Moving Forward

Action (17)

From his position, Max could hear Gillespie's voice carry from the clearing. Not that he could actually hear what was being said. He didn't need to. What he did need to hear were the first signs of attack. They would be the signal for him leap of the branch and onto the back of the unsuspecting enemy werewolf. Whether or not his team mate would be of any help depended on how successful Max's attack was.

There was nothing - absolute silence claimed the forest. Rodents hid their burrows. Birds stopped chirping. Silence. And silence equated to danger.

His prey wandered, pacing impatiently. Apparently he was waiting for a signal. But Max wasn't. Max merely wanted it to stray close enough for him to take it down.

Now.

With a single smooth leap, Max landed, claws out, on the wolf's back, using a single bite to crush its skull. Not a single yelp escaped it, though as his teeth pulled out from its brain, one of the legs twitched. Taking hold of the leg that twitched, Max pulled it into the tree. Let the enemy come across it. Let it serve as a warning.

The wolf Max was partnered with was watching him warily, and gave a quiet whine. They had to move.

Max followed her obediently onto the next target. She took care of this one, laying in wait, as Max did. Though this time, she was closer. With teeth like knives, Max observed quietly as she tore into the throat. There was no preamble or fight. She leapt out of her hiding place and sunk her teeth in, staining her white fur red.

Thoroughly impressed, Max jumped down and bumped his head to her shoulder. She wouldn't make a bad friend. Certainly wouldn't make a good enemy.

A gentle nip to his rump made Max back away, and she let him lead her back to where they'd begun. This was the meeting spot, and it wasn't long before the others made it back. A silent takeover, they circled the clearing.

Max's numbers had been wrong, it seemed. Sure, outside of the clearing, he'd had the correct figures, but inside, there were more he hadn't spotted. It irritated him to know he'd been wrong, but it was too late now. Their attack was already in motion and support was on its way.

But Max could hear them now.

Kyle's voice carried to Max's ears, which flicked forward intently as he crouched with the shewolf.

"I'm giving you one chance, Gillespie." That dark voice growled. Max couldn't help the shivers it sent through him. "Take your wolves and go. There's nothing for you here."

Gillespie laughed, but it sounded empty. "And what if I don't want to go?" He lilted. "This may be your father's territory, but it was my father's first."

"Your father left!" Kyle snarled. Max wished Kyle would stay calm. Getting angry like this was nothing if not a great way to make a mistake.

Gillespie didn't seem at all impressed. "He may have left, but it was so that we could have more territory, if you remember."

Another growl, echoed by the wolves. "We didn't need more territory." Kyle's voice was rougher than usual. "We needed a leader and he left."

A sound in the distance distracted Max from the conversation. Twigs snapping.  Yelps. Growling. Carter's enforcers? Max hoped so, growling deep in his chest to let Kyle know they were in place and ready for a fight. Gillespie didn't miss the sound.

"Getting a kitty cat to fight your battles, Kyle?"

"That kitty cat can crush skulls." Kyle responded, sounding surprisingly calmer. "So yeah."

Max backed up slowly, not even rustling leaves as he went, and stalked around to a position that would allow him to get closer to Gillespie. The man stood directly in front of Kyle, without a single guard on his hide.

He was prepared to pounce. Prepared for a single attack to end the conflict that interrupted his time with Kyle. And he jumped, missing his target completely as a weight slammed into his ribs. Max battled to get the attacker off him, kicking the wolf with strong, sharp back claws. The short, loud roars he let out signalled the others to attack.

Back on his feet, Max felt he once again had an advantage, until a bite to his hind legs had him swivelling around to swipe at yet another attacker. One wolf was one thing. Two was a challenge. Designed to work in groups, it was more difficult to take on multiple wolves at once than a single wolf. Max had trouble trying to keep the pair from biting and tearing at his legs as he tried to keep them at a distance.

Though, with a single, strong, and well-placed swipe to the wolf's head, Max left himself just one werewolf to deal with, and allowed himself to be more aggressive. It didn't have a chance without a partner to divide Max's attention.

In just a few bounds, Max discovered the shewolf acting as Kyle's shield, for which he was grateful, and he went to join her.

The heat was beginning to get to Max. Blood coated his paws and jowls. He wasn't designed to fight for this long. Fast attacks with maximum power was what his body was made for. Sustained battles required much more stamina than he actually had and he was tiring quickly. His movements became sluggish, and he soon found himself backing into Kyle.

More enemy wolves just kept coming and Max had no idea where they were coming from. They'd taken out the ambush hadn't they? Well clearly they hadn't. There were too many. Carter's wolves had arrived, but that still wasn't quite significant enough to make that much of a difference.

In a brief moment of respite, Max felt Kyle's hand run firmly through his fur. It was as if he'd just given Max his strength, because all of a sudden, Max felt as if he could keep going for an entire week. If only to be able to feel those fingers in his fur again.

Keep going. It'll be over soon.

Max needed no further encouragement, and once again leapt into the fray. And it would've been a brilliantly bloody battle, if only a distant howl didn't break the clamour of barks and growls and cries of pain. Only, the enemy was done. Their werewolves retreated with a speed that left no question to what they were doing.

Feeling Kyle's gaze settled on him, Max stalked over to look him over, make sure Kyle wasn't irreversibly injured. So far, all he could see were small slashes across the other man's thigh.

Max growled, passing a couple of rough swipes of his rough tongue over the bare skin.

"Yeah," Kyle sighed, "yeah, I'm okay."

That was enough for Max.