited a few more minutes, but just as I was about to give the go ahead, the male got up and left the fire. He stalked into the forest and changed into his wolf form. He was a light brown color, the color of the sand on a beach after it's been wet. I followed after him, but signaled the others to stay and guard the other person.

The wolf ran as fast as he could and I followed. I was determined to keep an eye on him. He stopped all of a sudden and kind of just sat there. I gave him a minute and then watched him turn back. He just missed me, my black coat blending in to the trees and shrubs, but almost visible in the white snow on the ground.