Welcoming Vultures

CHAPTER EIGHT

CYRUS POV

We follow the sounds of yips and low snarls. Just a meter away, I spot them. I sit beside an oak tree and observe as Kobay settles beside me. His grey form cast over me and reminded me of the authority of his bloodline. A man's voice bellows from the thin trees.

"Like I'd ever tell you anything--"

"You think I'm going to beg for an answer?" Akila's brazen voice echoes, "I'm a tall bitch with a small team. All I want is your head at my feet."

Akila is in her human form. Fully naked and drenched in blood. She laughs at her display of violence toppling over a wounded man bathed in his fluids. She beckons her partner over, Aspen, who paws at the lifeless creature. Aspen's brown fur is caked in dry blood as she nudges the body over. To their right- another warrior, Mage, is attending a stiff rogue. We watch as Akila dips her hands into the cracked chest of her victim to smear the shape of wings on the rocky side of the hillside. They like to call themselves vultures.

But where's Tiny?

The smell of one remaining rogue remains in the distance. Akila shifts into her tawny wolf with her teeth baring while Aspen and Mage set the bodies together. Glancing around the treetops, I see no sign of Tiny. I don't bother trying to track her scent for I know she's masked it long ago. I drop my bag at the bottom of my paws and signal Kobay to wait. While he doesn't have to take note of my advice, he obliged.

The sound of ruffled leaves punctures our ears as one of Kobay's men is tackled to the ground. His bones begin to snap in place out of fear at his sudden downfall. Wrathing in decayed leaves, the man's human body is pinned with a needle prolonged into his arm. A chuckle escapes me at the amateur.

Perched over the young man's body is a bundle of leaves, moss, and bones. A sense of pride grows in my chest as I recognize Tiny's unique coat. The young girl lifts her eyes to take in her mistake. She reaches into her pocket grabbing a parchment of remedies before sticking a handful of herbs into the young man's throat. She held his jaw to mimic a chewing motion before patting his face. I should be worried how Kobay will respond, but the show has started. I'll handle it in due time.

Tiny lifts herself off the naked man before scurrying soundlessly to my side. A glimpse of her face is seen as she pulls a split elk skull over her distorted half. A reminder of her first kill.

She brushes her palm against my wolf's neck before pulling herself up into the body of the oak tree. I don't bother glancing up at her as she loads her makeshift bow. Instead, I watch for the intruder she's stalking. In the distance, a large gray wolf emerges from the creek. If he attacked now, he could reach Mage's blindside.

She breathes quietly, mumbling to herself.

If Tiny doesn't fire soon, it could be fatal for her members below. The faint smell of wolfsbane drifts among us, and I notice Kobay's eyes haven't left Tiny yet.

She extends her arm out to aim as the wolf drags his body to the bottom of the bank. He's trying to mask his scent but doesn't realize his biggest threat isn't on the ground. Aspen falls beside Akila with her fangs flared. They've spotted him.

The long body of an arrow strikes the air as it spins to the wolf bouncing off of his paw. Confusion crosses me. Why'd she missed?

The wolf hurls his head in our direction followed by seconds of yowling pain. Blood slowly pours from his eyes as he holds his punctured head upwards. Unable to see from one eye.

"Gotcha," Tiny hisses.

Clever girl, I smile, creating a distraction to face him head-on.

The three wolves below circled the disoriented man. Akila goes for the kill. She prolongs her canines into his neck to drag his body towards the center. Mage and Aspen join as they nip at his sprawled legs.

A puny acorn falls on the bridge of my snout. Tiny turns her attention to me with another nut in hand. I watch her angelic features before nodding swiftly. Even without a wolf, it was easy to read the girl.

Girls, I mind linking to the ferocious team, pick him apart after Tiny injects him.

Tiny slings her weapon over her shoulder. She slips down the thick body of oak using me as a balance. I watch as she slips the mossy hood over her tossed black hair. Her eyes never left the wounded perpetrator, who was pinned down by the three she-wolves. Tiny's fingertips graze my side as she slips into the depths of the forest silently. She masked her scent well. No one would've ever suspected her.

Alpha Gahiji's voice slips into my mind as I watch the girls string the man up. Change of plans, Cyrus. He huffed with annoyance, the girl was already out by the time I visited T.

With her back towards us, Tiny crouches her legs to meet the battered wolf's eyes. She strikes his neck with a needle. Filling him with moon-knows-what potions. She pulls out a fleshy sac from her bag then squeezed the contents onto his head. The wolf thrashed in retaliation until slowly he became stiff. Paralyzed and at the will of a petite girl with no scent and no wolf.

She leans forward removing the splintered elk skull from her face. And on cue, the wolf becomes erratic in fear at the sight of her. His bones begin to shift into place as he shrinks into his skin form. Due to Tiny's serum, his transformation is botched. His ligaments are misplaced with bones cutting through his flesh. He'll bleed out in minutes if she doesn't intervene.

"Do you remember their names?" Tiny asked.

"Piss off," he growled between his coached teeth.

Tiny placed her small nose in front of his face, showing no fear, "not even going to deny it?"

"Deny what?"

"You know," she clicked her tongue, "you reek."

"Y-You're one to talk," he snarls between gasps.

"Maybe," she growls back, "but at least I don't smell of a graveyard."

While most don't know about Tiny, the rogues have a portion of information on her. They often speak of a demon that lurks around the woods to settle a dead wolf's affairs. I've heard them say the demon had an appalling face who spoke the words of the deceased and slaughtered for justice. And the only ones who have seen her face are her victims. They call her the Grave Whisperer.

Tiny continues her interrogation, but my attention falls on Kobay. The Wolf sits at my side. His eyes appear to be blazing, lapping feverishly at the sight. Tiny's voice quips followed by a sickly sweet laugh when the rogue tries slashing at her. Redwood's members remain as stone, watching as she snaps his fingers out of place. Obnoxious cries sputter from the rogue who's words slur with exhaustion.

Aspen ties the man's body against a withering pine tree. Mage and Akila fall behind Tiny who grabs a fist full of the man's hair. She smears paint on his forehead to mark his damned face. She exchanges words with her sacrifice before turning to see Akila growling in our direction. Sitting beside his alpha, beta Dominic sits with his tail tapping the ground gleefully. It appears the young man has found his mate.

Maybe this week won't be a bore after all.