Pup and Pack

Chapter Five

Mario stretched his arms. "Are we all accounted for?"

Brick nodded. "Everyone, alpha."

"Good." Mario sighed. Then, he stepped up and surveyed the crowd. Every werewolf in the pack was there. The young and old, male and female, you get the idea. Mario searched out some friendly faces: Xylo, Relena, DX. 

"Everyone!" He called out. "Glad to see you all in good health. I've called you all here to make an important announcement."

He breathed deeply.

"Austin, Richie, Devin, and Bri are in our lands."

Whispers of fear and panic rose up immediately. Mario raised his hand for silence.

"I understand what threat this brings to our pack. Austin and Richie are especially worrying to me. But I want you to fear not. I have been planning with Relena, Xylo, DX, and Brick and we have devised a plan. We shall double our strength and training efforts. We shall learn new methods of combat and enlist teachers to train us. We might even have the vampires help us."

At this, many werewolves shouted in protest. Mario waved his hands in defense. He had been expecting this.

"The vampires are just as threatened by Austin, Ritchie, Devin, and Bri as we are. They'd be happy to help. I am only going to enlist them as a last resort. Trust me, we don't want to take chances. That is all. Good night."

The werewolves started dispersing. Xylo and DX came to Mario. 

"Do you mean it, alpha?" asked DX.

"Yes. I don't want to take chances. Who knows what could happen if we don't-"

Mario stopped. Xylo blinked. 

"Alpha? Are you ok?"

"Do you smell that?"

DX sniffed. "I don't smell anything."

Mario started looking around. A scent had just hit his nose. He could still smell it, though he couldn't tell where it was coming from. 

It was the most amazing scent he had ever smelled. It was like a mixture of pine needles, coffee beans, and a hint of cinnamon apples. Mario tried to tell where it was coming from, but it was so overpowering that he couldn't figure out which direction it was.

"Alpha!" Brick yelled. "Are you listening?"

Mario snapped out of it. "Uh, uh, sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was saying that we need to find Relena and Hannah. They said they wanted to show us something later today."

"Alright. You guys search for them. I need to check something out."

Mario bolted off without another word. His powerful legs stretched into a sprint as he dashed to the closest gate. He ran out of pack haven and started into the woods.

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This was a stretch of the forest he rarely visited. It was overgrown and hard to navigate. Still, Mario clambered over roots and branches, searching. For what, he didn't know yet. That scent was still fresh in his nose. 

He stopped underneath a particularly large tree with huge branches. He figured they could support his weight without much effort. He was taking a quick breather-

WHAM!

A black force slammed into him and knocked him to the ground, pinning him against the tree. He couldn't breathe or move, this thing was too strong-