Preamble of Pain

Jyriah burst through the waterfall and tripped on his own feet, which caused him to slide onto his side and forward to Ajax, who was taken out as the red, gold, and black wolf crashed into the back of his legs.

"What are you doing?!" Ajax exclaimed in surprise more than anger.

"M-Myr *huff* M-Myr..*huff* Mandy..Agh.. Myri - being chased, by two wolves *huff* big, fast, -- looking for you...*huff* ugh..." Jyriah tried to catch his breath, but it was so hard with how fast and desperately he ran to her here.

"Mandy? You mean Myranda just to be sure, right?" Lara asked and read Jyriah's expression before he answered her question.

"Y-yes...go...went west.. *huff*" the poor thing swallowed air as he continued to calm his heart.

"Seriously, they're hunting them now?" Joss asked with annoyance. "What a waste of resources and time..." (that wasn't the point, but it was what he focused on. Joss loved nothing more than efficiency and sensible tactics).

"You said she ran west?" Metas repeated to Jyriah.

"Y-yeah. Goddess, I'm out of shape..." Jyriah sighed out heavily.

The Alpha didn't say another word; he took action. Quickly the king found himself on all fours in his giant black wolf form. It seemed like he had been growing - or maybe it was the small cave, but he looked much larger than his usual self. It looked almost feral, and Lara was afraid of her best friend's eyes as she caught them before he leaped through the same place Jyriah had come in.

"Metas, wait!!" Lara shrieked.

The alpha barely heard her, but didn't stop. He was ready to tear apart an entire army if he needed to. He followed the sweet scent of Myranda's coat and found it easy to pick up the further west he went.

The other two scents were very familiar to him, but he wasn't sure from where - luckily they helped him track closer towards her. He was practically flying, at some point all four of his paws were in the air as their giant pads left imprints in the mud with each bound.

His gold eyes were furious when he saw the two scoundrels circling Myranda, and attacking her in tandem. Two against one? Dishonorable, and cheap.

He didn't wait, and from the natural ledge of the rock he had stood on, he shot his body down to one of the wolves that cornered her, which sent him crashing to the ground under the giant alpha's weight.

Myranda backed up into him for protection, as both of the males had gotten pretty good nips off of her here and there. She was tired, and her breath had jagged sounds to it as her lungs attempted to fill up.

"Metas!" the other wolf 'shouted' in excitement and surprise. "You are alive - they've been saying you killed your parents. Is it true?" the black and white wolf asked accusingly.

The large black wolf glowered into the eyes of the male he had pinned down and he growled through clenched teeth as his nose pushed and pulled in soft snorts. Even without a voice, his tone came through loud and clear.

"Why are you hunting my Luna? Why are you hunting me?" the king inquired and put weight on his fore paws as he ignored the other's question.

"W-We're just following orders..." the male crushed beneath him wheezed out.

"Oh? You like following orders, do you?" Metas asked with a little bit of derangement in his eyes and tone. "Well - I have orders if you'd like those instead."

"N-N-No...We all thought you killed your parents and Silas chased you off. He just wanted to bring you to justice" the small male choked as Metas' great paw pressed more weight onto his rib cage. He whimpered and whined, but the alpha did not move.

Myranda kept her gaze on the male across from them, who looked as though he were ready to leave his friend behind to get help. If that was the case, she would run for him again, and stop his mouth from speaking.

"What are you staring at, patchwork?" the fully grey wolf across the way asked her vilely.

"A dead man. What are you staring at?" she asked with her own fury.

"An ugly cunt--agh!"

Joss leapt from behind the trees from the direction they had run from, and landed on the soldier's back.

There was a loud snapping sound, followed by a yelp. When Joss removed most of his weight from the male he had attacked, he could see that the soldier was definitely in pain as anyone could see his left hip has been flattened into the ground to where the femur head had detached from the hip joint.

He'd be lucky if he could walk again as well as he did before today.

"You shouldn't use that kind of language near a lady - especially your Luna" Joss informed stoically and took a seat next to the whinging wolf.

"You-you broke my leg!"

"Yes, and you broke my pack sister's heart. So we can just call it even then, hmm?" Joss replied smoothly and merely kept his gaze on the struggling canine next to him, who didn't move due to the massive pain.

"This one says they were just following orders. Orders to apparently bring us to justice," Metas called to Joss and then looked back down at the crushed male below him.

"I say we kill them both. They know too much already, just by seeing our faces. They can't be let go," Joss informed his alpha calmly as though he were drinking a hot cup of tea.

"I agree with my mate. They've seen too much. They know too much," Jyriah said as he came out of the woodwork with Lara and Ajax.

"Trust me, they won't be missed much - isn't that right, Lance?" Lara said as she took a seat on the other side of the grey wolf who was yowling with each movement he made.

"Shove it up your a--agh, Ahg -s-stop! Stop, please!!" the male cried again as Joss merely pushed his right paw into his prisoner's left leg.

"Then stop using foul language around ladies. It's not too hard to use big words, you know" the silver wolf replied with a satisfied grin.

"As much as I hate to spill blood, it seems they already struck first. Joss is right - they need to be dealt with permanently," Ajax piped in and took in a long drawl of air. "You never were a smart one were you, Lance?"

"Smarter than she is pretty--faahcsk! Okay, I'm done!" Lance yelped again as pressure was applied to his wound again.

"Well, then. What's the plan?" Jyriah asked as his tail wagged excitedly. After what these two had said, he was very much looking forward to exacting just a little bit of pain.

Metas chuckled and looked down at the white and black wolf with a sadistic grin as his teeth revealed themselves from under his snout.

"They said they wanted to follow orders - so let's give them some new ones. I'll drop each of you over the line to the Vampires and the Demon's territory. If you can escape before one of them grabs you, then you can live. Otherwise...well..I think you know your fate, don't you?"

The wolf beneath the alpha shuddered and nodded twice. He looked so terrified, and for a moment he felt bad about what he was doing, but then his eyes looked at the bloody patches in his Luna's fur and all pity faded in an instant.

"Drag the cry baby, I'll pull this one. It won't be that long of a walk. I hope you two heal fast" Metas quipped as the six of them now took their turn to outnumber the two defeated scouts.