Rise of an Alpha Female (Two Moons Book 1) Page 7

  "Nazih, I don't like this," Sana, his inner cat tells him.

  "What do you mean? He is alone, we are not, with our friends and allies nearby. Not to mention he can't even catch us. Maybe you should relax, Sana. You are getting paranoid."

  "Maybe, though my instinct says otherwise. Look at him! He is calculating. If you were him, what would you do?"

  "If I was the warhog facing a cat? Probably attack hoping it is slow running or at least slow to react. But he knows that is not the case, so I would probably run since if my friends were killed, I'd be in trouble."

  "Unless..."

  "Unless he assumes there is no chance of survival and he goes for maximum damage. OH, SHIT!"

  As Nazih starts running immediately, he is already a couple of seconds too late, and the warhog is closing the distance rapidly. Even going full out, he realizes he won't get away in time.

  "How in the world is that beast so fast?"

  "You just did what it did earlier, underestimated your opponent," Sana says obviously unhappy and a little worried and continues: "He is going to go for impalement. Give me full control and your strength as well."

  "What are you doing? We can't fight him head on!" Nazih asks, now terrified for their lives.

  "I'm not fighting. If he goes for impalement, I'm going to help him..."

  "Are you insane?"

  The warhog is happy. The cat had no idea of his kind's bloodlust state. Give a warhog enough reasons to get angry, and you are in big trouble. The mockery and deaths of his comrades gave him just that; enough reasons for anger to the point he could go on a bloodlust.

  His speed is now far higher than the cat's earlier best, and the puny animal is moments away from a world of hurt.

  He is sure the Master can work with a badly injured cat as well as an unharmed one. So to make sure the cat stays put before his bloodlust inevitably ends, he is going to impale its pelvis, hopefully shattering the entire bone formation there, making the cat unable to use its hind legs.

  Just two more body lengths and the cat will be within striking distance.

  One strong swing of the head from right to left should provide him with the perfect angle to completely disable the running cat.

  Almost there and UFFFFFF...

  As the warhog swings its massive head while on all fours, as that is best for going at his fastest, and with the bloodlust's complete focus on that particular cat, the hog receives a massive, full body hit to his left side making him lose balance. He curses in his mind, but luckily his swinging hit was already coming, and his right tusk connects with the cats behind, throwing the furry annoyance clearly to the left of its previous trajectory, tumbling head over rump many times.

  Rolling a few times himself, the warhog leader picks himself up, ready to face the new threat, confirming his earlier suspicion that wolves were involved. Well at least one of them is.

  Alastair is worried he arrived too late, and Nazih might be severely injured, but there is no time to worry about it. Even with him coming at an intercepting angle, running at full speed and barreling full body into the side of the warhog, he almost didn't make it. And what he did manage to do might not have been enough anyway.

  They had both gravely underestimated the warhogs, assuming they were some dumb beasts with nothing up their sleeves.

  But he is now up and ready to fight it. The warhog's strange man-beast form gives it an advantage in reach, but in his wolf-form, Alastair should be faster. At least in theory.

  Nothing is certain now, and he needs to hold on until more of the wolves and cats arrive.

  He keeps his distance, stalling for time, but the warhog either reads his mind or is simply impatient.

  The beast knows it can't keep up with the wolf while standing, so he drops to all fours and charges. His charge may not be done while infused with the blood-lust, but he can still outrun any wolf with it; maybe not a cat, but a wolf? Definitely! So he does just that.

  Pressed for time and realizing there is no running away from the oncoming attack, Alastair tries something else, and in the last possible moment sidesteps the charge with a jump to the side, letting the warhog pass him completely.

  Having no time to rest or lose, he quickly runs after the beast, as it starts slowing down and turning, with just enough respite to bite off a large amount of muscle with the fur still attached from the warhog's outer right thigh and keep going.

  The beast squeals loudly, and keeps turning until he is facing Alastair once more. Though not exactly charging, the warhog runs at the wolf, soon standing up while bleeding from its right leg.

  There is a slight limp, which almost goes unnoticed in the way the beast moves.

  What in the world is this thing made out of? Alastair wonders, as it seems to him his attack did little to affect the overgrown boar, which won't stop coming after him.

  "15 seconds to your location, chief. The cats should be in view right now and able to help."

  "Thank you, Marcus. Hurry and use the glancing attacks like before to wear it down. I think this one may be even more resilient than the others."

  The next moment, five of the cats reach his position and surround the warhog. Upon seeing the threat increase, the beast yowls an angry combination between a roar and a squeal.

  This warhog is also faster than its friends, apparently, and manages to clobber two of the cats as they try to attack one by one, knocking them out of the fight, at least for the moment.

  But with all the commotion and confusion, the wolves finally arrive on scene. All nine of them. They quickly take over circling the warhog while the cats take a step back and move into a second line support role, watching with interest.

  Resting for a bit on his hind, Alastair also watches with interest, practically evaluating the performance of his wolves.

  The tenth wolf reaches them at last and doesn't even try to join the fight, going instead behind Alastair.

  "You OK, Tim?"

  "I will be. But my head is pounding, and I'm still seeing stars. That was dumb of me back there, going in like that."

  "It was, but the fact that you realize it by yourself is a big plus. Now pay attention."

  Alastair and Tim are joined by Nazih in his human form next. There is a huge bruise on his thigh, and he is visibly limping. Some other bruises are also visible across his body, but none look as bad as the one on his right thigh.

  The nine wolves are very well coordinated, going for multiple faints, sometimes two or three at a time, and every other attempt comes out with a bloody mouth full of warhog.

  It almost appears the wolves are dancing with an ugly bride and each wants a piece of it to take back to their friends and brag about.

  Eventually, the beast falls to its knees, the lack of muscles on his bone exposed legs no longer allowing him to stand.

  It is obvious the enemy is exhausted, both from the effort and the lack of blood, so Alastair makes a decision, switching back to human form and addressing the wounded warhog and his wolves.

  Chapter 7 - Revelations

  "Stop and step back, but watch him!" He commands, and the wolves immediately comply.

  "Are you going to deny me an honorable death and just leave me here to bleed?" The warhog asks in a guttural voice.

  "Depends on your cooperation. If you help us, we could take care of you, take you to a healer and..."

  "NO! There is only victory or death. And today victory is yours. So I will answer three of your questions if you vow on your honor as a warrior to grant me a quick death."

  "Deal!" Alastair answers after considering for a moment.

  "Ask your questions then, and I will answer honestly, so think well before you do," the warhog instructs.

  "Are there more of you?"

  "You've earned my respect today, and I wish we could have ended this fight just between the two of us, but war is not a duel, so it's only natural to use any advantages you might have. I could give you a yes answer to that question and respect what I said,
but I'll give you a hint: be specific in your question if you want a complex answer."

  "Why is this war happening?"

  "The Master wants complete control and total domination of Calla. Anyone not bowing over and moving to his side, immediately swearing fealty to him, is to be exterminated."

  "How come we have never heard of this Master and his war before?"

  "He has just started gathering his forces; it is too early for all-out war. We just take out one target at a time right now, until we have garnered enough strength for something larger. And by target I mean one pack here, a pride there and so on. The weakest at first, and then we will move against stronger foes."

  "That's a pretty detailed answer there. You sure you don't want to join us? We could use your knowledge as an advisor."

  "I'm going to pretend that wasn't a question. No, I will not join you. Death is preferable than being caught by the Master after having been defeated or failing in any way on one of his tasks. Maybe my closeness to death has gained me some clarity, or maybe it's almost being free of his control, but you should ask your final question about what's going to happen when the others get here," the warhog says looking intently at Alastair.

  "Hmmm, OK. My final question is what's going to happen when the others get here?" Alastair asks though he has no idea who the others are.

  "The group that is coming will split in two; most will be coming this way to deal with you, while some will go to Mahli's settlement to capture your Diplomat so the Master can use her later in negotiating with your Alpha or in some other sick and perverted way. I just hope he doesn't like her too much. He's been looking for a mate, though in his case, she would be nothing more than a breeding slave for his genes. Now grant me my death!"

  "Marcus!"

  "NO! YOU do it! Please!"

  "In your moment of clarity you have proven to be an honorable man and a warrior, so I will do more than that. Marcus, help him up and prop him against that boulder so he can remain standing. In another life, we could have been brothers. Defend yourself!" He commands the warhog.

  As he finishes talking, Alastair is shifting back to his wolf form, moving away.

  The warhog leader prepares himself as best he can.

  In a precise running jump, Alastair aims directly for the neck.

  The warhog does his best and swings for the wolf's head. But for the blood loss and weakened state, he would have landed a crippling blow on Alastair. As it is, the swing is both a little slow and also lacking in power. It only manages to hit the shoulder blade, slightly diverting the wolf's attack.

  With the added lateral momentum from the warhog's hit, Alastair bites hard and wide into the side of its neck, managing to sever the spine along with the jugular, effectively cutting the major artery with his powerful jaw; life is quickly spewing away along with the dark-red blood.

  "Thank you..." the warhog gurgles his last words.

  Just then Nazih comes limping over the small hillside.

  "Is it over?" He asks.

  "This part? Yes. The whole thing? Apparently, it's just starting," Alastair says and continues to inform Nazih of what he has just learned from the warhog.

  "I see. We should scout them out and prepare for a fight."

  "No, we need to head back immediately, Jena is in danger."

  "I'm not risking the entire pride for your diplomat. You said it yourself – the largest group will come for us. I'm sure the warriors at home can handle it."

  "Yeah? How many of these warhogs have you and your cats managed to kill until now?"

  "None," Nazih says after a moment of silence.

  "How many warriors have you lost to them?"

  "12. Four were sent to investigate the merchant's claim, and eight were sent after the first four when they didn't report back. None returned."

  "So we're going!"

  "May I offer a suggestion?" Marcus interrupted.

  "What is it?"

  "Let's do both."

  "Huh?"

  "How?"

  "We all head back since it's almost a two days' journey to the pride settlement. Have the cats run a wide perimeter around our group for spotting the enemy. Make a plan for when we meet them. At the same time, we will be closer and closer to the settlement and a lot more able to assist. If by any chance we get back home before the enemy reaches us we stop two hours away, and wait for a spotter to see them, then intercept."

  "That is actually a very good idea," Nazih says, making Marcus smile.

  "I agree. Let's go," Alastair says in turn and starts shifting to wolf again.

  "You and the wolves head back; we will go back to release the prisoners then catch up."

  Alastair growls at him, but Nazih continues:

  "Do you doubt our swift forms will have trouble catching up to you? Even if the prisoners are hurt, we still need to liberate them. At most I'll leave one man there to guide them to the settlement and catch up to you with the rest."

  Doing the equivalent of a nod in wolf form, Alastair silently turns, starting an infernal run towards the settlement, his wolves in tow.

  I knew I shouldn't have left her there on her own, he thinks to himself.

  "Jena can handle herself," Mayn, his wolf reassures him.

  "It is my..."

  "OUR"

  "Our job to protect her, and we are not there to do it,"

  "True. Because she ordered it so. You don't have to like it, only do it. And we just eliminated four possible threats."

  "Four out of how many? I wish that warhog lived."

  "He would have slowed us down. We are going to get there in time."

  "I hope you're right."

  ***

  On the second morning Nazih catches up to Alastair, and the wolf calls for a short break, a breather so everyone can regain some of their stamina.

  His run-ragged wolves don't even pretend to be dignified, simply dropping to their sides, panting. One of them changes to human, going from wolf to wolf to give them some water from their travel satchels.

  "Took you long enough," Alastair says to Nazih, both of them now in human form.

  "Apparently someone was running faster than previously expected. You were almost going at swift form cruise run speed."

  A wolf whines loudly at the words, making Alastair glare daggers at him. The wolf looks away in submission.

  "How long till we get to the settlement?"

  "4 hours if you can keep up this rhythm, though we only need to go for another two to spring our trap."

  "Have you warned the others?"

  "No."

  "WHY THE HELL NOT?"

  "We have a traitor. And they need the warriors at home anyway for the other attack."

  Having calmed down after a few breaths, Alastair continues:

  "How do you know? And since when?"

  "The prisoners. All five of them were from the 12 I told you were missing. Apparently, the warhogs were so overconfident they spoke without minding the caged prisoners. They kept talking about the weak-minded fool, and how they were going to ask the Master to let them kill him when he is no longer needed. Apparently, they hate traitors, even enemy traitors. There is a 30 men war party coming to greet us. They were supposed to join up and hunt us down with 20 coming our way lead by the Second."

  "Define men. Don't want another surprise on my hands."

  "Warhogs. All 30 of them. The Second is apparently a wolf though. And is also highly trained."

  "And 20 of those are headed our way. Damn it! We barely managed to kill those four."

  "And the Second. But we will have the prisoners join as well. And once we spot the enemy, we can pull back the scouts and use them. If you come up with an idea like you did last time, we will do our part."

  "I have an idea! Give me 20 more wolves. I'd even settle for 20 cats," Alastair says, sounding almost defeated. "I wish we could call for help. Or be in two places at once," he continues.

  "Sadly, neither is possible," Nazih sighs in turn.

>   "Hmm..."

  "What?"

  "I think we could..."

  "What, WHAT?"

  "Be in two places at once."

  "Oookay... How?"

  "We do what we did before. We split them up."

  "Explain," and as Nazih says that, everyone present gathers around, listening intently.

  "Instead of reacting to them, let's prepare the area and lead them to where we want them like this:

  We leave a heavy trail they can easily follow, and then split two of your cats in another direction.

  If I were leading the enemy, I'd send no more than four warhogs to check it out.

  Get the cats to slow down just enough to keep the hogs' interest up and keep doing wide circles.

  So we are down two, and they are down four.

  Later we make two groups of three cats each, sending them in different directions away from our group.

  Assuming four warhogs go after each group of the new cats we send away, they should be left with eight plus the leader, while we have eleven wolves and eight cats.

  I would take on their leader, but I think I'd be better in a warhog fight. So you take the leader and keep his focus away from us. Hold on for as long as you can."

  "Give me some credit man; I'm a Beta after all."

  "But you are fighting a wolf. I'd say he will be Beta ranked as well, and honestly in a one on one... just avoid him and stay alive for as long as possible.

  So your other two healthy cats will each be distracting one warhog, to a point as to take said warhog for a walk; I'd go for an eye scratch if possible. Those are very annoying.

  Hoping we are that lucky, we now have six hogs to deal with. I'll take one by myself."

  "But Alastair..."

  "No Marcus. I'm the most experienced for a warhog one versus one as of last fight, and we need the numbers for the other five.

  So we are down to 10 wolves and five barely functioning, ex-prisoner cats versus five warhogs.

  Guess it will have to do.

  So the obvious two wolves and a cat for every one of them."