Winter Wolves

Chapter 2

It took Colton and his pack members to track and find the elk a little more than a day. They never were this far from pack lands during this time of year, it was obvious something was chasing them off.

Halfway before finding the elk, a tracker named John found another carcass. The bite marks on the neck of the elk where the same size and patterns as the ones in the previous one; also, the elk was an old female. Someone was ahead of them in this hunt, and to Colton's surprise, it was respecting the balance of the hunt. Pregnant females or the ones with small calves were easier targets that an average old but healthy female. Why hunt the hard way if they were already trespassing and breaking law pack by doing so? They... That was another issue, along the territory they had found four elk carcasses. The two Colton and his group had found and another two, found before the hunt, by wolves who were running patrols. In a span of three weeks four elk were enough meat to feed two or three wolves. Hunting them also required teamwork. Even so, they could never find any particular smells or footprints, and that was getting on Colton's nerves. If he couldn't recognize and track who was killing the elk in his territory, then he wouldn't be able to do so if these rogues planned to attack his pack members.

The smell of the elk was stronger now, for about an hour they had been walking against the air, which was loaded with the musky and earthy smell of the elk; that way they could also conceal themselves from their prey. They just needed to watch the elk a little longer to see which ones were being hunted today.

-I see an old buck who is keeping all the females to himself, that is a good target, he keeps chasing off the young males- Said a hunter named Erick trough the mind link.

-That seems fine, we will split in four groups, each one will target an elk and hunt it... Emmet, Erick and myself will go for that buck- Everybody nodded and headed towards the herd from different directions.

Colton and his two companions crouched and slowly started to approach where the old bull was grazing. Their attack was smooth. Emmet and Erick surrounded the buck, when it noticed the two huge wolves who where in front of him and was just about to bolt, Colton lunged from beside and attached himself to the males back. The bull tried bucking Colton off, but as soon as it began doing so, Emmet went straight for its throat. A couple of minutes after, the male was dead, blood still seeping from the life-giving vein.

Normal wolves used to chase their prey off until it fell exhausted, then they would just crush the elk's throat to cease it from breathing. But werewolves were way stronger than regular wolves. It was easy for them to catch large preys and bring them down real quick. Regular wolves avoided werewolves. By nature, all wolves stick to hierarchy. And between werewolves and regular wolves, there was no doubt who had the upper hand. Werewolves were bigger, stronger, faster, their senses where more enhanced. After a werewolf hunt, sometimes regular wolves would scavenge after the remaining parts, but never when werewolves where still there.

They had already killed six elks, three each day. It was the fourth day of the hunt, and Colton planned to kill an extra elk to take it back home before they returned.

They were approaching the large group of animals to make their last kill, when suddenly the entire herd began to bugle and wail and set off on a stampede. The air reeked of blood. When the herd ran away, in the middle of the clearing they had been grazing, Colton saw a dead elk, blood splatter al around the now muddied snow. All three of them ran straight to the newest carcass.

-It's still warm- Said Erick.

-They killed it in front of our fucking noses...OUR FUCKING NOSES- Emmet was outraged.

Colton's anger was hot, but instead of answering his pack members he sniffed the carcass twice, and then began tracking on the clearings floor. He got glimpses of a lingering smell, one that almost blended with those of the elk, the snow and the soil. He could smell sunshine. But it was a cloudy day. That was the only off smell, and even that one got mixed up with the environment. Colton followed the smell, always situated between the herd of elks that had escape running into the nearest forest line. Emmet and Erick where searching the areas surrounding the carcass. Colton had reached the forest line when the smell of sunshine became overbearing. It was so strong; Colton took another step forward when suddenly a white blur dashed forward from the snow just a couple of feet in front of him. The rogue that had been killing the elk and had trespassed his territory was laying on the snow, in front of him. And he hadn't noticed. He let go a sharp howl to inform his packmates that another hunt had begun.

The white wolf running from him was fast. So fast even Colton could only make out it's fur color.

-It's heading to the west...surround it- The order in Colton's voice over the mind link was so clear that the other wolves didn't had to answer. They went straight ahead from different directions. Their prey had change, but the hunt would always be the same.

Colton felt his packmates approaching the white wolf he was chasing, a moment after, Emmet collided with the rogue so hard both of them went sprawling a few feet on the forest floor. Immediately the wolf stood up and shook its fur. It was a female, and all her hackles were raised. She let out a deep, soul-shaking growl, that was answered by another twelve almost as menacing. She was surrounded, there was no way she could escape again. Her ears were stuck to her skull and she kept showing her large fangs, never showing her back to the same wolf for to long. Colton's pack was slowly closing the circle she was caged in. They had her, it was a matter of time before she submitted and began asking for mercy.

But then, she did the one thing none of the twelve wolves from Sitka pack would have thought of...She launched for Colton's throat.