HOWLER

Chapter 48: Sleep with the worms

Daniel's POV

My eyes took in the sight.

'What. On. Earth. Happened.'

I tucked back my lips into a straight line; looking down from the dirt hill. Dusk Hunt no longer had its tall arena. The building was now a pile of gravel and a few boulders scattered across the woods.

A tap finally released me from the quiet nightmare I was living inside of my head and brought me back.

"Tell Group B, we're ready when they are," Harrison said; looking at me in the eyes. He also looked pretty shocked, I can't imagine how he felt since this was his home much longer than it was for me.

I paused for a moment; watching him before the radio in my hands beeped, "Group B, group A is in position. Over."

Austry's POV

"You stay back," Azarel said as he stepped into the tent we'd set up for the supplies.

Wow, didn't even acknowledge my existence all day and just had to open his mouth to say that. Wonderful.

Cynthia quietly observed the brief exchange, but before I could say something.

Alice spoke up, "That's not what Steven commanded her!"

"Well things change," he spat back at her with a growl in his voice.

"And I should believe that!" she bellowed as her glasses slipped down her nose.

"I am in charge of this group, I don't have to explain anything to you. You have no experience, are out-ranked and act as a decoy in this, so you have no position to talk to me!" he exclaimed.

Xavier and the twins immediately surround the two as they square off.

I knew better than to say such things to Alice, that type of talk is what makes her blood boil. In the months we collaborated, the Lunar Blue pack shared all their nasty views about Dusk Hunt and Dusk Hunt mocked the ducks right back.

"It's fine!" I announced before another words was spoken. I didn't want to see anymore fighting then there was about to be.

They looked at me hostilely before I brought myself to say it again, "I don't mind helping Cynthia, I don't... really care."

Cynthia finally looked up from her work to meet my eyes.

The group grumbled to themselves as the twins pulled Alice away from Azarel.

I quietly mouthed to her, 'Thanks'.

She sighed before snatching her arms, "Yeah. Sure, stupid asshole." Her face scrunched up in disgust before she blew out her anger and went back to work.

We were miles away from our goal. If we planned to somehow unite the packs so we could be ready for a possible STRAX attack, we had our work cut out for us. It takes a lot more than training together, to heal old wounds.

"Nurses stay on alert to tend to any soldier," Azarel stomped around with his classical stoic expression, "No matter what pack their from, got it?"

The last bit of his sentence was close to a venomous sneer.

"Do I look like I got time to be deal with your wolf-dominant hormones? I am a nurse, I think I know how to do my job right. So no problems here," Cynthia said in her oddly friendly  pragmatic voice before she walked away with her reddish tail swaying to the side.

His dark eyes looked to me expectedly. As much as I could confidently make fun of his super serious face, I knew it wasn't the time to poke the angry wolf with a stick.