The Hunter

Prideful Creatures

Our week had come to an end. We no longer had time, tonight we fought to the death. The Guardians had still not yet come and as a pack we decided not to surrender. Alpha Jonathan and Alpha Bryant decided to stay and fight with us, including all the members they brought with them. Ethan tried to tell them not to die with us, but they refused to leave.  

Knowing that there was no way to beat the army that Alan was coming with, Ethan did not allow any of our pack members to come back, they were ordered to stay with Bryant's pack, where they would be safe. My dad tried hard to send me and my mom away, but that went nowhere fast. My mom refused to live without my dad, and I refused to live without them. If they were going down, then damn-it I was going down with them.  

Ashton hated the idea, he wanted nothing more than to take me and run away, or lock me in a room until it was all over. That was actually what he had said to me after we had our meeting last night, the meeting that decided our fate.  

When the Guardians hadn't showed up two days ago, Web called the number repeatedly. He was assured that they were on the way, but still no one had showed up. When the sun fell yesterday we knew we would have to make a decision. We could run, stay and fight, or stay and surrender. It was unanimous to fight. We were prideful creatures and that pride would not allow us to run away like cowards or surrender to the enemy to be slain. Instead, we decided to go down fighting, death on our own terms. It sounded good last night, but as the sun began to set today, my resolve began to falter.  

Of course I didn't want to die, none of us did, but I suppose we had accepted it. Well, some of us had accepted it, while others believed that we would prevail. Unless those damn Guardians showed up, there would be nothing but blood, ours and theirs. I had definitely planned on taking as many of those scum bags down with me as possible. If I had to die, I wasn't going alone.  

Web, who had quickly become a part of the family, had also decided to fight. He wasn't even healed completely and still had a limp. My mother said one more shot to his kidney could be deadly, but he didn't care. No matter how hard I tried to get him to leave, he wouldn't. So, as much as I hated it, he was fighting too.  

Lastly, every person who was injured badly in the previous fight wanted to fight again. The only one who wouldn't be fighting was Anthony. He had finally woken up, but was still stuck in bed most of the time. His neck had healed perfectly, but his voice had changed. It had become very gravely, making him sound like he was an 80 year old man who had smoked his whole life. He was able to get up and walk around, but he tired quickly. According to Steve, the pack doctor that I finally met, he should eventually be perfectly fine. The only worry was his voice, it may never be normal again. No one, not even Anthony cared about that. We were all just so happy that he woke and would be ok. He was given a key to the pack truck yesterday and sent away, after a lot of arguing.  

I stood against the railing of my balcony and looked out onto the backyard. My dad, Ethan, Sam, and Ashton were all out there running a last minute training group with some of the people who got severely injured last time. They had been at it all week, trying to prepare everyone. I thought it was useless, we had less than 100 people, and I was sure that Alan would have double that.  

"Do I smell defeat?" 

I huffed out a sigh and turned to see Web leaning against my balcony door frame. His arms were crossed over his chest and his dark blonde hair, which had grown out quite a bit, was fluffy and all over his head. He was still sporting the white shirt and gray sweat pants, but that was only because we didn't have any other clothing for him, so he was given a fresh pair of the exact same outfit every day. 

"Possibly," I shrugged, "Can't you feel it? Everyone knows what tonight is." 

"Is it someone's birthday?" Web tapped his chin and gave me a crooked smile.