Hunting You, Hunting Me (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter 32

A/N: Dear Readers, Sorry for the long wait, I just couldn't get this chapter to be what I wanted it to be. And it still isn't. So I shortened it and am posting it, it's better than nothing. I have decided to continue the story in another book (Part 2).  There is so much to tell and I wouldn't have been able to finish it in time for the Watty's deadline, which is today. But as usual, I have left a little cliffhanger for you at the end. : ) Happy Halloween!

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All rights reserved, © 2012

Chapter 32

Even though she was surrounded by her new pack-mates, Estela did not feel safe.  Maybe it was because she was feeling exposed without her trusty underbrush to hide her or perhaps it was a habit that had been cultivated during her week in the forest that had caused her to get up and switch back into her human form. Removing herself from the group, she walked over to the pile of clothes and grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Then, she made her way to a nearby tree and began to climb it until she found a comfortable branch. Settling herself amongst the leaves she closed her eyes and waited for sleep, but her mind had a different agenda.

Her mind was alive with the hope and excitement of finding a mate and she dissected and analyzed all that she had learned about mates from Alpha Bill earlier that day.

‘Where are you, mate?’  She thought to herself. ‘You better be hot.’  She added as if making a list. ‘And kind, and funny…’

In the distance she could see Declan and the boys patrolling the perimeter. She reached out to Declan via the mind-link and informed him that she had broken away from the pack and settled herself on the branches of a nearby tree.

And then, when her mind was completely exhausted, she slept.

Her sleep was immediately plagued by dreams.  At first, she dreamt of the day’s events: killing Abby, the glimmer of hope when she heard that Alpha Bill had found them, seeing Jane and Bill again, and having the security of her pack. As the night wore on her dreams eventually turned into dreams of war. 

War.  It was coming sooner than she thought. And unlike conventional warfare used by humans this war was going to be a battle amongst animals. And unlike war amongst humans, which was unnatural, this war was as natural as nature. For in nature, there was a pecking order, a food chain, the predator and the prey. Animals killed each other for food all the time, or to protect their territory and their pack. Animals didn’t have the ability to talk, rationalize, reflect or negotiate. Animals couldn’t put themselves in each other’s shoes. And even though the werewolves had human attributes, when they were fighting in their wolf forms, their animals were in control.

The attack took place in the dead of night. History had proved this strategy to be extremely effective and being trained soldiers, the trackers had studied warfare extensively. As the trackers neared the Alpha and his pack, they were able to slip through the perimeter without notice.  Looking back at the attack a few days hence, the Alpha would attribute this to the exemplary training the trackers had received. 

The trackers on the other hand, were in for a surprise. They hadn’t expected Elara and Estela to have help. Their over-confidence had also caused them to make another error in their judgement. They believed that the wolves that were guarding the perimeter were the only ones there besides the two girls. Never had they expected to find so many sleeping wolves. But the fact of the matter was that they only needed to kill two wolves that night- and one of them would be easy to find because she had a crescent shaped scar on her forehead. They walked around the sleeping group, to identify their targets. They found the wolf with the crescent shaped scar fast asleep surrounded by the fortress of wolves around her. They realized that it would be impossible to get to her without waking the others. In that moment it had become crystal clear.  A suicide mission is what they had called it. The trackers resigned themselves to the fact that none of them would leave the forest alive unless they retreated and slipped away unnoticed, but their wolves were in control and their wolves wanted to fight.