After I have Flare give Alarra a tour of our territory, and send Sam and Dean out to scout the hunters, I decide to do some casual hunting.

I make my way through the forest with quick strides, keeping an ear up for any danger.

My ears must be failing because as I turn a corner, I catch wind of a familiar scent. I still, ducking behind some shrubs.

The sound of thudding boots reaches my ears, and I tense, ready to dash away at a moment's notice. Humans were never good news.

And then... a voice.

"It must be around here somewhere!" The voice shouts, and my heart hammers in my chest, sorrow and joy and guilt bubbling up in my throat. I catch my whine before it leaves my lips, my ears pining to my head.

"Damon..." I whisper.

The man comes into view, looking ragged and stressed, his dark hair sticking up in every direction and his eyes bruised. He looks nothing like the brother that I left behind.

I watch with wide eyes as he paces the forest path, his hands clutching his already messy hair.

The others with him looked at each other with annoyed looks. Clearly, this wasn't an unusual sight for them.

"Sir," a woman with trackers gear begins, monotone. "the tracks around here are faint, they are at least a week old. In other words: the wolf doesn't come here often, "

Now, that's interesting, I note through my emotional whiplash. This group seems to be under the impression that there was only one wolf. They must not have a very good tracker...

Damon nods jerkily. "Okay, fine, alright," he murmurs, taking a deep breath. "lead on, then,"

Thinking this to be the best time to disappear, I turn, disappearing into the woods before any of the humans notice me.

###

"Who?" Flare asks, cocking his head.

"Damon," I repeat distractedly.

As with many of my problems, my first thought was to go to Flare, the only logical wolf I've met.

Flare holds up a paw. "No, no, I understand that that's their name, but who are they?" he stresses.

I halt my pacing, taking a deep breath. "My brother," I explain.

Flare hums, his eyes widening a fraction. "You saw your brother?" He asks, cocking his head.

"Yes," I say, sitting calmly. "And I need your words of reason before I do something stupid,"

"Like?"

"Like bite him,"

Flare nods, trotting over to sit in front of me. He takes a breath. "Okay... We have approximately three dozen hunters to chase away from our territory before they fillet us, and a new member to get up to speed before she falls off of a cliff," he says confidently, his chest puffing up. "We can figure out what to do with your brother afterwards."

I nod. "Good plan," I say, taking a calming breath and rolling my shoulders. I wasn't fully convinced, but Flare did make some good points. "I'm so glad that I didn't kill you,"

Flare playfully cuffs my ear with his paw, grinning. "You're going soft, Reaper,"

###

One week later

A movement catches my eye. I frown, leaping into a bolder to get a better view of the valley.

Alarra huffs, looking over to Sam. "How the hell does he do that?" She asks with a grumble.

Sam sighs long-sufferingly. "'E was blessed wit' long legs," he says, sniffing at a paw-print.

I shush them, my ears twitching. "Humans," I say.

That one word stops them short, their shoulders becoming tense.

My eyes follow the group, and my tail twitches, my claws digging into the rock and a low growl rumbling in my chest.

Sam cocks his head stepping closer to the cliff, lowering his head with a growl.

Alarra looks between the two of us. "Do you think they're dangerous?"

"Every human is dangerous, Blondie," Sam says, glancing back at her briefly.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"What do I do?"

I bear my teeth, snarling. "Just stand there and look intimidating," I say, my tone the exact opposite of my body language, friendly and calm.

The humans seem to notice us, as they speed up, ignoring us as best as they can.

I hum, the aggression melting away from my stance. "I think that went rather well,"

Thunk

I turn, frowning at the crossbow bolt embedded in a log.

"And that's our cue to run, kids," I say, leaping from the bolder and dashing into the forest, the other two following close behind me.

"Are we not going to scare them off?" Alarra's frantic voice calls over the wind in my ears.

"Pick your battles, Alarra! Those guys have bows!" I reply casually, a spring in my step.

"And guns!" Sam reminds gleefully. Seconds later a shot goes off and strikes the ground several paces behind us.

###

After we'd lost the hunters, we doubled back and caught some rabbits, before heading back home.

Flare looked up from his carving, frowning. "You were gone for a while," he comments.

I sigh. "We had a little run-in with some hunters,"

Flare growled, his claws digging into the bolder.

Sam hummed. "Tell me abou' it," he says, flopping down onto his side.

Dean rolls his eyes at the dramatics, nudging Sam's shoulder. "You're lying on my rocks,"

Sam hums, rolling onto his stomach. "Tha' does explain why my ribs now hurt," he says, looking down at the rocks.

I shake my head, turning to Flare. "How's it looking?"

Flare smiles, perking up. "It's looking good, a few more days and I should be done,"

Flare had been carving geometric lines in that bolder for weeks, and he seemed rather committed to completing it. For some reason.

I nod, snatching up a rabbit, and walking off to eat it on the hill of my den.

###

The Next Day

"I still think we should just kill them," Sam says, pouting.

I growl, glaring at the scruffy wolf.

He sighs, rolling his eyes. "Fine. No murder,"

I smile, nodding. "Anyone else have a suggestion?"

Silence. I cock a brow.

Flare shifts from paw to paw, frowning in thought.

Dean flicks his ears, looking off to the side.

Alarra takes a breath, looking me in the eye. "I have one,"

I blink, surprised. "Let's hear it, then," I say.

"Hit them in the heart," she says, squaring her shoulders. "Go to whatever village has the ransom on our heads and let them know that you won't run forever,"

Silence, this time of disbelief.

I swallow, frowning. "Hold up," I begin, leaning forwards with wide eyes. "You want us to walk into a human village and threaten them?" I ask franticly.

Alarra nods, seemingly unaffected with the sheer audacity of this plan.

"I..." I take a breath, looking around at my packmates. "I love it. That's one hell of a power move." I laugh, grinning.

"You can't seriously be considering this, Darra," Flare says, looking at me as though I'd lost it.

"I'm not just considering it, I'm implementing it," I say, ears pulling up in defiance.

Sam whoops. "Fuck yeah!" He shouts. "I'm in!"

I look at Dean.

Dean shrugs "If Sam's down, I'm down."

I smile, "Flare?"

Flare looks around franticly. Then, he deflates. "Fuck it, I'm in." He grumbles. "The more of us that there are, the less chance there is of you idiots dying,"