Smoke and Mirrors {Completed}

Chapter Five: Captured Ghost

Damien Black

I sat on top of a hill as I watched my men scour through the dense forest that hid the Blackwater Pack from Man. The flora acted as their second barrier besides the Black Lake that gave their pack its name as its waters were rumoured to be poisonous and killed any descendent of Man who tried to cross it. It was even rumoured that the Blackwater Pack themselves poisoned its waters in an act of desperation when they were under attack by Hunters.

My patience grew thin with each meaningless report I received, and it took all of my restraint to not snap the neck of each messenger that came. My thirst for that wolf's blood was the only thing that reminded myself that I needed all the men available and that I was in no position to just keep killing them.

It had been almost five hours since I sent the first scout party out to find that wolf and they found a trail within minutes, but it soon turned cold. It was the first of many as lead after lead went cold, my men kept bringing me the items they had found before the scent disappeared.

This person was playing us like fools, he had left several trackable trails before they just ended. My hands itched and flexed at the thought of it, I could not wait till I got my hands on him. Death would be a much-welcomed choice to what I was going to do to him. My musing was interrupted when one of my men ran up to me, chest heaving due to the exertion but eyes alight with excitement.

"Sir, we have an hour's old scent!"

My ears perked as I ran towards my men. I would not stand for another failure, I would lead this hunt myself.

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My paws thudded against the ground as I pushed my body onwards. I howled as my men and I charged on, he would not escape me, not this time. We sped up as the scent got stronger, I sneezed. I smelled the scent of jasmine flowers after the rain and I liked it, it was probably another one of his tricks to lead us away from him but it was not going to work this time. I sneezed once more before running.

My men howled as we finally caught up to the bastard, a black wolf came into view, it was running right in front of us and with closer inspection was carrying a child on his back that I had no doubt was Ryder's son.

"This commander had to be a strong warrior," I thought to myself, the black sheen his fur gave off was nothing but proof of it. Black was the colour of power to us wolves and was usually an indicator that this child would be a strong warrior in the future as the darker the colour of the wolf, the more powerful. Furthermore, his wolf was large even for a werewolf and was toned with muscle made from days of training.

"Charge on!"

I growled as the distance between us and that wolf began to close, I will catch that wolf and I will end the Blackwater bloodline today, I howled as a chorus of 'Yes, Sir' resounded through my mind.

That wolf was smart, I had to give that to him, he jumped through bushes, over boulders and weaved through the trees, surprisingly agile for his size. I growled as I caught up and used my canines to bite his leg and pulled causing him to lose balance and crash to the ground, the child flew off his back, I tried to reach for that insufferable child but was met with a bite to the shoulder as I grappled with the wolf below me.

"This wolf is mine! Grab the child!"

The child ran further into the forest, his small frame slowly disappearing from view as my men pursued. The wolf below me whined as he tried to get to the child, I put all my weight in my legs to keep him where he was, he growled at me before throwing me off with a surprising amount of force. We gnashed our teeth as we circled each other, each sizing the other up. Curiosity got the better of me as I felt my spine straighten, my four legs becoming two, I wanted to see the face of the man that had killed so many of my pack and caused me so much trouble.