Hunters: A person who hunts the things that go bump at night.
Werewolves: Neither fully human nor fully wolf, these beings live in 'packs' in towns across the continent.
Esmeray is a werewolf who has been raised and trained to use her supernatural a...
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Following the scent, the mossy earth squishes beneath my paws, slowing to a stop. I lower my nose to the ground. I'm getting closer, and he seems to have blanched the wound. The blood trail stopped about a kilometer back, but he couldn't have gone far. I pick up my head, sniff the air, and my ears swivel. I've chased this wolf through two borders now. He's running out of places to hide and must be exhausted.
Through the trees and across the dewy morning earth, his scent strengthens after another mile, and the smell of blood fills the air. Finding the closest tree, I dig a hole and stash the tattered bag I brought, marking the tree above it with claw marks and rubbing against it. A twig snaps in the distance, and laughter follows after humans.
Shit, he's run us into a park; I picked up my pace, following his trail. He doesn't have anything with him, so he can't run away in human form, but I need to find him before he hurts anyone, or it's my ass on the line. The trail keeps crossing over itself; he's trying to lose me. It's been a while since a wolf tried this; what a shame.
I stood still and closed my eyes, listening and feeling everything around me: the wind in my fur, damp earth and leaves under my paws, birds singing, the leaves swaying in the breeze, and heavy breathing. Fresh blossoms filled my nose, and the earthy scent of the forest and musky rotting wood. Blood and male pierced my nose from the North, the source; opening my eyes, I pushed off the ground following the new trail and came across the tan and brown wolf who was licking his wounded haunch.
He turned and growled at me, wide stance, ready to attack; either he knew he wasn't going to get out of this, or he was making a last-ditch effort to hurt me and run. I readied myself, snapping at him once, signaling I wasn't going to back down; he made the first attack, going for my throat. I step back and bite down, scraping his cheek, and we bounce back, snapping at each other again, and he bites, tearing into my shoulder.
Circling each other, we exchange snaps and growls. This wolf isn't going to go down without a fight, and he's too weak to keep running. Black blood covered his fur from the minor wounds I inflicted; a hunter was able to get a shot of wolfsbane in him from the initial attack.
He was starting to show visible signs of fatigue and blood loss, stumbling and shaking his head; I stood down and waited for him to pass out or the hunters tracking me to show up, whichever came first. He growled at me again, taking a few steps toward me, and his legs gave out, leaving him a half-conscious huffing mess on the ground.
Whining, he tried getting his feet under him, but they couldn't hold his weight up. I walked over to where he lay, and he let out a weak growl and lifted his head in an attempt to snap at me, only for it to fall back down. I licked at the wounds and the exposed muscle on his hind leg with the clumps of black blood.
Distant bike motors disrupted the forest's sounds. Sitting near the downed wolf, I waited for my keepers to collect. I did not want to think about what would happen to the wolf afterward, not wanting to relive what would happen. The phantom scars all across my body ached and burned.
Hunters filled the area and started tying the wolf up and loading it into a steel and silver cage on the back of a four-wheeler, ignoring me entirely. They left as fast as they came, leaving almost no visible trace. Uncovering my bag from the hole I buried it in, I dressed in a tank top, pants, and hiking boots. I took the vibrating phone out, the scratches already healing
"Hello." Rubbing the headache forming at the base of my skull, probably from the wolfsbane. "Good job containing the target, though I would've loved getting a picture of a tattered corpse, but alive is just as good, I guess," The deep voice says on the other side. "Come back home and collect your next assignment." The line goes dead immediately after, and I shove it into my pack.
"Well, shit." I sighed, rubbing the bump on the back of my neck; I was hoping I would get a chance to explore civilization for at least an hour before I got a callback. Pulling off my clothes again, I shift back to my wolf and shake out my dark fur; huffing, I collect the bag and travel home.
