Beloved Runt: Part 1

1- Edmon Harington

I was tired of traveling. I avoided it at all costs but when my king commands... In truth, taking a census of every pack was beneath me. It was a job for a clerk or a steward. Not something for the king's uncle, but that was merely the excuse given for my leave of absence from court. We didn't need any suspicious eyes looking too hard into my visits.

My next stop was with the Ever Green pack. A small rural pack with nothing noteworthy about it. Honestly, had I been free to, I would have skipped the pack entirely. There was no way they would have what I was looking for, but if I wanted to keep up the ruse of taking a census, I needed to visit each pack no matter how insignificant.

I had been traveling for several hours on foot in my wolf form. I was able to travel most of the way on a royal jet, but this pack was so remote that the luxury cars I was accustomed to didn't reach, and if they didn't have cars I doubt they would have a helipad. So on foot it was.

I never cared for solitary packs. The isolation warps their minds causing them to lose their grip on reality. It made them uncooperative at their best and dangerous at their worst. Every few years or so, a pack become so disillusioned that they became a threat to other packs and possibly the crown. Then they'd have to be put down. If I gained nothing else from this trip, at leas I would have the assurance that this one still had their sanity intact.

As my feet sauntered deeper into the woods I felt the cold and crunch of the snow seep into the pads of my feet, my breath coming out in puffs of fog as I labored. Thank the goddess My wolf had a thick winter coat as the temperature began to rapidly drop with the setting of the sun. There had better be a warm bath at the end of this.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I had almost failed to notice a presence following me. They had done so for last few miles. I wasn't worried. I was an ancient. My lineage came from a pure and old line of wolves that legend said started with the goddess herself. With that came many benefits that made me stronger than wolves. Challenging me is akin to challenging death.

I paused for a second listening around me. Whoever was watching was good. Silent enough that even I was having a hard time pinpointing where they were. Impressive. I continued walking cautiously in the same direction not alerting my watcher that I knew of him. That last thing I wanted to do after a long day of travel was get into a brawl with a random wolf no matter how sure the victory.

It was only a few yards further in when my watcher made himself known. A large dark steel grey wolf jumped down in front of me blocking my way. His teeth were snarling at me. I narrowed my eyes at him annoyed, but it gave me the chance to take a better look at him. This wolf was large, even for an Alpha. In fact, he almost rivaled me. This deserved some further scrutiny. Maybe he had some ancient blood in him. If so, my orders were clear.

While I was staring at the wolf, two more wolves jumped down on either side of me. Where the fuck did they come from?!?! Now they had my attention. It was rare I was caught off guard and it vexed me greatly that I had allowed it to happen. As I took in the appearance of the two new wolves, I saw they were almost equally as large as the first. All of a sudden, my chances of winning in a fight were dwindling. It was time to get more tactical.

Before they could ambush me, I crouched down gathering my strength before sprinting up and over the steel gray wolf and sprinting through the trees. My best chance was to outrun them. I just needed to make it to the pack, and I would be rid of them. My wolf smiled as I dashed away from the group. In a conflict, speed sometimes was more valuable than brute force. Many packs underestimated the need for stamina.

My victory was short lived however as I soon heard more snarling and howling behind me. How were they keeping up with me? It was obvious these wolves were not normal. I ran up a hill trying to gain the higher ground but was stopped by another short group who were already ahead. I turned to run another direction only to run into another small group. How many were there? Every turn I took was met with resistance. My normally cool demeanor was giving away to frustration. With my strength I knew I could outmaneuver them indefinitely. It was just a matter of time.