Runt In The Wild

Chapter Twenty Eight

I sniffed through the forest and the cliffs. I was on a patrol with, surprisingly, Captain Mace and a whitish, gray male wolf named Cloud and a red female wolf named Blaze. Usually, Captain Mace doesn't go on patrols really anymore, so I was surprised when he chose me to go on the patrol he was leading.

I sniffed some bushes as a familiar scent filled my nose. My eyes narrowed as a growl mixed snarl escaped my lips. Captain Mace raised his head and walked over to me. He froze. "Cougars."

I have learned that a cougar was a big cat that usually lived in the mountains. Captain Mace said that he had encountered some when he took a trip through the mountains. But they were extremely rare in our territory, like we have never had cougars input territory before.

But the fact that there were cougars in the territory wasn't the only thing that made me mad. It was the fact that the familiar scent was even more familiar because I had encountered the same, exact scent before.

"It's the cougar that hurt Leo," I growled. I heard the other two wolves softly gasp behind me. Leo's healed now, but he almost died because of that...thing.

I growled again. I wanted to rip it apart, limb by limb and make it suffer what it almost took from me. "We have to kill it," I said turning to Captain Mace.

He shook his head. "We need more Alphas. There's no way that we can kill it on our own." I wanted to growl again, but I couldn't growl at Captain Mace. "We'll report back to Alpha and get more Alphas to help. Then we'll kill it."

I was about to agree when a painful howl rose in the air. I snarled as I ran as fast as I could towards the source. I had reacted almost on instinct. But I knew what had caused that howl.

I leaped over bushes and into a clearing. In the center of the clearing was the cougar hovering over a quivering brown wolf. She whimpered at the creature above her. Blood ran down the side of her face and sides, dripping onto the ground.

I growled at the cougar as I crouched into a fighting stance. The cougar's head swerved around to stare at me with menacing yellow eyes.

I bared my teeth and snarled. The cougar yowled as it leaped at me. I ducked down and slipped under it, sliding on my back as I raked my claws across its belly.

The cougar yowled in pain and twisted around, swinging its paws at my head. I ducked before leaping at it. I latched my teeth into its neck, and it tossed me around, trying to throw me off.

Finally, I lost my hold as the cougar hit me with its huge paw. I yelped as I flew across the clearing and hit a tree. I fell to the ground as pain shot through my body.

I staggered to my feet and looked at the cougar. Blood was dripping from the wound I made in its neck, but it didn't seem to damper its ability to fight.

I launched myself at the cougar again, but it quickly batted me away. I repeatedly leaped at the cougar just to be hit by a paw and sent flying.

I crouched over the ground as I panted heavily. I looked around the clearing. The cougar was in the center of the clearing, and the brown she-wolf was hiding behind a tree. Where are the other Alphas? I wanted to growl. How could they leave me?

Then I thought of Leo. "You tried to kill him," I whispered as I hung my head. Suddenly, I jerked my head up. My eyes were blazing fire and I bared my sharp, white fangs as I snarled at the cougar. "Now, I will kill you!" I screamed. Power seemed to radiate from me as I leaped at the cougar, my jaws wide.

I bit down on the cougar's neck, and backed off before it could swipe its paw at me. I zipped around it, nipping at its sides. I ran left and right as the cougar tried to keep up with my movements.

Finally, the cougar jumped up onto its hind legs and yowled into the sky. I took the chance to leap at the cougar's neck and bit down as hard as I could. The tangy taste of blood filled my mouth as the cougar yowled in pain.

I bit down harder and harder until the cougar started to stagger on its paws before it finally fell to the ground. I backed off of the cougar as the light slowly disappeared from its eyes as blood poured out of the large wound in its neck.

I laid next to it and stared into its lifeless eyes. "You tried to take my pack mates' lives. Now, you have lost yours," I whispered.

Suddenly, I heard a mournful yowl from far off the territory. There were more, and they knew that their fellow cougar was dead. But they were in the mountains where they belong, and I will kill any that bring harm to my pack.

The thudding of many paws came crashing through the undergrowth. Alpha and Captain Mace were leading many wolves as they leaped over the bushes on the edge of the clearing.

They froze. "Kate?" I looked at Alpha expectedly. "Wh-what happened?" He asked, skeptical.

I shrugged casually. "Oh, nothing. Just killed a cougar on my own to save this wolf when my patrol abandoned me." I said sarcastically as I motioned to the brown wolf with my head, still hiding behind a tree before glaring at Captain Mace.

Captain Mace took a step forward. "Kate, you must understand that I had to get back up. And you should have done the same."

I snarled at Captain Mace. "Seriously?! If I would have gone with you, she would have died!" I screamed, furious. How dare he?! I was the one who saved the pack from this creature, this raging creature that was about to kill one of my pack mates and possibly many more if it had made its way into the village.

Then I saw Leo run towards me. "Kate!" He yelled as he ran up to me and rubbed his face on mine. "Oh, Kate," he whispered. He turned to glare at Captain Mace. "How could you put her in danger like that?! How could you risk my mate's life?!"

I jerked my head to Leo and looked at me in surprise. He quickly realized his mistake. "I mean, pre-mate. How could you risk my pre-mate's life?!" I blushed. He called me his mate.

Leo cleared his throat. "Anyways," he said before he turned to the brown she-wolf, "are you okay?"

She nodded her head and crept out of the shadows. "Thank you, Kate, for saving me," she said in a shy voice as she averted her gaze.

I walked forward and licked the side of her face, washing away some of the blood from her wounds. "You're welcome, but now we need to get you to a healer. Come on," I said as I helped her limp towards the Healer's Cave. The large group of wolves parted to let us through with Leo by my side.

The cougar was gone, and my pack was safe. But for how long?

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Hey, you guys! What's up? I have been really engaged in this book lately, so I have been updating quite regularly. So here's another chapter. Hope you like it. What do you think about the cougar and the cougars in the mountains? Surely, they won't cause any trouble all the way from the mountains, right? Maybe. Oh, and how about Leo accidentally calling Kate his mate. Hmm...we'll see. Anyways, have fun! Ask questions and comment! :)