AN ALPHA'S OBSCURED VENGEANCE

“How far do you think we’ll be running today?” A pack member asked in a whisper. He wore only shorts as he run along with his packmates through the woods. His voice was slurred and his eyes were droopy, clear signs of the eventful night he had. The sky was filled with dark clouds and the wind blew carrying the mild and calming scent of nature with them. “Don’t ask stupid questions, Ty. We’ve barely started getting serious.”  His companion replied. She was in similar shorts with a black sports bra on. The 10 werewolves had yet to shift on their run. Their feets thudded through the grounds of the neutral lands as they followed a black-haired woman. Even in their human forms, the speed at which they were running caused the wind to part way as they dashed through the dense woodland.  “Do you think she can hear us?” Ty whispered to her. They were running right behind their best friend, Due, the daughter of their Alpha and Luna. “Are you seriously asking that?” Due growled. Ashina clicked her tongue at Ty. The other members of the pack chuckled but Due shut them up with a growl. “Training is training. I don’t care if you can’t get your drunk ass up for it. I’ll resort to dragging you out then.” Due snorted. She had warned Ty so many times last night that she wasn’t going to let him slack off. But her friend ignored her and continued chucking down alcohol, bottle after bottle.  It took a lot to get their kind intoxicated. But Ty made sure to get to that point every time he caught a whiff of alcohol. “Nobody likes this and you know it,” Ty commented. He was still upset that Due had convinced their Alpha to make some changes to their training schedule. It wasn’t as if they were not strict enough in the beginning. “You’re a maniac, you know.” He sighed. Due shrugged her shoulders and continued running with a grin on her lips “At least I’m fast.” She snorted, picking up speed and leaving them in the dust. “You see that?” Ty complained, “This is why she’s still single.” He added.  They bolted after her. Everyone knew that Due was the fastest wolf in their pack. She was agile and fast although she wasn’t overwhelming in strength. But they all knew that she turned into a monster when it was time to train. A raindrop fell on Due’s small nose. The scent of the incoming rain pleased her. She howled. So loud that the trees trembled and then shifted into a grey wolf mid-air. Her clothes tore apart when she transformed. But she paid no mind to it.  Her pack members responded to her howl, transforming and sprinting after her. The rain that patted their fur was soft and could barely be felt. The ground beneath their paws trampled on anything in their path as they run, jumping over logs and swerving around trees.  The feeling they got from the cold air that crept into their lungs was addictive. But it was even more so for Due. Maybe she was fast because she loved running, it could be that she loved running because she was fast, but it was undeniable the power in her legs. They had been running for nearly 40 minutes without stopping. The rain kept drizzling but it never really fell as hard as they thought it would. Due let out a soft growl when she picked up a scent they all recognized. It was a mix of blood and gore. She roared, then made a sharp turn to her right without stopping. ‘Rogues’ Her packmates understood.  They couldn’t communicate with words in their wolf forms but they could instinctively understand every growl and roar for what it meant. They picked up their pace when they also picked up the foul stench in the air.  The neutral lands didn’t belong to any of the packs in that area. It mostly served as a border but it was too big to call it just that. Rogues were found lingering there most of the time, some tried to settle there even. At least not the wild rogues. Those ones were too lost in their beast instincts to form proper packs. They couldn’t even shift into their human forms. The first rogue was sighted a few minutes after Due caught the scent. She roared eyes set on her prey. Then sprinted after him. He was fast. The wind blew on her fur, wet from the rain, but all she could see was the red eyes of the rogue that growled at her.  She could see only one. But she was sure that there was more. A low growl rumbled from her chest, urging her friends and pack mates to be careful. Her jaws opened at the rogue when she got close to it, but it evaded her the moment they snapped them together, tearing off a fur patch that she spat out and continued her chase. A mixture of a growl and whimper left the rogue when the pain registered. Blood dirtied its’ brown fur, the rain washed it away but the wound was open and more blood streamed out. The ground shook with their weight as they continued their chase. It was beginning to annoy Due that the rogue was escaping her paws with only a few patches of fur lost upon every contact.  The growl from behind her prompted her to the other rogues that had caught up to them. There were 16 of them. Due had only 13 people with her including herself. The growls and snapping of jaws told her of the ongoing battle behind her.  The wolf she was chasing suddenly stopped. They were in an open space with tall trees around them. Whimpers and grows continued from behind her but she didn’t pay mind to them. Her eyes were on the rogue that growled at her. They circled each other, sizing each other up without attacking. He was about 65 inches tall. That’s a few inches taller than her. Due could see how toned his legs and body were. She knew that he was strong.  But Due was faster between the two. The lost patches of fur and panting from the rogue proved it. Due was aware that she lacked strength but she made up for it with her outstanding agility. She growled, paws digging into the dirt to launch for the rogue. Then pounced with her jaws parted and teeth bare. The rogue roared. Due dodged his opened jaw that was ready to bite her, taking some of his flesh with her when she landed on the opposite side of him. The rogue roared in anger. Due momentarily glanced at the battle behind her. Some rogues were already dead. Ty was fighting two rogues on his own, but he seemed to be able to handle them. Ashina and the others were fighting well too. She looked back at her opponent. She could clearly see that he was stronger than the others, but he seemed to be holding back with her. He wasn’t a wild rogue, she realized. Growling with annoyance. The rogue pounced, meeting her halfway. He slammed his body against hers, throwing her back. Due’s body ached from crashing against the tree. She ignored the pain and got back on her feet with a growl. The rogue paced before her, waiting for her to get up before attacking again. He slammed his body against hers again, causing her to crash into another tree but this time Due took another piece of flesh with her making him growl angrily whilst she was filled with satisfaction. He was using their weight difference against her. And although she felt sore, the rogue looked worse. Patches of his skin were lost and his fur was drenched in blood. Due got up, shook her head to stable herself again, then pounced on him. The rogue didn’t move from where he was standing. Due grabbed onto him, her canines digging into his tough muscles. He violently shook her, using his front paws to push her off. She was thrown back again but this time she landed on her feet with another piece of flesh in her mouth. With how much blood he was losing it was a wonder that he was still alive and conscious. A loud and very pissed-off roar left his throat. Due knew that he was pissed.  ‘why won’t you just die!’ she exclaimed in her head. Due watched him raise his head and a loud howl reverberated throughout the forest. She glanced at her pack mates with panicked eyes. The rogue was calling for reinforcement. Her packmates were all severely injured but none was dead. A few rogues were dead. But no one looked like they could take on more rogues. Heck, even she couldn’t.  She didn’t think of how there were so many rogues in the neutral lands. She growled. Her packmates understood her intentions immediately as they started to retreat at full speed