Chapter 1

The pack was on the hunt through the dark woods, every single member was primed and focused. Their noses lifted up in the air searching for the tiniest shift in wind direction and their ears twitching around to detect the slightest rustling in the foliage. Their goal was a large moose striding through the woods without a care in the world. Its large antlers knocking against low hanging branches and scraping across tree barks. Everything depends on this hunt and every member of the pack knows this.

Winters are tough especially with hungry pups left in the dens. A victory here means that they can see through the end of winter. The prise is mighty but the cost of a single mistake wouldn’t just be an empty belly it could very well end in death. The moose is a terrifying creature, if they could eat meat then they would have been the greatest predator in the North American forests. Seven feet tall at the shoulder with a set of horns that can easily rip extra holes through even the thickest of furs. Not to mention the fact that a kick from a motivated moose can break bones and shatter skulls on impact, they are walking and even sometimes swimming animal versions of tanks.

The lead wolf walks at the head of the pack with his nose down and his guard high following the faint musky scent on the ground leading the rest of the pack towards their quarry. The survival of his entire pack rests on his tawny shoulders, kill the moose and his pack won’t have to starve to death fail and either they continue starving or lose one of their precious soldiers. He stops suddenly both his ears raised at attention and his tail which had been swaying slightly now bolts straight and stops. The rest of the pack following behind instantly read his caution and fan out behind him breaking their former single file approach.

Something doesn’t feel right, is what the wolf pack leader thinks as he gazes at the dark woods in front of him, the pack is standing on a low rise overlooking a downward slope and where they were expecting a visual of the moose they were stalking they see nothing. The things tracks are still fresh in the slight snow and they seem to lead into the valley but the forest is too quiet now. The nerves on the wolves are now heightened and a low growl starts to emanate from some of them. They know that danger is close and begin priming themselves for the inevitable fight that is about to come.

It comes from the woods to their left, a large shadow hurtles towards them letting out an almost other-worldly screech. The pack scatters before the beast reaches them and then turns to face their former prey but instead of an attack they noticed that the moose wasn’t charging at them and instead it barrelled past them heading deeper into the woods while continuing to bellow loudly. The pack spends a second in confusion staring at the escaping moose but their confusion doesn’t last long as they notice another sound coming from the direction in which the moose was coming from.

The pack fails to respond in time and the wolf nearest to the woods suddenly gets grabbed by the nape of its neck before being disembowelled by a gnarly clawed hand before having its lifeless body gets flung into a tree trunk. The rest of the pack reacts in unison by letting out growls and rushing towards the figure that has now yet emerged fully from the brush. The first wo wolves leap up to grab the hands of the figure but instead of them grabbing the creature, the first wolf is sent flying off into the woods by a vicious backhand and his partner manages to grab the outstretched hand but the creature ignores the fangs sunk into its hand using its other hand to sever the wolf’s head in a downward chop and flinging off the dead body. The rest of the pack doesn’t falter at the deaths of two of its members and instead continues attacking without fail.