Harrison seemed far too calm for the situation, and it made me second guess myself. I lowered the scope from my eye and looked around. Our wolves were tending to the injured and picking off the few humans that remained. Most of our pack was circled around us, growling lowly.
From deep in the forest, the soft thumping of more footsteps and a muted roar of vehicles shuddered through the trees.
Harrison chuckled and shook his head. “This was only round one.”
Round 2
My pale face veered to Rush, a cold sweat collected on the back of my neck.
“What do you mean, ‘round one?’” Rush asked. Harrison smiled and, despite his crush hand, laughed.
“Those were our weaklings. You didn’t honestly think that was the best we had, did you?”
“It doesn’t matter how many people you bring here, how many guns, how many weapons; we will fight you until the last one of us falls, and I guarantee you-that day won’t come while you’re alive.”
Rush stepped back from the group of humans as his body began to shake. He was fighting the shift that was trying to break free.
Harrison’s guards rearranged themselves around him as he tucked his broken hand into his jacket. I could smell his adrenaline from ten feet away, like a musty stink that protected him from feeling the full effect of his hand.
The few members of our pack that were injured were escorted towards the packhouse. Harrison viciously stood watch, looking at our wounded with a vindictive smile on his face. That look alone was enough for Rush to forcibly shift.
His head shook, snarling at the humans with a ferocity that made their guns tremble.
I stepped around Emily and moved towards Rush, lowering my weapon for the first time since I picked it up. Rush noticed me moving and quickly came to my side.
“You’ve made him very angry,” I said, gently brushing my hand on the side of Rush’s face. “I used to feel bad for you. I used to tell my pack that humans were just like us, that you all have families, that we were all the same. That’s bullshit, I realize that now. We’re defending, you’re attacking. You think you’re alive right now because you’re smart? You’re alive because we’re allowing you to be, if we wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be breathing right now. I want you to die looking at every single person you killed by bringing them here. I want you to die, knowing no one is coming to save you. I want you to die so that our wolves can each taste your blood and know that human filth like you are gone from this Earth.”
Harrison rolled his eyes at my threats, but his guards seemed shaken. I smiled down at Rush, who nuzzled my stomach. I felt Rush’s voice enter my mind, and I giggled ruthlessly.
“He just asked me what I think your insides will taste like.” I smirked. “I guess we’ll find out soon.”
The long arm of a tank pointed at us through the openings in the trees. Beside it, hundreds of humans ran at us. Our wolves braced themselves, tired but angry and seething.
Rush was able to shift back into his human form as the humans gained distance. He maneuvered through the wolves to stand at the front of our pack, boldly naked and unafraid.
“I will give you one chance!” he screamed with his hands clenched. “Put down your weapons. Look at your brothers and sisters around us who tried to bring us down! Submit, and you will have mercy. Otherwise, we won’t be so kind.”
The humans slowed their running as the tank stopped. Teenagers at the front lines looked at each other and at the dead bodies of the humans around us. One girl stepped forward and dropped her gun, running to a body strewn across the field.
“Ada!” she cried, arms out.
She was shot as she moved and collapsed on the ground beside the woman she knew. She was no older than fifteen; large brown eyes lay open, staring forward at us.
“They’ll never listen to you!” Harrison snarled; his large mouth hung in a slacked smile.
“Your own leader doesn’t care if you live or die!” Rush shouted back at them, desperately trying to save some of the young soldiers that waited on the front lines. “If you surrender your weapons, we can protect you.”
Two teenage boys looked at each other, tears filling their eyes before they looked at us again; a quiet determination fought past the tears. Their lips trembled but never parted.
“They don’t trust us,” Jonah said sadly, standing beside Rush.
“We’re trying to help you!” Rush yelled, looking across their faces. “We don’t want to hurt you, but we will protect our family. Our arms are extended to you.”
Harrison whistled, and the tank began plowing forward again. Rush sighed and ran his hand over his face. I knew he was fighting the urge to cry; I could feel the heaviness in his chest.
“You tried your best,” I reassured him.
“Not good enough.”
Casey and Emily stood behind me at the edge of the packhouse. Three gunmen remained next to us eagerly awaiting orders.
“Don’t shoot anyone who surrenders,” I told them softly. “Especially the young ones.”
They nodded and lined up their scopes once more.
The tank was much larger than I imagined, and it knocked down the trees in its path. It was older, riddled with rust and chipped paint, probably from the last human war a hundred years ago, and its large arm was broken at the front. The beige tank pushed past the humans and started moving towards our wolves at a quickened pace.
Rush whistled an order as he shifted and darted to the right while Jonah ran to the left. The wolves parted down the middle and followed Rush and Jonah around either side of the packhouse. The tank followed the group of wolves to the right, along with a small collection of human soldiers.
The wolves that
