House of Wolves, Plus One

Gerard had heard them calling his name, it was faint and he knew he should answer, but there was something drawing him away, further and further into the woods. A cry, small and scared and he couldn’t leave some poor creature alone and hurt...so he continued through the dense undergrowth toward whatever needed his help. Reaching a shaded clearing, the frightened cries led the little Omega to the edge of a hole in the ground, half covered in branches and leaves...an animal trap. Lupo never used such traps, preferring to shift and hunt like their ancestors rather than stooping to human's cowardly ways...but what was a human trap doing in these woods? Lupo may hunt for food on occasion, but they are firmly against animals being hurt for the fun of it, and often nurse injured wildlife back to health when they find them, and destroy human traps as routine.

Gerard peered into the pit and was met with a pair of olive green eyes staring back up at him. The eyes belonged to a young Bobcat that was obviously distressed.

"Well hi there kitty, how’d you get yourself stuck down there?..."

He said softly as he tried to figure out the best way to get the frightened animal out of the seven foot deep hole. The Bobcat let out a squeaky cry and Gerard giggled.

"You’re no help..."

He looked around for anything he thought he could use, then decided reluctantly that he was going to have to climb down there, then try to climb back out somehow with the kitten.

"You’re not going to scratch me when I get down there, are you?"

He asked as he cleared away some more of the branches and leaves, then got ready to jump down. The kitten mewed at him and Gerard rolled his eyes...that didn’t answer his question. Taking a breath, he jumped down into the hole. Unfortunately, as he landed on the uneven ground, his right ankle turned and he cried out as his leg gave way beneath him and he landed in a heap on the floor. The little Bobcat blinked at him for a moment as Gerard held his injured ankle, trying hard not to cry...then it meowed as if to say..."Well now what do we do?"

Gerard looked up as he felt the first few drops of rain fall onto him.

"I...I think I made a mistake."

He whispered as tears joined the rainwater on his face.

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"Which way did he go?"

Frank growled, sniffing the air. He could smell the rain that was starting to fall, soaking the forest and dripping from the leaves, but although Gerard’s distinct scent was all around them, he couldn’t tell what direction was strongest as the rich vegetation gave off strong scents of its own whenever it rained.

"This way."

Mikey growled, shifting and heading toward the side of the house. Everyone knew that Mikey was their best tracker, so they all shifted then ran after him.

The ground was getting slippery under paw, and their coats were getting heavy with water as the rain started to pound relentlessly on the forest. Even Mikey was having trouble tracking in this weather, but he kept his head and followed the ever fading scent as the rains washed it away. They’d been searching for nearly half an hour when they came to a little sheltered clearing, and a deep hole in the earth. Mikey recognised it as an animal trap and feared his baby brother had fallen victim to the human deceit. Shifting back to his human form, he moved carefully to the edge of the pit and peered inside. His stomach rolled with nausea when he saw what was there...the body of a young Bobcat floating in two foot of rainwater with its throat cut...but no Gerard. He was thankful of course that his brother wasn’t there, but then...where was he?

"Let’s keep searching. The rain's washed away his scent and any tracks...but he’s got to be somewhere."

The others all agreed and they spread out, looking for any sign of the missing Omega. They had all seen the Bobcat though, and they all knew that whoever had killed that poor creature, had likely taken Gerard as well.

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Gerard whimpered as he curled up in the corner of the room he’d been locked in. He had been so happy when he’d seen a familiar face peering into the hole at him, but now he wished the Beta had never come. He wished he had never gone looking for strawberries, and he wished he had never gone in search of the owner of those frightened cries. Most of all though, he wished he were back home right now, curled up by the fire in his Alpha's warm arms, drinking hot chocolate and watching the rain patter against the window. He’d been stupid to go out alone...again…and it looked like this time he was going to pay dearly for his mistake.

Tears soaked his pale cheeks as he cried quietly, hoping that somehow Frank would find him...he wasn’t at all sure how realistic that hope was though, and he was pretty sure he was never going to see his pack or his Alpha again.

Notes

Hi there chipmunks, how’s you?

Just a short chapter today, but the next one will be a lot longer, I promise.

Until next time...PLEASE COMMENT and peace out babies!
<3