I planned on walking the fence with just me and my pets, but thankfully the girls decided to join me. I don’t know what Kyle was up to, but last I saw he was being forced to spar with Rob until he was laying on the ground panting. I couldn’t care less but happy that he was getting punished for being a jerk.

But back to the fence, we started from the house and walked for, oh man atleast an hour (with breaks ofcourse), until we came upon a hole that was dug under it from the otherside… Well I should say an attempted hole because considering the smell, I’d say this thing attempted atleast a couple days ago. The flies had almost turned into a blanket for this thing which made the girls go a little green when combined with the smell.

“Phew, goddam that stinks!” I cried out as I got closer to try and see what it was. I could only see the back half of whatever this creature was as it was sticking half out of the hole. I was pretty sure it was a cutter wolf since it had a grey furry butt and the paws had that iconic blade in the middle that resembled a velociraptor claw. Only thing was that since it has been a couple days, the things gotten bloated which turned it into a cap for the hole, almost like a cork for a bottle.

“It must have tried digging under the fence but dug right into the power line that electrifies it instead. Dumb wolf. Sucks we didn’t get here sooner or we might have gotten lucky with a drop or two.”

“Why hasn’t something come along and eaten it yet? This place is filled with creatures that scavenge. Do you think it had a disease or something?” Hailee asked as she tried to cover her mouth to take a breath that wasn’t putrid.

“Eh, I don’t know, but I mean the Kwehs are all fine and healthy, plus they use this area as grazing fields so they would have gotten sick from being near it wouldn’t they? Hey Rhonda, go pick up Kelly and bring her here for me please?” Rhonda nodded at me and took off like a bullet towards the house… She was fast that was for sure but did she have to kick up so much dirt? It tasted just as gritty as you’d expect since my damn mouth was open when she did it!

I spat out as much as I could and tried to wipe my tongue with my sleeve but I still tasted dirt, ugh, I just shook my head before looking around and seeing if there were anything else I could spot but didn’t really see anything except maybe the grass was a little greener around the decomposing body? There wasn’t really anything we could do except wait so we tried to move as far from the smell as we could since Kelly would be able to see us clearly as she rode up.

We waited for a bit and soon we heard a loud KWEH! As Rhonda came zooming towards us with Kelly on a side by side right behind her. They both skid to a stop and Kelly hopped out and started looking at the body.

“Woo boy, this thing is ripe aint it? Looks like its been a couple days atleast. Dammit, must of snagged the line while trying to dig… That’s gonna cost a pretty penny to fix. I’m surprised nothing came to eat it yet though.” Kelly said after a few moments.

“That was my concern aswell, It should already be down to the bones by now…” Hailee said as she was still questioning just why this thing was allowed to decompose for so long.

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“Maybe it still has something to do with the Alphas? Maybe everything is still scared to come out around here? Maybe there is still a big bad Alpha somewhere nearby and this was just a lackey sent for a test of the defenses like last time?” I asked with worry tracing every word. I looked up into the forest and scanned what I could. If there was still something roaming around out there in the woods, then it’s just a matter of time before we get hit again…

Kelly looked at me as she felt the same thing and without questioning it, we loaded up and went back home, when we got there Kelly took Rob and told him what we suspected. He got a serious look on his face and then pulled out a phone.

“Yea this is Director Robert Donser of The Inquisition department. I want a full team sent here to my location for a scan of the nearby woods, I have reason to suspect that there is something Rank C or above that is disrupting the wildlife.” After a short confirmation about ETA, he hung up and called for an immediate meeting with the whole class. After everyone was gathered around he started speaking.

“We have reason to believe that there is a possible Alpha nearby…” As he said that the crowd erupted with worry and fright. I was kind of excited to be honest… Last time I fought an Alpha I got a powerful relic that changed my life…

“Hey! This is serious dammit! I want full groups at all times, I want fence line walks frequently with a team heading out a half hour after the last in order to maintain consistent visual. At night we will keep the fence electrified and sleep in shifts. Consider this the real thing people because if an Alpha does appear, then we need to be prepared to fight it and it’s minions. James, you and your team take first walk.” He then dismissed us as he talked to Kelly about how she can bill his department for the cost of the fence until this is resolved.

So off we walked but this time we didn’t stop when we got to the body, we kept going and just chatted while keeping an eye on the tree line. Every now and then I would see movement, but I would look at Shadow or Rhonda to see if they could sense anything but they couldn’t so I didn’t worry to much and we finished our patrol shortly after.

By this time it was starting to get dark and the fading light threw the world into twilight while the sky took on an orange hue, the world stood still as if admiring it… If only that were true.

“Ahhhh!” A scream filled with agony came. We all ran towards the noise and found a body lying on the ground surrounded in a pool of blood. Their back had a long deep scratch down the spine and it was still oozing blood.

“HOLY SHIT!” I yelled as I stopped in my tracks at the sight of it. I instantly went on high alert and so did Rhonda and Shadow, I couldn’t see anything and neither could Rhonda but Shadow was on edge and his hair was standing straight up. He was sending me warnings of something predatory nearby so I relayed that to Kelly and Rob, they looked at eachother before Kelly took off and flipped the switch for the fence to electrify. As soon as she did there was a blue wave that flowed down the fence that cast an eerie glow over the body…

“What could have done this? Do you know James?” Hailee asked while her body shivered with poorly concealed fear. Stacy just stood there frozen as her mind cemented the image of the body.

“I honestly don’t know, but since the Kwehs didn’t raise hell before it happened, I’m gonna guess it’s pretty sneaky. The only one that can really feel it is Shadow and even then it’s only that his instincts are saying it’s a predator. Only thing I can say is to watch the shadows…” I didn’t want to say that the fact that the fence is now electrified basically screamed that there would be a very big possibility that we are now trapped on the farm with something that can hide in the shadows, and strike without leaving a trace…