Inhumane

Chapter Fourteen

They were right in front of the door. Suddenly, the door was smashed in and tons of hunters filled the room. Matt took cover behind the couch. Caroline and her pack shifted, launching themselves at the hunters.

Caroline leaped ontop of a man holding a gun. He shot her arm but she hardly felt it as she twisted his neck, giving him a painless and quick death. She snarled at a woman who was holding some kind of round metal thing that looked like a grenade.

Matt screamed, "Get down!"

Caroline fell to the floor as red smoke seeped out of it, she saw Mark clawing at a hunter who was below him. The strange smoke had almost reached him. "Mark! Watch out!"

Caroline leaped over to him, bowling him over just as the smoke seeped towards him. It went above their heads but Caroline knew she had breathed some in while trying to get him out of the way. She felt the poison seep into her lungs causing her to cough uncontrollably. Her vision blurred and her skin burned but she could see that the smoke had evaporated, leaving the room.

She stood up and chose to fight through the pain. She coughed one last time and shook her head. Some smoke wasn't going to take her down. Gunshots rang throughout the house, growling and snarling wolves, and the screams and shouts of the hunters. Caroline heard a metal snap behind her and a yelp from James. She spun around to see that he had gotten his paw stuck in a trap. A hunter prepared to throw the metal over him but Caroline rammed into him.

She rolled with him for a second and she clawed his face. He screamed and Caroline felt a knife slide into her stomach. She quickly killed him with a bite and pulled away. It tasted amazing. She shook her head and stepped off of the dead hunter. Caroline ran up to James and freed his paw from the painful trap. He nodded to her and ran back into the chaos.

Caroline was taken off guard when three hunters surrounded her at once, aiming their guns at her. She darted out of the way as they started shooting. She ran behind them using her speed to her advantage and she slammed one to the ground and killed him with a bite to the spine. She looked up to see that Ethan had killed the other two hunters. "Thanks, Ethan."

He nodded and Caroline ran past him to the center of the room. There weren't many hunters left. Yet, Caroline could sense something was wrong. A faint ticking. She followed the sound into the basement and saw one of the poisonous bombs, the only difference was that this one was massive. One minute left on the timer before it would blow up. Caroline awkwardly grabbed the huge grenade and ran as fast as her paws would take her.

She ran into the woods, an idea in mind. She'd have to be quick though. Without breaking stride she ran through the center of Luke's base and she dropped the bomb. The wolves looked at eachother in confusion and Caroline heard the bomb go off. An immense cloud of red smoke rose from the ground and Caroline could hear the howls of distress and pain coming from the pack. That's what you get for eating people!

Caroline made it back to the house in under a minute to see that the last two remaining hunters were making a run for it. Olivia came running out he front door. "We can't let them get away!" She launched herself at one, ripping him to shreds. Shark tackled the other to the ground and bit down on the hunter's neck, suffocating him. Caroline was surprised when he didn't let go and then she realize it. He tasted human for the first time. She ran to him and bowled him over, keeping him from eating the dead man.

Shark stood up and snarled at Caroline. Her instinct as alpha kicked in and she rose her head above his, snarling at him. He lowered his head and eventually sank to the ground. "You cannot eat him! I know how human tastes but it's wrong. It's the reason we're preparing to go against Luke's pack in the first place."

Sharkey whimpered, "I'm sorry, Caroline."

She sighed. "It's okay. Just try to control yourself." She nudged him playfully to lighten the mood.

He nodded and then headed inside, probably to shift back to human and get dressed. Caroline looked at her pack and Matt. They all stood, beaming from their victory. "Good work, everyone!"

All of the wolves howled happily and then headed back inside.

***

Caroline lifted the small couch up and put it back where it went. They had been cleaning up the aftermath of the fight for an hour. Mark and James were tying stones to the bodies and dropping them in a nearby lake. Shark scrubbed blood off of the walls after composing himself. Jasmine and Olivia scrubbed blood off of the hardwood floor. Ethan was helping Caroline move all of the furniture back. Matt was picking up dropped weapons and cleaning up broken glass from lamps and vases.

Mark and James walked into the front door, reeking of death. "We're done." James said.

"All forty eight hunters." Mark added.

"Damn, we kicked some ass!" Ethan said.

There was a knock at the door. Caroline looked at her friends who were holding weapons and had bloodstained clothes and hands. The only two of the main that looked decent were Caroline and Ethan. "Guys, move it. Whoever this is can't see you like this."

Everyone walked away from the door. Ethan and Caroline went and opened it. Luke stood with fury in his eyes. He was covered in blisters and burn marks. Luke stepped into the house and stood nose to nose with Caroline. She backed away but he only stepped closer. "Listen to me you bitch. If you ever pull anything like what you did I swear to God I'll fucking kill you."

"You deserved it. Besides. I had no where better to put that bomb."

Luke snarled, taking a step closer making Caroline step back. Ethan stepped forwards and pushed Luke away. "Back off."

"And who the hell are you? Her body guard? Fuck off!"

The two of them stood there growling at eachother and Caroline stepped between them. "Look, Luke. What you do is fucked up. I feel as though I had every right to do that."

"What I do is I feed my packs' hunger. You're just an obstacle that I will eliminate if it comes down to it. I suggest you stay away... before I make you regret ever speaking up."

"Leave." She growled.

Luke spun around and slammed the door on his way out. Caroline turned to Ethan who stood frozen, eyes filled with rage. "Ethan?" Caroline said quietly.

His head snapped in her direction. "Yeah?"

"You okay? You look really mad."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just mad at him."

"Yeah, I get it. Me too."

Caroline knew she had to figure out a logical plan soon. She couldn't allow Luke's pack to continue with their ways any longer.