Looking To Belong (A Runt's Story)

Chapter 5

I tried to keep my panting quiet as I listened and used my Omega senses to figure out what was going on above. I usually didn't come across many wolves in no man's land, so I had lost the habit of using them constantly.

My Omega senses were rusty from disuse, like stiff muscles that needed to be limbered up, but I could sense that all four had gathered around and were inspecting the small bush. The bramble bush wasn't much larger than the average wolf, so I wasn't sure how much of a deterrent it might be for them. They knew I was here, and they were still focused on me.

I sensed one of the wolves shift into his human form. Not long afterward, I saw a rope pass over the burrow entrance. My heart started racing once more as I saw and heard the bramble bush shake. I heard the man grunt as he and one of the wolves hauled on the rope that had been looped around the base of the plant.

Another wolf joined in, and with a rustle of leaves and loose dirt, the bramble bush was uprooted from the thin rocky soil. Moments later, I could see blue sky through the entrance. The view was blocked as a black wolf peered into the tunnel. His sharp brown eyes locked onto my frightened ones as he gauged the distance between us.

He backed up before he started digging at the tunnel entrance. The dark brown wolf joined him, and their powerful legs made short work of the loose dirt and pebbles as they widened the tunnel.

I squirmed against the wall behind me and looked around desperately, but I was definitely at the end of the tunnel and there were no half hidden escape tunnels. I started shaking as they got closer. Soon, there wasn't enough room for two to dig and the black wolf backed up to let the dark brown one take over the entire digging operation.

I whined in fear; at this point, he was close enough to reach me with his paws if he tried. Seconds later, he sat back on his haunches as he examined the remains of the tunnel. I blinked in surprise as he shifted. I pushed myself back against the dirt behind me as far as I could as he suddenly leaned forward.

He reached a large hand into the tunnel as he said, "Come here, you..."

My wolf form didn't stand a chance against the large man, but I snapped my teeth in a warning. It didn't seem to even bother him as continued to reach for me. I swatted at his hand with my paws, trying to dig my nails in. Not that a scratch would stop a werewolf in either form, but there wasn't much else I could do to discourage him. He reached further into the burrow, and I growled a terrified warning.

His fingers brushed my shoulder and I swung my head around to bite his hand. My teeth clamped down on warm skin and the faint taste of metallic blood told me that my teeth had managed to break the skin.

His reaction was a grunt of surprise and he jerked his hand upwards in an automatic reflex. The movement ended up banging my head against the top of the tunnel. Somewhat stunned by the impact, I let go. He quickly took advantage of my dazed condition as he skillfully grabbed the scruff of my neck.

I yelped in fear as I tried to scratch him with my claws since I couldn't land a second bite due to the way he was holding me. My claws scrabbled against his wrist and forearm in panic as he dragged me out of the tunnel. I writhed in his grip as I tried to get loose.

There wasn't enough room to shift, and even if I could, it probably wouldn't help me any against a trained fighter. He quickly pinned me to his chest with both arms; it was a known tactic to prevent runts or young pups from shifting back to their larger human form. I struggled in his grip to no avail.

He backed out of the hole he had dug before turning around to face his three friends who were all standing behind him in human form. They all looked like they were in their mid-twenties, and they were grinning at their accomplishment of digging me up. The guy holding me chuckled as he told them, "Sure has sharp claws, for a moment I was beginning to wonder if I had managed to grab a cat."

The previously tan-colored wolf stepped forward, and I redoubled my efforts to get loose. The man holding me had me firmly pinned in his arms though, and my struggles didn't faze him. The approaching man blinked at my fearful attempts before speaking as if to a scared wild animal, "Easy. Calm down."

I practically froze in disbelief as he started to softly pet my fur, although not much of it was visible the way the man had me pinned. I stared at him in shock. They had waited in ambush for half an hour, chased me halfway through no man's land, dug me out of the ground, pinned me, and then one of them told me to calm down? What the hell was wrong with these guys?!

He blinked in surprise. "Wow. This kid sure has soft fur."

The guy holding me snorted. "Yeah, well those teeth and claws aren't so soft."

Another guy came in closer and tilted his head as he examined me in growing confusion. "Uh, guys. I don't think that is a pup."

The other two looked at him like he was crazy before looking back at me. They thought that I was a pup? They obviously needed their heads checked. Pups resembled puppies with oversized paws and tails. My body proportions were normal for a grown wolf, I was just much smaller. To give them credit, I was close to the size of an eight-month-old child if they were in wolf form.

They all turned to face me with varying expressions of disbelief and confusion. The one guy sniffed. "Well, he doesn't have any scent."

Pups didn't have any real scent until they hit adolescence, but they were missing the obvious fact that I smelled like the forest instead of having no scent at all. That was a huge difference for those who paid attention to what was going on around them.

I tried twisting a bit, but this guy was obviously much stronger than me. Another guy came closer, and I pinned my ears back even further with nerves. He spoke quietly, "Some rogues are able to camouflage their scent. Look at his ears, they aren't oversized like a pup's would be. Come to think of it, a pup would not have been able to evade us like that. He had far too much coordination and pulled way too many evasion tricks for a pup."

The guy holding me looked down in surprise and growing doubt. "But a runt wouldn't be able to survive as a rogue..."

The fourth guy came closer and the two others backed up to let him through. I stilled in fear as my Omega senses picked up his Beta blood. He wasn't an actual Beta, but was likely the brother to one and definitely had Beta parents, as well as the added strength and speed that the bloodline gave him.

He suddenly leaned his face close to mine, and I bared my teeth in a silent terrified warning. He glanced up at the guy holding me as he commented, "And you thought that those were baby teeth?" Someone off to the side started chuckling. The one with Beta blood looked back at me, "If we put you down, can you shift so we can properly apologize for our actions without you inflicting damage on us?"

I blinked slowly, although it wasn't as if I had much choice in the matter when I was surrounded by four fighters... It was somewhat surprising that they wanted me to shift so that the apology could be given face to face. It was a more respectful gesture than if they had just apologized to me while I was in my small wolf form.

Had they meant me harm, they wouldn't have asked me to shift since I was almost certainly carrying weapons in my human form. I nodded warily at the guy who had been speaking. The one who pinned me had already loosened his grip as he started to look embarrassed. He knelt down to put me gently on my feet before standing up and taking a few steps back to give me some room.

Had they seriously thought that I was a pup or was this a trick? They obviously had the advantage over my wolf form. They had also recognized me as a rogue at this point, and rogues often had tricks hidden up their sleeves in case they got cornered in human form. Rogues could sometimes be quite unpredictable, so he was being understandably cautious, even if I was a runt. I glanced around at the four surrounding me before shifting.

A mere second later, I blinked as I was standing on two feet. I warily eyed up the four around me as I shifted my weight and weighed my possible escape options. The guy who had pinned me was turning bright red and all of them looked shocked. I glanced at myself, but I was wearing my usual clothing.

I had a heavy belt knife on my belt as well as my bow and arrows on my backpack. I knew I had a handful of slim blades balanced for throwing hidden in various sections of my clothing, but they were well hidden from sight.

I glanced back at them. One on one, I had half a chance of escaping into a tree. With all four surrounding me, I wasn't going anywhere unless they let me or I had an impossibly lucky break. Where was a feral when you needed one?