Trophy (L.S)

Three

An echoing gunshot rang out into the empty silence, and its accompanying bullet narrowly missed its target by a few inches, hitting into the nearby log instead.

Louis had managed to squeeze himself underneath an overhang, and had chosen to wait it out, let his pelt camouflage him with the ground below; it would've worked too, but unfortunately for him, a desperate blond colored wolf shoved his way through so that they laid shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Niall," he growled aggressively, his lips pulling back into a snarl as he bared his teeth. "Get out, I was here first!"

The blond wheezed as he struggled to breathe. "I'm not leaving pipsqueak, the hunters know that I'm here now, so there's no point in moving unless you wanna get shot!"

Louis huffed as he rolled his eyes. "Just, stay still then, and don't touch me; I'm gonna get a quick nap in."

The older beta chuckled as if he didn't believe, but when the smaller, brown wolf turned to lay on his side, he had to ask. "Wait, you're serious?"

Louis huffed annoyedly. "Yes, mum said to find some place to hide, and then sleep the day away. That way night can come faster and then the hunters will be gone."

Niall snorted, still in disbelief, but he turned to lay on his side as well, his back pressing against Louis'. "You better hope this works runt, I think I'll just stay here and keep you company until the hunters are gone."

Sighing, Louis agreed. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Another gunshot rang out above, but it was far off, so Louis wasn't concerned and curled up into a ball to get more comfortable.

Niall was already snoozing beside him, the bigger wolf's deep breaths ruffling up the leaves on the ground; and Louis let the sound lull him into a slumber as well.

It wasn't until crickets could be heard, that the young beta finally woke up. He huffed a few times before he sneezed, and that seemed to have woken up the blond right next to him.

Niall blinked dazedly before he could identify the silence, and he quickly sat up to peek outside of the overhang.

"Oh my god, pipsqueak, it worked! It's nighttime and the hunters should've been long kicked out," he laughed excitedly as he pulled himself out of the divot.

Louis shook out his fur before following along behind, shrugging nonchalantly when Niall turned to look at him. "Yeah, so now you know how I've survived all these years. This wasn't the first time I was put on the list you know."

Niall side-eyed him for a second before nodding slightly. "What about the alpha hunt? What do you do there, because they would've sniffed you out."

The young beta snorted, amused. "Easy, I'm quick, so I just run around for the couple hours they're allowed to chase us down. And I easily sniff out their snares and traps before I step in them. But to be fair, I actually wade in the pond for a bit before they come; that way I smell like the algae and water instead of my beta scent."

The blond actually seemed interested, intrigued. "But don't you want a mate?"

Louis nodded, although hesitantly. "Yeah, but I want an alpha who'll treat me right. All of the ones that come here are desperate, and rather catch us like we're some kind of game to them."

The blond wolf agreed, and explained that he's been misjudged by the other wolves for as long as he can remember, and that's when Louis kind of felt bad, because he's actually realized that Niall had the same dreams as him; and now that he has a better understanding, maybe they could be friends.

Upon entering the den, the other wolves looked up and wagged their tails in greeting, having been staying up to see if any stragglers would come back within the night after the hunters had left.

Jay came barreling out of her nest in a rush to nuzzle into Louis' soft brown fur. She purred as soon as she realized that the boy was unhurt.

"Oh, my baby, I'm glad you're back and safe," she whimpered, having been dreading the young beta's fifth year out in the fields during the hunting season.

Louis rolled his eyes but licked between the white wolf's ears to help comfort her. "I know, but you don't need to worry, mum, ever. You've taught me all I needed to to survive."

Jay ushered him towards their nest, since Louis had never left, and let the young one jump up first.

He laid down in his corner, a huge yawn escaping his lips as he did.

Raven lifted her head up from where she laid, and chuckled slightly. "Still here, huh?"

Louis, who had his eyes closed, opened one eye to glare at her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're trying to get rid of me."

"Now, now," Jay had jumped up into the nest, "no more bickering you two."

The elder wolf padded so that she could lay right beside the young beta, wanting to groom him until he'd fall asleep; it was just a thing she's done ever since he was a little pup 13 years ago, and it kind of turned into a routine.