Howl

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Lukas' first week of living in Denver was busy. He had to deal with Talon and the others who did not want him there, moved into a new place, met his three roommates, drove down to Colorado Springs to meet with the Pikes Peak pack, and finally, he had to prove that he was capable of doing what he was being paid to do. Out of everything, that annoyed him the most. He knew his opponents simply wanted him gone, as he knew his skills in hunting were fairly well known.

He'd almost hoped that Sophia would have stuck up for him, but she said that she saw no harm in a demonstration of his abilities, and so, early on Saturday morning, he was forced to do so. He spent two hours doing what was a simple exercise, although the pack apparently thought it would be difficult, as they had been surprised at how quickly he finished.

His task was to locate several of the pack members that were designated as threats, "eliminate" them, and rescue a doll with four water balloons attached. Talon and the others that worked on designing the game - as that's what Lukas considered it - were not very careful in their planning. Lukas managed to determine who his targets were before they even began, as he had simply placed a bug in the room where they had been discussing the plan.

With that information, he was able to locate where each threat lived and managed to place surveillance equipment there as well. As it turned out, the five wolves all lived together, which made his job far easier. The most difficult part of the task came next - sneaking up on five wolves and hitting them each with a paintball. With human targets, Lukas had no trouble, but a wolf had better senses. He climbed into a tree downwind from the house and began his attack.

He first drew their attention to the back yard by tossing a rock against the back fence, closely followed by a second. He then raised his paintball marker and waited patiently. Eventually, he heard the back door open and one of his targets stepped out in wolf form. He sniffed the air, but Lukas took aim and fired several shots. Had it been an actual gun, Lukas would have had more confidence in his marksmanship, but the marker was not as accurate. Two paintballs hit his target.

Next, Lukas threw some sticks on the roof, hoping the slight sound would sound enough like someone on the roof. Because they would be able to see the paint on their comrade's back, Lukas hoped they would believe he had taken up position on the roof. It turned out Lukas was right - a second wolf climbed out the window, this one in his human form. He had been too focused on the roof and didn't notice Lukas in the tree until it was too late.

Once he evened the odds, Lukas quickly started moving, no longer caring how much noise he made. In fact, he hoped the three remaining heard him in the tree, as he wasn't going to be in the tree any longer. He darted through the backyard, going straight past the backdoor. Almost as soon as he moved in front of the door, he heard it opening and the sounds of a paintball gun being fired. Because Lukas didn't stop, he managed to not get hit, and when the wolf tried following him outside, Lukas already made it to a secure location where he was able to take his target out from.

He quickly made his way inside, able to determine the general location of the other two wolves with his superior hearing. He knew he had a little time, and he started his search for the doll. As he started his search of the house, he picked up a familiar scent of someone who shouldn't have been there. Realizing he had a sixth threat, he continued.

He found what should have been his last two targets with took them out with ease, and then he tracked down the sixth man. He hit him with two paintballs before he even knew he was there. "Sorry, Bryan," he said to his new roommate. "But that's what you get for being on the other side."