Lure To The Woods

XLI

Greg and I crouched by the trees, looking at the mayhem unfolding in front of us. We were quite well concealed by the shadows and thick tree trunks, so I wasn't worried, but it was still gut wrenching to witness. Wolves of varying sizes and colours were all pouncing on one another in the clearing, snarling and ripping into one another with razor sharp teeth.

Closest to us, our pack were positioned to block rogues from advancing further into pack land. Anytime a rogue came near, we had about five of our wolves to attack them, so I was pretty confident that the rogues weren't going to make it anywhere near the pack house. Te damage they were doing here was enough, however. Somehow, they had set a house on fire and were using that as their base, which seemed sort of idiotic, but what did I expect from a bunch of rogues?

"You stay here." Greg whispered, "I don't think it's safe for you to go any further, so I'll bring Xavier and Noah to you."

I nodded silently, watching him run off into the conflict. I couldn't actually see Kodiak fighting, so I could only presume that they were on high ground, strategising. They were using a pretty smart method so far and since Greg and I hadn't run into any rogues on the way here, I'm sure that none had managed to break through the defence just yet.

Since I had a few minutes to observe while waiting, I began to brainstorm strategies myself. Xavier and Noah must have exhausted themselves coming up with them, so I could at least come baring suggestions.

"Cameron?" Noah's voice called from just a few metres away, surprising me.

"Noah? Where's Greg and Xavier?" I hissed, creeping closer to him.

"No clue who Greg is, but follow me to find Xavier." Noah rushed out, stalking off into the woods.

I followed behind closely, not wanting to be taken by surprise by any rogues. The atmosphere in this part of the pack land was way more intense than anything I had seen around the pack house or even the hospital, it seems that the rogues were putting up a better fight than they had expected.

"How's Gracie?" Noah asked the second we were far away enough from the main action.

"She's doing really well. You can feel her contractions right?" I realised, "She's not fully dilated yet, so she wanted me to check in with you guys quickly before she is."

"Her contractions are getting closer and closer together." Noah sighed, "I really do wish I could be there, but Xavier and I have our work cut out for us."

I began to feel that familiar warm feeling spread through my chest as we slipped inside an old shack and Xavier's head instantly shot up, his eyes meeting mine. He left his chair and flew towards me, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"God, it's good to see you." Xavier breathed.

"He's not shut up about whether you're okay. I told you that you should have just marked each other." Noah shook his head, "Cameron, how did things go with the drills?"

"Perfectly." I shrugged, "Everything went to plan and everyone who was supposed to be escorted to the pack house was there on time and registered."

"Really? How are they coping?" Xavier seemed quite impressed.

"The kids were quite scared, but they've built a fort and I calmed them down. Everyone else is having tea in the dining hall, so I think they're fine." I caught them up to speed, "The Doctor's office is looking like a casualty clearing station, though. They're coping for now, but it's hectic there."

"You don't happen to know how pack members are holding up, do you?" Noah asked.

"When we arrived not too long ago there were no deaths, but one patient was in a very bad way." I recalled, "That's what the doctor said, anyway. I don't think I can stomach seeing that until everything's over, though."