Howlers #6

Dozens of heavily armed hunters surrounded Alaric, who did not stop howling. The big wolf was pressed and had trouble escaping nor could he put up any resistance. His howl did not stop echoing throughout the forest, a howl that meant a call to every member of his pack. The Hunters prepared to draw their long-barreled weapons in a calculated manner, smiles of satisfaction on their faces as they assumed that absolute victory was within their grasp.

The first shot aimed at Alaric's head echoed among the wolves' howls. The silver bullet nearly lodged itself in the Alpha's head, but fortunately only hit the wolf's ear. A burning, stinging sensation ran through Alaric's body, silver being his most obvious weakness. The next shots rang out in unison and attacked the dazed Alaric. The wolf was no longer idle, Alaric lunged at several hunters in a single attack and severed their throats in a single chop, but the shots from the remaining Hunter didn't stop trying to hit his body either.

Alaric continued to fight the hunters even at the risk of being shot at close range. His fangs tore through the legs of several hunters and sent them collapsing with cries of pain. The remaining hunters continued to throw silver bullets, though they often missed because Alaric's movements were hard to read. From behind, Tala jumped with all her might and her sharp claws instantly ripped the back of a Hunter who was about to unleash a bullet at Alaric's head.

"Fools! Where are our other members?" Tala yelled angrily as she fought off the Hunter.

The she-wolf was raging just as she had when she attacked Alaric in the cave. Tough and loyal Beta was a title Tala deserved. Her wounds from her fight with Alaric were no longer visible at all, her regeneration ability was quite good for a Beta of her size.

"I've been trying to summon them but no one is coming except you, Tala!" shouted Alaric who was struggling to subdue a clever senior Hunter.

"We must hold off their attack while we wait for the others to arrive!"

Gunfire and howls echoed throughout the cold Redwood forest. A dozen of the Hunters had fallen while the rest were still standing with their proud long-barreled weapons. The pair of Alpha and Beta turned their backs on each other to face their respective opponents, Alaric feeling greatly helped by Tala's unexpected presence. Alaric thought Tala was dead considering how viciously she had attacked that day, but the Beta was a tough and stubborn Beta.

Almost every Hunter was taken down by the two wolves, and Tala was just about to launch her final attack on a Hunter by clawing his face, but a shot from the hill made a silver bullet lodge in his heart. Tala cursed harshly as she realized her negligence and the unexpected attack from someone on the hill. The Beta collapsed instantly and the searing heat sensation made her unable to open her eyes. Her wolf form gradually changed to human form on the verge of losing consciousness. The remaining Hunters fled and at the same time, Gamma of the Silver Hammers Pack arrived at the spot and noticed Tala lying on the snowy ground with blood flowing from her chest.

"Tala!" cried Edrick anxiously. Alaric had not yet realized Tala's condition and was still focused on facing his opponents.

"Edrick, where are the others? Hurry up and chase down the fleeing hunters!" Alaric commanded.

Edrick was torn between helping Tala or informing Alaric of the urgency first. In the end, Edrick took a position parallel to Alaric and began to lunge at a Hunter until his weapon was knocked away. Afterward, Edric tore into the human's stomach with his claws.

"There were some hunters targeting our pack and I cleaned up the mess there first before running here. I don't know what they're up to, sir." Edrick shouted in the middle of his attack on the hunters.

"Was anyone hurt there, Edrick?"

"Several Omegas are dead, sir. But I've managed to beat them back from the pack," Edrick said guiltily.

Alaric cast his eyes across the dark forest, the wolf had not seen any hunters around them and assumed it was safe. His eyes began to notice the unconscious Tala and Alaric rushed to check on her. How the big wolf choked up when he saw the silver bullet lodged in his calf's heart.

"Tala! Hang on!" cried Alaric in panic and quickly transformed into his human form to bring Tala to their pack.

The briars and cold rocks did not affect Alaric's running speed. His overwhelming panic made him run as fast as he could. The chaos of the pack was what greeted him first when he arrived with the weakened Tala.

"Prepare the surgical room!" Alaric's order boomed.

The few pack members in charge of this business swiftly obeyed Alaric's orders. The Alpha hurriedly laid Tala on the bed and began injecting Belladona's fluid, causing Tala to lose consciousness completely. Alaric cut open Tala's chest with his own hands and removed a silver bullet. The alpha stared pensively at the open wound on Tala's chest, he didn't know whether Tala would survive with such a severe scar or not? Her regeneration ability didn't seem to work with such a severe wound, and her healing only relied on potions and a little magic added by Alaric. The alpha hoped Tala would stay alive, because to lose her betas, Alaric would never be able to.

Alaric stared intently at a silver bullet stained with Tala's blood, vengeance and hate burning in his yellow eyes. Those hunters, Alaric knew, had been after his pack for a long time and the drums of war seemed to have just been beaten after today's sudden attack.

Alaric never expected that those hunters would attack him on his way to the cottage to bring Lizzy to join his pack.

Somehow the animosity between werewolf and human started, Alaric only knew that the forest full of Redwoods was his territory, not even rogues were allowed to hunt there. However, the humans came and acted as if they owned the entire forest and cut down the trees at will. It was the humans themselves who started all the chaos. Any wolf that caught sight of the humans cutting down the trees didn't think to make them prey, so the humans acted as victims of their own stupidity.

Hunters began combing every forest to get rid of wolves that stood in the way of their goals. Many packs had already been destroyed by the hunters, their homes taken over and their families killed to be skinned and their heads put on display in the homes of the humans.

Alaric growled angrily after experiencing the hunters' attack on his pack. Now, after seeing his pack in disarray as a result of the hunters' actions, Alaric was unsure about bringing Lizzy to live with him and guaranteeing the girl's safety.

"Edrick! Increase security around the pack, keep an eye on Tala's progress while I'm gone!" Alaric gave orders to Edrick who had just returned.

The gamma just stared at the Alpha's departure with disappointed eyes.