Taming the Hellbeast

Ch. 1: It's him! I'm telling you

The sound came closer.

Paws, pounding the ground, panting breaths, and the undisguisable smell of wet dog. The rain had stopped, but the smell would not leave until they dried up or shifted back and showered. They came closer. And fast. Maybe four or six, not many. It seemed like a suicide run to test the perimeter.

Like always.

He did not care. He just waited for them. Standing motionless behind some trees, sure they would come by him very soon. He had already shifted, claws ready and fangs thirsting for blood.

Yet... Something felt off.

It sounded different. 

He sniffed to catch what was different. They were not attacking the pack; they were hunting. He pounded out a shock wave of energy to sift through the incoming wolves. They were hunting something small. He could feel the smaller heartbeat racing.

The desperation.

There they were six rogues hunting, from what he could tell. He worriedly tapped into their mind link and listened. It was either that or read their minds individually.

He was getting better at it; he had been training that ability for a while after he had found out he could do it. At first, it had only been reading the mind of the wolf he was fighting he could tap into. In time, he had learned to read more and more different minds at a time.

Then he had learned to tap into their mind link, saving himself from the mind-reading process. In the beginning, they had to be within proximity of him, but like all his abilities, that too could be developed and maybe one day perfected to work over extremely long distances.

*Get her. We need to catch her. She's the one we need.* The words echoed from their mind link.

They had a snowball's chance in hell of getting whomever they were chasing when he was around. He smiled at their stupid plan. They usually just did suicide runs. Pushing in on the perimeters to test how well the Mountain Keeper Pack defended their territory.

And they defended it well; they thrived under the leadership of their beloved Alpha.

With a bit of help from him, of course.

It was a strong pack, well renowned, and highly regarded by most, but rogues and some competing packs were inevitable. They wanted the land, and it was a breathtaking territory they held.

The full forest up the mountainside, the snowy mountain top, and the valley below all the way to the other side of the mountain. The Crystal Lake was his favorite spot. It was hard for him to go there because it was crowded with pack members most of the time. But on summer nights, when they all slept, he went to look at the waterfall and swim in the lake.

All in all, he liked the pack.

They were cheerful people and kind. Had fierce warriors and a strong hierarchy, but none were mistreated or left out. They had many pups, too, and cute ones at that. There was always playful chatter sounding from the pack grounds and houses.

Their warriors trained vigorously under the watchful and capable eyes of a wolf named Aroes. He was a big, bulky man with reddish hair and sharp blue eyes. They seemed to pierce people, and nothing happened on the training grounds he did not notice. His wolf was reddish too. It was big and, in a sense, pretty because of the unusual redness of his color.

The Alpha.

He had nothing but respect and praise to give there. He was a strong and equitable Alpha, greatly helped by his Luna and the pack Beta. Outside packs, rogues, and lone alphas had tried to take over. So far, none had succeeded.