One: Invasion

"DAMN!" The man stomped his right boot cursing at his miscalculation for his wolf trap.

A mass of claw devices laid hidden under snow beside a bait station; untouched and ignored by the wolves. His comrades behind him laughed briefly before a few took off revving into the forest on their snow mobiles. The remaining quickly got into a hefty Jeep speeding after.

Snapping twigs echo the abandoned area as a young woman steps out from behind the trees. She was dressed in a long ivory dress embroidered with silver beads and a fur cowl. Layers of hemp cotton hang along her waist for warmth. Adorned with native tattoos around her fingers, the white ink climbs up her strong hand like a flame. Her amber eyes observe the tire tracks and footprints of the intruders counting six men. Rushing over to where the paw prints trample over each other, she places her palm on top closing her eyes. It takes only a couple of seconds before her demeanor changes into a frenzied rage. Low growls intensify as she crouches on all fours. Parts where her body bends began manipulating into a smaller bone cavity. Her nails dig into the cold earth as cracking of bones twist together and white gray hair sprout all over. As a completion of her transformation, she lets out a penetrating howl while running after her fellow clan.

Blazing through the forest, she picks up the scent of blood.

High pitched whimpers escape in the air as two wolves were caught by cable snares around their necks, cutting into them the more they struggled. Just as one stayed behind to help its trapped comrades, the wolf became ambushed from the two men with their net gun. They hollered with joy standing over their catch.

"Thank god it's winter otherwise these fuckers would be a lot faster!" He crouches down and stares at the wolf biting away at the net towards him. It's eyes filled with anger. "What are you looking at?" Cocking his head to the side he punches the animal between its eyes as it winces.

"HEY! WHAT IS FIRST THING WE'RE TOLD?!?"A third man grips him behind the neck slamming him to the ground. "Don't tamper the product. Less money for all of us."

The second man watches in concern. "Ease up will ya? Carter just forgot. Besides, it's been weeks and we're all just tired."

Anders releases him and lights up a cigarette while advancing away from the two. "Jaxson, you stay and sedate them since Carter is so handsy here. Once you're done binding them go straight to Commander's point and prepare for the rest of us to arrive"

"Will do," he says saluting.

They waste no time and ride into the distance. The buzzing of their motor faintly disappears. Jaxson digs inside his bag pulling out rope and an injector gun filled with a bright green liquid. It was a strong sedative to keep them drowsy. Upon injecting the wolves, he ties a little knot around both hindlegs with the other ends of the rope to the back of his snow mobile. Ready to leave, he looks to start the engine but finds the keys are no longer in the ignition.

Suddenly a bark catches his attention. Jaxson stares as a wolf growls viscously in front of him with a shiny key hanging from her mouth. She tosses his key to the side, now lost in the snow. Alarmed, he slowly reaches for the net gun, provoking her to charge. He shoots but she leaps to his left and chomps down on his fleshy forearm pulling him off the snow mobile. Shouting and quivering in pain, he makes an attempt to flee but not before getting his cheek slashed by her sharp claws. The man runs off since her only interest is to save the wolves. Clamping on the rope she quickly jerks with her powerful jaw snapping the fibers threads apart. Licking their faces, they regain consciousness. Slowly but surely they would be able to find shelter and heal until reunited with their kin. Without a moment to lose, she sprints at an unlevel speed towards the direction of the Jeep.

[ They are getting close to the mountains ] She says internally.

The pack restlessly runs uphill as their numbers have decreased. Although unable to see the humans, a mix of fumes and human sweat liter the air alerting them to be watchful. Mid way up the slope they are startled when the Jeep comes towering down descending from the top. The alpha turns back around leading the others in formation. Heading towards the den would jeopardize their clan's safety. And heading to the mountain would expose everything.

All at once, two snow mobiles accelerate to each side of the pack. With the three set of intruders tailing behind them, its becomes a race of nature and machine. Once reaching neutral ground the pack jumps down into a ravine putting some space between them.. The sides were narrow and steep causing the wolves to run in line formation. Carter saw an advantage to this and aimed a tranquilizer at the last wolf. Locking onto his target, he prepares to pull the trigger.

"CARTER 3:00 O'CLOCK!" Commander yells.

Running alongside him, the wolf charges at Carter before he could even turn fully in her direction. Upon impact, he gets completely knocked off while his snow mobile trails off directionless. Her main objective was only to slow the intruders down as she gains enough speed to guide the pack to safety. Approaching a clearing, barking to the alpha, all the wolves together go east.

A smirk creeps on Commander's face. He keeps a watchful eye on this new wolf. He observes her and notices she is not from the pack they've been tracking. Her coat was much darker and grey compared to the white northwestern pack. She was also larger in size. Little did they know they were headed for a trap. In 3 … 2 … 1 …

CLAMP! CLAMP! CLAMP! A field of wolf trap sprang as the pack tripped over them covered under snow and dispersed branches. Cries and whimpers spread among those fallen; some wounded in more place than one. However, those who were lucky scattered away.

They park their vehicles and continue on feet with guns and snares in hand. She looks to the alpha struggling to set free its bloody legs. Unable to pull her paw from the metal contraption, she conserves her energy and growls at the men. This wasn't the first time she's come across these. It has claimed many animals, and the longer the prey remains, the greater the chances of permanent damage. She had to stay calm and think! There were always those who were taken and never again seen. In the last decade, more and more of nature's resources have been exhausted due to humans. They were always warned not to venture too far into the wild lands but her stubborn curiosity always got the best of her.

In that very moment, a loud doleful cry grabs the attention of everyone. A swat of twenty large grey wolves flock down the mountain. With the speed of the oncoming pack, there was no time to undo the claw traps.

"FUCK! LET'S BAG THESE AND GET OUT OF HERE!" Commander orders. All his men dispersed into tasks. A few gathered the injured wolves into cages and loaded them onto the Jeep. The others began shooting towards the wolf pack hoping to scare them off. Looking back he shouts, "Make sure you get the stray!"

Carter inches towards her holding a tranquilizer still vengeful from knocking him over earlier. She has seen what it does and remembered the three sleepy wolves she saved. Her lips curls, flashing her long set of teeth as a warning. The only good thing about these wolf traps were their quick release and she had a plan. Once he got close enough, she maneuvers herself to stand on the levers which releases her from its grip. She plunges her canines deep in his hand and runs off limping. He only recoils for a second before chasing after her with a knife.

The grey wolf pack were near; a force so fierce the ground seemed to shake. Commander knew all to well inside that it was time to retreat. They were outnumbered and didn't have enough ammo take on so many. Did they accidently slip into another wolf's territory? It was unlike wolves to come so far out to aid a different breed. From all his years of poaching, this was the first time he'd come across such a variant herd. They must be here for the stray. If he couldn't catch them all then at least he would have one of them. The men fall back and retreat to their vehicles. He whips his head around noticing Carter gaining on the stray. There was no time for this!

"GET BACK IN THE FUCKING TRUCK NOW!" Unpleased, Carter falls back glaring him down. Commander pulls out a rifle he personally designed for stubborn captures. Initially, he prepared this for deer or elk for sustenance during those long winter hunts but he was desperate for this wolf. Closing one eye he grins widely revealing his gold teeth. Right before pulling the trigger, he delicately whispers, "Gotcha!"

She moves slightly to avoid the expecting bullet, only it wasn't a bullet! It was a HUGE net launcher. The area of the net was too large too avoid. [Oh no...] She stumbles as the rope tightly hugs around her. Her eyes lose focus and tear as the rope was laced with pepper spray. Commander runs to the truck undisturbed with his catch since the net retracts back to its owner. Helplessly she lets out a haunting howl which escalates the speed of her wolfpack. Leading the clan was a considerably broad black alpha with eyes of crimson red. Even through fur, one could tell the muscles that prevail beneath.

Piercing barks heighten at the sight of their imprisoned sister. She is pulled onto the back of the truck behind a curtain door. The horde makes it to the Jeep. Commander slams the hatch shut right before the black wolf smashes into it. Angrily, he smashes again causing million of cracks instantaneously. The rest of the pack claw and bite away at the tires before the truck bolts away.

The wolves run after but are no match. Surely with a little more time they would've freed all those captured. She drifts to sleep as the feeling of defeat ways heavy on her.

Where will they be taken? … What will happen to them? … Is this the end?