Big Red and the Little Wolf

Chapter 2

Kodiak Pov

It only took about ten minutes for me to drive back home from the pub. Home for me was my uncle's cabin on the outskirts of town. When my parents died, my uncle took me in at the age of twelve years old. Now that I was an adult with two jobs, I had every capability of buying my own place. However, that didn't feel right when the cabin had become a safe place after dangerous hunts.

Living on my own lost its appeal to me when I considered all of the memories my uncle and I shared in that cabin over the last decade. Besides, I couldn't stand to leave him there alone after all he had done for me. As far as I knew, my uncle had never married and didn't have any kids of his own.

When I put my foot on the first step of the front porch, the wood creaked under my weight. Though we did our best to keep the cabin in good condition, no amount of renovations could change the fact that it was old. My great grandfather had built it long before I had been born. Among any updates to the cabin, the interior maintained the dark wooden logs that held it together throughout generations.

Stepping into the cabin was like entering a man cave that took over the entire house. My uncle, Lyle, and I chose to decorate the house with our trophies we obtained when we used to go hunting together. Most of our trophies consisted of impressive jawbones or large paws that were lined up on the shelves. All of them were afterthoughts, however, compared to our most prized possession that sat above the fireplace. Mounted on the wall as a focal point of the living room was the head of the alpha wolf that killed my parents.

It had taken Lyle two years to track down the wolf that killed his sister and brother-in-law. Though it had required a great deal of effort, he would never regret the time he spent working to avenge my parents' deaths. Once he had completed his mission, he turned his focus to teaching me everything he knew about hunting werewolves.

Though the training sessions with him were tough, I couldn't turn my back on the family tradition. Not only did it feel like I was honoring my parents by following in their footsteps, but it also made me feel closer to them. During the breaks within my training, Lyle often shared stories about what it was like being trained by my grandfather with his two younger sisters.

"How was hunting today, lad?" Lyle asked as he exited the kitchen. He spent most of his days around the cabin, doing maintenance and keeping up to date on the news. Since I had learned everything there was to know about hunting and tracking, Lyle accepted that as a sign to retire from his hunting days. Though his days were behind him, he was always intrigued to hear about our kills.

"We know those woods are crawling with wolves, but they were mostly bare today," I began to relay the hunt. "We did end up running into one wolf, but it got away when Zane missed his shot."

"Again? Some days I question if he really has our blood in him."

"There is no doubt he shares our blood. I've seen firsthand what he's capable of, he just needs a little more time to develop on his technique. Unfortunately, Aunt Theresa isn't quite as good of a teacher as you are." A compliment would be enough to distract him from critiquing my cousin any further.

"You're right about that. She didn't have the same thirst to kill those supernatural bastards like your mother and I did."

Lyle and my mom had made hunting werewolves their sole purpose in life. It consumed them so much that Lyle never pursued a relationship outside of work and my mom had married another hunter who would follow her to the edge of any forest.

"I'm going to keep working with Zane so I teach him all of the things that I've learned from you. He's still young, but with time, he can become just as great a hunter as you or me."

"If anyone can turn that boy into the eighth generation hunter he was meant to be, it will be you. He's lucky to have you with him."

"I'm lucky to have him too," I said. Zane may screw up half the time, but it felt right to have him by my side during a hunt. I could always depend on him to have my back no matter what happened. While Nathan and Brady often gravitated towards each other, I had someone who would put my safety equal to his own. That was the best part of working with family.

Lyle reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "If your parents could see you now, they would be so proud of you. Y'know that, right?"

My airways thickened, making it hard to swallow. Any sign of sensitivity would be taken as weakness. Even in the presence of family, I couldn't let my guard down. Since I couldn't speak, I gave my uncle a firm nod.

No matter how much time went by after their deaths, I had a feeling that I would have to fight my body not to shut down at the mention of my parents. That alpha had robbed me of having my parents watch me grow up. It deserved to remain powerless above our mantle.

"Listen, I know those woods you boys are hunting in now. You are the most trained and qualified to be in them, but don't you dare let yourself get too cocky. If history repeats itself, I'm getting too old to avenge your death." These words of encouragement weren't unlike most things Lyle told me. Tough love was his way of showing me that he cared for my safety. He continued his pep talk by giving me a hard slap on the back. "Forget about whatever happened out there today. "You'll get 'em next time, lad."

I waited until he completely left the living room before I fell back onto the leather couch. As much as hunting brought me closer to my parents, I didn't want it to turn me into them. They had placed their duty above everything else in their lives. Each time I fell back into the same daily routine, I realized I couldn't see the direction my life was heading as soon as I stepped out of the woods.