Rodriguez and his men were out into the woods outside of their territory, all in their wolf forms, searching for anything or anyone.
Roland was the best tracker in the pack, along with Malcolm and his men, who were some of the best runners. Roland ran beside his alpha and looked for any traces of people or animal track or scent.
Nothing! Nothing came up, but the team Malcolm had sent to see what that blue smoke was all about, said that they didn't see anyone, but they smelt a very dominant scent, probably an Alpha, who was gone by the time they had arrived there. Rodriguez told them to return and help with their search of whoever was hiding under their noses all this while.
They had spread out, looking around and sniffing the air. Rodriguez had warned them not to get too close to the human territory, as humans would most likely capture them and send them off to a laboratory.
After hours of no results, Rodriguez finally decided that it was time to return, when they all smelled it, the scent of fresh blood.
All the wolves looked at their Alpha, waiting for his orders. 'We don't know who it is, but we will find out. I want the mole alive. Any condition, but alive!' Rodriguez mindlinked them.
They all gave a unified howl and ran towards the smell, their wolves getting more and more hyped as the animal instinct kicked in.
Marius and Yalandro had somehow managed to get to the forest and were running in their wolf forms, with their clothes in their mouths.
They caught a whiff of rogue, and ran for dear life, since they both knew they could fight, but beating a rogue was hard; beating a whole pack of rogues, that's a death wish.
They had seen the blue smoke rise in the air and knew their alpha would be there. If they could make it there before getting caught, they're safe.
As they ran, Yalandro tripped and fell, hurting his left front paw.
Both wolves froze as the scent of fresh blood filled the dense air. Yalandro tried licking it to stop the bleeding, but it didn't work. Yalandro, now in human form, took out a shirt and, with the help of Marius, tied it tightly on his left palm.
Then they heard it. A group of wolves howling in unison, signaling that they had detected their prey and were going after them.
"We have to go, now!" Marius, who was also in his human form, said hurriedly.
They began running, but they both knew Yalandro was leaving a trail of scented path for them, the enemy.
"You run towards our Alpha. I'll distract them," Yalandro said and changed paths before Marius could ask what he meant.
"No - " "Go!"
With the scent of rogues getting stronger, Marius had no choice. He ran in wolf form, as fast as his paws could carry him, toward the blue smoke.
'Marius, Yalandro, are you two alright?' Came Alfa's voice in their head.
'Alfa, Yalandro is bleeding. We separated. I'm heading towards the blue -' 'No, Marius. Rodriguez men are there. Head toward the pack. I'm coming with backup,' Alfa mindlinked urgently.
They knew a way through the back part of town that was covered with trees, a cover they would need.
Yalandro and Marius both changed courses and made their way towards the Moonsglow pack.
Alfa had already sent a mindlink to Ronald to gather the men and run towards Moonstone pack. The only downside is that the human town is in the middle.
Braxen could already smell blood. Yalandro! He picked up his pace, and that's when the strong scent of rogues hit him. They were closing in.
Another smell hit them. Humans!
Rodriguez could now see a short man running for dear life, fully nude, and a cloth wrapped tightly around his palm. The cloth was already soaking with blood.
That is one disadvantage of getting hurt while running or battling. It's very hard to stop the blood flow when your heart is pumping the crimson liquid like a broken dam.
'I want him alive.' Rodriguez voice bellowed in everyone's minds.
There were renewed howls, then, just as they were within reach of the man, a brown jumped in front of them, temporarily surprising them to a halt.
Wasting no time, it turned towards the man, who, by the way he was running, seemed like he was about to faint and ran beside him, giving him courage.
'Get them both!'
Before any of them could move, they heard howls, which meant 'we're here'. The backup was here. And so was Alfa Flowerew's scent.
The huge black wolf, with deep blue eyes, stood near the man and brown wolf. The dwarf had fallen onto the brown wolf, and a grey wolf, who transformed into a tall grey-eyed woman, quickly barked orders at some of them, and two wolves stepped forward, taking the man and brown wolf aside.
Two pitch black wolves stood face to face, one with blue eyes and one with red ones, their faces etched with dominance.
Neither backing down nor submitting. Behind them stood their loyal pack members, ready to carry out any order that their Alpha gave them.
This little hunt turned into a face off really quickly. Rodriguez was now a hundred percent certain that Alfa had planted them there, and he wanted their heads. He could easily win over Alfa anytime, but he was uncertain about one thing. What would Arya think when she learns that he had killed Alfa?
Yes, she did promise him his head, but the witch part had also warned him that Arya may be against killing Alfa.
Alfa stood there, facing Rodriguez, the Alpha who had defeated his father in a battle. His father, the mighty killer of alphas. If it came down to a battle, he might be able to take him on, but how will Arya react when she hears that her mate had killed or tried to kill her only brother? Her only family?
Alpha Rodriguez, now in his human form, moved forward towards Alfa, the growls of his pack simply background noise for him, and stopped mere inches away from Alfa.
Both men stared into each other's eyes before Rodriguez finally turned around and walked away, a stunt that stunned Alfa. He could see that he wanted to say a lot, but why didn't he?
"Rodriguez - " "If you ever pull something like that again, I won't hesitate." Rodriguez said, in a way that chilled Alfa's blood.
"I just want my mate back!" Alfa called out.
The Alpha of rogues stopped, turned around, and walked back to Alfa. "She is no longer your mate! She is no longer your luna! She is no longer yours! You killed your mate a long time ago, and now, you want the shell you left behind. News flash, my sister is not your property, and I will kill any other moles you send my way without hesitation!"
"We'll see," Alfa replied in a way that Rodriguez stood staring.